Good morning. The Nationals have until 4 PM today to do the following things:
- Trade for a reliever
- Trade for another reliever
- Trade (potentially) for a starter
- Trade (potentially) for some bench help/a backup first baseman
- Stay under the luxury tax
If they miss out on any of it, then they likely won’t get a shot at improving things until December, which, in case you were wondering, falls after the playoffs. Low stress day ahead.
Here’s the news from Nationals Park, where, Rizzo willing, the Nats will acquire at least one reliever today:
At the trade deadline, the Nationals owe their rejuvenated players a shot in the arm (The Athletic)
After going 38-19 over nine weeks, the Nationals need to consider everyone in the farm system as a moveable prospect for the purposes of getting the team into October — because these players aren't getting any younger at the major league level, and there's no longer a lengthy pipeline of big-league ready players.