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5 trades Washington Nationals must make to get past Chicago Cubs

By Dan Schmelzer

Apr 4, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez against the Arizona Diamondbacks during Opening Day at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez against the Arizona Diamondbacks during Opening Day at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Washington Nationals clearly have some work to do to catch the Chicago Cubs. What trades can they make to get back on top?

The Washington Nationals entered their four-game weekend set with the Chicago Cubs with a 19-8 record that gave them the second-best record in all of baseball. However, they left Wrigley field after suffering a four-game sweep and with obvious flaws on their roster.

While they may not be on the level of the Cubs right now (is anyone?), the Nationals are an extremely talented team themselves. Their starting rotation is loaded, Bryce Harper leads their offense as the best player in the game and their bullpen has been solid as well.

However, the Cubs exposed the Nationals’ flaws in this series, most notably their lack of offensive depth. The Cubs completely pitched around Harper, forcing the other Nationals’ hitters to beat them. Through the four-game set, Harper walked to the plate 19 times, but only had four official plate appearances.

The Cubs walked the Nationals’ star 13 times (four of which were of the intentional variety) and hit him with a pitch once. The strategy really came in to play in the series finale on Sunday where Harper did not even have an official at-bat in seven total plate appearances. The Cubs walked Harper twice to load the bases with the go-ahead run on third base. Neither time was Ryan Zimmerman able to come through and make them pay.

Completely ignoring Harper and forcing the rest of the Nationals’ hitters to beat them worked out tremendously for the Cubs, and you can bet that the rest of the league will take note. If the Nationals expect to be legitimate National League contenders this season, they simply must add some impact bats to the mix to protect Harper.

That is not the only flaw on their roster, but it is their most obvious. If the Nationals are going to be able to compete with the Cubs and the other top teams in the league, they are going to have to make improvements to their roster. Let’s take a look at some options.

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