5 players the Washington Nationals could trade away

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 24: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals celebrates after hitting the game winning three-run home run against the Miami Marlins during the eighth inning at Nationals Park on May 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

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3. SP Stephen Strasburg

Over his last seven starts (49.1 innings), Strasburg has a 2.19 ERA with 59 strikeouts,11 walks and a .185 opponent’s batting average. Overall thus far in 2019 he has a 3.25 ERA , a 10.9 K/9 and a 2.3 BB/9, and most importantly he has taken the hill every time he has been scheduled to (11 starts).

Strasburg is under contract through 2023, with a total of $100 million due to him over the next four seasons. But he can opt-out after this year or next, and would become a 10-and-5 player with a full no-trade clause in May 2020. As with Scherzer, Strasburg has some deferred money ($10 million, via Spotrac) coming to him from 2024-2030.

Trading Strasburg would be difficult for the Nationals to do, with the prospect of his being a rental and/or the significant money he is owed limiting the market automatically. But a move toward a complete reset puts anything in the sphere of possibilities for Washington, and if the former No. 1 overall pick stays healthy and keeps pitching like an ace there should be teams ready to make an offer that can’t be refused.

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