The Nationals needed to take three of four from the Marlins, as far as reports go, in order to avoid being 'sellers' at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
That didn't happen. While they got the weekend started off right, taking the first two games in Miami, the Nats stumbled through the remainder of the weekend and wound up splitting the series.
Since then, there's been little good news involving the Nats on the MLB trade rumors front. Jeff Passan of Yahoo brings the fire and brimstone, with sources telling him "the clubhouse is a mess."
Some of the blame, they said, falls on first-year manager Dave Martinez, who replaced the popular Dusty Baker when Nationals ownership declined to renew his contract after back-to-back NL East championships. While Martinez has forged good relationships with a number of the Nationals’ stars, including Bryce Harper, a number of players feel marginalized, according to sources.
One example of a fractured clubhouse, Passan says, came after catcher J.T. Realmuto – in whom the Nats have long been interested – walked off the Marlins on Saturday. Bryce Harper remarked with the following after the game: "If that guy was on our side, it wouldn't have happened. Tough luck."
A number of people inside the organization saw Harper’s comment as unprofessional and potentially divisive among his teammates, according to sources. Though all acknowledged the seed of truth in it, they also wondered why the Nationals would need Realmuto to win when they haven’t done so with a surfeit of talent already.
Have heard from a number of people affiliated with the Nationals since writing this earlier today who have confirmed the central thesis: Washington's clubhouse is a problem, confidence in manager Davey Martinez has eroded and the Nats' trouble runs deep. https://t.co/817PsWn3du pic.twitter.com/kUwnQgj0hi
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2018None of this precludes Washington from making a run, of course. Teams that don’t get along still can win. But there are institutional issues with the Nationals that make doing so more difficult -- and above which they have yet to rise en route to a 52-53 record this year.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2018Regardless of his free agency status after the season, or interest in him by contenders around the league, it doesn't appear the Nats will be willing to part with Harper.
Rivals believe there’s almost no chance nats will market/trade Bryce Harper in 28-hour window that exists. 1. They want to sign him long-term. 2. They are within striking distance of 2 young teams. 3. They have team mostly back together (except Strasburg).
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2018Several rival executives believe that the #Nats will stay pat for now, not ready to surrender, but if their fate doesn’t improve, will try to slip players through waivers in August for trades
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 30, 2018But Washington may still engage in a partial sell-off, with relievers Kelvin Herrera, Shawn Kelley and Ryan Madson all due to hit free agency after the season.
Other teams expect #nats to investigate possible sale of Kelley, Madson, Herrera, Kintzler. But ultimately, since Herrera may be the only one of the group with significant trade value, and getting below luxury tax threshold isn’t a great goal, they may still sell no one.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2018Per sources, #Nationals taking offers for potential FA relievers - Herrera, Kelley, Madson. Want top prospect for Herrera when they gave up less for an extra month of control. “Feels like ownership asking them to sell and (front office) not wanting to,” one rival exec said.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2018Unfortunately for the Nats, this may be the wrong year to be sellers in the reliever market.
If #nats add Herrera, Kintzler, Kelley and Madson to mix, relief market would be absolutely flooded. Not worth it for Washington! #nwi https://t.co/cfMMXptgPL
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2018Even amid this buyer/seller identity crisis, Washington may still be pushing for Realmuto, though the Marlins reportedly declined an offer that would have netted them top Nats prospect Victor Robles or catcher Spencer Kieboom.
nats and marlins haven't closed door on Realmuto, so there could still be talks until Tuesday. last we heard, nats would consider including Robles or possibly kieboom, and marlins sought both for baseball's best catcher.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 29, 2018Nats and Marlins have talked extensively about Realmuto in recent days, according to multiple people familiar with the talks. So far, price remains too high. But if they’re going to sell some pieces, it’s clearly not as part of a wholesale tear down.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) July 30, 2018In other words, seems like pretty much everything remains on the table. Does that clear things up for you? https://t.co/bYIuPG86LV
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) July 30, 2018Also have heard this, confirming earlier @JonHeyman report. Will be interesting if #Marlins trade Realmuto after Hill’s comments here last week: https://t.co/SbdkpYQd0w $ https://t.co/hENbyzOrSy
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2018So, to recap: The Nats' clubhouse might be a mess; despite having plenty of bullpen assets to sell, the reliever market is flooded; and, their one free-agent-to-be everyone wants, they're not willing to deal. Meanwhile, as Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline draws closer, the Nats sit stationary Monday night, unable to move one game definitively closer to being buyers or sellers.
Alas, there is one bit of good news to report.
Strasburg also isn’t expected to be 6-8 weeks as first feared, and could much sooner. Has an inflamed nerve, but reports are positive. Recently got a shot to calm down area. #nats
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2018Follow @ChrisLingebach and @1067TheFan on Twitter
