With the trade deadline fast approaching, a lot of teams are trying to upgrade to make an end of the season push, or teams are dumping talent (and salary) to put themselves in a better position for next year.  Since the Nats aren’t going to be making that push, they may be looking to get rid of players.  Two players that have been mentioned are Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn.  I have a hard time thinking that Dunn is going anywhere since the Nationals just picked him up themselves, and both players give the Nats the power they need. It is said that if either of these two are traded, the Nats will look for young pitchers.  I think they have the young arms they need.

I’m not really sure that the Nationals need to do anything drastic, but certainly some changes are needed.  Washington has the makings of an excellent pitching staff.  They are all young (Martin is the oldest of the starters at 26), and have shown some flashes of “good” (I can’t really say  flashes of greatness).  I have always felt that you build a team around your pitching.  Of course, I am also the person who likes to see a pitcher’s duel and games that end 2-1, 1-0, or scores like that.  I realize that I may be in the minority on this since people “dig the long ball”.  A strong pitching staff makes other teams press since they know runs will come at a premium.  If you build a team around power, other teams will just try to out-muscle you.

The main area that needs attention is defense.  The Nationals lead the league with 94 errors.  The second closest team is Arizona with 80.  Guzman and Zimmerman are tied for 3rd in the National League with 13 each.  Alberto Gonzalez has 9.  So, the shortstop position accounts for 22 errors.  It is impossible to win games when you are just giving away outs.  The defense of the Nationals MUST be fixed.  Some say that Manny Acta was fired because the players weren’t being held accountable.  It is hard to imagine that grown men need to be held accountable, but if that is what it takes to fix the defense, then I hope Riggleman does just that.  Speaking of Guzman, if a pitcher is wild and has walked the bases loaded, don’t swing at the first three pitches you see to strike out to end the inning with the bases loaded!!  Work the count!

So, what do the Nationals need to do at the deadline?  This may sound strange, but nothing.  Work on fundamentals and let the young pitchers take their lumps.  It might not be pretty to watch, but it will be something to see in 2-3 years.