The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline is just over a month away with the deadline being its customary date of July 31st on a yearly basis.

Over the next month I will try and tackle every Major League team as the deadline approaches to see if they will be buyers, sellers or stick to their current roster.

I will be basing my assumptions on the direction the team is going, their record as of the date I post the article, possible roster injuries and so on and so forth.

I will provide the information about each team by division. I began with the National League East’s Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins.

Today I will continue my look at the NL East with the Washington Nationals.

Coming into play today against the division rival New York Mets, the Nationals sat in last place in the NL East with a record of 35-45, much improved over seasons in the past that earned them the title of “cellar dweller” within the division.

General manager Mike Rizzo took a different approach to the off-season acquiring numerous free agent veterans to compliment upcoming superstars such as Stephen Strasburg & Drew Storen and franchise centerpiece Ryan Zimmerman.

Rizzo spent big on free agents such as catcher Ivan Rodriguez, starting pitcher Jason Marquis & closer Matt Capps, while adding other veterans such as pitcher Chien Ming Wang, catcher Chris Coste, reliever Tyler Walker, infielder Adam Kennedy & veteran arm Livan Hernandez, who was called up April 11th after signing a minor league deal.

He also ridded the team of outfielder Elijah Dukes, who has been a mischievous character in clubhouses of the past.

The team has gone through a transformation with all of the added veterans, but everyone knew the likes of Storen and most notably Strasburg were the types of players who the team was going to build their future around.

The addition of Strasburg to the Major League squad last month had the world of baseball jumping with joy and fans of the Nationals praising him as their next saviour of the game.

Attendance has jumped and the era of Strasburg has begun in Washington with the phenom already pitching incredibly well, boasting a record of 2-2 with an earned run average of 2.27 with dominating strike out numbers of 48 in 31.2 innings pitched.

The team has seen a mix of good and bad from their free agent pickups with Capps closing out games better than any other point in his career (1-3, 3.28ERA, 22SV in 26SVO), Rodriguez hitting the ball for a high average of .299 while mentoring the team’s pitching staff and Hernandez proving the critics wrong by pitching to a record of 6-4 with an ERA of 2.98.

Marquis got off to a terrible start posting a record of 0-3 with an ERA of 20.52 in 8.1IP before being sidelined with bone chips in his throwing elbow.

Coste is out of action for all of 2010 recovering from Tommy John surgery after not appearing in a single game for the team.

Wang was a buy low acquisition with hopes that he may return to form of years past, which saw him win nineteen games on more than one occasion. He is on the 60-day disabled list with torn shoulder cartilage, has not appeared in a game for the Nationals and is not expected back until late July.

Walker was pitching well out of the Nationals bullpen before shoulder inflammation put him on the 15-day disabled list and Kennedy has struggled for the team batting just .238 with 2HR & 15RBI while playing poor second base (.964 fielding percentage with six errors).

The team has received major surprises as well with Roger Bernadina playing well in the outfield, hitting .283 with 5HR & 23RBI in 166 at-bats and Ian Desmond playing well offensively hitting .252 with 4HR & 33RBI, but struggling at the shortstop position (.944 fielding percentage with nineteen errors in just 73 games).

Starting pitcher Luis Atilano has held his own in the rotation in his rookie season posting a record of 6-4, with an ERA of 4.33 in thirteen starts and the Nationals bullpen featuring Capps, Storen, Miguel Batista, Tyler Clippard, Sean Burnett, Doug Slaten and Joel Peralta (recently called up) has been better than most have expected, posting excellent numbers for the team.

The team relies heavily on the offensive production of power bats Zimmerman (.283, 13HR & 40RBI) who is one of the best third baseman in the game, first baseman Adam Dunn (.275, 17HR, 47RBI) and outfielder Josh Willingham (.274, 14HR, 44RBI).

The Nationals obviously have the makings of a contender down the road with Strasburg being relied upon as their meal ticket to the playoffs, but with the NL East being so wide open as the trade deadline approaches the Nationals could either be buying or selling come the July 31st date.

The team currently sits 11.5 back of division leading Atlanta and 9.5 games out of the wild card with more than half the season to go.

Manager Jim Riggleman was recently quoted as saying the month of July will determine whether or not the team stays together or breaks apart as he is encouraging his team to play better so this does not occur.

The team has plenty of trade options with Dunn being the most mouth-watering for teams. Rumours have flown around baseball that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who are without first baseman Kendry Morales for the remainder of the season and the Chicago White Sox, who are back in the American League Central division race are interested in Dunn. The White Sox already have Paul Konerko on their roster at first base, but the team could use Dunn as designated hitter. Dunn is in the last year of a two-year deal paying him $12 million this season. He does not have a player or club option so a team would literally be paying for a half season of Dunn.

The team could also swap the veteran Kennedy or even Cristian Guzman with the likes of Desmond or prospect Danny Espinosa ready to form a middle infield combination.

If the team falls out of contention they could also offer up one of their veteran bullpen arms such as Batista or Slaten to a team in need of help for their playoff run and selling high on both of those pitchers would be a great move by the Nationals if they could get a decent return.

If the team is in contention the Nationals could pick up a veteran arm to go along with the success of Strasburg, Hernandez and Atilano.

J.D Martin is not pitching poorly for the Nationals, while Craig Stammen is allowing too many hits, but an upgrade will be needed if the team wants to contend and if Marquis and Wang cannot return in time for a playoff run or either proves ineffective upon their returns.

The Nationals say they are happy with their outfield production from Willingham, Bernadina & Nyjer Morgan with backups Willie Harris & Mike Morse, but they could most certainly upgrade there as well with the likes of a trade or by picking up a player such as Jermaine Dye, who still sits at home unemployed half way through the 2010 season, even after belting 27 home runs last season. Dye is not a very good defensive outfielder, but can more than make up for it with his bat.

If Jim Riggleman can get his team to gain some ground on the top-tier teams in the NL East as the deadline approaches you may see the Nationals pull off a few moves to strengthen the team they already have, but you can most certainly expect to see someone dealt if the team situation turns to the losing end.

The Nationals have a bright future, but it is the present that is the current issue as the July 31st trade deadline approaches.

What will the Nationals do?

Only time will tell.

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