Nats Can Win Big in 2015 If They Keep Scherzer-Zimmermann-Strasburg Trio

The old days when the Washington Nationals shut down Stephen Strasburg early and had him watch the playoffs from underneath a hoodie in the dugout seem kind of quaint now, don't they?

These days, fans at Nationals Park aren't exactly asking, "Stephen Who?"

The Nats dramatically re-drafted their blueprint for a World Series run with the Max Scherzer bombshell, and now the most intriguing storyline in the game has changed to tracking Washington's next move.

Did owner Ted Lerner, 89, hand general manager Mike Rizzo the Scherzer keys with the instructions to just go get 'em?

Or did he gulp hard while ordering Rizzo to shave a few dollars off Washington's now-bloated payroll by maybe trading Jordan Zimmermann or Strasburg? Or Doug Fister?

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Keep Scherzer, Zimmermann, Strasburg, Fister and Gio Gonzalez intact, and the Nationals are World Series favorites.

Deal one of them, and, well...the Nationals are still darned good, but they could also wind up like Popeye on a rough day, short by one can of spinach.

Now, this quintet makes the old Philadelphia Phillies rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Vance Worley (2011) look supermodel thin.

Deal one of them, and, well...a team that still hasn't even gotten out of the division series might well get rolled early again.

Truthfully, Washington had to bring Scherzer in. Just two weeks ago, with the Nationals still playing pitching possum, an American League executive told me he still thought they were a sleeper for Scherzer.

Agent Scott Boras plays Lerner the way Eric Clapton plays the guitar. Boras' clients on Washington's roster include Jayson Werth, Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Danny Espinosa. Boras also negotiated a spot for Rafael Soriano in the Nats bullpen a couple years ago. 

When Boras says jump, Lerner asks, "How much?"

And so it was with Scherzer, who coolly stayed in the frosty shadows all winter before agreeing to a seven-year, $210 million deal Sunday that takes him all the way to age 36.

In April, after Scherzer turned down $144 million from the Detroit Tigers, the question Sports Illustrated posed on its cover was, "Did he make a dumb wager on his future?"

Nine months later, the better question is, why do people continue to underestimate Boras?

Scherzer's "wager" earned him a $66 million raise. Sign me up to ride shotgun with Scherzer the next time he goes to Vegas. And I hate Vegas.

Meantime, the politics of this deal are positively delicious.

First, half of Scherzer's $210 million is deferred, sources confirm to Bleacher Report. So since the Nationals are paying him "only" $105 million from 2015-21, is the deal structured in a way that will allow them to keep Zimmermann, Strasburg, Fister and Gonzalez in what would be an epic run at a World Series title?

Second, if Rizzo's next move is to deal one of them and move a capable Tanner Roark into the No. 5 slot, who goes? Both Zimmermann and Fister are free-agent eligible following the 2015 season, so it makes sense to move one of them in a preemptive strike to get something (presumably, bullpen help) back.

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Strasburg? Rival executives say the Nats have talked about both his and Zimmermann's availability this winter. The Nationals control Strasburg for two more seasons. But Boras probably wouldn't go for broke in a Scherzer deal that would screw another of his high-profile clients, Strasburg.

However, if Strasburg by chance has indicated that he is ready to move on after what has been a sometimes-frustrating tenure with the Nationals, that's a completely different story.

And if he is ready for a change, his hometown San Diego Padres are positioned to win in 2015 and could provide the Nats with the bullpen help they need. Strasburg still lives in San Diego and regularly attends the basketball games of his alma mater, San Diego State.

If the Nationals can stretch their budget for even one more year—and right now with everyone, their projected payroll for '15 is more than $160 million—they should do it.

Without Scherzer, the Nats' 3.03 staff ERA was the best in the majors this past season.

With him, the sky (or at least the tip-top of the Washington Monument) is the limit.

While they did the responsible thing with Strasburg in 2012 by limiting him to 159.1 innings pitched at age 23, the other end of the story was this: The stars line up so infrequently in this game that when they do and you have a legitimate chance to win, you have to take it.

In '12, the Nats had the best record in the majors and figured their window for winning was just cracking open. Instead, with Strasburg watching that October, they fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in the division series. They followed that up with a flop in '13 that had them sitting at home during the postseason. 

They rebounded in '14, only to get blitzed in the division series again, this time by the San Francisco Giants.

Time is passing. The clock is ticking. Players are aging.

Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Denard Span, Fister, Gonzalez and, yes, Strasburg and Harper—all of them. Each summer that slips away is another season the Nationals and their fans will never get back with this highly talented core group.

But keep Scherzer, Zimmermann, Strasburg, Fister and Gonzalez intact, and then go ahead and say out loud what Scherzer is currently telling anyone who thought he was making a losing bet back in April.

Read 'em and weep, fellas.

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. He has over two decades of experience covering MLB, including 14 years as a national baseball columnist at CBSSports.com.

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball @ScottMillerBbl.