Biggest Issues the Washington Nationals Must Address at the Trade Deadline

The Washington Nationals must have knocked over a barrel of salt on a herd of black cats or something to that effect, because this team that should be losing maybe once every sixth game has been cursed by injuries, and a presence at the trade deadline has gone from a luxury to an unequivocal necessity. 

The only National League team with more players on the disabled list than Washington is, mercifully, the division-rival New York Mets. Both teams are limping stride-for-stride atop the NL East, but some calculated additions to a decimated bullpen and more options off the bench could help the Nationals put a couple of furlongs between themselves and the Mets in the race for the division. 

The rumor mill is already churning furiously more than a month before the July 31 deadline. But the purpose of this list is to unearth the roots of Washington's most debilitating problems rather than propose player-for-player swaps.

What follows is a ranking of the issues that should be the genesis for any moves the Nationals make in the coming months, listed in order of urgency. 

3. Bench Depth

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

DL stays for Jayson Werth (left) and Ryan Zimmerman (right) are exposing Washington's need for more capable bench players.

We knew the Nationals would be top-heavy coming into the season. And at full strength, Washington's starting lineup rivals most in baseball. 

But the Nats are decidedly not at full strength. They're trying to bench press their max with at least three broken fingers, which almost never ends well. 

The healthy return of Anthony Rendon has helped alleviate some of this particular problem, but injuries have turned 30-year-old rookie Clint Robinson into a regular starter and put Tyler Moore in 41 games this season. 

This issue is the lowest one on the list because there are some measures Washington could take to address it without the help of the trade market.

The Nationals hope Ryan Zimmerman's DL stint will be limited to "15 days or close to it," via the Washington Post's James Wagner. And in the meantime, Robinson is filling in admirably with a .333 average as a first baseman, albeit in a limited sample size. With a surplus of middle-infield prospects available for immediate action, Washington could even experiment with Danny Espinosa at first. He has logged one game there this season. 

The outfield is more sustainable without Jayson Werth than is a Zimmerman-less first base, but an option off the bench other than Moore or Matt den Dekker would be comforting. 

2. Expiring Contracts

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Ian Desmond (left) and Denard Span (right) will both become free agents after the season.

Trading the entire lot of Ian Desmond, Denard Span, Doug Fister and Jordan Zimmermann is out of the question, because a team that's contending for a World Series berth shouldn't be in the business of decimating its starting lineup. 

But Washington should be seriously considering trades to offload at least one of the quartet. If not, all four could walk in free agency this offseason, a scenario that would see the Nationals get next to nothing in return. 

Washington's aforementioned quarry of young infielders and a .226 batting average make Desmond the most expendable of the bunch. But Zimmermann would certainly fetch the highest return if the Nationals really want to go down that road. 

1. The Bullpen

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Aaron Barrett's biceps strain makes it three Nats relievers on the DL.

Aside from Max Scherzer's 16-strikeout, one-hit Sunday masterpiece that will be the outing of the season for Washington barring a perfect game, the Nationals' rotation has underwhelmed recently. But the first five to seven innings of games are a lone ficus plant compared to the lush and unpredictable jungle Washington enters whenever it turns the ball over to the bullpen. 

Drew Storen has owned the ninth inning with 19 saves and a 1.11 ERA, but the Nats' bullpen as a whole ranks 19th in baseball with a 3.65 ERA.

The number is only as low as it is because Storen's contribution is weighing it down. Frequent contributors Blake Treinen and Aaron Barrett have underwhelmed with 4.45 and 5.06 ERAs, respectively. But Barrett won't even get the chance to turn it around for at least a couple of weeks while he rehabs a biceps strain on the DL, where he joins relievers Sammy Solis and Craig Stammen, the latter of whom is out for the season. 

That cocktail of misfortune, composed of injuries and disappointing play, is what makes bullpen support the most critical commodity Washington must find at the deadline. But fans can take solace in the fact that the Nationals appear very aware of the issue.

Last week, Fox Sports' Jon Morosi reported on trade talks between Washington and the Cincinnati Reds that would send closer Aroldis Chapman to D.C., where he would presumably become a much sturdier bridge to the ninth inning than anything the Nats are working with right now. 

The Washington Post's Barry Svrluga even explored the idea of a reunion with Tyler Clippard, and the Post's Thomas Boswell threw out the names of Philadelphia's Jonathan Papelbon and San Diego's Joaquin Benoit. 

The problem is on everyone's radar, from the front office to the local columnists to the talkative stranger behind you in line at the grocery store. 

The Nationals will take some measures to strengthen the bullpen before the trade deadline, because they simply have to. All that's left to decide now is how much they're willing to give up. 

All stats courtesy of MLB.com.

Danny Garrison is a Washington Nationals Featured Columnist on Bleacher Report. He's on Twitter @DannyLGarrison, and he knows what free climbing is like from watching the Nats bullpen. 

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