MLB Trade Rumors: Are the Washington Nationals Shopping Ian Desmond?

The Washington Nationals are being described as “actively shopping” shortstop Ian Desmond, with the Giants and Red Sox among the suitors according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan.

However, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post tweets that he’s hearing the exact opposite about Desmond’s availability.

Kilgore wrote yesterday that the Nats have received several calls about Desmond, but the team views him as a core player and is reluctant to move him.

Whether or not the Nationals are actively looking to trade the 25-year-old, it seems unlikely he’ll be dealt in the next week writes MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Ladson’s source says general manager Mike Rizzo is a fan of Desmond and that if he “puts it all together in one season for another team, (the Nats) would look foolish.”

In a follow-up tweet, Passan says the minor league performance of Stephen Lombardozzi, who Rizzo loves, is one reason Desmond could be available.

The 22-year-old has flat out raked this season, hitting .322/.372/.461 in 437 plate appearances this year in Double-A and Triple-A. Desmond, meanwhile, has played well defensively for the Nats, but has seen his OPS slip to .589, down over 100 points from 2010.

This is the kind of gamble most front offices don't make when dealing with young players of Desmond's ilk, but the Nats have already shown a willingness to roll the dice on occasion—see Jayson Werth's contract—so we'll just have to wait and see.

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