What should the Washington Nationals target at the MLB trade deadline

With the trade deadline approaching, the Washington Nationals need to target the right kinds of players in their trades

The MLB Trade Deadline is less than two weeks away. While the Nationals will be sellers for a fifth straight deadline, this one will be different. It is the first deadline in nearly 20 years where Mike Rizzo is not part of the organization. Rizzo had his flaws, but you could count on him making quality moves at the deadline.

This year, Mike DeBartolo will be running the show. After an exciting draft, he will look to replenish the farm system even more at the deadline. Players like Kyle Finnegan, Michael Soroka, Amed Rosario and Josh Bell will likely be on the market. We will see if DeBartolo will make any bigger deals where he trades players with control beyond this season.

At the deadline, a GM needs to strike a balance. You need to get the most talented players you can find while also being aware of what your system needs. For me, there are two big needs I would attack at the deadline.

Upper Minors Pitching:

If this season has taught us anything, it is that you can never have enough pitching. At the beginning of the season, the rotation was seen as a strength and an area where the Nats had a lot of depth. However, after injuries to the likes of DJ Herz and Trevor Williams as well as ineffectiveness from most of the staff, it is clear the Nats need pitching.

In 2025, you need a stable of arms to get through a season. Pitchers are both injury prone and volatile. When trading some of these rentals, Mike DeBartolo should be looking for upper minors pitchers that might be blocked by the organization they are trading with.

There has been a lot of buzz that the Mets and Phillies are in on Kyle Finnegan. While trading in division is tough, those teams both have the upper minors arms the Nats need. If there is a bidding war, you could get a nice return.

Dave Dombrowski is never scared to give up a big package to get a guy he wants. One guy the Nats should be asking for is Mick Abel. The former first rounder has had a strong bounce back year in 2025, posting an ERA of 2.00 in 11 AAA starts. Abel has also made six MLB starts, which have been up and down. If Abel were to come to the Nats, he would immediately slide into the rotation. If Abel is off limits, a guy like Jean Cabrera is interesting.

While David Stearns is not as aggressive as a Dombroski, he has a deep farm system to trade from in New York. There are a number of intriguing arms in the upper levels of the Mets system. While the likes of Jonah Tong and Nolan McLean are off limits unless there is a Gore trade, they have other intriguing arms.

While he has not put up the best ERA numbers, Blake Tidwell is a big league ready arm with interesting upside. He is the Mets 14th ranked prospect. While he has a 4.40 ERA in AAA, he has put up big strikeout numbers and has a fastball in the mid-90’s. Tidwell has also seen some action in the MLB. If you traded a guy like Finnegan, you could get Tidwell as well as another solid piece.

While these are just two teams, these are the kind of arms I would like to see the Nats target. Players who are slightly blocked but have the talent to be in a rotation. Both Abel and Tidwell have higher ceilings than the likes of Mitchell Parker and Jake Irvin.

Catching Help:

One of the biggest stories this season for the Nats is just how awful the catching situation is. Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams have combined for -1.6 fWAR this season, which is unacceptable. While Caleb Lomavita has shown some promise, he is still a couple years away and far from a sure thing.

The Nats should take a similar approach to the one I suggested to get pitching. That would be to look for blocked prospects. With only one catcher playing in a game, it is easy to be blocked. The perfect example of this is Harry Ford on the Mariners. He is one of the better catching prospects in baseball but because of Cal Raleigh, playing time will be tough to come by.

Again, unless there is a MacKenzie Gore trade, Ford would be off the table. However there is one blocked catcher I would look at. One is Jimmy Crooks of the Cardinals.

The Cardinals have so many catching prospects and are in the wild card hunt. At the big league level, they have the likes of Pedro Pages, Ivan Herrera and Yohel Pozo. In the minors, three of their top six prospects are catchers.

Crooks is the one I would target. He does not have a clear path to playing time, but would really help the Nats. First off, he is graded as an above average defender with a rocket of an arm. The Nats desperately need even average defense behind the plate. It is painful to watch the likes of Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams try to frame and block pitches.

Crooks has not lit it up in AAA this year, but he has been solid with a .260 average and .761 OPS. He has 11 homers and 63 RBI’s. In 2024, Crooks lit up AA with a .908 OPS. He is not an elite bat, but he should be good enough and is a solid defender as well. Crooks is an immediate upgrade over Riley Adams and should challenge Keibert Ruiz for the starting job soon.

Wrapping up:

With the deadline approaching, the Nats need to have a plan. If you get talented players and don’t have a plan of attack in their development, you can waste that talent. Mike DeBartolo needs to have a clear idea of what he is doing.

For me, attacking the upper minors is a priority. Even before this draft, a lot of the Nats best prospects were at lower levels. They need guys that can reinforce the big league roster soon. With the Nationals not having a star to trade, I would target higher probability big leaguers rather than trying to find a guy in the lower minors who might become a star.

The Nationals have star talent on their roster, but they need more solid talent. Mike DeBartolo needs to find guys who can become contributors at this deadline.