Again, we are hearing the same news from Oakland. According to MLB.com reporter Jane Lee on Twitter, “Everyone not named Jemile Weeks is still available.”
Because of that, I think it is only a matter of time until we see young left-hander Gio Gonzalez on the move somewhere. Of course, the multi-million dollar question is where that will be.
According to Ken Rosenthal, there are a number of teams that are obviously interested in Gonzalez. He is young, cheap, and talented. Rosenthal lists that the Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals are the main contenders for his services.
Of all of these options, I kind of like the Nationals going for him. First of all, I don’t think that they would trade him within the division to the Rangers. It could happen, but those types of trades rarely do. Therefore, that narrows the field to three.
All three of these teams have valid reasons for wanting Gonzalez. However, the Nationals seem to need him more than the other teams.
Allow me to explain.
The Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves have been atop the National League East for several years. The Phillies are getting older, but they still should have a solid performance in 2012. The Atlanta Braves are only getting better every season, and even though they kind of collapsed last season, they will return to fight for the top of the division this coming season.
Obviously, the Marlins have come to compete this season. They grabbed Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle very quickly and seem to want to change the power balance in the East this season.
For the sake of completeness, the New York Mets are trying to rebuild, so while I do not see them competing for the division title this season, they are trying to position themselves for a future run.
Where does that leave the Washington Nationals? They are a team full of young talent. Stephen Strasburg will be returning this year, and we will probably see the debut of highly-touted Bryce Harper. Even their more established stars such as Ryan Zimmerman or Jayson Werth (and I do realize that he struggled last year, but he still could be a star) are 27 and 32, respectively.
All of this praise being said though, they still need to improve to compete in this division and Gonzalez is a very convenient way to do that. Like I emphasized above, the Nationals are very young at the major-league level. Because of that, they could afford to deal prospects to acquire Gonzalez since they will have time to replenish the farm system before they need the players in the majors.
I think that it is very possible that the Nationals create a solid offer for Gonzalez. The obvious incentive is to keep up in the East, and he would definitely provide them with an established starting pitcher who could headline their rotation.
Keep your eyes on this deal, and don’t be surprised to see him in Washington.
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