The Washington Nationals are in the middle of a lost season. That's what the recent dismissal of Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez admitted.
It's safe to expect the Nats to be sellers at the trade deadline, but they don't have a ton of obvios pieces to move.
One clear trade candidate is Michael Soroka. The Athletic lists Soroka as a candidate to wind up with the Yankees, Mets or Tigers.
"Soroka was an under-the-radar target for a lot of teams last winter, thanks to the outstanding second half he’d put together as a reliever for the White Sox," The Athletic writes. "Moved back to the rotation in Washington, he’s dealt with another injury (a biceps strain this time) and some inconsistency. Despite a pedestrian ERA, Soroka still excels at a lot of things teams really value today: He owns good strikeout, walk, and ground-ball rates, and he keeps the ball off the barrel. Plus, his experience last season makes Soroka a flexible fit: He can fill out your rotation in the short term and then slide to the bullpen later in the year."
MORE: Dallas Keuchel is attempting an MLB comeback
The one-time first-round pick of the Braves out of Canada with a 3.95 career ERA, Soroka's MLB career has been hurt on multiple occasions by injuries.
But the chance to end up with a postseason contender would likely be welcomed by Soroka.
With his contract up at the end of the year, Sorokoa's best value to the Nationals at this point is whatever he could bring back in a trade.
It'll just be a matter of lining up the right return to make everyone happy.
MORE MLB NEWS:
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s $500 million contract shining bright so far
- Pirates have a prospect named Iverson Allen
- Watch the first inside-the-park walk-off homer by a catcher in 99 years
- A good reason to remember Travis Hafner's greatness
- Cal Raleigh called his Home Run Derby shot when he was 8 years old
- Yankees call up tall star for MLB debut