Could the Nationals trade Max Scherzer t

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For many reasons, the could not revel in their 2019 World Series championship as much as they would have liked in 2020. The pandemic forced to shut down for months, and when they did play, there were no fans in the stands. There was no extravagant banner-raising or ring ceremony. What a bummer.On the field, the 2020 Nationals were quite forgettable. They finished tied for last place in the NL East at 26-34, and they did that even though led the league in batting average (.351), on-base percentage (.490), and slugging percentage (.695). had a season that earned him MVP votes as well, and yet Washington was still a bottom-tier team.Here's what staff ace told reporters, , following the regular season:"We weren't able to replicate the succe s we had last year into this year. It's just the way it goes. Everybody has a hand in it. Everybody needs to reflect upon what they did -- and didn't -- do well and try to make those adjustments going into next year. That's just life in the big leagues. When you don't win, there's going to be a lot of attention to why you didn't win. You're always going to have that pre sure to perform," the three-time Cy Young Award winner said."I'm sure there's people that are going to look at this and say, 'Hey, it's only 60 games.. ...' But that Matt Garza Jersey 's not my mentality," Scherzer continued. "I came into this year fully prepared to win. And we didn't win."To date, it has been a very quiet offseason for the Nationals, who have reportedly kicked the tires on and , but have not yet made a notable addition to their MLB roster. Their shopping list is long. GM Mike Rizzo needs a corner outfielder to replace , a first baseman, a second or third baseman, a catcher, a back-end starter, and bullpen help.On top of that, Rizzo must deal with Scherzer's looming free agency. Scherzer's seven-year contract expires next offseason, and while an extension seems likely, it is not a given. Maybe the Nationals will have another poor season in 2021, pushing Scherzer to sign elsewhere so he can win again before he retires. Who's to say he won't decline and the club will want to walk away?As unlikely as it may seem, trading the 36-year-old Scherzer should be a consideration Jhoulys Chacin Jersey this offseason. He's popped up in trade rumors at various points in recent years, including after the team's 19-31 start in 2019, so the idea that Scherzer could be on the trade block is not completely insane. He's been there before. Chances are he'll be there again. That's the busine s. Does it make sense to trade Scherzer? Well, it depends. On a many number of things. To that end, I will now present the cases for and against the Nationals trading Scherzer this winter. Keep in mind there is nothing wrong with listened to trade inquires. Rizzo would not be doing his job if he didn't at least hear out the clubs asking about Scherzer. NYM SP #21 ERA3.74WHIP1.38IP67.1BB23K92 Cleveland is expected to trade at some point because it can't afford him long term. The case for trading him is very straightforward: either lose him as a free agent next offseason and get nothing but one stinkin' draft pick in return, or trade him for multiple pieces that can help the club remain in contention moving forward. That's an obvious decision.Trading Scherzer is not so obvious. The Nationals can afford to retain him beyond 2021 even with the pandemic shrinking payrolls around the league, and they have the core of a contending team. Sometimes it's better to part ways with a player a year too early rather than a year too late though, and that's one of three arguments for trading Scherzer now. 1. Scherzer may be declining. Let's start with Scherzer himself. He's a Hall of Famer in Yovani Gallardo Jersey my eyes, though getting to 200 wins (he's at 175) and 3,000 strikeouts (2,784) would help his case with some voters. He's one of the best pitchers of his generation, clearly. What Scherzer has done and what Scherzer will do are different things, however, and the latter matters most to the 2021 Nationals.During the short and unusual 2020 season, Scherzer performed at a level that would be a career year for most pitchers, but was his worst year in quite a while. His numbers:3.74 ERA was his highest since 20123.46 FIP was his highest since 20111.38 WHIP was his highest ever31.2 percent strikeout rate was his lowest since 20157.8 percent walk rate was his highest since 20101.34 HR/9 was his highest since 2011Scherzer dealt with a nagging hamstring i sue throughout the season, and last year he was hampered by a back i sue in August and the neck i sue that scratched him from Game 5 of the World Series. His arm is healthy -- Scherzer has been very durable in his career to date -- but other parts of his body are acting up. It comes with the territory at this age. I speak from experience. Beyond the surface stats, there are other worrisome indicators in Scherzer's performance. His 14.7 percent swing-and-mi s rate was comfortably below recent seasons (16.2 percent from 2018-19), and his average exit velocity allowed crept up to 88.5 mph. That is just about a full mile-an-hour higher than his previous career worst (87.6 mph in 2019). More hard contact led to this:Expected batting averageExpected slugging percentage2018.189.3222019.206.3422020.251.430Statcast calculates expected batting average and expected slugging Milwaukee Brewers Hoodie percentage using launch angle and exit velocity and all that, and the expected stats match up well with the actual stats -- Scherzer allowed a .260 batting average and .424 slugging percentage in 2020. He allowed more hard contact and the results reflect that. He wasn't unlucky.Of course, Scherzer wasn't Lorenzo Cain Jersey bad in 2020 by any means, he just wasn't his typically elite self. At age 36 and with nearly 2,500 big-league innings on his arm, age-related decline is a concern. Father Time comes for everyone eventually. Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee were aces at 34 and done at 35. was dominant at 36, then his arm gave out at 37. It can happen quick. There's a chance, po sibly a very good one, Scherzer's days as a key contributor on a contender are over, and those chances grow with each pa sing year. Scherzer has aged remarkably well to this point. There is no guarantee that will continue, however, and some red flags already exist. This offseason might be Washington's last chance to trade him for something of value.2. The Nationals aren't very good. At least not on paper. , one that is much closer to fourth place than first. , they have five players projected for at least 3 WAR in 2021 (Scherzer, Soto, Turner, , ) and only five others projects for at least 1 WAR. It's a top-heavy roster.The lack of depth and "stars and scrubs" nature of the roster leaves the Nationals vulnerable to injury and underperformance. That's what undid them in 2020. Strasburg got hurt and Corbin and Scherzer were merely good rather than great, and the team finished in last place. I mean,