Colorado Rockies: The Washington Nationals could be a trade partner

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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 06: Brandon Kintzler #21 of the Washington Nationals pitches against the Miami Marlins during the seventh inning at Nationals Park on July 06, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

The Washington Nationals were expected to run away with the National League East under the tutelage of rookie manager Dave Martinez. However, they enter Saturday only one game above .500 as they have dealt with managerial mishaps, injuries, and players who haven’t performed up to their standard.

With that, the Nationals may decide that before Tuesday’s trade deadline that they may decide sell, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic in this article (subscription required).

Sources: The Washington Nationals have started discussions with teams to gauge interest if they decide to sell. Of particular interest are Kelvin Herrera, Shawn Kelley and Ryan Madson, three free-agent-to-be relievers. Nats are telling teams they’ll know by end of weekend.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 26, 2018

It’s worth noting explicitly: The Nationals have not decided to sell. They’re doing what any prudent team in their position would: getting a sense of the market so if they do decide to sell, they can put together deals that normally take days in 24 hours. It’s the right play.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 26, 2018

If the Nationals do decide to sell before the trade deadline, they have some players that they may look to trade and many of which could be of interest to the Rockies.

Brandon Kintzler

Brandon Kintzler is a reliever that the Rockies have expressed interest in before. In fact, just last year on July 31, we discussed about the possibility of Kintzler coming to Denver in a trade and, this offseason, the team was interested in signing him as we discussed just before last Thanksgiving so it would not be a stretch to say that they would still be interested in trading for him.

In 2018, he has an ERA of 3.67 in 44 appearances with two saves. Her ERA+ is 117, his WHIP is 1.200, a 2.58:1 strikeout to walk ratio, and his FIP is better than his ERA as it is 3.38.

He is owed about $2 million for the rest of the season and his contract has a team option for next year for $10 million. If that is not exercised, though, Kintzler, who turns 34 on Wednesday, would have the option to exercise an option for $5 million or decline that to become a free agent.

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