Washington Nationals Looking for a Closer
The Washington Nationals are head and shoulders above everybody else in the National League (NL) East, but they do have one glaring weakness all season long. Well, looks like they are finally looking for a way to address this.
According to FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman, the Nationals are currently shopping for a closer and they are keeping an eye on a number of potential targets who may be available.
"The Washington Nationals have begun making calls now for closer, and while they haven't found anyone who's immediately available, David Robertson is very likely to become available and perhaps makes the most sense," Heyman said in his report.
"They have spoken internally about many possibilities, though, including Kansas City Royals closer Kelvin Herrera, Tampa Bay Rays closer Alex Colome, San Francisco Giants closer Mark Melancon, Miami Marlins closer A.J. Ramos, and Toronto Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna," he continued.
The Nationals failed to sign a proven closer in the offseason so they have tried to address the issue by letting Blake Treinen handle the role. Unfortunately, the experiment was a disaster. Aside from Treinen, the club also played Shawn Kelley, Koda Glover, Enny Romero and Joe Blanton at the position, but none of them are consistent enough for the role.
Robertson, Herrera and Colome have been linked with the Nationals before, while Ramos and Osuna are new additions to the list. However, the most interesting name on the list has to be Melancon. The right-hander played for the Nationals last season and he left to join the Giants in the offseason. In hindsight, perhaps they should have offered the All-Star pitcher more money to convince him to stay.
The Nationals are the top team in the NL East right now, but they will have to find a way to fix their closer issues if they want to win it all.