Washington Nationals: Could Trea Turner Be a Trade Chip?

The Washington Nationals very well may look to add to their roster at the 2016 trade deadline. With Trea Turner currently stationed in Triple-A, could Washington dangle him in trade talks?

Earlier this month, the Washington Nationals called up highly-regarded shortstop Trea Turner to the major leagues, but his big league stay in this particular instance was short. Turner came up when Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the paternity list, but quickly returned to the minor leagues once Zimmerman came back.

Turner appeared in two games for Washington this month and produced in his limited opportunities. He was 3-for-3 at the plate and walked in his only other at-bat.

Turner is the Nationals’ No. 2 prospect, according to MLB.com, but Washington doesn’t seem to have a sense of urgency to get Turner to the major leagues as a regular contributor at this point. This has forced some, including Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball, to question whether the Nationals could use Turner in a trade to acquire a high profile bullpen piece.

It’s well known that Washington is on the hunt for a stalwart piece that they can plug in to the late innings of their bullpen after the trade deadline. The most popular candidates for many teams, including the Nationals, are Yankees arms Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman.

Instead of Turner at shortstop, the Nationals have stuck with Danny Espinosa for a majority of the time this season. Espinosa has started 62 games, hitting .220/.313/.402, but as Heyman notes, Washington doesn’t seem to have any qualms about his defense at shortstop. In 244 chances, Espinosa has six errors, for a .975 fielding percentage.

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Baseball is coming into another age of great young shortstops around the league. Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Xander Bogaerts and Addison Russell are just a few examples, in no particular order. So far, the Nationals have not indicated that Turner isn’t in their future plans. He may be a tough piece to part with, but if it meant getting the flame-throwing Chapman, or Miller — who is under control until 2018 — perhaps the Nationals would consider such a move.

Surely the Nationals have at least had internal discussions regarding who they’d be comfortable parting with in a deal for Chapman, Miller, or others. Washington excels at developing pitching, and it seems unlikely that they’d give up top prospect Lucas Giolito.

If a deal with Turner as a starting point enticed the Yankees, the Nationals should at least explore the possibility. Turner alone likely wouldn’t get a deal done, but he has the kind of potential to be the center piece of such a deal. In fact, at just 22, Turner has already been a part of a large deal. The Nationals acquired Joe Ross and Turner in a December 2014, three-team trade with the San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays.

As always when it pertains to trades, teams must give up something of value in order to get something back. Teams make tough decisions each year on whether to trade their prospects for already-established players. If the Yankees were to part with one of their relievers, getting Turner back would be a good start. It wouldn’t be fair to expect Turner to step in and be the next Derek Jeter in the Bronx, but he’s absolutely a good young prospect.

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The Nationals already figured to be a team to watch as the August 1 trade deadline nears, but if they entertain the possibility of trading Turner, that notion only magnifies. Washington has a roster that is close to championship contention. They sit in first place in the NL East and with the addition of a big-time reliever could be poised for a deep postseason run. If it has to come at the cost of trading Trea Turner, the Nationals will have a tough decision to make.

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