Washington Nationals closing in on Francisco Rodriguez

The Washington Nationals will reportedly turn to the active saves leader to help their beleaguered bullpen. Can the struggling K-Rod provide an answer?

We all know the Washington Nationals bullpen is bad. So bad that fans are even maligning it in their obituaries. They are so desperate to restore some order to the ranks that it’s not surprising to hear the Nats are interested in any available relief pitcher of some repute.

Right on cue comes a report from Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports that the Nationals are targeting right-hander Francisco Rodriguez.

If the Nationals were getting vintage K-Rod, that would be one thing. Heck, even the K-Rod of the last few years would still represent a major boost to a struggling bullpen. But this year’s version could actually make things worse, as hard as that is to believe.

Rodriguez was recently cut loose by the Detroit Tigers after an ugly first three months of the season. He posted a 7.82 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 2.09 K/BB ratio over 25.1 innings. After beginning the year as the team’s closer, he blew six of 13 save opportunities and eventually ceded the role to Justin Wilson.

With just over a month to go until the trade deadline, the Nats are obviously in “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” mode before deciding if they will indeed have to make a deal. As soon as Rodriguez was released by the Tigers, Washington moving in was a rather predictable development. The club will obviously hope that a change of scenery could do the 16-year veteran some good.

Despite how awful he’s looked this year, there are worse players to kick the tires on than the active saves leader. (Rodriguez’s 437 career saves rank fourth all-time.) And K-Rod is not very far removed from better days: He notched 126 saves with a 2.85 ERA for the Brewers and Tigers from 2014-2016. The Nationals will take that and run if they can coax it out of him.

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Washington relievers hold a 4.88 ERA, which places them down at 26th in Major League Baseball. Of most concern is the fact that they have failed to identify a reliable closer; six different Nats pitchers have combined to blow 12 saves so far, giving the club an underwhelming 62.5 percent save conversion rate.

Rodriguez will likely have to earn appearances in high-leverage situations. He might not even take the closer’s reins for the Nationals at any point. But when you’re desperate you’ll try just about anything, and that’s where this team is with its bullpen right now.

The Nats will gamble that K-Rod has merely been going through an extended rough patch rather than experiencing the irrevocable death knell of a long and accomplished career. Even if they’re wrong, it won’t cost them much.

Next: Nats bullpen is lethal in all the wrong ways

However, it feels like this experiment is more likely to turn sour than not, and the Nationals will ultimately need to (finally) pull the trigger on a deal for someone like David Robertson. With a record of 45-30, their bullpen troubles haven’t hurt them much in the grand scheme of things. But as we saw last October, having a dependable closer to lock down the late innings makes all the difference in the postseason.