Washington Nationals: Matt Wieters building trade value

Matt Wieters has had a generally underwhelming tenure with the Washington Nationals, but has gotten hot as of late. Could he be traded this week?

The Washington Nationals entered 2017 in an unfamiliar situation. After seven seasons with Wilson Ramos behind the dish, the team would deploy a new backstop. Nats fans had grown accustomed to having a slugging catcher, which is hard to come by, but they now had to move on from their beloved “Buffalo”.

To replace Ramos, the Nats signed veteran backstop Matt Wieters. Wieters was coming off of an All-Star season at the time, so there was hope that there would not be much of an offensive drop-off.

Wieters got off to an outstanding start, hitting .301 with four homers in his first month as a National, but quickly regressed. He would hit just .209 the rest of the season, finishing the year with an underwhelming .225 average.

Unfortunately, Wieters has struggled through most of 2018 as well. At least, he was before August.

In 22 games this month, Wieters has slashed .292/.329/.458 and has hit three of his six homers on the season. He was hitting just .198 at the end of July, but has since raised his average 37 points.

In addition to raking, Wieters has played spectacular defense. The Nats’ pitching staff raves about his game-management skills, and he has thrown out four of ten attempted base stealers in August.

After nearly two years of struggling, Wieters is finally resembling the All-Star catcher the Nats thought they were signing prior to the 2017 season.

With the Nats sitting eight games out of first place in the NL East, they have begun to wave the white flag. Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams have recently been traded, and more trades are presumably on the way. Perhaps Wieters could be the next to go.

In a perfect world, the Nats would like to get under the luxury tax threshold. Bryce Harper is set to hit the market this offseason, and they will almost certainly be over the threshold if they resign him. However, if they can manage to get under the threshold now, the penalty will reset.

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Wieters is owed approximately $1.75 million over the remainder of the year, meaning a trade would make the Nats’ goal much more achievable.

On top of clearing payroll, trading Wieters would give the Nats an opportunity to test their young catchers at the major league level. Spencer Kieboom, Pedro Severino, and Raudy Read are all close to major league-ready, if they are not already. The Nats figure to be in the market for a catcher this offseason, but may like what they see in their in-house candidates.

Meanwhile, Wieters is the best catcher available and is playing better than ever. The Diamondbacks, Rockies, Mariners, and Astros could each use a catcher, so there should be a market for Wieters. Add in the fact that he has reportedly cleared waivers, and a deal is a definite possibility.

Although Gio Gonzalez and Ryan Madson are more likely to be dealt, Matt Wieters has solidified his case as a trade candidate as well. If the Washington Nationals continue their fire sale this week, look for Wieters to potentially be on the move.