Nationals' Wild Card Dilemma | Washington Nationals News

**Corey** (0:00)
It's July 18th. Welcome in. This is Washington Nationals News Today, where your team meets AI. I'm Corey with the story.
The Washington Nationals have about two weeks to make a decision. Do they try to buy players and make a playoff push, or do they start selling off? Their current talent? The team's president of baseball operations has the option to trade players no matter what. But if the Nationals are still in the hunt for a wild card, spot, he might not move as many pieces. If they decide to bring in reinforcements, it's almost certain they'll be looking at the bullpen. The relief pitchers have been one of the weakest parts of the team this season, and that's a big reason why they're not currently in a playoff position. So some new arms are definitely needed. To get a sense of who might be available, a former general manager put together a list of six relievers the Nationals could target. Looking at their numbers from the first half of the season, guys like Antonio Senzatel, Ah, and Keaton Nguyen have solid earn run averages, wow.
Chase Silsef and Sam Bachman show strong strikeout numbers.
What's interesting is that most of these potential targets are under contract for a while, meaning they could be long-term additions. Only Antonio Senazou, Tela, has a club option that can make him a free agent sooner. This long-term potential might make the Nationals more willing to give up assets to acquire them, knowing they won't be cheap or easy to get. If the Nationals are indeed looking at this group, my picks would be Seth Halvorsen and Sam Bachman. Halvorsen, at 26, is young and not a free agent until 2031
Bachman, a former top draft pick who moved to the bullpen, has a great expected earned run average and is also under contract until 2031