White Sox's David Robertson and Rays' Alex Colomé on Washington Nationals' Radar
Early on this season, the Washington Nationals thought they could utilize Blake Treinen as their closer, but they quickly found out that he was not suited for the role.
Right now, Koda Glover and Shawn Kelley are sharing closer duties. However, they will have to look for a permanent solution sooner than later. The Nationals have some obvious candidates internally (Glover), but they appear to be looking at options externally as well.
ESPN's Jim Bowden has reported that the Nationals have "touched base" with the Chicago White Sox regarding David Robertson, and he said the team has also reached out to the Tampa Bay Rays and asked about Alex Colomé. However, Bowden noted that the Nationals "aren't even in the same ballpark" when it comes to the asking price.
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Many observers thought Robertson would be the next White Sox player to leave after it was reported that the Washington Nationals initially wanted to include him in the Adam Eaton trade last December. The two teams were supposed to continue to discuss a potential trade involving the closer in the months that followed, but talks stalled in February. Well, it's clear that the Nationals kept Robertson on their radar.
The Nationals have also been linked with Colomé before, and his name came up again last month, but nothing happened.
Both players could solve the Nationals' closer issues, but their price tags would be steep. Proven closers don't exactly come cheap.
Of course, they can always hand the role to Glover, but they don't seem to think he's ready yet.
"The Nationals, according to Bowden, believe that the 24-year-old Glover can be their closer of the future, but there's some question in the organization about whether it's too early in his career to hand him the job. Glover has just 27 1/3 MLB innings under his belt and has been solid but not overpowering in that time; the former eighth-rounder has a 4.28 ERA, a 22-to-8 K/BB ratio and a 42 percent ground-ball rate in his young career," Steve Adams said in his report on MLB Rumors.
