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Nationals Are Trying to Get Two of McCutchen, Sale, and Melancon

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Jon Heyman has the latest update on the Andrew McCutchen talks with the Nationals, noting that Washington believes they can afford two of three players from the group of McCutchen, Chris Sale, and Mark Melancon.

Melancon was traded by the Pirates to the Nationals this past deadline, and is now a free agent. The rumored price for him has been as high as four years and $60 M. It seems that he would be one of the two players they’re trying to get, and the other would be a decision between McCutchen and Sale, since the Nationals don’t believe they have the prospects for both players, and are also trying to avoid the luxury tax threshold in the new CBA.

Part of what is driving the Nationals’ attempt to go for, according to Heyman, it is the fact that they’ve got guys like Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy under control for only two more years. That said, they won’t go completely all-in, as Trea Turner has been said to be untouchable in trade talks.

The rumors we’ve heard so far is that Victor Robles is the top piece the Pirates have gone after, and that they’ve been looking for a young, MLB-ready pitcher as a second piece. Heyman throws out Lucas Giolito as the example for a top young pitcher, which I think would be a pretty strong return for McCutchen, and probably unlikely. He also says that Reynaldo Lopez, Joe Ross, and catcher Pedro Severino could be used “to form the right package in a deal”.

I’d be surprised if something happened today, as it seems there’s no “deadline” now, and the talks will take place over the winter meetings.

UPDATE 9:45PM: According to Bob Nightengale, the Nationals believe they have the prospects to trade for both Chris Sale and Andrew McCutchen. So if they do complete a Chris Sale trade first, it may not rule out a McCutchen deal to Washington afterwards. If the two teams are going after the same players though, then that might be a problem. The Pirates have said they won’t settle for a deal just to get rid of McCutchen. If the Nationals need to move the top targets of the Pirates to get Sale, then it’s unlikely the Pirates will go for lesser prospects just to complete a deal.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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