Washington Nationals Can Do Better Than Gleyber Torres To Fill Third Base Hole
The Washington Nationals have mostly sat out the MLB offseason to this point.
Despite general manager Mike Rizzo having the means to spend in free agency, the team has not made a splash. There are holes to be filled, but the prices other teams are paying are exorbitant.
The Nationals could certainly use another starting pitcher, but they weren’t going to shell out the money it costed to land Blake Snell or Max Fried. Even second and third-tier pitchers are cashing in on monster contracts, such as Luis Severino, Alex Cobb and Nathan Eovaldi.
Another position the team needs to fill in their lineup is at third base.
Right now, they don’t have a starting-caliber player ready to assume the role, with arguably the weakest group of players in the Major Leagues.
Jose Tena, who is a light hitter, is the expected starter right now. Beyond that, Washington has a few intriguing prospects in Brady House and Cayden Wallace who could factor into the mix down the road.
House has 54 games of experience at Triple-A and Wallace hasn’t advanced beyond Double-A yet, making them risky options.
But, giving either of them a chance to grow with the young players already in place would be a better idea than signing a veteran such as Gleyber Torres to take over at the hot corner.
Recently, there were reports that the New York Yankees free agent was drawing interest from the Nationals. But, they already have Luis Garcia Jr. entrenched at the keystone, so they want to move Torres to third base.
It wasn’t something that he was willing to do during his tenure with the Yankees.
After they acquired Jazz Chisholm from the Miami Marlins ahead of the deadline, he moved over to third base for the first time in his career since Torres wouldn't do it.
Having a full offseason to learn a new position could be more appealing to the veteran than learning it on the fly, however, that isn’t a risk worth taking for Washington.
It would be too big of a risk to have him at the hot corner for the first time in his career alongside CJ Abrams at shortstop. Putting two negative defenders on the same side of the diamond would be disastrous, especially since they already aren’t strong up the middle in the infield.
On a positive note, Torres would offer a sizable upgrade at the plate over what the team currently has. He has four seasons in his career with at least 24 home runs.
Willing to work a count and take a walk, he also puts the ball in play with slightly below-average strikeout numbers.
That is something the Nationals could certainly use more of.
However, unless Washington is going to jump into the Alex Bregman sweepstakes, they would be better off seeing what their young guys have to offer.
Torres isn’t enough of an upgrade with his bat to warrant the kind of contract he is likely seeking given the potential shortcomings that will follow.
