FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal wrote on Twitter this weekend that 29-year-old Nationals' 3B/1B/LF Ryan Zimmerman was likely to miss 6-8 weeks with the hamstring injury he suffered running to first base during Washington's recently-completed series with the Rockies in Coors Field in Colorado.
Talk among #Nationals is that Zimmerman will be out 6-8 weeks. Team could add 2B (with Rendon at 3B), but Rizzo long supportive of Espinosa.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 26, 2014
Washington Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo has, however, been unwilling to commit to the idea that the Nationals need to make a deal for an infielder with Zimmerman down.
"'We’re not worried about filling Zim’s shoes, which would be almost impossible to fill in a trade scenario, anyways,'" Rizzo told the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore yesterday. "'We like the team we have. We got where we’re at with Danny [Espinosa] playing meaningful innings.'"
Espinosa has played 89 games so far this season, in his fifth major league campaign, providing exceptional defense and posting a .217/.283/.347 line with 12 doubles, three triples and six home runs in 304 plate appearances. He's struggled against right-handed pitchers though, with a .186/.245/.296 line against righties, while he's put up a .295/.375/.474 line against left-handers.
In spite of his struggles from the left side, the Nationals have continued to send Espinosa out against right-handers, with Zach Walters, who was called up again in the wake of Zimmerman's injury, starting just one game at second since he returned to the majors.
Now that it's being reported that Zimmerman will miss as much as 6-8 weeks, are the Nationals at work behind the scenes?
MLB.com's Bill Ladson reported late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning that "two baseball sources" told him that the Nationals' '05 1st Round pick suffered a Grade 3 strain of his right hamstring which could lead to him being on the DL for another extended period. Zimmerman missed 44 games with a fractured right thumb earlier this season.
In a follow-up article Wednesday morning, the nationals.com beat reporter wrote that Zimmerman, "... most likely is out for the regular season because of a Grade 3 hamstring strain."
Before Wednesday's series finale in Miami, Williams told reporters, including The Washington Post's James Wagner, that the Nationals have discussed the options out there.
"'We just gotta wait and see what happens," Williams told the WaPost reporter.
"'There are some guys that are out there, there are some guys we’ve taken a hard look at. We’ll see how it goes. Right now, we don’t have anything concrete.'"
"'To trade just to trade doesn't make any sense,'" Williams said, as reported by MASNSports.com's Josh Land. "'It's got to be an impactful, meaningful trade if Mike's going to do it. So that's kind of where we sit right now.'"
The Nationals' manager too argued that they are where they are with Espinosa having played a significant number of games at second base with Zimmerman out and Anthony Rendon back at third in Zimmerman's absence.
"We've played the majority of the year that way," Williams said, as quoted on MASN, "'and we are where we're at. We've got a chance."
In spite of what they're saying publicly, however, the rumors persist...
#Nationals need IFer with Zimmerman out. Have discussed A. Cabrera, D. Murphy internally, but no deal close, sources tell me and @jonmorosi.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2014
#Nationals, #BlueJays, two other clubs have spoken to #Indians about A. Cabrera, sources tell me and @jonmorosi. Not certain to be traded.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2014
Sources: #Nationals have expressed interest in #Mets’ Murphy as well as #Indians’ Cabrera. Deal for Murphy considered a longshot.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2014
ESPN.com's Buster Olney tweeted yesterday that Cleveland was ready to move Cabrera and right-hander Justin Masterson, who was traded to the Cardinals on Wednesday:
Perception of the Indians continues to be that they are ready to move Asdrubal Cabrera, as written last week, and Justin Masterson.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 29, 2014
Cabrera, 28, is a switch-hitting infielder. He's posted a .246/.305/.386 line with 22 doubles, two triples and nine home runs so far this season with a pretty even split from each side of the plate: .245/.316/.379 against right-handers and .248/.284/.400 vs lefties. Cabrera's playing out the second year of a 2-year/$16.5M deal this season and according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Paul Hoynes, "... there have been no contract discussions with his agent and the front office.
Jim Duquette: "Not only did the Nationals and the Giants check in, but they're rumored to be interested in Daniel Murphy"
— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) July 31, 2014
Murphy, 29, has a .295/.341/.423 line with 30 doubles and eight home runs in 105 games and 475 PAs.
The Non-Waiver Trade Deadline is at 4:00 PM EDT today.