At the end of a furious week of phone calls, scouting reports and soul-searching, the Washington Nationals’ roster looks the same today as it did before yesterday”s trade deadline.
“We explored every possibility we could to help our club long-term,” general manager Jim Bowden said. “And at the end of the day, we did nothing.”
Not that the Nationals didn’t try to strike a last-minute deal before the 4 p.m. deadline. Bowden was close to a pair of deals, one that would have sent closer Chad Cordero to the New York Mets via the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a three-way trade, but wasn’t able to consummate either.
The sticking points, as expected, were Bowden’s insistence upon receiving two top prospects in exchange for Cordero, plus his unwillingness to deal any of his own young pitching prospects.
“We’re not going to try to win a few more games at the big league level right now in an effort that’s going to hurt our future,” he said. “We’re just not going to do that. We’re working too hard to get the pieces. So we walked away.”
Cordero and the Mets had been linked for months now, with New York general manager Omar Minaya coveting the 25-year-old closer as a setup man for Billy Wagner. But Bowden never wavered on his demands for the right-hander with 112 saves and a 2.62 ERA in four full seasons: two top prospects like outfielder Lastings Milledge and right-hander Mike Pelfrey.
When Minaya wasn’t willing to match that price, Bowden tried to get the Diamondbacks involved in a three-way trade that still would have sent Cordero to New York, but Arizona would have sent prospects to Washington. That, too, fell short.
The Nationals also valued Rauch, who leads the majors with 56 relief appearances this season, and weren’t willing to part with the 28-year-old setup man unless they got something significant in return.
“We have a 25-year-old closer who is one of the best in the game,” Bowden said. “We have him under control for another two years. The other one is 28 years old, and we control him for three more years. Sure, everybody wants them. … But we don’t want to trade them unless you’re getting pieces that help us win a championship in a few years.”
Cordero, who was drafted by the Expos in 2003 and has never pitched for another organization, was relieved to learn he was staying.
“I heard they were asking too much,” he said. “That made me feel a lot better. It meant the chances of me going were really slim.”
The Nationals’ trade discussions weren’t limited solely to dealing veterans in exchange for prospects. Bowden had his eye on some major league position players, including Cincinnati Reds outfielder Adam Dunn and Boston Red Sox outfielder Wily Mo Pena, but wasn’t willing to give away prospects to acquire them.
Though Washington’s farm system has been restocked with pitching over the last year, the team isn’t ready to part with any of its young arms, particularly a bumper crop at short-season Class A Vermont that includes Colton Willems and Glenn Gibson.
Bowden’s deadline-day strategy was nothing new. He long has been known to set the bar high for his best players, and he stood by his philosophy yesterday.
“I’m not going to take players that can’t help the Washington Nationals win at the big league level,” he said. “If they’re going to criticize me, I’d much rather have them criticize me for asking too much than for asking for too little.”
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