The Nationals are exploring trade options for starting pitcher John Patterson, ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips told The Examiner on Wednesday.
“I think Patterson has been so good in the past,” said Phillips, who has spoken with a couple of general managers claiming to have trade conversations with the Nats about Patterson. “But injuries have hurt him and I got the feeling that [the Nationals] may not have him in the rotation.”
Patterson, a 30-year-old right-hander, missed most of the last two seasons with nerve problems in his right forearm and underwent surgery last September to fix the problem. But he is still a strong candidate to start Opening Night against the Atlanta Braves on March 30 in the first game at Nationals Park.
When healthy, Patterson has had success. He posted a breakout year in 2005 with a career-low in ERA (3.13) and career-highs in strikeouts (185) and innings pitched (198). But injuries have limited Patterson to just 15 total starts the last two years.
“I think [Patterson] has some definite value. It surprised me when I got that feeling [of a trade possibility] from their camp,” said Phillips, former general manager of the New York Mets. “They may even trade him before the end of spring training because they want to go with some of their young guys.”
That would be Jason Bergmann, 26, Matt Chico, 24, and John Lannan, 23. But none of those players have yet had sustained success in the major leagues and the talented Shawn Hill, 26, is reportedly still fighting the forearm soreness that limited him to 16 games in 2007.
Veterans Odalis Perez and Tim Redding have both pitched well in spring training. But it would still be a risk to trade Patterson before he proves those injury woes are behind him for good and the Nats show they have enough pitching depth to make up for his absence.
“I have not heard that Patterson was on the block,” said an assistant general manager for a team that has dealt with the Nats in the past. “But if he is, please have [Nats general manager] Jim Bowden give me a call.”
In the end, any talks may be more about establishing Patterson’s value on the trade market than actually completing a deal before Opening Night. But — as Bowden has shown many times in the past — if a move has a chance to improve the club he’s more willing than most to take a risk.
“Look, they have improved the club with some talented young guys … [that] will give them a solid line up and an exciting team,” said ESPN’s Baseball Tonight analyst John Kruk. “But like so many teams in the league it will all come down to pitching. If the Nationals can get solid starting pitching, they can contend. But if not, they will be looking at fourth again.”
Staff writer Brian McNally contributed to this report
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on www.examiner.com.
