Nationals eye trade deadline as second half begins against Padres

The first half of the season was one to forget for the Washington Nationals. They’ll spend the second half of the campaign preparing for the future, even if it means more losses in the present.

General manager Mike DeBartolo and manager Miguel Cairo will try to shed their interim tags as the Nationals return from the All-Star break on Friday.

The pair took on their new roles this month after owner Mike Lerner fired the World Series-winning duo of general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez.

The season began disastrously, culminating with an 11-game skid in June that featured three losses to the league-worst Colorado Rockies.

There were bright spots. Outfielder James Wood slugged 24 home runs to earn his first appearance in the All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby. Pitcher MacKenzie Gore found his stride, looking like a potential ace as he ranked fifth in the majors in strikeouts.

But those two couldn’t carry a ragtag lineup to many wins. Hits were hard to come by. Home runs were even rarer. The starting rotation occasionally shone, only to have late leads squandered by an abysmal bullpen.

The Nationals are now 38-58 with 66 games remaining, 17 games behind the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.

DeBartolo and Cairo have a tough task as they look to provide the “fresh approach and new energy” that Lerner said the team needs.

DeBartolo started his tenure with a head-turner, selecting 17-year-old shortstop Eli Willits with the first overall pick in last weekend’s MLB draft.

Under Rizzo, the Nationals were tied to slugging shortstop Ethan Holliday, the younger brother of Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday. But DeBartolo passed on the 6-foot-4 home-run threat, letting him fall to the Colorado Rockies at the fourth pick.

“It was one of those nice things where the scouts and the analysts see things exactly the same way,” DeBartolo said of Willits. “We saw him as the best hitter in the draft, best fielder in the draft with the intangibles.”

The next step for Washington’s current general manager? Leading the still-rebuilding club through the July 31 trade deadline.

With contention seemingly out of reach, MLB analysts expect Washington to sell off some of its best assets for prospects.

Closer Kyle Finnegan, who will be a free agent at season’s end, is one obvious trade candidate. The 33-year-old has a solid 3.12 ERA while ranking 13th in the league with 18 saves.

First baseman Nathaniel Lowe could join him on the trading block. Washington signed the first baseman — a former All-Star — to a one-year, $10.3 million deal last offseason. He will be eligible for arbitration next offseason before becoming an unrestricted free agent after the 2026 campaign.

The 30-year-old has played every game for Washington this season, posting a .227 average with 14 home runs and 61 RBIs.

In his first conversation with reporters last week, DeBartolo said he was confident in his ability to handle the deadline.

“I’ve negotiated several of the trades we’ve done on my own, with [Rizzo]’s final decision, obviously, but negotiating,” the former assistant general manager said. “I’m proud of the role I played in the Juan Soto trade in trying to identify some of the key players in that trade, including James Wood, and negotiating elements of that trade and strategizing around that trade for months in advance.”

One unexpected National started appearing in trade rumors during this week’s All-Star break: Gore. The 26-year-old ace is under team control through 2027. Any trade for the left-hander could fetch a hefty return, similar to the Soto deal that DeBartolo alluded to last week.

Gore has heard the rumors. He says he’s not dwelling on them.

“Having been traded before, it’s just one of those things you don’t even think about,” Gore, who was part of the Soto trade, told MLB.com this week. “You love the guys you’re around and you grow as a group with these guys, but I’m just trying to stack good starts, and whatever happens happens.”

As DeBartolo tries to impress ownership with shrewd moves, Cairo is in a familiar spot. The former infielder amassed an 18-16 record as the interim manager of the Chicago White Sox in 2022.

His performance wasn’t impressive enough to land the permanent job in Chicago, but he’s bringing that experience to the second half of the season.

“We’re going to take care of details,” Cairo said this month. “We’re going to do the little things better than everyone else. We’ve got the talent, we have the players, we have the team to do it. … We’re going to continue working really hard to become the team that we’re supposed to be.”

The Nationals return to the diamond on Friday for a three-game series at home against the San Diego Padres.