“We like the team we have,” said Mike Rizzo. That seems to be a common statement that Rizzo has made before. The Nationals filled their greatest need at the non-waiver trade deadline by add Mark Melancon. We ran a poll in mid-July, and in the end the fan vote wanted Charlie Blackmon if they could add him as the #1 choice with Andrew Miller right behind him, but Mark Melancon rated higher than Aroldis Chapman on the poll.
Here is what the final voting on the poll looked like with 160 votes:
The Nationals have a chance to make some waiver claim trades, and Mike Rizzo most likely is taking this day away from the stadium to work with his staff to see if there is a way to better the team in the short-term while also not hurting this team for the future.
We have had a few days to see how some of the newly traded players have done with their new teams after the trades, and the Indians were beat soundly by the Twins which kept Andrew Miller really doing much more than appear in a game just to get some work, and he was not sharp in his first appearance as he gave up a home run. Aroldis Chapman blew a save for the Cubs in his first opportunity but has been solid since that point. Jay Bruce has not done much. Carlos Beltran had a home run for the Rangers as his only hit in a 1-8 beginning with his new team.
The Nationals are now 64-44 and in First Place by 7.0 over the Marlins. The teams have 54 games left.
The fans had opinions on what they wanted, and in his own way, Mike Rizzo answered the call and got the Washington Nationals a new closer as the fans wanted. We should see that first save opportunity come up for Mark Melancon this weekend as his tenure with the Nationals so far has been watching the Nationals blow-out their opponents where there was no save opportunity available.
