The Nationals have been looking for a center fielder since the Nyjer Morgan experiment was officially delcared a failure during training camp last year. This is the first shot they'll have to fill that whole in free agency, but according to Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington, they might have to fill that whole via a trade.
With no real attractive center fielders on the free-agent market -- Coco Crisp doesn't appear to be on their radar at the moment -- the Nationals are probably going to have to seek to fill this need via trade. Rizzo pretty much said this himself publicly prior to the meetings. So who's in the mix? Various names were being tossed around yesterday, including the Angels' Peter Bourjos, the Rays' B.J. Upton and the Mets' Angel Pagan.
Free agent signings are typically the headline of the Winter Meetings, but a lot of trades get executed as well because there are officials from every team there as well.
Zuckerman describes Bourjous as the most attractive option because he is very young, signed to a reasonable rate and his production seems to match exactly what the Nationals are looking for in a centerfielder/leadoff hitter.
We'll be covering the Winter Meetings and all of the Nationals potential dealings this week in this StoryStream. For more on the Nationals, check out Federal Baseball.