In the wake of John Lannan's trade request, there has been some speculation as to which team he might be traded.
However, if what Bill Ladson of MLB.com is reporting is correct, there's very little chance that a deal could be done anytime soon.
It's going to be hard to trade John Lannan. According to a baseball source, the #Nats has talked to at least 20 teams about Lannan. The Nationals have had conversations with the Angels, Orioles, Red Sox and Tigers. The Nationals, who want prospects or bench players in return, have not come close to making a deal for Lannan.
But here's the problem, a lot of teams do not want to deal with Lannan's $5 million salary and the Nationals are not willing to eat the salary. Rizzo already has said that he is not giving Lannan away. So the chances of Lannan being traded are slim - at best.
Lannan provides valuable rotation depth and had an option left when the Nationals sent him down (Ross Detwiler, Lannan's replacement, had none left). It's easy for the 27-year-old Lannan to believe that the Nats are jerking him around, but he has less of a leg to stand on when you consider that his highest ERA+ in his five years in Washington was 110 (back in 2008). And that's before you get to Lannan's unimpressive spring training this year (5.14 ERA, 1.43 WHIP in 21.0 innings pitched).
Regardless of how this turns out, this is a distraction that threatens to puncture what should be an optimistic start to the season for the Nationals.
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