If the Nats land a left-handed bat, where does he play?

Judging from the responses in our comments section and on Twitter, there's a significant portion of NatsTown that wants general manager Mike Rizzo to come back from next week's Winter Meetings in Nashville with an outfielder, preferably one who hits left-handed to break up the spate of righty sticks in the Nationals lineup.

I'm not sure one will fit into his carry-on, and you know how those bag fees can add up. Just a guess here, but I don't think Rizzo is flying Southwest and paying the extra $25 for early boarding.

Right now, right fielder Bryce Harper is the only left-handed bat in the regular starting eight. And he's a pretty good one to have, coming off an MVP season.

Sure, Danny Espinosa is a switch-hitter and may get reps at second base. Ditto for Jose Lobaton, who will catch at least part of the time. But you get the drift. It would be nice to thwart opposing bullpens by having a left-handed power bat to stick after Harper with a right-handed hitter in between them. Makes those relief matchups a little tougher, don't you think?

Yes, it would be nice. It makes sense. Rizzo has always been pretty good about addressing obvious needs, and this falls into that category.

But where does that left-handed stick play?

You've got players that are pretty much immovable in Ryan Zimmerman at first base, Anthony Rendon at third base and Wilson Ramos behind the plate. Someone has to play short and second, of course, but those aren't traditionally power positions - and even if Yunel Escobar isn't traded and winds up at short, he's just a spaceholder for Trea Turner's eventual ascension.

Outfield? Again, spots appear to be filled. Harper in right, Michael A. Taylor in center and Jayson Werth in left. While I realize there's a segment of the savvy D.C. baseball population that doesn't think Werth is the answer in left, remember that he's owed $42 million over the next two seasons, the last in the seven-year, $126 million deal that brought him here to begin the Nats' transformation from also-ran to contender. Guys making $21 million a year don't usually ride the pine, regardless of how advanced metrics grade their defense.

Yes, Werth is an injury risk, something that happens to guys when they're 36, no matter how well they prepare or how hard they train. Remember 2012, when a fractured wrist limited Werth to 81 games? At least a .300/.387/.440 slash line made the time he played more appetizing. Last season's slow recovery from January shoulder surgery and the May broken wrist cut his playing time to 88 games, and his .221/.302/.384 slash line produced the lowest OPS since be became a regular in 2008 with the Phillies.

Unless Taylor flops in center and Harper moves there, I don't see an outfield position for a lefty bat as a logical fit. Rizzo could certainly go out and get a good glove guy who swings from the left side - think someone to assume the role the ill-fated signing of Nate McLouth two winters ago was supposed to fill - but I don't see him spending big bucks on that player. Nor do I see some of the attractive options on the free agent market - like Gerardo Parra, who my colleague Byron Kerr wrote about yesterday - as potential fits. Those kinds of players are angling for more significant playing time, and aren't interested in biding their time on the bench and hoping for an injury to open playing time.

Maybe the Winter Meetings turn into more of a traditional swap meet than the past few years. If that's the case - and it could be, given the number of big free agents that have already fallen off the market - maybe Rizzo wheels and deals to come up with a bat to make the lineup less right-handed heavy.

Bottom line: In trades, you have to give up something to get something. And if the Nats are going to finally land closer Aroldis Chapman, they've got to give up young, controllable players that would make that kind of deal work for the Reds. Right now, the Nationals don't have a lot of guys who fit that description - unless they're interested in dealing Taylor, Turner or some of their stud pitching prospects - and that's the only way I see a logical spot opened up for an incoming left-handed bat.