Luke Erickson: Is anyone really untouchable in a trade?

When this guest blog was first written, it was about how the injury to Joe Ross would force a trade and that the Nationals may have to consider trading one or more of their so-called untouchable players, outfielder Victor Robles and Erick Fedde.

Instead, Washington and Oakland executed their 432nd 11th trade this decade with right-hander Blake Treinen, infielder Sheldon Neuse and left-hander Jesus Luzardo going to the Bay Area and left-hander Sean Doolittle and right-hander Ryan Madson coming to D.C.

The hope, of course, is that this will stop the bullpen meltdowns, which have been as frequent and as intense as a 2-year-old and a dropped ice cream cone. But enough about the folks on talk radio and Twitter ...

It's a testament to general manager Mike Rizzo that he was able to pull this off without giving away all that much, though Washington did just take on almost $22 million in salary. It's doubtful he could have done a similar deal with any other organization.

But are the Nats done trading? Well, you can never be too rich or have too much pitching. And Tanner Roark has been struggling.

Which brings me back to my original question (and this attempt to salvage what just got blown up, natch): Should any minor leaguer be untouchable? I believe the answer is "no."

This may be an unusual stance for a prospect follower, but it's also because I know that most of them are overrated. That's not to say that they're not good or could be good, but that they're rarely as good as advertised (*cough* Lucas Giolito *cough*).

If you don't believe me, take a look at some past top 10 lists for the Nationals. You won't have to go back very far (e.g. 2014) to find a huge swing-and-a-miss.

So while I don't necessarily want Robles or Fedde to be traded, I would understand it - even welcome it - if it meant getting a player who can help the Nationals win in October (preferably, this October).

Luke Erickson blogs about the Nationals' minor league affiliates for NationalsProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter: @nats_prospects. His thoughts on the Nationals' farm system will appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.