Could Nats pull off any more deals before today's deadline?

PHOENIX - And so the calendar has shifted to August and the baseball season reaches its final third. But not before today's non-waiver trade deadline, which comes at 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. out here in the desert).

Those of you who have followed this over the years know the trade deadline has always been July 31. But since that fell on a Sunday this year, Major Leauge Baseball made the wise decision to push it back a day, ensuring the deadline wouldn't come and go while just about every team in the sport was on the field in the middle of a game.

So we have our first-ever Aug. 1 trade deadline, giving clubs 24 extra hours to try to make moves that might help them either for the stretch run or for the long-term.

That also means Mike Rizzo has a bit more time if he wants to try to do anything else to improve the Nationals.

Rizzo's big move, of course, came Saturday when he acquired Mark Melancon from the Pirates for Felipe Rivero and minor leaguer Taylor Hearn, addressing his team's major question mark at closer. That's no longer a question mark because Melancon will pitch the ninth inning the rest of the season, not Jonathan Papelbon.

But could Rizzo have anything else up his sleeve today?

"We're always looking, always working," he said. "If something presents itself, we'll certainly look into it."

That's pretty much a stock answer, the kind of thing all 30 general managers in the sport have probably said at some point in the last week. But it's probably safe to say Rizzo doesn't feel like he has to do anything else, certainly nothing else as significant as the Melancon deal.

No, the Nationals aren't a perfect team. They've still got areas of concern (center field, late-inning relief, first base). But this roster as constructed is good enough to win. Or, at least, good enough to win if the players already here perform anywhere close to their career norms.

Could they go out and get another bat? Sure, but it would probably be a corner outfielder that forces Bryce Harper to play center field. And it would cost more young talent to acquire.

Could they go out and get another late-inning reliever? Sure, but who's spot would that pitcher take at this point? Many in the organization feel like the necessary pieces are already in-house, with some combination of Melancon, Shawn Kelley, Sammy Solis, Blake Treinen, Oliver Perez, Matt Belisle, Yusmeiro Petit, Koda Glover, Reynaldo Lopez and yes, even Papelbon capable of getting the job done when it really gets down to it.

Remember, you don't really need seven relievers in October. (Well, unless you plan on playing 18-inning games, but that doesn't usually happen, right?) You need three or four reliable guys, at least one of them a left-hander, to get you through the postseason gauntlet. There's a decent chance the Nationals already have those three or four guys.

Perhaps Rizzo still has something cooking today. We'll find out in a few hours.

But if he doesn't, the Nationals as currently assembled have to believe they can win as-is.