Do Nats have the elite prospects needed in a big trade?

Mike Rizzo has never been shy about dealing away top prospects in exchange for big-name players who could immediately help his Nationals win. This is the general manager, after all, who dealt away Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and Dane Dunning for Adam Eaton prior to the 2017 season and then that summer dealt Jesús Luzardo and others to the Athletics for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson.

But those two headline-makers represent the last time the Nats have traded away elite prospects for veterans. None of the swaps Rizzo has made in the last three years has come close to matching those blockbusters.

Oh, there have been opportunities. As his team began to fade in the summer of 2018, Rizzo tried to wrest J.T. Realmuto away from the Marlins. But the price to acquire the star catcher was ridiculously steep: Juan Soto and Victor Robles. Rizzo (rightly) said no.

Thing is, you have to give up a lot to get a lot. And so as we wait for this offseason to actually get going and wonder if there's any chance the Nationals could address one of their biggest needs via trade, we have to remind ourselves just how difficult it is to pull off that sort of deal.

Would Rizzo like to snatch Nolan Arenado away from the Rockies or Kris Bryant away from the Cubs? Sure. Is he going to be willing to give up what it would take to make either transaction? It's tough to see how he would.

It would be one thing of the Nationals farm system was overflowing with elite talent. Or if the big league roster was so stacked they could afford to deal away from strength and part ways with a prospect whose path to the majors was blocked.

But that's not really the case for this franchise at the moment.

Much as they like to tout their system, the Nationals don't have sure-fire prospects knocking on the door to reach the big leagues right now. In their defense, they currently have Soto, Robles, Carter Kieboom and Luis García in the majors. That's a lot of young talent to already boast at this level.

But the next wave is several notches down the pipeline. And nearly all of the big names are pitchers, which the organization can't really afford to give away at this juncture.

Jackson Rutledge and Cade Cavalli, the Nationals' last two first-round draft picks, surely are coveted by other clubs. But with Max Scherzer entering the final year of his contract, an open spot at No. 4 starter and an often underwhelming trio of righties (Joe Ross, Austin Voth, Erick Fedde) yet again competing for the No. 5 job, the Nats are going to need their young studs sooner rather than later. One or both righties needs to be part of the plan come 2022 and beyond.

Perhaps Rizzo would be willing to trade away the current top position prospect, Yasel Antuna, because the club already has some infield depth. But Antuna, who was just added to the 40-man roster, probably will be desired in the majors some day in the future. And unless he's good enough to be the centerpiece of a blockbuster deal for an Arenado or Bryant, he's probably more valuable staying put.

Israel Pineda, another emerging prospect, is one of the only touted catchers in the Nationals system. Yes, he'd be attractive to others. But he's probably more attractive to a Nats team that is going to need a long-term answer behind the plate one of these years.

In the end, the Nationals just don't have a ton of tradable prospects, at least not the kind necessary for a blockbuster deal. Their best chance might just be to trade a young player who has already reached the majors: Kieboom, García or even Robles.

We've seen how reluctant Rizzo has been to consider deals for those guys over the last three years, though. Maybe the situation has changed somewhat, but ultimately you have to imagine the longtime GM is going to stick with the guys he's been touting for a long time.

And that the Nationals' best chance of acquiring a big-name veteran this winter isn't via trade. It's via free agency.