The Morning Briefing: Should the Nationals Draft Right-Handed Pitcher Kumar Rocker?

Good Morning Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for Tuesday, January 4, 2022. Thank you for starting your day with us.

Don't forget to forward this morning's briefing to another Washington Nationals fan!

Leading today's Morning Briefing. We asked the question: Should the Nationals draft right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker? From the article: "After not being able to agree with the New York Mets, Right-Handed Pitcher Kumar Rocker could be an interesting draft choice for the Nationals in 2022. As of now, MLB.com is projecting that the Nationals will draft OF Elijah Green from IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), however, with pitching now being a need for the Nationals things could change and it might be a good idea to draft another stud pitcher that could help the team in the long term, is Kumar Rocker a good fit?" Click here to read the full article. We have also written about another interesting prospect that the Nationals should take a look at Short Stop Jacob Berry.

We are a couple of weeks away from the start of when teams can start to sign International players. In early 2021 we took a look at Cristian Vaquero who might be one of the players that the Nationals might sign during the signing period. Cristian Vaquero is a top-five international prospect. Get to know him here.

The Business of Baseball. There has been news made in the business of baseball despite the lack of negotiations between Major League Baseball and the Players Association (more on that later.) According to Sportico, Fanatics has reached a deal to acquire Topps, a popular trading card and collectible company, for an unknown amount of money. The deal is set to be finalized on Tuesday. Also last night, news broke that the MLB Network has cut its ties with reporter Ken Rosenthal due to previous criticism of Rob Manfred. Rosenthal will continue to report for The Athletic and FOX Sports. We have the full story here.

Does Josh Bell Look Like A Trade Candidate For The Second Straight Offseason? The Answer is Complicated. We take a look at the possibility of Josh Bell being traded at this year's trade deadline or even before Opening Day. From our article "Bell is entering his final year of club control and the Nationals are in a midst of a 're-tool,' and might not make the playoffs or come even close this season so could Bell be a piece that the Nationals trade at the deadline." Read the full article here

So you Think You Know the Washington Nationals? Test your knowledge of the Washington Nationals by checking out our quizzes. We have two right now on the site: the Washington Nationals Managers and the 2019 Opening Day Lineup. We will have a fresh quiz up on the website later today. Don't forget to share the results of your test on Twitter.

Would Right-Handed Pitcher Joe Kelly Fit into the Nationals Plans? While there are relievers that could be closer or even being part of the starting rotation, an organization that in the past has put an emphasis on pitching the Nationals should be on the lookout for some extra hands to fill all-important innings. One pitcher that could be an interesting pick-up during this year’s free agency could be right-handed pitcher Joe Kelly. Read the full article here.

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