Sitting 12 games back in the division and 14 games back in the wild card, the Washington Nationals should be sellers in this year’s trade market. Given their current roster and farm system, this is going to be a long rebuild. They could always thank Omar Minaya for that, although there were thoughts that the organization wouldn’t even exist the year after that trade. I’m going to set the target date for contention at 2011. Let’s run down the roster and see who should stay and who should go.

Core to Build Around

C Jesus Flores, 3B Ryan Zimmerman, LF Elijah Dukes, CF Lastings Milledge

Zimmerman’s last year under team control is 2011, so he’s a contract extension candidate a couple of years down the road. As a Rule 5 pick a year ago, Flores has five more years under team control while Dukes and Milledge are under team control through 2013. Even better, all four players are only 23 years old.

Possible Trade Chips

C Paul Lo Duca, 1B Dmitri Young, SS Cristian Guzman, RP Jon Rauch, RP Saul Rivera

Jon Rauch might seem like a strange name here, but he is eligible for free agency following the 2010 season. Given how outstanding Rauch has been this year filling in at closer and his age (29), his value is probably at its peak. Combined with the typical year-to-year volatility of RPs, now would be the right time to pull the trigger on a Jon Rauch trade.

Possible Trade Chips if They Can Prove They're Healthy and Productive

1B Nick Johnson, RF Austin Kearns, RP Chad Cordero

All three players should be back before the trade deadline. Hopefully, they can be productive enough to garner interest from another team. If not, the Nationals can always wait until the offseason or next season’s trade deadline to trade Johnson, Kearns, or Cordero as all three are signed through 2009.

Back on Monday, I introduced my new “Balancing the Market” series with catchers. To start off, I wasn’t so sure of the concept and first base isn’t going to make that go away, but I have a feeling things will pick up as we move around the diamond. For now, the format will remain the same. Next up is first baseman, and this is going to be short.

Trade Market

No one really has a spare first baseman that can make an impact in 2008 for someone else, so there’s not really much of a market here. The closest players I can find are Nick Johnson, Mark Teixeira, and Richie Sexson. Johnson needs to prove he’s healthy and can still produce, Teixeira would have to see his team fall out of contention, and Sexson would have to see his team fall out of contention and prove he can still produce. Check back in July; there might be a few first basemen on the trade market then.

Contract Extensions

Contracts expiring at the end of the season include Teixeira, Sexson, and Carlos Delgado ($16M option with a $4M buyout). Teixeira is the only one worth trying to extend before the season.

Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard stand out as players in their pre-free agency years that are worth re-signing. Both players have four years before free agency, but remember that Howard is already 28. Given his age, Howard is worth a 3-year extension with an extra club option year (pre-FA arbitration is still an option if the team declines). On the other hand, Fielder is only 23. In an attempt to lock up his peak years, I’d wait until next year to discuss an extension.

Recap

For this short of an article, do we even need a recap? Nick Johnson, Mark Teixeira, and Richie Sexson could all make their way to the trade block this season. In the meantime, the Braves should try to sign Teixeira to an extension, while the Phillies should try to lock up Howard’s arbitration years. If the Brewers are confident that Fielder will be a force for years to come, they could work out a deal now, but I’d rather wait until next offseason to give him that extension – give him one more year to prove he’s worth the long-term deal.