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Perhaps you've read that some teams, including the Texas Rangers, have inquired about the availability of Nationals reliever Todd Coffey. As we inch closer to the trading deadline next month, the big right-hander appears more and more likely to be a man on the move.
Not that the Nats don't like Coffey; on the contrary, they like him very much. However, at 30 (31 in September), Coffey was signed to be a short-term situational reliever, and in the past few weeks internal (and younger) alternatives have emerged in the form of Henry Rodriguez, Ryan Mattheus and Collin Balester, not to mention Cole Kimball, currently on the disabled list.
The return on Coffey likely wouldn't be much, a mid-level prospect of some kind, or future considerations. I don't imagine Coffey himself would have much of an issue with it, inasmuch as playing a significant role in a pennant race doesn't present itself every day.
I'm not ready to start proclaiming the Nationals as Wild Card contenders, even in the wake of their recent hot streak. Getting back to .500 was a tremendous accomplishment, but there's still 88 games left on the schedule.
Let's let the season play out.
