We are just days away from the August 3rd trade deadline, and the Nationals are in a unique spot, sitting at 55-54, 2 games out of the third NL Wild Card spot, but behind 2 teams for it and tied with 2 others. The Nationals have overperformed expectations in Paul Toboni and Blake Butera’s first year at the helm, but now they must make the important decision of how they’ll shake up the roster at the trade deadline, either bringing in major league talent at the cost of prospect capital, selling off
big league talent for young talent, or a mix of both.
If the Nats are to do some sort of buying this deadline, they’re in an interesting position to do so, as with Paul Toboni taking over the ballclub last winter, many of the prospects in the organization currently were not ones he acquired. Thus, there are bound to be some that he is less attached to than the previous regime, and even the fanbase, and he may look to trade these prospects in for some big-league help in the short term.
According to the team at MLB Pipeline, the Nationals prospect most likely to be traded at the deadline is Shortstop Coy James, the Nationals’ 5th-round pick in 2025, who has shown a nice mix of power and speed at Low-A this season. James checks a few of the boxes of the prospects most likely to be moved at the deadline: one who wasn’t brought in by Toboni and his staff, one who hasn’t had outstanding numbers this season, and one with a more questionable hit tool. The new Nationals staff has preached their affinity for prospects with good hit tools and approaches, as they believe they can coach up power, and James has the power stroke, but has suffered from swing-and-miss in Low-A.
Another middle infielder the Nats may be open to moving at the deadline is Luke Dickerson. Dickerson has put up some strong numbers at Low-A this season, but it’s also his second season there, and the Nats haven’t been in a rush to give him a promotion. Dickerson, like James, is a power-first prospect, but is held back by swing-and-miss, with a 27.8% strikeout rate right now at Low-A. My expectation is that Dickerson’s value is not the highest currently, but that he could get the Nats back a controllable relief arm, a necessity for them currently.
Another popular trade candidate name from the Nats prospect pool is Catcher Caleb Lomavita, and it’s easy to see why, as it was the other Double- backstop, Maxwell Romero Jr., who earned a promotion to Triple-A recently, not him. Lomavita has hit well in 2026, with a 112 wRC+, but I’ve long been skeptical of how his profile will fare at the higher levels, as he swings and misses a bit, doesn’t have a great plate approach, and his raw power isn’t anything crazy, not even mentioning his sketchy defense. An organization in dire need of catchers may be interested in Lomavita, and the Nats could probably get a solid rental arm or a controllable buy-low one for him.
