After signing Max Scherzer, what’s next for the Nationals?

The Washington Nationals may already have had the best team going into the 2015 season. The team has an unobstructed path to the postseason, and it’s even better now after signing Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million contract. Many observers, including myself, have picked the Nats to win the World Series over the past two seasons. This year, we may finally get it right.

Yet with Scherzer now in the fold, the assumption is that general manager Mike Rizzo will make another move because the roster is so loaded. The rotation has six starting pitchers. The infield has two shortstops. So what could the Nationals do next? Here are five possibilities, none of which looked particularly appealing — though had some logic behind them — before Scherzer signed. Obviously, circumstances have now changed significantly.

Trade Jordan Zimmermann
The knee-jerk reaction is that the Nationals have to deal one of their starting pitchers after signing Scherzer. Zimmermann looks like the top candidate since he’s set to be a free agent following the season. Back in November, there were rumors that the right-hander had been dealt to the Cubs, but that was quickly shot down.

With a $16.5 million salary for 2015, Zimmermann is certainly more affordable than other possible trade candidates like Cole Hamels. But how much can the Nats really get in return for a pitcher who has no apparent interest in signing a long-term extension before free agency and will thus be a one-season rental?

Might a team like the Red Sox, Cardinals or Padres be willing to surrender a top prospect, viewing Zimmermann as a difference maker? Rizzo should hold out for that. If not, aren’t the Nats better off just keeping Zimmermann, take another shot at re-signing him and consoling themselves with a first-round compensatory pick if he leaves as a free agent?

Trade Ian Desmond
Desmond is another presumed trade chip that the Nationals have been dangling during the offseason. He appears even more expendable after the acquisition of Yunel Escobar. But as with trading Zimmermann, it’s difficult to see how dealing Desmond away makes the Nationals a better team. Desmond was second among MLB shortstops with a 4.1 WAR last season, while leading the position with 24 home runs and 91 RBI. Moving Escobar to shortstop, plus whomever would replace him at second base, wouldn’t replace that level of production.

If another team yearning for a shortstop offered a top prospect, Rizzo would very likely listen. But the current trade market for shortstops isn’t great. The Yankees got Didi Gregorius. The A’s have Marcus Semien.  The Dodgers traded for Jimmy Rollins. Teams like the Mets or Phillies could just wait until Desmond becomes a free agent. That seems inevitable with Escobar in place as a stopgap in 2016, giving Trea Turner (or Wilmer Difo) further time to develop.

By the way, the presence of top shortstop prospects in the Nats’ minor league system is another reason trading Desmond isn’t necessary. Rizzo doesn’t necessarily need to trade him for young talent. It’s already in place.

Trade Stephen Strasburg
Now this is where the Nationals could make things interesting. Strasburg is generally viewed as the team’s ace, having been Washington’s No. 1 draft pick (first overall in 2009) and posting a cumulative 11.7 WAR over the past three seasons. (Only four NL pitchers were better during that span. Of course, one of them was Zimmermann.) He’s only 26 years old and is under team control through 2016.

Those are circumstances that provide Rizzo more bargaining power with potential trade partners. A team picking up Strasburg has a presumed ace for the present and future, especially if he can be signed to a long-term extension. But even if not, the arbitration process keeps Strasburg more affordable than Hamels while he’s club-controlled.

No, trading Strasburg doesn’t make the Nationals better now. Yet if Rizzo really does have an eye toward the future, he could get far more in return by dealing a younger, highly lauded, club-controlled starting pitcher. The Nats don’t have to worry about losing an ace; they just signed one in Scherzer. Gio Gonzalez is signed through 2017. Whatever dollars may possibly have been earmarked for Strasburg could instead be devoted to re-signing Zimmermann. In addition, A.J. Cole and Lucas Giolito will soon be ready to step in as the team’s young talent that’s under inexpensive team control.

Trade Doug Fister or Tanner Roark
These would be the easier decisions for Rizzo to make. That’s not to say Fister or Roark don’t have value, but as mid-rotation to back-end starters, they’re not viewed the same way as Zimmermann or Strasburg.

Fister is coming off a season during which he went 16-6 with a 2.41 ERA. From 2011 to 2014, he’s among the top 15 MLB starting pitchers with a cumulative 14.6 WAR. And he’ll be paid $11.7 million this season. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski should have gotten much more in return when he traded Fister to the Nationals. Rizzo likely won’t make the same mistake, even if he doesn’t have two years of club control as a bargaining chip.

However, Washington might be able to get more in exchange for Roark. In his first full year as a starter, the 28-year-old went 16-10 with a 2.85 ERA and threw 198.2 innings. Only Zimmermann and Strasburg had a higher WAR than Roark’s 3.0 among Nats starting pitchers. And if club control is the most valuable trade market currency, Roark doesn’t become eligible for arbitration until 2017. He can’t be a free agent until 2020. Five years of relatively inexpensive team control — especially if Roark continues to pitch as well as he did last season — would be very appealing to several other MLB clubs.

Roark is already arguably expendable. The Nationals have all five spots in their starting rotation filled up. Roark is a luxury, someone who could swing between the rotation and long relief. Every team needs one of those guys as pitchers tire out or get injured. But Roark is more valuable as a full-time starter, and the Nats would be selling high here.

Make One Great 2015 Run
So here’s the thing about all this trade talk and armchair roster manuevering. Rizzo doesn’t need to make a move. The Nationals don’t have to upgrade or improve any of their everyday positions.

Trading for Escobar took care of second base, and Adam LaRoche’s departure via free agency freed up first base for Ryan Zimmerman. Now he has a regular spot in the lineup again and Anthony Rendon gets to play his best position at third base. The roster has bench depth with Danny Espinosa, Jose Lobaton and Kevin Frandsen. The future is bright with Cole, Giolito, Turner and Difo.

One area that Rizzo could bolster is the bullpen, which was weakened by trading Tyler Clippard to Oakland in the Escobar deal. The unit is in good shape with Drew Storen, Aaron Barrett, Craig Stammen, Matt Thornton and Jerry Blevins. However, a team can never have enough quality relievers. The Nats could sign a free agent. There are rumblings that Casey Janssen is on their radar. Francisco Rodriguez is still available. So is Rafael Soriano, though that ride’s been taken before. The roster surplus and depth also gives Rizzo pieces to deal for relief help.

Yet he may be better served by waiting until the July 31 trade deadline to add pieces. Pitchers that aren’t available now may be on the market by then. Plus, the Nats will have a far better idea of how effective their bullpen is and what it might be lacking. Will Washington need a capital-C closer? Will the setup corps need to be reinforced behind Storen? The Nationals’ bullpen — and its entire team, for that matter — aren’t a fully formed entity in mid-January. The team we see now versus the team Washington fields in August could look very different.

But by signing Scherzer, Rizzo has given himself a whole bunch of options. That’s all any GM can hope for going into a season. But the Nats are in an even better position, given how strong their roster already was. The powerful just became even more mighty, with the versatility to become yet more formidable. The possibilities are dizzying.