Washington has been searching for a long-term answer in center field since the middle of last season, but after once again coming up empty in their attempts to trade for a veteran general manager Mike Rizzo indicated that he’ll put the search on hold until next offseason.
Rizzo noted during an interview with MLB Network Radio that “the 2013 free agent class at center field is much stronger” and the Nationals can get by with Jayson Werth in center field for now.
Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post notes that Michael Bourn, Grady Sizemore, B.J. Upton, Shane Victorino, Melky Cabrera, Josh Hamilton, and Angel Pagan are among the players who may be available as free agents next winter, at which point the Nationals’ corner outfielders will likely be Werth and top prospect Bryce Harper.
Of course, those plans could change in a hurry if Werth proves incapable of handling center field defensively at age 34 (and with just 97 career starts at the position) or one of the Nationals’ previous trade targets (Denard Span of the Twins, for example) becomes available at a lesser price.
