Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post heard from sources Saturday that the Nationals aren’t planning to move Ian Desmond at this year’s trade deadline.
It turns out that might not be completely correct.
According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the Nationals have been “actively shopping” the 25-year-old middle infielder and he’s already drawn serious interest from the Giants and Red Sox. Passan also mentions the Rays as a possible fit.
Desmond, a third-round pick back in 2004, has hit just .228/.276/.313 with three homers and 26 RBI in 378 plate appearances this season. He had a .269/.308/.392 slash line, 10 home runs and 65 RBI in 2010.
The Nats are optimistic that Desmond is better than his rate of production, but they have a shortstop on the way in 22-year-old Stephen Lombardozzi, who has registered an .859 OPS, three home runs and 17 RBI in 31 games since his late-June promotion to Triple-A Syracuse.