NL Notes: Nationals, Padres, Guerrero - MLB Trade RumorsUnexpectedly, the Nationals are off to a poor start the season, CBS Sports Jon Heyman notes. After adding Max Scherzer to an already potent roster this offseason, the Nats looked like World Series favorites. But they re 7-12 so far, struggling both with their hitting and their fielding, and their clubhouse seems close to dead, as Heyman puts it. Here s more from the National League.Former Padres assistant GM and current Astros manager A.J. Hinch is impressed with his former team s moves, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle writes. Oh, I watched, Hinch says of a Padres offseason in which they added James Shields, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel and others. I was reminded often about what was going on, you know. And I was a fan of what they were doing. It was a little bit of a different philosophy, little bit of a different payroll and that added some big names to the roster. Hinch essentially served as the Padres GM after they fired Josh Byrnes and before they hired A.J. Preller, and during that time, the Padres went in a direction quite different from where they re heading now, trading veterans like Chase Headley, Huston Street and Chris Denorfia.Alex Guerrero has been brilliant for the Dodgers so far this season, hitting five home runs in just 11 games while looking better than expected on defense. But the Dodgers are still working on finding him playing time, Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles writes. The team indicates that, in addition to third base, they could also give Guerrero some time in left field, where Carl Crawford has struggled. Guerrero isn t the most obvious fit for the Dodgers roster, but they had no choice but to have him break camp with the team, due to a clause in his contract that would have allowed him to become a free agent if they hadn t. So far, though, he s played so well that the reasons he s on the roster don t matter. 29 Responses to NL Notes: Nationals, Padres, Guerrero Leave a Reply bobbleheadguru 2 months ago It is really hard being the favorites. Seems like every team puts a little extra in to beat you. Weird as the Nationals have not made it out of the first round. Based on accomplishments, they should NOT be favorites, but they are. Steven Garrison 2 months ago Been the favorites the last 4 years, and this year it s world series or bust for them, this slow start reminds Luke Willson Jersey me of the 2013 season, started slow and the braves ran away with the east, If the mets can keep it up, they can do the same David Coonce 2 months ago Unfortunately the more rounds of playoffs the more likely to have upsets; a one or 5 or even 7-game series isn t a great way to evaluate a team. The World series, at one point, was simply the best team from each league playing a 9-game series. It s obviously never going to go back to that but it was a much better way to gauge a team s actual talent level lab6 2 months ago Cause there is so much difference in 7 games and 9.Excuses, excuses, excuses are all that s given for the Nationals. Their slow start is only unexpected to ESPN National fans. David Coonce 2 months ago The difference between 7 and 9 games is 23%, not insignificant. Playoffs are a crap shoot. Nationals aren t playing well, but it s two weeks and their best position player hasn t played yet. They ll be fine. I m not a Nationals fan but I think they are a good team. Don t know what ESPN has to do with it. Bill 2 months ago Way to early to give up on the Nationals, although getting too far behind Mets will not work to their advantage. But I ll hold the celebration until Nats are mathematically eliminated. meep 2 months ago cant trade ethier because puig is on the DL and with a hamstring injury who knows when puig be back or will he even be 100% again this season. we seen what that kind of injury can do to a player just look what happen to kemp meep 2 months ago right we need to i guess it not the first month of the season. dodgers are still winning games even with the struggles we have within the team Bob Bunker 2 months ago Who are they going to trade?They have A-Gon, Puig, Joc, Rollins, and Kendrick as clear starters. The rest areUribe- 36 years old on last year of contract no rebuilding team will want him.Guerrero- Clause states if traded becomes FA at end of year no rebuilding team wants that.Either/Crawford- Overpaid Vets no rebuilding team will want.Van Slyke/Turner- Valuable bench pieces that are most likely more valuable on the team then as trade chips.Seager- No way. David Coonce 2 months ago Agree. Dodgers trade chips are really limited unless they want to move Arruebuerrena (I know I spelled that wrong) and some team actually wants him. With Olivera coming up eventually Guerrero seems like a huge trade chip, especially to an AL team where he can DH, but Guerrero s contract is so silly that won t happen either. Nobody wants Andre Ethier and Kendrick will probably be extended. Dodgers have a lot of depth, although the starting pitching is oddly thin. They were starting Scott Baker last night, for crying out loud! Tesseract 2 months ago As far as the spelling not even the own player knows. He is listed as Arruebarrena but he was Arruebarruena during the WBC Go figure BlueSkyLA 2 months ago I believe Guerrero can be traded. They can t send him to the minors without his approval. Right now though he s just too valuable to the team and isn t blocking anyone coming up. Using him to score a top starter makes some sense, but not until we get the word on McCarthy. Bob Bunker 2 months ago If Guerrero is traded his contract is terminated at the end of the year. No team will give up a top starter for that. BlueSkyLA 2 months ago Dunno, but the funny thing is, not even a few weeks ago the talk was about how he was ridiculously overpaid. David Coonce 2 months ago Well, a few weeks ago he hadn t accomplished anything at the major-league level. It will be interesting to see if he is for real or if the league will figure him out. David Coonce 2 months ago If he s traded he becomes a free agent after the season, so there s no trade value there. It s an odd contract. Robb Logan 2 months ago I disagree on trading Guerrero. With Uribe you know that injury will rear it s ugly head at some point within the season. His bat makes up for his glove if he continues at this clip. Plus a healthy Crawford for a full season is almost a dream at this point in his career. Guerrero has value to the Dodgers in those two facts alone. BlueSkyLA 2 months ago Veterans aren t traded to rebuilding teams, they go to competitive teams with needs. The best trade chip the Dodgers have at the moment is Ethier, but that was before Puig went on the DL. BlueSkyLA 2 months ago If they have a surplus in one department and a need in another. It really isn t worth speculating about any of this until July though. meep 2 months ago unless someone wants uribe or crawford. dodgers dont have any bats to trade. every bat has value to the team. till puig fully healthy ethier even have value to the team. nick 2 months ago At this point I don t know how the Dodgers would even consider not playing Guerrero almost everyday somewhere in the lineup. This kid has legit power and a very solid hit tool. meep 2 months ago guerrero earn a spot on this team, with the struggles of uribe and crawford . dodgers need guerrero bat. why should we trade him to fill other needs when he fill a need we have. player ill trade is ethier once puig healthy. down the line guerrero can just take over Lf Exclusive Articles Sign up to receive an exclusive weekly article by MLBTR owner Tim Dierkes. Email Address MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com