Yankees Rumors: Nationals hoping Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller will be made available

After another loss last night, the Yankees have fallen to 26-30, and are now 6.5 games out of first place. There's still plenty of time to get a run going, but we're only a few days away from the draft, so it's fair to at least start considering a sale. The  San Francisco Giants are showing interest in acquiring Andrew Miller, and now the Washington Nationals seem to be waiting around hoping that the Yankees make Aroldis Chapman and Miller available by the trade deadline, both of whom they have already pursued in the past.

If the Yankees are looking to reload the farm system, their trio of relievers seem to be their best chance. Between Dellin Betances, Chapman, and Miller, the team has three closer-caliber pieces, and any contender would love to add the talent level that they bring if given the opportunity. Currently in first place in the NL East, the Nats seem to think they can do better than Jonathan Papelbon. He's remained effective, but at the age of 35, has lost some velocity in his fastball, and his strikeout rates have continued to drop. Strangely, the Nationals have one of the best bullpens in baseball already, as well as a top-five starting rotation, so it's hard to see how acquiring another reliever will help them at this point.

Obviously, it would be better for the Yankees to trade Aroldis Chapman, since he will be a free agent at the end of the season, but Miller will probably fetch a higher price because he still has an additional two years under contract. The Giants have already made it clear they are willing to move pitching prospect Tyler Beede in return for a reliever, but if that's too light of a return for Andrew Miller, the Nationals will have to find a way to do better, possibly for either of those relievers.

Beede has never been considered a top 100 prospect, while the Nats have four top prospects on the list. Lucas Giolito is considered to be the top overall prospect in baseball, so there's no way Washington is giving him up. They just called up Trea Turner, and Victor Robles will probably stick around as a possible replacement for Bryce Harper down the line. That leaves us with 23-year-old right-hander Erick Fedde, a Tommy John survivor and the 72nd best prospect in baseball. He returned to the mound ahead of schedule, and seems to be the kind of lottery ticket the Yankees have liked in the past.

I'm not about to come up with a potential trade scenario, because that's not how these things are normally done, but if the Yankees do decide to sell, moving someone like Chapman would make perfect sense. The Nationals have a much better farm system than the Giants currently do, so finding the right fit should be much easier between these two teams. I would support moving Chapman because he'll be gone next year, but they should keep Miller because it will allow them to hold onto more of the big three.

Then again, there is plenty of relief talent on the market this offseason, headed by Chapman and  Kenley Jansen, while the Yankees have a good amount of money coming off the books and nothing to really spend it on now that Stephen Strasburg has been signed to an extension. Trading Miller might not be so bad if they can just refill this winter.