Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Washington Nationals have shown interest in signing pitcher Lance Lynn recently.
Lynn went 11-8 last season with a 3.43 ERA, 1.229 WHIP, 4.82 FIP, 124 ERA+, and 153 strikeouts in 186.1 innings pitched (33 starts).
That was in line with his previous career numbers which include a 3.38 ERA, 1.288 WHIP, 3.64 FIP, 114 ERA+, 919 strikeouts.
In his career, he has surpassed the 200 innings mark twice and 175 innings five times.
The obstacle that could stand in the way, however, is the Nationals luxury tax issues. They had to pay a small penalty this past season.
If they were to finish above the $189 million line again they would be forced to pay a 30% repeater penalty for every dollar over that number instead of the 20% that teams that were not over the number have to pay.
The Nationals rotation is already strong with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Roark, and Gio Gonzalez leading the way. However, they do not have a clear fifth starter as A.J. Cole, Tommy Milone, and Erick Fedde are expected to compete for the final spot.
As Mike Axisa of CBS Sports points out, Lynn could be comfortable signing with the Nationals as his pitching coach last season, Derek Lilliquist, will be serving in the same position with the club in 2018.
Jon Heyman of the FanRag Sports Network projected the 30-year old to receive a four-year contract worth $56 million at the beginning of the off-season.
