Rizzo confident about future of De Los Santos, Bostick

WASHINGTON -- During the Winter Meetings, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was able to acquire right-hander Abel De Los Santos and infielder Chris Bostick from the Rangers for left-hander Ross Detwiler.

Rizzo said the Nationals scouted the two Minor Leaguers heavily before the trade. Bostick has hit .270 with 29 home runs in his short career, but Rizzo believes the power is going to come.

"He is an athletic player, he runs well, he has a good arm. He has a good enough arm to play short," Rizzo said at NatsFest. "He is a versatile athlete that can play both short and second base."

De Los Santos is a starter turned reliever. Ever since he went to the bullpen, his velocity "has spiked," according to Rizzo. Last year, De Los Santos had a combined 1.92 ERA for Class A Hickory and Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach.

"We feel he is a guy that could come [up] fairly quickly," Rizzo said.

The Nationals traded Detwiler because they have left-handed depth in the bullpen. The team has Xavier Cedeno and Matt Grace on the 40-man roster.

"I thought it was good to acquire two good prospects for a player that was going to leave after the season," Rizzo said referring to Detwiler being a free agent after the 2015 season.

The Nationals have to deal with the fact that they still have five players -- Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister, Ian Desmond, Tyler Clippard and Denard Span -- who could exit after the 2015 season. Rizzo said he talks to the players all the time, but never about financial matters. Rizzo has an open dialogue with the agents. But Rizzo, for example, hasn't s spoken with Zimmermann's agent, Mark Pieper, since the Winter Meetings.

Rizzo has also let it be known that he is willing to trade those potential free agents at the right price.