Back in April, we learned that the Nationals were looking for help in center field. Today, according to a baseball source close to Bill Ladson of MLB.com, the Nationals are not only looking for a center fielder, but someone who can be a leadoff hitter as well.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post Tweeted that the Nationals inquired with the Astros about Michael Bourn a couple of weeks ago, but the talks didn’t advance much.

The team’s center fielder, has not been productive and according to Ladson they are not getting any production from the leadoff spot either. So a leadoff center fielder could solve both of their problems.

Early in May, the Nationals traded for center fielder Gregor Blanco, but he has not been productive at Triple-A.

Roger Bernadina could be an option although many members inside the organization don’t consider him a center fielder. If they decide to trade Ivan Rodriguez or Todd Coffey they will probably ask for a center fielder with leadoff hitting skills.

As a Venezuelan and big fan of Blanco, he could be a perfect fit as long as he becomes more productive. I’ve seen him play a lot in Venezuela and he has a lot of qualities that identify him as a leadoff hitter.

Besides that, he has a lot of range in the outfield, a powerful arm and a reliable glove. The down side, even though he’s fast, he still has to learn how to jump on pitchers to steal a base and be a little bit more aggressive at the dish so he doesn’t strike out looking that often.

Image by SBoyd under the Creative Commons License.