WASHINGTON — When the Nationals traded Drew Storen for Ben Revere, it was clear they were swapping bullpen relief in exchange for a quality outfield replacement for departing center fielder Denard Span, who’s now with the Giants.

What may have been lost is the larger picture of the Nationals’ offseason, which signals somewhat of an identity change from the free-swinging Nats who won two division titles in three years, while also missing the postseason with the same frequency.

First by signing Daniel Murphy, a second baseman by nature who has the experience at other positions to be used as a super-utility player, and then with the acquisition of Revere, the Nationals are securing versatility their lineup has lacked.

Favoring a more balanced lineup this offseason shows Nats GM Mike Rizzo could be moving away from his free-swinging philosophy. Is he adapting toward a more reliable, but less explosive, approach?

There are three schools of thought to consider:

*Rizzo would like to try a more balanced approach *Rizzo is now considering new manager Dusty Baker’s wishes, as he assured he would upon Baker’s hiring *Rizzo has lost some degree of decision-making power within the organization

That last option should be regarded as purely speculative, solely mentioned for the purpose of exhausting all possibilities.

Consider Revere’s interview with 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier on Thursday as possible evidence of the middle option.

“When [Dusty Baker] was coaching with the Reds and kind of my second full season with the Twins, playing interleague play in Cincinnati, I kind of talked to him,” Revere said. By the details given by Revere, this interaction would have occurred in June 2012.

“And when he was there, you know, he was telling me how he was trying his hardest just trying to get me over to play for him with the Reds. So now, I get a chance to actually play for him,” he continued. “I just know he’s a great guy, he’s a great coach. I don’t know how many times he’s been to the playoffs; I’ve been watching baseball my whole life, especially Major League Baseball, and I’ve seen that man in the playoffs almost every year, no matter what team he’s with, the world championships.

“He knows how to prepare his team for the season, let alone how to prepare his team for the playoffs, so we’ve got the players, we’ve got the coach, now it’s just [time] for us to come together and just put a great season — hitting, pitching, whatever — together and hopefully bring a trophy back to the city of D.C. ”

Murphy and Revere are pure contact hitters through and through.

In terms of contact efficiency, Revere is an exact replacement of Span, but a younger, faster version. Span (.352) has gotten on base more frequently in his career than Revere (.328). And Revere lacks the home run power Span possesses, but steals more bases. So the carbon copy replacement theory only goes so far.

Murphy, on the other hand, has more home run power than Yunel Escobar, whom the Nats traded to the Angels for hard-throwing reliever Trevor Gott and minor league reliever Michael Brady. But it may be Murphy’s 88.8 contact percentage, versus Escobar’s 85.1 contact percentage, that makes this series of deals so intriguing.

While Murphy has shown a lesser feel for the strike zone than Escobar over their respective careers, Murphy did show an uptick in contact (91.8%) in 2015, while Escobar’s 84.3 percent contact rate was more representative of his career averages. The sudden spike could prove to be moot, as Murphy had less at-bats in 2015 than in his three previous seasons, but it’s something worth watching.

From trading Escobar and Storen, and acquiring Murphy, in theory the Nats have filled those losses — presuming Gott proves to be a viable relief option — while also replacing Span. They’ve added speed (eventually Trea Turner will contribute more to this dynamic) and maintained defensive flexibility, while losing a little power.

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