Can Nationals still trade for Andrew McCutchen

There have been reports that the Nationals are very likely to land Chris Sale from the White Sox. In the reported return would be top outfield prospect Victor Robles, top pitching prospect Lucas Giolito, and probably a bit more. Now, we don't know the full deal just yet, but it doesn't appear that Reynaldo Lopez, Joe Ross, and some other big pieces the Nationals have will not be included in the trade. So the question now becomes, can the Nationals still find a way to land Andrew McCutchen?

Pirates have been said to want Victor Robles in the McCutchen trade this whole time and seemed almost insistent on it. But now that it looks like Robles is going to the White Sox, it would seem that a trade between the two teams just won't work. Well, the whole point of these things is to compromise on a good baseball trade, and the Nationals still have some very intriguing pieces to offer. 

Some of these pieces are Lopez, Ross, Stevenson, Ward, Voth, Severino, Fedde, Cole, Glover, and others. Some of these pieces may go to White Sox for Sale, but even then, the Nationals might have the pieces to make it work. 

Towards the top of the Pirates list would certainly be Lopez or Ross. Both are young and controllable and can fill into rotation for a long time. Lopez would be easier to get off the Nationals as they likely would want known commodity in Ross in the rotation. 

However, is it possible the Pirates ask for both Ross and Lopez? I mean, for the Pirates, it would make sense. It would give them rotation stability for a long time, and in the modern pitching market, that cannot be overstated. Would the Nationals do it is the real question. As previously stated, Nationals probably want to hold onto one or the other, likely Ross but could likely absorb blow of losing both with Scherzer, Sale, Strasburg, Gonzalez, Cole, and Voth as all guys that could have rotation spots. That kind of rotation would still give the Nationals a real chance to win a lot of games. 

If Nationals are reluctant to part with both, they still have a lot of good pieces to offer. Stevenson is an OF prospect the Pirates could like, Fedde is a nice pitching prospect, they have a bevy of catching prospects (though the Pirates don't need that), 3B prospect Drew Ward might be intriguing, Glover could very well be a future closer and the Nationals love him, and 2B/SS prospect Wilmer Difo is also a good piece as well. Nationals are deep and have many more good pieces than they let on. 

There is a lot to pick from in the Nats system, but talks would start at Ross or Lopez. The reports of Nationals thinking they could get both McCutchen and Sale might not be far off because it looks like they might just be able to. Not having Robles in trade complicates things and might lead Nationals to be just short on McCutchen trade, if they are, but they can still put together a pretty good offer for a superstar center fielder.