WASHINGTON — One week has passed since The Athletic released its trade deadline tiers, in which we placed the Washington Nationals in the “hinge” category.Almost nothing I have heard or seen over the last week has changed my feelings on the matter. The team is still hovering just above .500, without a big break in one direction or the other. The list of possible targets at the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline feels endless. I’d say that optionality is a good thing for the organization. For you all, I’ve gathered, it means there are a lot of questions about the deadline. I did my best to answer them.(Note: Questions have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.)Why this July will be an exciting month for MLBKen Rosenthal and Johnny SweetWho are some intriguing bullpen options the Nationals could go after? — Joshua S.Jim Bowden presented a handful of names this week, most of whom are low-cost options with a lot of control and not much experience: Colorado Rockies righty Seth Halvorsen, San Francisco Giants righty Keaton Winn and Los Angeles Angels righties Chase Silseth and Sam Bachman.Bowden also floated Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela, who has two years of control, though the $14 million club option for 2027 makes one wonder whether the Nationals would view him as more of a one-year rental. Kyle Finnegan (two years, $17.65 million) intrigues me, too.Ultimately, Bachman is my favorite from the list: Lots of whiff, lots of control, lots of stuff, some late-inning experience. Generally speaking, I like the idea of their targeting names from that first group, since it would keep the contention window open for a while, and relievers are volatile. It would also be wise to engage with teams that would agree to a strength-for-strength trade. For example, if a team with plentiful pitching depth, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners or New York Yankees, were open to trading a Triple-A arm and wanted someone in return whom Washington is more bearish on, I could see the two sides engaging. The limited number of true sellers complicates things.That said, I have to imagine a lot of you would prefer the team to acquire a shutdown or shutdown-ish arm with experience this season and then figure out the rest later. I don’t entirely agree, but the frustration is fair — the Nationals have the worst ERA from the eighth inning on this year. Maybe Detroit Tigers righty Drew Anderson or Kansas City Royals lefty Matt Strahm fits that mold.Is the bullpen fixable at the trade deadline? What would it take to get multiple bullpen pieces like the (Sean) Doolittle and (Ryan) Madson trade of several years ago? — Ray M.Not in one month. Can they get someone who will shore up the ninth at a reasonable cost? I wouldn’t put the odds over 50 percent, but I would not rule it out — and I wouldn’t have even entertained it two months ago. Going after multiple proven bullpen players is much harder, and perhaps unwise, given they don’t want to dip too much into the farm system.Foster Griffin: trade or extend? — Jeremiah O.If you’re asking me which is more likely, it’s trade. The following is generally true for players across MLB: Griffin has lots of incentive to test the open market and see how much he would make with 30 teams after his services. An extension limits negotiations to one team. He would be getting some cost certainty with an extension, though.CJ Abrams has been the best offensive shortstop in baseball this season. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images)If the Nationals trade (CJ) Abrams, what kind of package are we looking at? Something similar to (MacKenzie) Gore? What teams would be in play, and what kind of prospects do you see (Paul) Toboni targeting? — alexandermbauerIt would have to be a better package than what they got for MacKenzie Gore, which was pretty strong to begin with. Position players are generally more valuable than pitchers (lower injury risk, and they play every day), CJ Abrams has more control than Gore did (2 1/2 years, compared with two when Gore was traded), and Abrams is now a two-time All-Star who has been the best offensive shortstop in MLB this year (though the defensive metrics are still not where he’d want them to be).