00:00I mentioned earlier that I get a daily email from Major League Baseball,
00:04just news and notes.
00:05I just enjoy reading through what's going on around the league.
00:07Dude, the Red Sox have won 13 in a row, and the Orioles have won 7 in a row,
00:11and I believe they play tonight at Fenway.
00:15But the headline, 12 trade targets to watch with deadline two weeks away.
00:19The first two players mentioned in this article are C.J. Abrams,
00:23who's under club control through 28, and Foster Griffin,
00:26who's a free agent after this season.
00:28I'm reading now from MLB.
00:31The Nationals are in a tricky spot at 49-50 entering Sunday.
00:35They were only three games out of a wild card spot,
00:39so being a seller would be a bad sign to both the players in the clubhouse
00:43and the fan base.
00:44But first-year president of baseball operations, Paul Taboni,
00:48is also thinking long-term, and given the seasons both Abrams and Griffin are having,
00:53both would generate great interest if they were made available.
00:57How Washington plays over the next 10 days could be the deciding factor
01:01in the way Taboni approaches the deadline.
01:04Now, update, they won last night, so they're 50-50.
01:07They have three tonight in Colorado before they're home for the weekend.
01:13Two other notes, two other things I saw that caught my interest.
01:18Grant Paulson from Grant and Danny in the afternoons had a tweet where he spoke with Taboni,
01:24I think on his MLB network show, and asked him about the trade deadline.
01:31Taboni said,
01:31We're going to see how these next 15 days play out.
01:35A lot can change.
01:36We're going to be really prepared.
01:38Everything is on the table.
01:40I think that's interesting.
01:42Then, Barry Sreluga, friend of the program.
01:45Barry, as wired into that Nationals clubhouse as anybody.
01:50Barry, this was this morning, tweeted out,
01:54The trade deadline is two weeks from today.
01:57The Nats could go all sorts of directions.
01:59But what about this?
02:01Hey, Foster Griffin, here's a three-year deal for $45 million to cover us $27, $28, $29.
02:08Who says no?
02:11Now, the replies to this are hysterical.
02:15Remember our friend Tim Murray?
02:17Tim Murray responded to Barry.
02:19Barry asked the question,
02:20Who says no?
02:22Tim Murray said,
02:23The Learners.
02:24My guy Chris Williams, Slim CVA, said,
02:27The Learners say no instantly.
02:29Until proven otherwise,
02:30I will not believe for a second that these Nepo babies care about their father's baseball team
02:34more than they care about building another mall 30 minutes from Nats Park.
02:37That's probably a little personal and critical.
02:40But,
02:42if
02:44we got a press release two blocks away,
02:47passing,
02:48you name your baseball reporter,
02:49Stallion, locked on Nats,
02:51maybe he breaks the scoop.
02:53If
02:54they were able to announce a Foster Griffin contract extension,
02:59I can't imagine anything
03:03that would
03:06invigorate this fan base more.
03:08Like,
03:09yo,
03:09we're actually gonna,
03:10we found this dude,
03:11he's awesome all of a sudden,
03:12we're gonna pay him and keep him.
03:14That would dramatically shift the entire conversation.
03:17Yeah.
03:19If you pay Griffin,
03:20then people aren't gonna ask,
03:21are you gonna trade CJ?
03:23Are you gonna trade Luis Garcia?
03:24Mm-hmm.
03:25I don't think it'll happen though.
03:27But I wonder for Barry to throw that out there,
03:31maybe there's a conversation.
03:33Can you,
03:34we can't give them much benefit of the doubt.
03:36So,
03:36Boney deserves a lot,
03:38because he just got here.
03:39Mm-hmm.
03:39He's running a new operation,
03:40and the results have been very encouraging.
03:45Are you in a position,
03:47are you willing to give ownership
03:50any benefit of the doubt
03:51that maybe this time,
03:52it really is different,
03:54they're back willing to invest?
03:56No.
03:58Me either, man.
03:59I just,
04:00listen, man,
04:00the whole thing about,
04:01until you start doing it,
04:02I'm not willing to give it to you.
04:03But the ultimate thing is,
04:05is when certain people put stuff out,
04:07they're hearing some stuff.
04:09And maybe,
04:10just maybe,
04:10because of some of the,
04:12uh,
04:15success we've had,
04:16and you see the things moving
04:17in a positive direction,
04:18maybe,
04:19just maybe they go,
04:19well,
04:20let's be behind these guys for a bit,
04:21and let's see what happens.
04:25Which I hope.
04:27I,
04:28I want to be wrong,
04:30and I want there to be an announcement
04:33that they,
04:34there was talk two years ago,
04:37two springs ago,
04:38about a CJ contract extension,
04:40right?
04:41And that's obviously gone nowhere.
04:44I think if you're to Boney,
04:48like,
04:49to me,
04:50CJ's a different conversation.
04:52That means a starting short,
04:53starting all-star shortstop.
04:58Maybe you hold out hope to extend him,
05:01right?
05:02But Griffin,
05:04and Luis Garcia,
05:06Garcia is just,
05:07I mean,
05:08he had a month stretch
05:09where he was the hottest hitter in baseball.
05:11True,
05:11true.
05:11Like,
05:12to me,
05:13those are pieces,
05:17unless you get,
05:17so Grant,
05:18also in his interview with T'Boney said,
05:21T'Boney wouldn't get into it,
05:23they talked about an extension with Foster Griffin,
05:25but said,
05:25that's something we think about in a broader sense with several players.
05:29Said Griffin is a big one,
05:31talking about possible extensions.
05:35If you can get an extension done,
05:37it would be so great for the baseball fans in this city.
05:40Yeah.
05:41It would give them a reason to believe that the learners are back spending like they used to when they
05:45were good.
05:46Yeah.
05:47See,
05:47that's where I've been the whole time with this thing where when we talked last week,
05:50buy a sale,
05:51and I'm like,
05:51I'm not,
05:52I'm not willing to just all of a sudden just start getting rid of pieces and say,
05:57Oh,
05:57get prospects.
05:58You get prospects.
05:59No,
05:59that doesn't guarantee nothing either.
06:02I like to have some level of a nucleus and something that you're building upon to make the thing better.
06:08I don't like to get to a point,
06:09then pull back.
06:10You see one positive and then we got to drop it off on another.
06:13We go,
06:14okay,
06:14we,
06:14they're hitting it good,
06:15but we have no pitching.
06:17Let's go get some prospects.
06:19How often does that just automatically work?
06:22Top pitchers around baseball are making 30 million plus Griffin.
06:27Now it's a short sample size has competed at that level.
06:32I'm not sure he's going to sign 15 per,
06:35but like one thing we know in the NFL,
06:38always cheaper to do it today than it is tomorrow.
06:40Yeah.
06:40The price only goes up.
06:42What if he keeps dealing the second half of the year?
06:4425.
06:44Fairfax.
06:46Ronald is in Fairfax.
06:49Ronald,
06:50two weeks to the trade deadline.
06:51What do you think?
06:53I think that CJ and Foster Griffin will look great in Dodgers jerseys.
06:57I mean,
06:57I have no hope at all in the learners to do anything.
07:02And this is why I haven't gone to a game in about four or five years.
07:05I mean,
07:06there's,
07:06there's no reason to,
07:08they're,
07:08they're overperforming,
07:09but once they all want to get paid,
07:12they're going to get traded or they're going to get,
07:14you know,
07:14go sign somewhere else.
07:16So really what's the point until the learners sell?
07:19It's really depressing.
07:21It is depressing.
07:22And I hope you're wrong,
07:23but I fear you're right.
07:24He's in a position of,
07:26he's not going to be excited about nothing today.
07:27So I think that's wrong too.
07:29You can be excited about watching the games.
07:31No,
07:31I'm saying people get to that point.
07:33Then hell what way yet then that's where we were with the skins for the
07:39last 10 years.
07:40I mean,
07:40I think so many fans were burnt out by Snyder.
07:43Yeah.
07:43Fans were burnt out by him.
07:44They still fell for the players and wanted to see them succeed.
07:48Do you,
07:50I think it'd be pretty shocking,
07:51but if over the next week,
07:54a tweet comes out,
07:56the Nats have agreed to a two-year contract extension with Foster Griffin,
08:00paying him 16 mil a season.
08:02That gives that dude $32 million in the bank,
08:05real life security,
08:06and it would give him another crack at free agency at what?
08:0932.
08:11What do you think that the chances are?
08:14That we get surprised by the,
08:17by a really positive move for the Nats.
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