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Andrew Golden from The Baltimore Banner joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to talk about the Nationals going into the MLB trade deadline and if the team are actually playoff contenders with their current pitching deficiencies.
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00:00Andrew Golden's joining us right now.
00:02Andrew covered the team for the post for a while.
00:05Now is covering the team and more for the Baltimore banner.
00:11You can follow Andrew on X at Andrew C. Golden.
00:16So I want to go back to Sunday's series finale in Sacramento against the A's
00:22and talk about Foster Griffin and the incredible run that he's been on, Andrew.
00:27Eight straight starts of one earned run or less.
00:30That is a record for this franchise he's been unscorable upon.
00:37The eight hits were the most he's given up during the stretch by a long shot.
00:42What makes him so good and what has made him so good this year as a 30-year-old rookie?
00:48Yeah, I think it's really hard as a hitter to choose which of the seven pitches
00:53you're going to prepare for.
00:54I think that's the first thing off the bat.
00:56He throws all of them really well all around the strike zone really effectively
01:00and they all move off of each other very well.
01:02So when he sequences properly and he sets things up,
01:06well, it's really hard for hitters to prepare for.
01:08You think you're ready for his cutter and then he throws a slider.
01:11You think you're ready for a slider and then he throws his cutter.
01:13I think having seven pitches, if you want to think of seven,
01:16you can only throw two well.
01:17If you have seven pitches, you can throw five or six of them pretty effectively
01:20or all seven at the same time really effectively.
01:23It makes it harder to hit and so I think what you're just seeing over this little stretch
01:27is that a lot of his pitches are working.
01:29He's leaning on those and he's having a lot of success.
01:31He's not going to blow you away with velocity.
01:33That's always been his thing.
01:34It's like throw at 90 to 93, which maybe 10 years ago would have been pretty effective
01:39but now that's not really fast anymore in this current MLB.
01:43But I think he just throws all his pitches really well.
01:46What do you think they're going to do with him at the trade deadline?
01:50I think they're going to at least listen on offers.
01:54I think obviously when you've got an expiring contract,
01:56I think you have to listen and see what's out there.
02:00Maybe there's a deal you can't pass up, but this is just my personal opinion,
02:04not fully knowing what direction it'll go.
02:06I think they should see if they can keep him and extend him.
02:09I think at some point you're going to have to sign free agent pitchers
02:14this offseason regardless, so why not re-sign a guy who's had success with you
02:17who you have in the house and who's had success?
02:19I think they should see what's out there.
02:21I'm not saying they shouldn't make a deal if it's something that blows them away
02:24or there's a prospect they really covet they can get in return for him.
02:27But at the same time, I think it'd be good to extend him
02:31and show that there's a commitment to at least spending some money.
02:34They haven't given out a deal over two years since 2020.
02:38I wasn't even covering the team the last time I gave out a contract
02:41in more than two years.
02:44Did we lose Andrew?
02:50Max, did we lose Andrew?
02:52Sounds like we did.
02:53Okay.
02:55You know, we had Grant on the show yesterday talking about Foster Griffin
02:59and he got into the detail of, all right, we've got Andrew back.
03:03We lost you there for a moment.
03:05So maybe just with respect to, you know, you would extend Foster Griffin,
03:10it sounds like.
03:11Do you think they will?
03:13Because, look, he's going to get a contract with the way he's pitched.
03:17He's going to be – he's got a market, doesn't he, in free agency?
03:22I think he does have a market, in free agency.
03:24Yeah, I definitely do.
03:25But I think, obviously, the difficult part is he's, you know,
03:28he's 30 right now.
03:29So, obviously, you know, are you getting him at the peak of your career
03:32and what's the max value you're going to get?
03:33I think if the Nash gave him, like, a three-year deal for, like, you know,
03:37I don't know exactly what the – you know, what comparable contracts
03:40are out there for a 30-year-old rookie who came from Japan, right?
03:43But I think, like, something like three years for 45, you know,
03:47somewhere between 40 and 50, maybe that's an comparable deal,
03:49maybe a little more than that.
03:50So, you know, we'll see if the market is out there.
03:53If the Nashle thinks that, like, he might not come back
03:55because there's a better market out there, then, like, maybe they will trade him
03:58because they think that that's the case.
04:00I think I would just try to extend him if I could.
04:03Overall, what do you think right now they're thinking about the trade deadline?
04:08There are more games to play in this series against Colorado.
04:12People have pointed out, and I agree.
04:14I mean, if you could get the next two here in Denver,
04:17and they're sitting there at 53 and 50, and at that point, I mean,
04:23they're a game out now of the wild card third spot.
04:26Maybe they're in that third spot.
04:29Maybe it changes their thinking.
04:30But what do you think their strategy is right now?
04:34I think their strategy right now is to figure out a way to balance having success
04:39currently in the future.
04:40Like, I don't think you're going to see them go for a full-on buy,
04:43but I also don't think they would engage in a full sell
04:46if they're one game out of the wild card.
04:47I think it sends a bad message to the team if you're going to trade guys
04:50when they're having success, right?
04:51Like, I don't think that's really a good message to send.
04:54But I don't expect them to do some major buy of, like,
04:58trading for three or four relievers,
04:59nor do I think that really makes a ton of sense.
05:01But I don't think this bullpen is one or two relievers away
05:04from being a really good bullpen.
05:05You've seen what happens when they play really good playoff teams.
05:08They play the Phillies. They play the Yankees.
05:10None of the pitchers that came in really hold on to leads that well.
05:13And so I think, you know, if I were them,
05:16I would honestly try to stand pat and make some minor trades on the edges
05:19where you can call up some of your prospects and see what they can do.
05:23But I don't know if I would go for a full sell or a full buy.
05:27I think they perform well enough to deserve the opportunity to compete.
05:31But I also don't know if you want to sell your farm for a team that,
05:35you know, maybe wasn't expected to contend this early
05:38and still have some flaws, obviously, in their bullpen
05:40with their starting pitching rotation.
05:41What do you think about Luis Garcia's season
05:44and the possibility that they move him?
05:47There's been some discussion about that.
05:49Yeah, I think Luis had a great season.
05:52I think, obviously, they've honed in on where he has success
05:56and where the messaging has been with him is clearly clicking.
05:59I think that will make a lot of sense to trade Luis Garcia.
06:02They have Abamelik Ortiz and AAA, and they have Johanny Morales.
06:06They have options behind Luis.
06:07And so I think that's a situation where, to what I was just mentioning,
06:11if you can trade a guy who may not be a part of your future
06:16and you can bring up some prospects and give them the opportunity
06:19to prove themselves, I think that's an opportunity where that makes sense.
06:21I think the same thing with starting pitching rotation.
06:23If they're expiring contracts that they can trade
06:25and try to call some guys up to fill the spots,
06:28I think they should do that.
06:29So I think Luis would be a really good example of a guy
06:32who I think that they should try to shop and see what teams are willing to take on.
06:37You don't want to force a trade, but I think he'd be a guy
06:39that would make a ton of sense to trade.
06:40I think he's probably the guy who makes probably the most sense to trade, I think.
06:43Obviously, CJ and Foster Griffin are the main ones,
06:45but I think Luis makes a ton of sense in terms of a guy
06:49who can get really good value for, who's playing really good baseball right now.
06:52You know, Andrew, the conversation is totally reasonable.
06:56You, who I had Grant on yesterday, Tommy is on my podcast twice a week, Levero,
07:02and everybody kind of views it the same way,
07:05which is this has been a really nice competitive season.
07:08It's been unexpected.
07:09They're the, you know, leading run total team in the bigs.
07:14They are very good offensively, which is completely out of left field.
07:19And I take a step back from that.
07:21And I look at it and I say, that is, of course, the balance between trying to remain competitive.
07:26You pointed out something that's very important, and that is if you start trading off pieces
07:32that have helped you get to 51-50, what does that say to, you know, James Wood
07:38and some of the other players, CJ Abrams, if he doesn't get dealt,
07:42about how you're viewing the rest of the year?
07:44But when I think about it organizationally, this is a team that since 2019 has been terrible.
07:50They had the worst luck, right, ever with COVID striking the year after they won the World Series
07:55with respect to the business of the team.
07:58You've got owners that have been looking to sell it, but we know those owners.
08:01They're not going to sell it for a penny less than what they think it's worth.
08:07And this opportunity is good for the business of the team.
08:13It's good for sort of the morale of this, you know, the fan base, which has sort of diminished here
08:21in recent years.
08:22Can you afford not to go for it if you're sitting in the business chairs of this organization?
08:31That's a good question.
08:33I think you can.
08:35I think it's really interesting.
08:37I think reading into Paul Saboni's comments that he said before, where he's like,
08:42I haven't been here before, so I can't necessarily speak to what's happened before.
08:45I can only speak to what it is now.
08:47I don't know if he feels the weight of the past six years and the way that a lot of
08:52fans do.
08:53But I think that what this has been has been a really exciting time for fans to think about what
08:57could potentially come.
08:59And that's why I think, like, you can, like, let's not forget, like, this team still is the best offense
09:04in baseball.
09:05I think that there's a potential they could hit themselves into a wild card spot in the season.
09:11They keep playing where they're playing, right?
09:12And with two good starters, with two decent starters in Griffin and Cavalli, in a short series, they'd have a
09:19chance.
09:20Right, right.
09:21And so I just don't think that you can go – you definitely – I don't think if they keep
09:26trending the way they are,
09:27that you can afford to go on a full-on, we're going to sell people off this roster.
09:33We're going to trade Foster Griffin, those sorts of things.
09:35Right.
09:36But I do think, like, the ceiling of the team – I just don't know if, like, if they get
09:40into a series.
09:41Yeah, in a series, they can win a series right against – you know, as a wild card, against a
09:45three-seater or whatever it is.
09:47But if they go up against the Dodgers or at Brewers or at Phillies, like, I just don't know how
09:52well they stack up against those – or the Braves.
09:55Like, I just don't know how well they stack up against those teams.
09:57And I guess that's where my hesitation is of, like, I just don't know if it's worth it to go
10:01on for a full buy either.
10:04But from a business perspective, like, I think they can.
10:07I think what happened this year has been, like, the fans are really excited about the fact that, like, oh,
10:11like, the coaching staff has improved the players this much.
10:14And I think that's enough of a buy-in, I think, for fans to be like, okay, now we can
10:17get really excited, you know, about what's to come in the future.
10:20Now I think it turns to, you know, this offseason of, like, okay, like, was this a fluke or is
10:25this team legitimately an opportunity to be the same offense as last year?
10:28And if that's the case, like, you have to spin on your bullpen, you have to bring in some legitimate
10:32pieces to help out if both the team and the organization believe they can compete.
10:37So I think the business question is less of a decision that right now is this offseason, like, are you
10:42really going to invest to make this team good?
10:43Or are you going to let this, like, positive momentum kind of flame off, you know, after a really good
10:49year?
10:50By the way, what do you think of Cosgrove's pitching here for them recently out of the bullpen?
10:58Yeah, I think he threw 10 pitches yesterday over two innings.
11:00Like, that was a pretty impressive outing.
11:03Yeah, he's been good.
11:05And I think that also speaks to, you know, in terms of buying or selling, the Nationals have been making
11:10moves to get bullpen arms with every possible waiver claim.
11:14So I do still see some fight from the front office of, like, making minor moves to try to help
11:19improve the bullpen.
11:20And so I don't think they're in a full, like, you know, white flag, we don't care.
11:23They are trying, but I think they're making moves to try without mortgaging their future.
11:28And so I think that they're actually towing the line about as well as you can.
11:32But I think that obviously if the team continues to, you know, play over 500 and, you know, like, you're
11:37going to have to make some moves.
11:38Like, it's like a class grow over or make some moves to try to see if they can make a
11:42push without doing anything too crazy, you know?
11:44I think your point about, you know, this is the word I would use.
11:50If they ended up, you know, moving Garcia, moving Foster Griffin, it would be a bit deflating to that clubhouse.
11:58It would be deflating to the fan base too if you're saying, yeah, but just wait.
12:05Wait until 2028.
12:06Wait until 2029 with what we're getting with these prospects.
12:09Which, by the way, as we know, there are no guarantees on that.
12:13And in a market like this one, which does not treat its baseball team, the owners don't, like it's in
12:19Boston or L.A. or New York.
12:22I just think that you can't, you know, you can't turn away from an opportunity.
12:29And I think the intriguing part about the opportunity is the fact that offensively, they would be scary in a
12:36short series.
12:37They would.
12:39Yeah.
12:39Yeah, they would because they're the best offense in baseball.
12:42Like, no one wants to face the best offense in baseball in the playoffs.
12:45Like, you know, if you take the team out of it and you said to somebody, do you want to
12:49face the best offense in baseball?
12:50They would say in the playoffs, they'd say absolutely not.
12:52Not a short game season.
12:53Right.
12:55Yeah.
12:58Do I have you, Andrew?
12:59Or did we lose you again?
13:01Me?
13:02I think we got him back.
13:04All right.
13:04So, I guess my last question to you would just be this.
13:09We're sitting here with a lot of, you know, you know, they've exceeded expectations, a lot of good feeling about
13:18this team and certain players on the team that have emerged totally unexpectedly.
13:22Foster Griffin being number one on that list.
13:26What are the chances a month from now it's the same conversation, that they are very much in the thick
13:32of it?
13:35Yeah, well, like, I think that, like, Kevin, can you repeat that question one more time?
13:41I'm sorry.
13:42Go ahead.
13:43Can you repeat the question one more time?
13:44Yeah, just essentially saying, look, you know, there are 61 games left, and this could still end up being, you
13:51know, a sub-500 team when all is said and done.
13:54And the competition gets a little stiffer here, right?
13:57I mean, they've got a four-game set in Atlanta.
14:00They've got a four-game set in Philadelphia.
14:02You know, will we enter, say, the month of September with, like, a legitimate feeling like the last month of
14:09the season is meaningful?
14:10They've got a shot to contend for that third wild-card spot.
14:15I think so, because I think that ultimately, like, they have the – again, I keep going back to the
14:21best offense in baseball.
14:22I think the best offense in baseball, they have Foster Griffin and Kate Cavalli, who I think are two, you
14:27know, two solid, you know, rotation pieces.
14:30And I think that their schedule isn't, like – it's not, like, a bear per se.
14:34And I think it's a fairly reasonable schedule.
14:35So I think we could get to that spot.
14:36And I think it comes down to, like, you know, how well they're performing, you know, down the stretch in
14:41September.
14:41But I look at their schedule.
14:43It doesn't – obviously, they have a big series against the Braves and the Phillies.
14:46But I think if they can hold their own, I think you're looking at – that they could have the
14:50opportunity, you know, coming in September to make some noise.
14:53But I just think that their division is really tough.
14:55And they have a lot of division games down the stretch.
14:57They're going to have to really be able to compete against those division teams.
14:59I think in August they play the Phillies, the Mets.
15:02I think they play every team in their division in August, right?
15:04And so I think that would be really telling to see how much –
15:0717th toughest remaining schedule according to Tankathon in baseball.
15:11Right, right.
15:11So, like, it's a fairly reasonable schedule.
15:13But they do have some tough opponents coming up.
15:15So we'll kind of see how they manage all of this.
15:17Andrew, thanks for doing this.
15:18Really appreciate it.
15:20Absolutely.
15:20Thanks for having me on.
15:21Andrew's with the Baltimore banner right now at Andrew C. Golden on X.
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