- 16 hours ago
Tobi and BMitch believe the Nationals need to strike the iron while it's hot and go for it in a year the offense has been the best in baseball.
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00:00Do you think there is a way for the Nationals to buy and sell at the trade deadline?
00:06Paul Zaboni was on with the Junkies yesterday and talked about thinking they have a real shot at the postseason.
00:16I think that's why Nats fans are so intrigued by what they're going to do at the deadline,
00:21is they feel like there is a chance they could maybe go on a run.
00:24So here's Paul Zaboni yesterday on with the Junks, saying that he thinks they do have a shot at going
00:29to the postseason.
00:30I think we got a real shot.
00:32And, man, that goes, you know, independent of what we do at the deadline, right?
00:38Like, it's what I keep going back to in my mind is with this offense, right,
00:45I think that, you know, if you buy, if you sell, if you thread the needle in some way, I
00:51think we got a real shot.
00:52And, you know, I'm obviously biased because I got personal attachments to all these guys.
00:59And so on and so forth.
01:01But no matter what we do at the deadline, I really think that this team can make a run because,
01:06yeah,
01:07I believe in the folks in the clubhouse, both the staff and players.
01:11And, yeah, I'm excited to see how they play down the stretch.
01:15Okay, well, I'm thinking they need to be doing this right here.
01:19Threading the needle.
01:20Yeah.
01:21Try to figure it out, man.
01:22Yeah.
01:23And that's the difficult decision they're going to have to make.
01:25I don't envy him being in that spot because it is difficult.
01:28If they completely sell, they're not making no damn postseason.
01:31No.
01:31And that's the thing.
01:32If you sell, you kind of end that route.
01:34But it is good to hear him.
01:35He can't really say anything differently necessarily.
01:37But it is good to hear him say, this offense is special, man.
01:40We can't just squander this and not try something.
01:42Yeah.
01:43Yeah.
01:43Let's get out to Kurt in Ashburn.
01:45Kurt, do you think there's a way that they could buy and sell at the deadline?
01:50Good morning, Jeff.
01:52Obviously, there's a way they could do both.
01:54But the most salient issues for me, alphanumeric issues for me, are 78 COPD HF.
02:03I'm 78 years old.
02:04I've got COPD and a heart murmur.
02:06They've got to win now for me, guys.
02:08I may not be around for the future.
02:10Now, here's the other thing.
02:12One way to address this is I have not heard anybody address.
02:16But do you folks remember or are aware of a guy named Dennis Eckersley?
02:20Yeah.
02:21Yeah.
02:22Oh, yeah.
02:22Yeah.
02:23Well, he was a lights-out relief guy, closer, in Oakland.
02:28But in Boston, he was a starter.
02:30He was good, but he wasn't top-notch.
02:32And I heard him talk about that.
02:34And he said, when they just see me once, I can get them all out.
02:38It's the second and third time, John, I had problems.
02:40So he became a lights-out closer.
02:42If we could identify somebody on the starting staff who may have to be moved anyway when
02:48somebody comes back, that might be the answer.
02:51All right.
02:52Yeah.
02:52Appreciate the phone call, Kurt.
02:53I like that, looking outside the box.
02:55So one of the interesting things is they do have some guys coming back, potentially.
03:00Now, a couple of them have dealt with setbacks.
03:02But they do have pitchers in the organization that could help them.
03:05Trevor Williams is on the road back.
03:07Could he help you out of the bullpen?
03:09It's not like he's a flamethrower by any means, but he can give you a couple solid innings.
03:14He's shown that for the Nationals over the last couple of seasons when he's been on the
03:17mound.
03:17He can be solid at times.
03:19DJ Herz dealt with a setback.
03:21It's unfortunate, because I do think he could have helped them out of the pen.
03:24Josiah Gray is another one that's dealing with an injury, trying to come back from that.
03:28He had a setback.
03:29No, Jeff still couldn't hit his fastball.
03:31But I think Josiah Gray is someone that maybe could have helped this team out.
03:34So it's a difficult spot for them to be in, where they've got to make a decision.
03:39And one of the reasons I think this makes their decision maybe a little bit easier, even
03:43though it's still difficult figuring out, it's so obvious what the fix is.
03:48You don't have to think about it.
03:49It's like, do we need a left-handed bat, or do we need an outfielder?
03:51No, no.
03:52You need pitching.
03:52You need pitching.
03:53Pitching, pitching.
03:54Like, starting pitching, relief pitching, any pitching.
03:56Any type of pitching.
03:57Yeah.
03:58Anything that starts with a P.
03:59Let's get out to Calvin in Rockville.
04:01Calvin, what's going on?
04:03How's it going, guys?
04:05Going well, man.
04:07Yeah, you hit it on the head.
04:09Pitching, pitching.
04:11If we had an eighth-inning guy and a closer, we could have won half the games that we gave
04:19up in the eighth and the ninth inning.
04:21It's so frustrating to sit there and watch a game, especially the late games, and we're
04:27winning and dominating, and then we get to the eighth or ninth inning, and we give it
04:32up.
04:32Yeah.
04:33We are so deep in other positions.
04:36We're deep in the farm club.
04:38We've got, if some of these pitchers that are coming back can pitch, especially in the
04:44bullpen for a closer, then maybe we don't have to sell.
04:48But we definitely need to buy.
04:51We need to get a pitcher.
04:52If we can get a guy who can get us this year and maybe even at least next year, maybe
04:59that'll
04:59convince our other pitchers that are thinking about leaving.
05:08Hey, maybe we'll stick around.
05:10We'll sign, and we'll stick around, because these guys are serious.
05:13Yeah.
05:14Appreciate the phone call, Calvin.
05:15Yeah.
05:16The message you're sending, you want people to receive it as, just like people looking
05:22at the Wiz.
05:23They're like, oh, yeah, they're building something here.
05:25You can understand.
05:27You need to start filling that with the Naps.
05:29Well, and one of the reasons that I've been more prone to say they should buy or make some
05:34moves is, Bemich, you look at it, and I laid out some names that could potentially
05:38help them next season, but it's not like they have standout guys.
05:41If they traded for someone that is going to be under contract for 27, maybe even 28,
05:47they're going to need pitching in 2027.
05:49They're still going to need pitching in 2028.
05:51It's not like magically they're going to go into the offseason, and everything's going to
05:55fix itself, and they're going to get pitching.
05:56True.
05:56So, I think this offense, maybe it doesn't lead the sport every year in runs.
06:01Maybe they take a step back, but I think this offense, you've seen just with the way
06:05the staff works, and James Wood being one of the best players in baseball, I think they're
06:09going to be good year in, year out.
06:10The pitching, they just don't necessarily have guys that are going to take that leap to suddenly
06:15be big leaguers in the next year.
06:16It doesn't look like it, but the pitching I'm talking about, but the hitting is right.
06:22Like, you know, early in this year, people were questioning things about James.
06:25He worked it out, which tells you the dude knows how to figure it, and what they're doing
06:31now, but you've got to find a way.
06:33Like, I've always said the best support for a pitcher is great run support.
06:40Well, the great support for run support is great pitching.
06:45You know, you score an 8-10 and lose?
06:49That's ridiculous.
06:50They should never be like that.
06:52They've got to find a way.
06:53Yeah, if they had a middle-of-the-road pitching staff, this would be a totally different decision
06:56for them to make.
06:57800-636-106-7, do you think there's a way the Nats could buy and sell?
07:01So, Paul Tiboni was asked basically that exact question by the junkies yesterday.
07:05Here's Tiboni once again saying, there is a way in which they could do a little bit of both.
07:12Yeah, I do.
07:13That's not to say it's what we're going to do, but I do.
07:15Yeah.
07:15Yeah, I mean, like I said, who knows how we thread the needle if we do end up selling a
07:23couple pieces and then buy a couple other pieces or, you know, no matter how it shakes
07:29out.
07:29Like, I believe in the team, and I think we do have a chance to make a run.
07:37They're going to thread the needle.
07:39Yeah, and that's what I'm interested to see.
07:41It's too flowy out of his mouth to think he has not already been discussing this.
07:46Well, and that's the tough part, too.
07:48When you talk about organizations that are so analytical, you know, one of the knocks
07:53on them a lot of times is they lack the feel, specifically in-game things, right?
07:57You go back to the Rays in the 2020 World Series and pulling Blake Snell.
08:01I think that's the biggest high-profile example.
08:03We've seen a couple examples this season with the Nationals pulling pitchers that you're
08:06like, really?
08:07You know, and sometimes it works out, but other times it blows up in your face.
08:11I feel like for an organization that's so analytical, even in the front office, is there the correct
08:17feel of, hey, this team's in a playoff race versus, hey, this is kind of what our plan was
08:23before the season?
08:24No matter what position you're in, everybody wants to look good and feel good about something.
08:31And you also have certain standards you have to reach to get to a certain point.
08:37And him looking at this offense right now, if he's human, he's thinking, we got to find
08:43a way to capitalize on this while we got it going.
08:47I don't care how analytical you are, you can't be thinking, oh, man, we got to just get rid
08:52of everybody on the pitching side and just try to work on some stuff for the future.
08:55No, hell no.
08:57That makes him look smart.
08:59Everything he said about the hitting has worked.
09:01Yeah.
09:02Makes him look smarter, right?
09:03You win some games, but to get into the playoff, you make him look even smarter.
09:07That's how you get extensions.
09:09That's how you stay around a long time.
09:11And analytical or not, human being, we all want to be satisfied.
09:16We all want people to praise us when we do something good.
09:20So, real quick, here's some of the names that they have to consider.
09:23Realistically, I think they have three guys with real value.
09:26And you kind of got to decide what you're going to do with those three guys.
09:30C.J. Abrams.
09:31Yeah.
09:31I don't think they're moving him.
09:33I think you'd agree with that, right?
09:34Like, he's off the table.
09:35I think at this point he's proven that he needs to be here.
09:39Yeah.
09:39So, C.J.'s not going anywhere.
09:40Here's the two interesting names.
09:42Luis Garcia Jr. is having a career year.
09:45He's already got a career high in homers.
09:46He's been one of the best hitters at the first base position in the National League.
09:51Could have been an all-star with how hot he's been over the last, basically,
09:53month and a half, two months.
09:55I think there is a route in which they could sell him and still improve.
09:59So, they've got a guy in AAA right now, Abby Ortiz,
10:02that he made his Major League debut against the Yankees in the Sunday game.
10:05Came up was one for two with a double in the left center field gap.
10:08He, I think, could step in and not give you the level of Luis Garcia Jr.
10:13at first base in terms of hitting,
10:14but could give you a pretty above-average, let's say, output as a bat.
10:20But if you could get a reliever,
10:22if you could give me an above-average bat, Abby Ortiz, and a reliever,
10:26I think that might be better than Luis.
10:28So, that could maybe be a way in which they could, quote-unquote, sell,
10:31but it's more of a lateral type of move.
10:34Yeah, yeah.
10:34If I can keep, get close to what I'm getting, or the hitting,
10:39and a reliever, I'd take it every day.
10:43Yeah. So, I think that's a way in which Nats fans would look at that,
10:46depending upon what they get back.
10:48If they don't get, you know, they're not getting a role as Chapman
10:51or something like that, and the Red Sox are no longer selling.
10:53But if they get a big-time name, maybe they look at it a little bit differently.
10:56But if you get a reliever that fans aren't as keen to know,
10:59they might look at that as a sell-type move.
11:01I think that fits into the buy, sell, trade category.
11:04I think the most polarizing name,
11:06and the one that they're going to have to make the toughest decision on here,
11:08is Foster Griffin.
11:09So, he's going to be a free agent after this year.
11:11I would bet that they're trying to get some stuff done with him.
11:15Paul Tiboni was asked about it by the junks.
11:17He was kind of coy on that.
11:19Griffin at the All-Star Game was asked by Grant about it,
11:21and he said that they haven't had any preliminary discussions
11:23about an extension or anything.
11:25But no one expected this guy to be one of the best pitchers
11:28in the National League this year when they brought him over.
11:30Probably not even him.
11:31Probably not.
11:32And yet he is, right?
11:34He's done something that no other pitcher in Nats history,
11:36Scherzer, Strasburg, Geo, Corbin, Jordan Zimmerman.
11:41No one's ever gone eight straight starts with one or fewer earned runs.
11:45And that's what he's on the streak of right now.
11:47Do you think that they could trade him?
11:50Because that, to me, is if you move off of Foster Griffin,
11:52even though you might acquire another reliever,
11:55you ain't making the postseason.
11:57That dude's your only reliable starter.
11:58You know what I've said the whole time was you don't want to deplete
12:04the pitching completely.
12:05You want to try and add on to it.
12:07And if you've got somebody that's already cooking,
12:10give him some other pieces.
12:11You get rid of him, then you've dug yourself into a deeper hole.
12:16I feel that way.
12:17If you've got someone that's already playing,
12:20you bring some extra help in that make you better quicker.
12:23But if you get rid of him, too, then think you're going to build it,
12:25it ain't happening.
12:26Not real quick.
12:27I think the tough part for the Foster Griffin decision,
12:30the Tigers have to make a similar decision with Tarek Scooble.
12:33Tarek Scooble's the top guy on the market
12:34and could arguably get one of the best hauls ever for a rental.
12:38I don't think you're getting that for Foster.
12:40So if that's the case, there are some times when,
12:44yeah, I might not even re-sign the guy,
12:45but having him pitch another 10 times for me
12:48is worth more than the prospects I'm going to get back.
12:51And I think you can make the argument
12:52that that's the best case here for Foster.
12:54Maybe.
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