00:00It would appear as though the Red Sox are buyers. They make a trade on Saturday
00:05to acquire former top prospect Curtis Mead, who once upon a time looked like he was going to be
00:10a cornerstone on the Tampa Bay Rays. And of course, he bounced around a little bit,
00:14ended up with the Washington Nationals. And credit to Paul Toboni and their front office
00:19staff for getting Mead and really turning him into what you would call it the very worst
00:24utility player. But he's kind of like an everyday player on Washington. He ends up going to Boston
00:30and Connolly Early, a pitcher, goes back into return for the Washington Nationals. And Early has done
00:37a really nice job. Young pitchers made a few starts. He's looked pretty good as well. You know, I don't
00:42know that this is necessarily an indicator, honestly, Tom, of anything because Washington
00:49is still like kind of in it. Boston is definitely in it. So it's, you know, a trade that kind
00:55of is
00:55like, let's help us now and for the future. When you saw this deal happen, how did you
00:59analyze it? Yeah, looking at some of the numbers for both Early and Mead, I think that this kind
01:07of fits on both sides. The Nats need pitching help, right? They desperately need pitching help,
01:13whether it be rotation, specifically bullpen, but they need pitching help overall. I think
01:17Mead will fit into the Red Sox lineup nicely. I think he's got some good power that's going to
01:22play well in Fenway going over the monster. I do want to say I think this is a good credit
01:27to the
01:27Nationals. But Mead, as we showed there, he was DFA'd by the White Sox. So whatever the Nats in
01:33their new front office, as we know that they installed a lot of younger front office members
01:38in the offseason and the hitting coach that they have, they turned them around. They turned them
01:43into an asset and they're getting something back. And that's a good pitcher or a good up and coming
01:46pitcher. So I see this as a good thing on both sides, really.
01:51And I think really, you know, for Boston, it's obvious to me that the Red Sox feel that they're
01:57in it and they're going to go for it now, because even just chasing down a wildcard spot is something
02:02the Red Sox would be interested in. There's been a ton of pressure on Craig Breslow, on Tracy,
02:07their manager as well. There's no doubt that they're going to try and get better. There's some
02:13rumors about C.J. Abrams and some, I don't know. I mean, for me, the bigger question is Washington here,
02:19because Washington on Fangraphs, Tom, and for those of you who want to really get an accurate
02:25view as to where things stand for the postseason, just go to Fangraphs playoff odds. I'm now on it
02:30every morning at this time of the year to see where they stand. Washington's playoff odds, Tom,
02:34are slim to less than 10 percent. But I'm not positive how they're going to handle this. I saw a
02:41report
02:41yesterday, somebody who covers the team, Spencer Nussbaum, saying that they could potentially add some
02:47pieces. And again, I'm in the game, OK? We've covered the game forever. And I'm sure that this
02:53reporting is accurate. I don't think so, though. I don't think Washington is going to sacrifice, Tom,
02:58anything for the future at all. Now, if they take on some money or an expiring contract,
03:04yes, I think that's possible. But why in the world would Washington play for a three-game road series
03:11in Milwaukee or Philadelphia and just kind of put their chips in for a series that, let's be honest,
03:17they got no pitching. They have one great pitcher, and he's great. I don't even know if they're going
03:21to have him in a week. If I'm the Nats, I could play a little bit for now, but I'm
03:26definitely playing
03:27toward next year. I think Washington in the next two years is going to be a contender.
03:31Yeah, and that's really what it is. You don't want to hamstring your ability to compete in the
03:37coming years because that's really when they're going to have a chance to do so. You don't want
03:41to be giving up what they've built now as a foundation and then just kind of tear some of
03:46that down. The idea of giving up C.J. Abrams is crazy to me, absolutely crazy. They would need
03:52all top five of a team's prospects, top prospects, in order for you to entertain the idea because giving
03:59up him, I think, would be an extreme detriment to the team and the direction that they have seemed to
04:04turn around pretty quickly. So do not do that. Can they make some minor moves to acquire a player
04:10like a Connelly Early and bring in another type of pitcher that they can build around or have a
04:16piece that they're going to build around? Sure, do that, but make those moves very carefully because
04:20you've built something pretty darn good. You're a season or two ahead of where you need to be.
04:25Don't ruin that. It's that simple.
