00:00I keep hearing different names for different pitchers here, and I think it's going to be
00:05fascinating. Tampa is always in a market for pitching. Philadelphia could use some pitching,
00:10but the Nationals here, Tom, are one game out of the wild card spot, one game right now.
00:17And all I keep hearing is Foster Griffin, who's been one of their better pitchers starters this
00:24year. Nobody's been hotter than he has. And yet I keep hearing him associated with the Rays,
00:30like, are we punting on the season if we're the Nationals here?
00:35To me, it's a wait and see. And it's solely because, you know, I honestly don't know who
00:41the Nats play after it, after the series versus the Blue Jays this week, but this is a winnable
00:45series for them. And they are chasing down both the Diamondbacks and the Pirates. And again,
00:52that one of those teams are going to lose multiple games this series, just because that's what's going
00:56to happen. So they have a spot to jump into an actual wild card spot come the end of this
01:00series
01:00versus the Blue Jays or the end of the weekend. I don't think they can make a determination until
01:04Sunday night when that happens and know when where they sit. Because if you're in a wild card spot,
01:09you can't be trading away Foster Griffin and CJ Abrams. Now, if you fall back over the course of
01:14the next week, that's a different story. But I think it's a pure wait and see for them. And if
01:18you trade
01:18any of them, it should be Foster Griffin. Four games at Atlanta, four games at Philadelphia,
01:26and three games at Cincinnati. That is their upcoming schedule there. So it's a big road trip
01:33coming up for them. And yeah, Atlanta on the 30th this week. So all of a sudden, Thursday,
01:41Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the teams that you got to chase are in front of you. You're going to be
01:45facing them here over the next week and a half. So yeah, I think Foster Griffin on the mound would
01:51be much better. I'm not a big believer. We saw Baltimore do this a couple of years ago. We saw
01:58Seattle do it where teams like this, you know, hey, how great would it be for the fan base to
02:04get
02:05into the postseason? And they're like, we're not really about this postseason. We're going to kick
02:10the can down the road. Like we've heard this how many times from teams like that? And yet what?
02:15Where are they? I, you know, it's the here and now, if you have a chance to make the postseason
02:21with as much mediocre baseball, why not push it all in here at this point? Why are we trading pieces
02:27away? I would not be trading pieces away. And that's just me, especially the CJ Abrams move,
02:34which we talked about before. I can understand trading away Foster Griffin. That is a team down for
02:39the postseason that, you know, teams want that type of pitcher in their lineup, in their rotation,
02:45being a second or third starter for a lot of teams. That's what they need. The Abrams thing
02:50is a cornerstone of your franchise alongside James Wood. Those are your two pieces. That's what you
02:55need to be building around. That's what I think they should be keeping. Now, again, if they get some
03:00offer that's over the top, it is also in the GM's best interest to do what's the best for the
03:05franchise.
03:05And if you can get back six prospects or some crazy number, you have to also consider that.
03:12Yeah, this is going to be interesting with these middle of the road teams, Tom,
03:17that have an opportunity for, you know, a dejected fan base to really make a run at maybe a postseason.
03:25But I don't know how happy these fan bases are going to be when in another week or so.
03:32And all of a sudden, their favorite and best players are no longer on the roster. I think
03:37that's going to be extremely interesting, to say the least. So a lot of question marks on. I think
03:44Foster Griffin, don't get me wrong. You send them to the Rays. I'm giving them the heads up to win
03:49the American League East. I think they've got a shot at doing some damage. I think if the Phillies get
03:55them, I think that's also huge. I think that's the kind of pitcher that could go into teams like that
04:01and
04:02actually be a difference maker. No, I would agree totally. They put themselves just more depth, more
04:11quality pitching depth is never. Yeah. And it never something you a problem to have or never something
04:17you don't want to have when it comes to the postseason. When the Rays play at home, they're a machine.
04:22We know that their home road record, at least for themselves, that they would use, they would
04:26excel with a pitcher like Griffin.
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