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The Washington Nationals have been making some big moves ahead of Monday’s MLB trade deadline! Paul Toboni tells The Junkies what fans can expect from Washington before next week’s deadline.
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00:00Paul Tabone, President of Baseball Ops for your Washington Nationals.
00:05Good morning, Paul. How are you?
00:07Good morning, fellas. What's going on?
00:09Paul, it's getting interesting, buddy. It's getting interesting.
00:12I know. They're not making it easy, huh?
00:14By the way, before we get to the trade deadline stuff, how shocked were you?
00:17I was watching the first inning last night that Shane Bieber, who won a Cy Young in the American League,
00:24and he could not throw a strike.
00:26I guess he was asked about it after the game, and he blamed the weather because it was hot and
00:31sticky,
00:31and his grip wasn't great.
00:33But what were you thinking watching that? Six walks.
00:37Yeah, surprised like everyone else.
00:40You mentioned the Cy Young, but he did that, really driven by his ability to command the baseball.
00:48He's always had a great feel for it, and everyone has those days.
00:52I think just yesterday was one of those days for him.
00:55So we were not super surprised that there was a trade, but Curtis Meade, he gets dealt to the Boston
01:02Red Sox.
01:03Conley Early, you acquire a 24-year-old lefty pitcher.
01:07He's now a member of the Washington Nationals.
01:10I wish I had bookmarked this when I saw it.
01:12I'm going to paraphrase here.
01:14I'm pretty sure I saw that you said you felt like you wanted to cry when you dealt Curtis Meade,
01:20or you were talking about it.
01:21Can you take us through the emotions of a guy that you brought here in late March,
01:27and he was really like an offensive spark for this team,
01:30but you're able to parlay him into a young pitcher that you have control of until I believe the year
01:352031 in early,
01:37a guy that you're familiar with from your time in Boston.
01:41Yeah, so I think it goes back just really quickly.
01:44Curtis, like the guy, I mean, incredible dude, and, you know, he's a key piece in our clubhouse.
01:51And then not only that, though, like his trajectory has been different than most.
01:56You know, he, former top-hunter prospect, he was dealt for Christopher Sanchez at one point in time,
02:01you guys probably know, bounced around a few different organizations,
02:05went from being like this top, top prospect to DFA'd by the White Sox.
02:10And when we picked him up, I think he was, you know, questioning, like,
02:15whether he was going to have a long career.
02:17And, you know, Blake obviously had a connection with him going back to his minor league managerial days
02:24in the race system.
02:25He managed Curtis, and we just thought it was a really good one to get.
02:29And then you fast-forward 90 games, I mean, actually before even fast-forwarding,
02:35like, he started the year just really on the short side of a platoon, right,
02:39hitting against lefties and now playing against righties, and he was mashing.
02:43He started to get more opportunities and turned himself into an everyday player
02:50that isn't just an average everyday player.
02:52He's better than that, and that's how teams value them.
02:55And so coming into the deadline, like, we thought there was no way that we were going
02:59to be considering him given, hey, he's got however many years of control he has,
03:03and he's played great for us, all those things.
03:08And then, man, out of nowhere, I think in part because there aren't too many right-handed hitters
03:13on the market, teams just started getting super aggressive.
03:16And, you know, over the last 10 years, it's just been really, really difficult
03:19to acquire young, controllable starting pitching.
03:22And when Boston was, you know, finally agreed to include Connelly early,
03:29it made it push the deal across the line for us.
03:32Right.
03:33And, of course, you're very familiar with early.
03:35You know Boston's front office very well, so you don't have to deal with all the BS.
03:41And you get a guy, like Cake said, that you're going to control until 31.
03:45He was really good this year for Boston because, you know, I kind of follow them.
03:52And he was one of their best pitchers, especially when Crochet got hurt.
03:57And then his elbow started to bother him a little bit.
04:00But he, I mean, he was really good for about 20 starts.
04:03And now you get him for the next five years.
04:05And you said he's probably going to pitch, and he will pitch this year.
04:09So he could be another reliable starter for you guys.
04:14Yeah, for sure.
04:15He's a stud.
04:16We've obviously known each other for some time.
04:19I was over there when we took him in the, whatever it was, I think the fifth round.
04:24He actually, you know, he's from here.
04:26He's from outside of Richmond.
04:28He actually went to West Point for two years out of high school.
04:31And then there was a coaching change, transferred to UVA, was drafted out of UVA.
04:36But, you know, I think if you really want to get a look at what this kid is, you should
04:41watch his playoff start against the Yankees from last year.
04:45It was like his, I think it was his fifth major league start.
04:49I heard he's the youngest Red Sox pitcher to pitch against the Yankees in the playoffs, or maybe just pitching
04:54the playoffs generally, since Babe Ruth.
04:58And he goes in there, and, you know, it's cold, and it's October in New York, and fans are yelling
05:05at him, throwing stuff at him in the bullpen, whole deal.
05:08And he just hops right out there, once again, fifth major league start, and he's going right at Judge, and
05:13right at Stanton, and all these guys with no fear and really good stuff.
05:18And those are the types we want.
05:20So he's going to fit in great with our group, and we just need to get him healthy and back
05:24rolling, and we'll be good to go.
05:26I know you're not going to tell us, like, what you're going to do next, and, you know.
05:29Or who you're talking to.
05:31Yeah, I mean, respect all that.
05:33Understand it, and we get it.
05:34But there was some, I don't know, maybe you could, I don't even know if you probably won't even talk
05:38about this either, but there were some reports that said that, obviously, you guys had some interest in maybe, you
05:43know, having Foster Griffin maybe be here long-term, maybe some initial talks.
05:47And sort of the quote that went viral was, they collapse quickly, something along those lines.
05:52And then when you read that, you go, well, he don't.
05:54I mean, they're going to move him.
05:55If the talks collapse quickly, then there are obviously maybe some different ideas of what worth might be on both
06:01sides.
06:01Both sides, I'm sure, have merit.
06:02But is that fair to characterize that that way, that you guys did have some talks, or you just can't
06:09comment on something like that?
06:11I don't know.
06:12No, first of all, I don't mind being pretty candid with you guys on this.
06:16I would not categorize them that way.
06:20And so, yeah.
06:22Fizzled quickly.
06:23We'll obviously see where it goes.
06:24Is what we read, yeah.
06:25Fizzled quickly.
06:26Right.
06:27But you disagree with that?
06:29Yeah, I do.
06:31And I would, that's not to say that, you know, Foster's necessarily going to be here forever.
06:35But personally, I do think that there's a chance that he's here beyond this year.
06:42You know, is it a greater chance than whether he's here just till the end of the year or being
06:46traded?
06:47I don't know.
06:48We'll obviously find out these next few days.
06:50But, yeah, I don't think that was categorized totally fairly.
06:57And so, really, it's like I've been telling everyone, like, inside our organization, it's kind of like running the RPO
07:05in football, right?
07:06Like, it's, hey, you could think about extending them.
07:08You could think about keeping them till the end of the year.
07:11And then if someone blows you away with a trade package, like, you consider that.
07:14But we're in this interesting spot where, and I'm curious how you guys think through it.
07:18But, you know, we're trying to find ways to upgrade our team, but also still want to build for the
07:24future.
07:24And it can be a tough needle to thread, but we want to try and do it.
07:27Right.
07:27And I think, not to, you know, just address this before you guys even ask, but I think realistically what
07:35that means is probably trying to do a little bit of buying and selling to try and upgrade our team
07:41for this year, but also be smart about the future, you know, so on and so forth.
07:46Now, it's tough to do in practice, so we'll see how it actually works.
07:51And it could be just, you know, end up just sell-side moves or just buy-side moves.
07:55We're going to figure it out here in the next couple days.
07:57But, like I said, we just, we want to do a good job, kind of threading the needle between being
08:02good this year, giving these guys a shot while also not sacrificing the future.
08:07Well, Paul, you kind of did that, or you did it with acquiring early.
08:12Because early, once he gets back out there and healthy, you know, he's not going to be in the minors
08:17the rest of the year.
08:17He's going to be out there for you at Nats Park.
08:21And he's also a guy you control for five years.
08:23So you kind of did that with the Meade early deal.
08:25And by the way, with early, was there any hesitation with the elbow injury?
08:29Like, how many times did you and your staff, like, look at those scans before you made that deal?
08:35Yeah, well, just the second question first.
08:38So, like, is there a concern?
08:41No, I wouldn't say there's concern.
08:43Is it on your mind?
08:44Yeah, but no different than any other pitcher that you'd be training for.
08:47You know what I mean?
08:47It's like, it's funny.
08:48We go through the combine now with all these high school kids, and they all get imaging on their shoulders
08:53and elbows.
08:53And, you know, everyone's got a little bit of something.
08:55You know what I'm saying?
08:56So that's just kind of like the norm for pitchers these days.
09:00But nothing, like, you know, alarming, which is, you know, that makes obviously feel really good.
09:07But the previous part relating to, like, the Connelly-Curtis trade, like, a big part of that, too, was, hey,
09:13you know, we bring on Connelly.
09:16Man, that's upgrading our rotation in a major way.
09:20Curtis leaves, though, we feel pretty good about bringing Brady up here, right?
09:25And he's played well so far, you know, and he's at a different stage of his career than Curtis.
09:31But we're willing to give him some, you know, a little bit of a longer leash to go out and
09:37play well, right?
09:38And so it's all kind of how the roster comes together.
09:43And, yeah, Bish, you said it.
09:44Like, that's tough, trying to thread the needle.
09:47But there are opportunities to do so, and we've just got to be really, really good figuring out what those
09:51opportunities are.
09:53It's not to say we're going to be able to execute on a bunch of them.
09:56But if they're out there, like, we want to know about them, and we want to have the opportunity to
10:01get in the mix.
10:02By the way, a horrible story with me getting hit.
10:04Probably going to be out two months.
10:06Yeah, man, I was...
10:07Isn't that brutal?
10:08Yeah, it was brutal.
10:10But, yeah, I was texting with him yesterday.
10:13The silver lining is he and his wife are due with a kid here in the next few weeks.
10:16So, first time ever, yeah, he'll be able to spend some time.
10:20But that was really tough, and just it makes you feel bad after having made the trade.
10:24Like, the Red Sox, I thought it was a great move for them.
10:27And, you know, you just kind of feel bad.
10:31Like, just seeing, hey, they kind of put their...
10:33Do you know what's on the line to try and get something done and improve the team?
10:37I mean, now they're reeling a little bit.
10:41But they'll be fine.
10:42They got a really good team.
10:43Can you, speaking in broad terms, can you realistically move off of one of your bigger...
10:50So, you get rid of Meade, right?
10:51But you can replace him with House.
10:52That makes a lot of sense.
10:54He's played really well in AAA.
10:55He's got four hits already.
10:56Yeah, and he's doing great.
10:57And, you know, he's a guy that people have good thoughts about, right?
11:00Good expectations.
11:01So, not surprising.
11:02But if you get rid of some of your other bigger-name guys, because, you know, the haul is just
11:07so great, like, long-term, I'm not sure...
11:13How much confidence do you have that you can replace one or two more big bats?
11:17Like, one or two more of your bigger bats this year?
11:21Like, how much more wiggle room do you have there?
11:24Yeah.
11:25I mean, I guess it depends who you're talking about, right?
11:28And what position they play.
11:30But, I mean, we obviously have a couple guys on our roster that are pretty darn close to irreplaceable in
11:36the sense that if a team's trading for one of those players,
11:41it's unlikely, if they have, like, huge playoff aspirations, which they probably would, trading for one of these players,
11:46that, you know, they would be sending us something back that could plug right in and play.
11:51Right.
11:51You know what I'm saying?
11:52Yeah.
11:53And so, I mean, let's not beat around the bush.
11:56My guess is that you're getting at CJ, right?
11:59Well, CJ and Garcia.
12:00Or Garcia.
12:01Or Garcia, right?
12:01He's been a massive producer for you.
12:03Yeah.
12:04Yeah.
12:05CJ and Louis have been awesome.
12:08I do think they're a little bit different in terms of positions they play and kind of how our roster
12:14is built, so on and so forth,
12:16tail of control, all that.
12:18But they're really, really good, right?
12:21And they've played awesome for us.
12:24And both those guys are huge parts of, like, the positive vibes we've got going in the clubhouse, right?
12:31And so, what I would say for both of them is, in order for us to consider dealing with these
12:37guys,
12:37we've just got to feel pretty darn good about the return and about who's backfilling.
12:44But I will say, CJ is a little bit different in that, you know, I – listen, like, it's not
12:52just about whether the trade makes sense on paper for Siege.
12:55And what I mean by that is, I think, more than most athletes in D.C., like, he means a
13:01lot to the city, to the fan base.
13:04And that's really important.
13:05You know, like, we have some momentum going as an organization.
13:08And if that's going to take a bit of a hit, you have to feel exceptionally good about the return
13:14you're getting back.
13:15So, that's where we are.
13:16And I think it's, like, the most reasonable way to think about it.
13:20But, listen, I'm probably like every fan, right, where – probably even more so the case where I freaking love
13:27the guy.
13:28And, you know, you grow close to him personally, too.
13:32And so, you really want to keep him, right?
13:35And, you know, you – once again, I keep saying it, but you feel drawn to give this team a
13:40shot because of how they've overperformed
13:41and how they've rallied around each other and so on and so forth.
13:44We just got to see what comes our way at the deadline and, you know, make a good decision on
13:51what's best for the team.
13:51Man, I couldn't do your job.
13:53It's too hard.
13:53I'd be too emotional.
13:55I'd be like, no way I'm trading him.
13:56I love that guy.
13:57Hey, Paul, when you made the trade for early and you dealt away Curtis, do you deliver that news yourself?
14:04Or is it the money ball bit where Brad Pitt tells Jonah Hill, hey, you got to sit down and
14:10trade Pena.
14:11You got to learn how to do this.
14:12Like, how does that work?
14:14No, I call Curtis.
14:18And, yeah, those calls are tough.
14:21That one specifically because, I mean, Curtis, like, was not under the impression that he was getting traded at any
14:29point this deadline.
14:30You know what I'm saying?
14:31And I think we actually – this has been talked about a little bit.
14:34Like, we pride ourselves on trying to communicate to guys, like, hey, if their names are in trade conversations, to
14:42the extent that we can, we try and keep them informed, right?
14:44So they're not blindsided by it.
14:46And they appreciate that communication.
14:48With Curtis, I have a great relationship with him.
14:51And that wasn't the case because we genuinely were not considering it.
14:55You know, we just kind of got rushed with teams getting super aggressive and wanting to move.
15:00And so that call was difficult in the sense that, hey, it's always difficult to see a guy lead the
15:06team that you really, really like and you envision as a core part of the team going forward.
15:11But also, it caught him off guard.
15:13And there's a part of me that hates the fact that it caught him off guard a little bit.
15:17You know, but it was a little bit more unavoidable than most of these.
15:23And he knows who Early is.
15:24I mean, you guys faced Early.
15:26You guys beat him.
15:27Well, you didn't beat him, but you beat the Red Sox when Early started earlier in the year.
15:31Yeah.
15:32You guys probably remember it.
15:33That was actually the Contreras-Covalli game.
15:36Yes, yes.
15:37That's right.
15:38He was shoving against us.
15:40And then I honestly thought that he wasn't hurt.
15:44I thought it was just that inning was like, it felt like an hour because of all the commotion on
15:48the field and everything.
15:49I just, I thought they didn't want to throw him back out there after sitting for an hour.
15:53But it turns out he did have a little something, which is obviously why he didn't go back out there.
15:57I think it was the fifth inning.
15:58Hey, that's right.
15:59He only pitched four.
16:01Getting back to Early, when do you expect him, I think you told the media he was going to make
16:06a rehab start
16:07on the third, maybe, Monday or Tuesday?
16:10Is that true?
16:12Yeah.
16:12So we're going to adjust it slightly just because there aren't minor league games on Mondays.
16:18And so that's how the schedule was initially built out.
16:22We're going to get a little bit creative and we'll get him working on that day.
16:27But I think realistically, it's probably going to be, you know, a few weeks after that.
16:34Okay.
16:34Can't tell exactly.
16:35We've got to see how these outings go.
16:36But I think, like, my best guess is probably somewhere around the last week of August we'll have him back.
16:43Okay.
16:43So he should be, you know, barring any setbacks, he should be on the mound in the rotation last week
16:50of August.
16:51Yeah.
16:52That's great.
16:52Yeah, it's a game plan right now.
16:53Yep.
16:53All right, we know you're busy, man.
16:56Super busy.
16:56We appreciate you taking the time.
16:58That's Paul Tabone, president of Baseball Ops for the Nats.
17:01We will talk to you post-trade deadline next week.
17:05Thank you, Paul.
17:06I'm sure we'll have something to talk about.
17:07Yeah, sounds good.
17:08Appreciate you guys.
17:09All right, appreciate you.
17:10Thank you, man.
17:10That's Paul Tabone, president of Baseball Ops for the Nationals.
17:14He's awesome.
17:15He's great.
17:16Very straightforward.
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