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The Athletic senior MLB writer Britt Ghiroli joins the show to preview the MLB Trade Deadline and where the Nationals fit into the choas.
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00:00Very excited to jump on the Rude Guest Hotline and welcome in Britt Giroli, senior MLB writer
00:05for The Athletic.
00:06You can give her a follow at Britt underscore Giroli, G-H-I-R-O-L-I.
00:11Britt, what's up?
00:12How you been?
00:14I'm good.
00:14It's a pretty chaotic time until Monday night.
00:18Really, Tuesday mornings, the dust will settle, but it should be an interesting trade deadline,
00:24guys.
00:24I bet.
00:25I bet.
00:26And I appreciate you making time because I'm sure you are slammed right now.
00:29Let's start with league-wide.
00:32Scooble's at the top of the heap, right?
00:33It seems like he's going to get traded.
00:35How much action are we expecting between now and Monday evening, Tuesday morning?
00:40A lot.
00:41And I think what's happened, I feel like in the last five, six years, because they've added
00:46that third wild card, so many teams are kind of in it, but not in it and waiting until the
00:52last minute.
00:53So I think starting Sunday, you're going to see this flurry of activity.
00:57Gone are the days where we really get a whole lot of trades in, like, the days and even
01:03weeks leading up.
01:04Obviously, we had A.J.
01:05Minter go.
01:06We had Logan O'Hoppy go.
01:07Those are more, like, isolated trades.
01:09I think we're going to really see teams that are on the fence have to make a decision one
01:13way or another at some point tomorrow.
01:16And then I think you're going to see those trades really pop Sunday and, of course, Monday
01:20in advance of that 6 p.m.
01:22deadline.
01:23Scooble, I think, is going to be the piece that other teams that need pitching are waiting
01:27on.
01:27You know, if you're interested in Scooble and your backup plan is Kevin Gossman or Freddy
01:32Peralta, then you're going to wait around and see where Scooble goes first.
01:36Now, it's important, like Soto, when he was traded out of D.C. four years ago, you're
01:42going to only have a couple teams that have the farm system that are going to be able to
01:46wade into those waters.
01:47I think the Dodgers are one.
01:48The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays are two more.
01:52Certainly, there could be a surprise team.
01:54But I think once Scooble goes, you're going to see the rest of that starting pitching market
01:57go very quickly.
01:59I don't, I've never been to a Brewers game.
02:02I know one dude tangentially that's on the Brewers, but I kind of root for them just as
02:07a smaller market that has been really competitive.
02:09If they could get Scooble and then the top of your rotation in October is Scooble and Mizrowski,
02:15holy moly, that's a team that might beat the Dodgers.
02:18Yeah, and Kyle Harrison is a third.
02:20And so I think, you know, you look at the Brewers and they got CeCe Sabathia in a deadline
02:25deal.
02:25And what's interesting about Milwaukee and Tampa Bay is they don't really pay for these
02:30top-notch arms, right?
02:30They're not going to sign Scooble and free agency, but they don't need that.
02:34They only need to pick up two months of his salary.
02:36He's still arbitration eligible.
02:37So while it was a record in arbitration, it still, you know, fits within their limits.
02:42And they also have the best, Milwaukee has the best farm system in baseball.
02:45So they could deal Scooble and it would hurt, but it wouldn't totally decimate them.
02:50And I think they and Tampa Bay are tired of being these organizations that get in it, guys,
02:54and then don't go anywhere.
02:56I think both of those teams and the Dodgers have like a 99% chance to go to the playoffs.
03:01They're not thinking about getting it October.
03:02They're thinking about how do we win the World Series.
03:05Yeah, I would love to see it not be the Dodgers.
03:08All right.
03:08I'd like to localize this thing because I think to his credit, and Paul Toboni does a
03:15weekly interview with the Junkies here on 106.7 The Fan, to his credit, I think he's been
03:21relatively transparent for a professional sports executive kind of about what the plan
03:25is with the Nats.
03:27And he said repeatedly, like, we're going to kind of see what happens up until the deadline
03:31as we get closer to making decisions.
03:35And now they've lost three of their last four, and they've all been kind of these
03:39disheartening, the bats aren't quite as hot, the pitching gives up a lead.
03:44Where do you think the Nats are one week after already trading away Curtis Meade?
03:48And gosh, I hate what happened to him.
03:50But they've already traded away Curtis Meade.
03:52You've got Griffin.
03:53You've got Garcia.
03:55And maybe even Abrams.
03:57Like, where do you think this goes for the Nats?
04:00Yeah, but that trade with the Red Sox, I didn't see as, like, a conceding.
04:04I saw it as a chance for them to get a pitcher for a guy in need who had been
04:08doing well,
04:08but you could have had him for free twice this year.
04:10He was on waivers.
04:11I thought that was a terrific trade for the Nationals.
04:14I thought that was an overpay by the Red Sox.
04:15So I didn't see that as any, like, indication of where they're going.
04:19I think the plan has always been for them to do some buying and do some selling.
04:23And what I mean by that is they're going to take a good, hard look at whether or not
04:29they want to sell expiring contracts.
04:31And if they can't agree to an extension with a guy like Foster Griffin,
04:34and I was told by sources yesterday there's nothing new to report on that.
04:37I know Buster Olney came out and mentioned they were talking.
04:40They've been talking.
04:41There's no indication one way or another if that's going to get done,
04:44is what I was told yesterday.
04:45Those things can, of course, change rapidly.
04:47But I think when you look at them, they obviously need, like, four or five bullpen arms.
04:52But I don't think they're going to be in the market for rentals, nor should they.
04:55I mean, this is a team that probably needs five bullpen arms for you to feel okay about them
05:00if they were to get into October.
05:01I think what they're going to look at is bullpen arms that are under team control beyond this year.
05:07I think of guys like with the Mets, Oscar Brazoban, Luke Weaver, guys who are pitching well
05:12who are going to cost a little more, but they're also going to be part of next year's bullpen.
05:16And I think if the Nationals have done anything, it is shown people that the timeline is sped up,
05:21that they are ready to be good, and that this winter the onus is going to be on the front
05:25office
05:25to make the move to maybe spend the money in free agency and move them forward,
05:29I think those are the deals you're going to see.
05:31They're not going to be in the rental market.
05:33If they can, they weren't looking to trade Curtis Mead, as Taboni said.
05:36If they can get something for these guys because right-handed hitting is at such a premium,
05:41then they're certainly going to.
05:43But I don't see them moving Abrams unless they're totally blown away with a deal.
05:48I think the same can be true for any of those young bats, especially the guys who, again, are under
05:52team control.
05:53So I think they are going to go in with a plan.
05:56I think they know that what this has done this year is build up a groundswell of Nats fans
06:00and get people excited again.
06:01And the last thing you want to do when that happens is burn it all down to the studs.
06:05You know, I think the executives will be the first to tell you that, you know,
06:09you could have a window, and you could be totally wrong.
06:12The window could shut sooner than you think.
06:13So you want to pay attention to the year that some of these guys are having to, you know,
06:17how well they've performed above expectations.
06:19But you also want to make sure that you're smart so that this team can contend in 27 and 28
06:25and 29.
06:26For sure.
06:27How much, if at all, do you think the pending labor issues will impact the trade market?
06:35I've talked to people about that, and I don't think it really will impact anything
06:39because there are people who think we don't miss any games.
06:42Remember, it's Rob Manfred's legacy that they have not missed any games under his watch.
06:46There are people that think that it might not get serious until early March,
06:49and we might have to miss two weeks.
06:51But two weeks isn't enough for you to really change evaluations of how you consider players
06:56under team control for 27.
06:58So I think that if you think as a front office that no question we're going to lose the season,
07:04you would proceed differently.
07:05But there are so many reasons for them to not miss an entire season
07:10that I just don't think you can operate as a front office in the hypothetical.
07:14Yeah, I agree.
07:16It's so interesting for me with Foster Griffin, right?
07:18We're talking with Britt Giroli from The Athletic.
07:21You can read all of her work on The Athletic.
07:23You can follow her at Britt underscore Giroli, G-H-I-R-L-O-R-O-L-I.
07:29Okay, the Griffin thing I find so fascinating because not to suggest that he hasn't made more money
07:34than most people ever will, even playing in Japan,
07:37but if the Nats are trying to get an extension done,
07:41and if the learners are being legit, which I'm not sure they ever will be again,
07:44but he'd be staring at a giant pile of cash that he's never earned.
07:48But the potential for what he could earn in free agency is probably 2, 3, 4x that.
07:55How do you think a 30-year-old handles that compared to C.J. Abrams having extension talks?
08:02You know what I mean?
08:03Yeah, well, I think the age is certainly a factor, right, for a guy like Griffin.
08:08So I think you're looking at it as like, okay, I may only get one chance here to get a
08:11payday.
08:12So you can look at it two weeks.
08:13You could get to free agency and say, this might be my only chance to get a three-, four-year
08:17deal,
08:18and then that might be it.
08:19I might either be out of the game or living off one-year deals after that
08:23because you look at the age there, and you're close to the mid-30s,
08:27and all of a sudden you're old and stuff's declining,
08:29and I think you can look at it that way.
08:32You can also look at it as, like you said, there is the benefit to the extension,
08:37and that is guys have peace of mind and they can play free.
08:40If he was to extend today, for example, he wouldn't have to worry about having a bad start
08:45or if he tweaked his hamstring or if his shoulder comes up sore after a start, right?
08:49So you have that peace of mind going forward, but you're almost to that point where how many more starts
08:56is he going to make, right?
08:57You've got two more months of the season.
08:58If he can get there and he believes in himself and he believes this isn't a mirage,
09:02then I think he would say, all right, let's just wait for free agency.
09:05So there's like a lot of things at play here, and I'm certain that his agency has looked at that.
09:10I agree with you.
09:11I'm very curious.
09:12Are the learners going to pony up?
09:14Because to be fair, the learners historically have shown a willingness to pay for pitchers, right?
09:19They paid for Scherzer, they paid for Strasburg, they paid for Corbin.
09:21What they have not shown a willingness is to keep their position players.
09:24So Bob C.J. Abrams, I'm looking at it through a different lens if they're approaching me with extension talks
09:29because it seems as if they've always low-balled position players,
09:32but they've always been willing or more willing to pay premium dollar for pitching.
09:38So I'm really curious how this goes.
09:40I am too.
09:41I fear I know how it's going to go, but I would love to be incorrect.
09:46Do you think, I think the hardest part for Taboni, and I think you're very right,
09:51that they have brought interest and the fan base back in a big way.
09:55If Taboni didn't have to worry about PR and maybe even the business side of things,
10:01of getting butts in seats, right, do you think he'd be selling all of his assets
10:06to build this the way he wants for the long haul?
10:09I think he might be a little more aggressive, yes.
10:12If they had the Rockies record, right, and the same players,
10:17I think they'd be a little more aggressive with, okay, we need to sell off all these pieces.
10:23You know, and it's good and it's bad.
10:24I mean, some of these guys have performed really well and have really excelled in a system
10:27with just a little bit more information and technology, and that should make people feel good.
10:31I think you can criticize Mike Rizzo all you want, but he made excellent trades,
10:35and he found talent, and it's very clear there's a lot of talent in the Washington Nationals organization,
10:40and a lot of that is from Mike Rizzo.
10:41So I think, you know, for Taboni, it's a case of, okay, there was more here than,
10:47maybe he thought there was a lot here, I don't know.
10:50A case of like, hey, we have a lot of good here.
10:52We've got these two anchors, we've got James Wood and T.J. Abrams, two all-stars, two young anchors.
10:57We've got an offense that has been the best in baseball for most of the season.
11:01There is a lot to like about this team, and I think that they aren't going to be quite as
11:07aggressive,
11:07not because they're worried about the PR, but because what they had here, it turns out,
11:10was actually a lot better than what many people, myself included, thought.
11:14Yeah, I agree with you.
11:16I just, now, you've got Griffin on the bump tonight, so that really helps your chances of getting a win.
11:21I just wonder if they lose tonight, lose Saturday night, and all of a sudden, it's Sunday morning,
11:26he wakes up, they're two games under .500, and he's got teams all over the league texting him with real
11:31offers,
11:32if it's not easier to sell at that point, because it's like, ah, we gave it a great run,
11:38but I think we're a little short, we've got to keep building for the future.
11:41That's why it's fun to watch these games, man.
11:43It's been a fun Nat season, the way they swing the bats.
11:46Britt, I know your heart up against it, so if you've got to run, I really appreciate your time.
11:51Yeah, thank you, take care.
11:52All right, see you later.
11:53That's Britt Giroli from The Athletic, Senior Major League Baseball writer.
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