Mike Rizzo sold at the trade deadline for the Washington Nationals, and it was the right decision for the organization. Ryan discusses how he felt the Nats did what's best for the future of the org. Then, we give you 3 prospects to look out for in the 2nd half as the Nats have holes that need to be filled. One thing I'm mad about is the Nats held onto closer Kyle Finnegan, and why did they make that decision?
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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Some Nationals fans aren't too happy with the way that the Nationals approached yesterday's trade deadline, but I can tell you this, the Nationals, they made the right decision to sell off Vets. And thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first list and every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts and of course I'm your host Ryan Clary, you can catch me over on Twitter @brawingclary11 and as well as our show page @hello_nationals. For our latest Nationals news and notes make sure to check us out over on Twitter and while you're at it, make sure to search up Lockdown Nationals wherever you get your podcasts including over on YouTube. Again, just search Lockdown Nationals. If you're over on YouTube, you may see have a different background today. It is because we have had Wi-Fi issues at the Clary Household, so we make do the move over to our secondary studio. So we'll, yeah, if you can see that, you might be wondering, where's all your NAT stuff? Well, guess what? It's not here today. So if you're listening, you can check that out over on YouTube. Maybe you like the background. Maybe you don't. Whatever you want. I will be happy with later on in the show today, we will be discussing why did they not trade Kyle Finnegan? And I'm going to tell you this right now, I'm not happy about it. I am not happy about the Nationals not trading away Kyle Finnegan, so I'll discuss that and tell you why I'm not happy about that a little bit later on. And of course, second segment of today, three prospects to look forward to in the second half of the Washington Nationals. So with the Nationals moves, you've got three guys in my opinion that I think will be making an impact. And I will tell you this, some of these guys could be up in the majors relatively soon. So you're going to want to look out for these three names here in the second half as the Nationals. They've got some openings now. So we'll discuss that a little bit later on, but we start off discussing why the Nationals and Mike Rizzo, they did what's best for this organization. Simple as that. When we talk about the Nationals in 2024, they started off at one point, they were in the wildcard race. Sitting here today and after last night's just awful loss with Patrick Orvin just going out there and getting crushed, that is really the preview of the second half. This is what we should expect. The Nationals now going forward, if you have any expectation for this team, I would say limit them. The expectations that you should be looking for are individual performances. You should be looking at what CJ Abrams does. What Kiber OE's does. What Mackenzie Gore does. See if Jake Orvin can return back to form. See if Mitchell Parker and DJ Hers really take that step up that we have been waiting for since they've gotten up to the major leagues. That is the progress that we are looking for. If you are expecting wins in the second half, I don't know what to tell you. I can tell you this though. The Nationals aren't going to be playing competitive baseball, they just aren't. And I'm here to tell you, that is just fine. Last year, the Nationals were not a good team, I believe they were the fifth worst team in all the baseball losing 91 games, only winning 71 in 2023. They took the steps up from being the worst team in baseball in 2022, trading away your future all-star Hall of Fame type player with Juan Soto in the year prior. But I'm here to tell you right now that the Nationals did the right thing by selling off. You have to continue to build for your future. You need all these different kinds of waves of prospects. And when people say waves of prospects, think of it this way. You kind of had your first wave already. It's CJ Abrams, Kiberuis, Josiah Gray, Mackenzie Gore. That's kind of the first wave of this rebuild. A lot of those guys, CJ Abrams who was just an all-star, Josiah Gray who was an all-star last year, that's your first wave of prospects. That is kind of the foundation of what you will be building for a future franchise, future winning franchise rather. And then you want your second wave, your Brady House, James Wood, Dylan Cruz. That is a very good second wave of prospects who will be coming in the door here, hopefully momentarily. And then you have your third wave, you have your Seaver King, you've got your Luke Dickerson, you've got Caleb Lomavita, you've got name that prospect coming down the road, whether it be your new pitching prospect, Alex Clemi, you just acquired in the Lane Thomas trade. You've got a lot of different pieces. In the Nationals at this trade deadline, Mike Rizzo saw what this organization needed. He saw that we need to have more future prospects in order to help us to win down the road. That is why he did this sell-off, because you now have guys, you do have pieces now. You've got Taina who's now should be in the big leagues, hopefully in the next few weeks, if he isn't already in the bigs maybe by tomorrow. You have other waves of prospects coming in, Luke Dickerson, your second round pick you signed to a signing bonus record after the first round, 18-19 year old kid. You've got Travis Zakora as well, who was pitching his butt off down in the major and down in Fredericksburg, who should be up in Wilmington. Andrew Lara, Carlene Susanna, if you look at the prospect rankings or even adjust the minor league system as a whole, the Nationals are in a completely different stratosphere than what they were just two years ago when they were one of the worst farm systems in all of baseball. You had to continue to sell. The Nationals, the reason why you had that long run of success for nearly a decade from 2012 all the way through 2019, yeah they did have a top 10 payroll most that time, but also beyond that, you had prospects coming up in waves. That is what Mike Rizzo is building right now. And it starts with trading away your veteran pieces who may not be right here right now ready to help this team down the road. You had to trade your Jesse Winker. You had to trade Lane Thomas in my opinion. Now if someone's going to give you a bucket of baseballs, figuratively speaking for Lane Thomas, yeah probably not the correct decision to do that. You got three pretty decent prospects through the door, two 19 year olds, one who just turned 19 by the way with climbing the left hand of pitcher who I am very excited about, and the other with Raphael Ramirez Jr. who has a lot of different tools, but he's a little wrong. You've got a couple guys now coming in different ways and again, the Nationals, you need this. This is what good organizations do. This is what the Tampa Bay Rays do. This is what the Padres have done in years past and see where they are today. Some people might not might not be excited about the future. And if you're one of those people, I'm going to tell you you're wrong. You should be absolutely thrilled about this Nationals future. You should be trading away your veterans like Lane Thomas and Jesse Winker and Dylan Floro were the correct decisions. There was one incorrect decision though of this trade deadline. And that was not trading away veteran closer, all star closer, Kyle Finnegan. I'll explain that in the third segment of today's show, but you'll hear about that. Just I promise you. But now going forward, the Nets are in a much better place than what they were just a few weeks ago. You now have these lottery type of prospects in which some of them turn into Yordon Alvarez. You think of it this way, a few years ago, are really way longer than a few years ago. The Los Angeles Dodgers once had a very young 18 year old O'Neill Cruz, who is now an all star kind of shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates and then one of the best left hand hitters in all of baseball with Yordon Alvarez. They traded away both those pieces, O'Neill Cruz to the Pirates and Yordon Alvarez to the Houston Astros. Those were lottery ticket kind of guys. I'm not saying Jose Tania will be that. I'm not saying Raphael Ramirez Jr. will be that. But I can tell you this, you have a chance of having your own kind of newborn talent here in DC. So selling off your veteran pieces, guys who may not help you at this moment in time or who may be helping you at this moment in time, but may not in the future, that is what good organizations do. You know when to pull the plug. And in my opinion, Mike Rizzo, he pulled the plug at the perfect time possible for this organization. Thank you all for making locked on Nat's, your first us in every single day as we are free in a bill, wherever you get your podcast. So later on in today's show, I'm going to tell you why I'm not happy about the nationals not trading away Kyle Finnegan, but more importantly, you've got three prospects. You're going to want to keep an eye on. I'm going to tell you this right now, it ain't Dylan Cruz and it ain't Brady House. I'll tell you who those three prospects are, who in my opinion will be helping up the nationals in the big leagues pretty soon here. Before we do that though, let me tell you guys about our friends over at prize picks and guys, we talked about prize picks and you know that prize picks America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over five million active members, prize picks the easiest most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports, unlike other apps on prize picks, it's just you against the numbers. 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So down on the prize picks app today, news code locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100 that's code locked on MLB on prize picks for a deposit match up to $100, pick more, pick less, it's that easy. You know we love talking stats here at locked on Rockies. Here's one that's super simple to remember discover automatically doubles the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match. That means with discover, you could turn $150 cash back to $300. That's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia you've had your eye on or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at discover.com/creditcard Thank you all for making locked on nationals, your first list and every single day is where free and available wherever you get your podcast and next segment, guys. Why did we not trade Kyle Finnegan? I don't understand the thinking process behind not moving along with him. I'll explain that because to be honest, I think we might overate Kyle Finnegan just a little bit. I'll explain that a little bit later on in today's show though, but we've got three prospects and I'll look forward to and it's not Dylan Cruz, it's not Brady House, it's not your big time prospects that you may know about, but these guys have been very impactful in this organization. So my number one prospect to look forward to sitting here today is Zach Brixie. Zach Brixie is the name that you may have heard coming out of Virginia Tech in the 2020 MLB draft. He would have been drafted, but if you remember, that MLB draft was cut to about five rounds. So Zach Brixie went undrafted. He probably would have been a six seventh round pick if I had to guess, but all this guy has done is shoved down in the minor leagues. Looking back to really last year, last year in spring training, he got shut down and had Tommy John surgery. So he missed his entire 2023 season, started back up this year and he has been very good. So far he's got 19 appearances across rookie ball, high A, and he's now camping in double A right now where he's looking pretty good as well. So far this season though, he's only got 22 and a third innings pitch and again, 19 appearances, but in those 22 and third innings pitch, yes, his walk rate is very high right now and that is always what I'm concerned about. He's walking right around four and a half guys per nine innings and when you're a bullpen guy, that's a lot. But on the other hand, he's got 12 strikeouts per nine. Zach Brixie is one of those guys in my opinion where if he were to make his debut with the Nationals in the next month or so, I think he could establish himself as a potential back and bullpen guy. Now it's going to take some time. This is not going to help and really help this team overnight, but I do think down the road with guys like Jose Ferrer, who are already in the Nationals back in the bullpen with guys like Zach Brixie. He does have a fastball that can ride up into the upper 90s, but let's see what he can do and see if this is sustainable after Tommy John surgery because we have seen it kind of crush some guys in years past, which it has done for many pitchers out there in baseball. But if Zach Brixie is as good as his numbers say that he is, which by the way, across three different seasons, he's got a 3, 270 RA, he's got 146 innings pitched across those three minor league levels. And again, he's striking out guys at a pretty elite clip, 13 strikeouts per nine innings across his three minor league levels across three different seasons. That is pretty damn good, whichever way you look at it. So now going forward with the Nationals, look at Zach Brixie and keep an eye out for him. Tell him you right now. I think this guy could be legit for this national scene. Another bullpen guy. So who just recently cracked the top 30 for this organization Orlando Revolta 2019 12th wonder, he is 26 years old. This guy has really kind of taken a step up going to this year. Again, he is 26 years old, a little bit older. But if you think back to last season, Jake Irvin made his debut at 26 years old. And Jake Irvin had Tommy John surgery. So he probably would have been up a little bit sooner. Orlando Revolta, though, is going to be one of those bullpen pieces where I am very intrigued with as we sit here today. In this season across double A and triple A, he has been very good, very good in my opinion. He doesn't have the strikeout numbers that you know who has Zach Brixie down double A or single A or across all three levels because he just isn't a strikeout kind of pitcher. But he does possess those talents. He'll strike out 16 guys per nine innings down in double A this year before getting the promotion of the triple A Rochester, 16 guys per nine innings. Think about that for a second. That is absurd, absolutely absurd. He made the jump to triple A Rochester and he's only striking out 10 and a half per nine. And that is really where he's kind of buttering his bread right now. He's having a solid season in triple A, but still I think his stuff does play. And again, the Nationals, you need bullpen help right now. Going forward, we all know what the Nationals need. You know they need a first baseman of the future. You know you need help over at third base. You know you may need an extra outfielder to help you down the road. But you really need bullpen help. I think Orlando Revolta could be one of those guys where you never really hear about them. You don't really know too much about them, but he comes in and makes a very big impact in this bullpen. In my opinion, I think he will be the first one up into the majors of Zach Brixie and himself. And that's what probably should happen by the way. This guy's come in. He has played very well often. You can talk about all his different good metrics and his stats, but ultimately the results show for themselves. This guy's going to be an impact kind of player and I think he can get that done up in the major leagues. But there is a third prospect that we have talked about a lot in the show, a starting pitcher. Someone who's really just kind of come out of nowhere. His name is Brad Lord. We've talked about Brad Lord, the 18th round pick back in 2022 at a USF. He is 24 years old. He's gone from Wilmington to Harrisburg to Rochester. And he has dominated basically at every single level so far. On the season, he's got a 205 ERA in 19 starts, 105 and a third innings pitch and 108 strikeouts to go with that. What has really been impressive for him though, is with all these innings pitched again 105 innings on the season, he's got nine strikeouts per nine and only three walks per nine. Now three walks per nine, it's not a crazy level of good, but for a 24 year old who's still kind of stepping into his own game, that is pretty impressive. So when I look at Brad Lord, we know about the starting rotation right now. You've got your DJ Hertz, Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin, Mackenzie Gore, Cade Cavalli down the road and others as well who will be helping this team. But Brad Lord is going to fit in there some way somehow. I do think he makes his major league debut, maybe sometime this September, if an injury happens of some sort. Because that's always going to be the case, that's always going to be in play at this moment in time. And it has to be by the way, maybe then I decided to go to a six man rotation and take out Patrick Corbin and throw in Brad Lord in there. Trevor Williams, selfie, who knows what they do with him at this moment in time, but you've got your pieces right here and right now that can help you. And that is why I think Brad Lord could be one of those guys who steps in the rotation and maybe pitches a lot better than what you may think. So we'll see what the gnats do. I kind of like where they're headed though, and you kind of have to think the future is pretty damn bright. Now let's talk about Kyle Finnegan though. What were the nationals thinking not moving him? Why did you not trade him? We'll discuss that after we tell you guys about our friends over at Supply House and guys, we talk about Supply House and you can get supplies from a site that's made for the skilled trades at supplyhouse.com. Supplyhouse.com is a reliable way to order plumbing, HVAC and electrical products online. They're easy to use website is packed with helpful resources and the latest product info to help you get the job done right. 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Miller Thomas of Lockdown Diamondbacks here and I love these pistachios because each one ounce serving has 6 grams of protein giving you over 10% of your daily value. So whether your pistachio purist who loves cracking open every night or you prefer the convenience of no shell pistachios, wonderful pistachios has got you covered. Grab wonderful pistachios and elevate your snacking game today. Visit wonderful pistachios.com to learn more. Thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first list in every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. I'm upset. Why did the Nationals not trade Kyle Finney in yesterday? Did you not see what relievers were going for at this year's trade deadline? Did you not see what the Miami Marlins who put on a clinic at the trade deadline yesterday do? What are you doing? Now I understand that Mike Rizzo, he's very good at his job, still one of the best executives in all the baseball. I understand that. How can you not look around the room though and see the Miami Marlins getting all these top prospects for guys who are better than Kyle Finney? How did you not try and trade away Finney? How obviously the Nationals were shopping him, he admitted that in his press conference yesterday, he talked about it this morning on with the junkies. But you can't tell me that Kyle Finney is going to help this team down the road more than what a trade return would be for him right now. I would be very interested to see what teams are offering for your all-star closer. I trust in Rizzo to make the right decision but also on the other hand of this discussion is why did you not trade him? Even if it wasn't "market value" for him, let's be honest, Kyle Finney is good but he is very replaceable. I always think back to this and I think this is a very interesting discussion to have. People are talking about you can't replace Kyle Finney. You can't replace Hunter Harvey. Guys, right after 2019 when the Nationals won the World Series, Mike Rizzo signed some guy named Kyle Finney in, out of the minor leagues, gave him a major league contract. He became that all-star closer today. Hunter Harvey just a few years ago, claimed them off waivers, became one of the best setup guys in the national league for quite some time now. I have faith in Mike Rizzo finding these replacements. He has done it. He has shown that he has done it. And even then, you've got young pitchers like guys that we just talked about, Zach Brixie or Lando Revolta, someone who's already up in the majors with Jose Ferrer. I don't understand the thinking process behind not shopping Kyle Finney in this deadline. It did not make sense to me and it still does not, by the way. So next year, if the Nationals, if we are good and if the Nationals are actually competing and if they flip that switch from being sellers to buyers, then we'll see what we do. So you could have sold them at a pretty premier price and I don't know what teams we're offering. I don't know what we would have gotten in return, but I think it's safe to say you would have gotten a semi-elite prospect in which we don't have right now. And for a team that's still in a rebuild, you need prospects. You need guys to help you out when we were talking about this earlier on in the conversation. You need those waves of prospects. And I think we kind of got that taken away from us in which maybe wasn't the best thing to do. So why did the Nationals not trade Kyle Finney in? I couldn't tell you. The bright side of it, you do have an all-star closer and hopefully it does take a next step up, but I think one of the best kept secrets here in DC is Kyle Finney in, he's not going to be a closer down the road, he is a solid one, but I think he's very replaceable. And I don't know if people love to hear that, but that's just the truth. He's got fine stuff, he's got a fastball that rides up in the upper 90s, but he's replaceable. That's why I think the Nationals should have moved on from this deadline, from your all-star closer. So thank you all for making a lockdown. That's your first list. Well, days we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. Tomorrow's show, we'll get back to regular scheduled programming as we'll talk about this hideous and diamondback series, the Nationals just continue to get humbled day in and day out. We'll see what the Nats can do today as it's a day game over in the West Coast in the desert of Arizona. So we'll discuss that on tomorrow's show. Let's get a win, boys. We'll catch you on the flip side, have a good one. (upbeat music)
