The Kevin Sheehan Show - Some Jayden Nit Picks

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

Kevin and Thom with a menu of excellence with plenty of variety today. The offering includes but isn't limited to....Snyder's drinking, state of the NBA, a few of areas for Jayden Daniels to work on, the Dan Quinn hire Kevin-Thom "epic argument" re-visited, and Thom rips into Nats' ownership.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsors,

Window Nation. Call them if you need new Windows 86690 Nation or Window Nation. com. This Tommy from Rick to start the show. Kevin, your long-range weather outlooks are about as accurate as your takes on the NBA. Both stink. Yeah. You heard about, you know, I told you about this potential massive snowstorm this week that the weather people... You told me about it last week. I know.

I know. Well, you know, I had Doug Cameron on the radio show last week during last week's storm. And right in the middle of the conversation, he just said to me, oh, my God, have you looked at the Euro for next week? The Euro model for next week? And I go, I haven't. He goes, this could be big. And like it just started from there. And the weather people, Tommy, which I consider myself kind of part of the weather geekdom out there. Absolutely. Yeah. Yes.

I mean, through Friday night, tomorrow and Thursday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week, it was looking like 2016, something approaching 2016, where we would be measuring it not just, well, we would be measuring it. feet, not inches, and maybe multiple feet. And even like the worst case was, you know, a storm that produced, you know, six to ten inches. And now we're getting nothing. I mean, nothing. It is, it's interesting, because every time I talk about the weather, whether it's with you or by myself or with an actual meteorologist, somebody who actually is an expert at this, it's always true that these long-range forecasts and even the medium-range forecast, which is what last week would have been considered, kind of a medium-range forecast. They are so hit and miss. All weekend long, you just saw each model run take this storm and make it smaller, smaller, smaller, and then

eventually it essentially disappeared from our area. It just kept moving south and east of us, and now we will get maybe Flurie's best case. Rick, my takes on the NBA, I guess they stink because you don't like the NBA, but I've ripped the NBA a lot recently, including on yesterday's show, the All-Star, whatever that thing was on Sunday night, I think it's the last gasp.

I think that they should can this thing now. Did you pay attention to any of it, Tommy, or any of the follow-up quotes, Kevin Durant, had a lot to say about it. Oh, I paid a lot of attention to the fallout from it. You can pay attention to the game? No, let me go back to weather just for a second. I mean, I don't understand why people get worked up

when, you know, Armageddon is predicted, and then it doesn't happen. That should be a pleasant surprise. No, a lot of people want Armageddon. A lot of people love the big storm. Oh, I don't think they do. Oh, yes. What do you think intrigues me? People get angry because they get all worked up and worried about it,

and then it doesn't happen, and they feel they got anxious for nothing. To me, that's great. If you're worried about something that's going to happen, and then it doesn't happen, that's a relief. I just don't get the anxiety and the frustration over, you know, weather misses. Well, I think it's a lot of everything. I think it's what you just said. I think it's people who are psyched to see a big storm, and then they're disappointed that it didn't materialize.

I think it's a lot of everything. The bottom line is that, you know, weather people, there's no consequence for being wrong. It's one of the few jobs out there where they just, there's no, there's absolutely no fallout from the big, Big Whiff, the Big Miss. And nobody gives you credit for being right on a partly sunny and 58 day. You know, you don't get any credit for that. It's always when it comes to, you know, storms, you know, rain and snow, snow in particular. Yeah, absolutely.

Anyway. All right. Back to the All-Star game. Yes. Go ahead. What were you going to say? Well, I was going to say, I mean, it's no surprise to me. I mean, you know my feelings about the NBA.

I mean, it's been a lousy product for quite a few years now. And this is just another example of it. They can't figure out how to sell it anymore. You know, they can't, particularly the All-Star game, because the players have no interest in actually playing a competitive game. And it wasn't that long ago. Hell, was it our lifetime. I remember, look, I remember the game.

in D.C. I had a seat right by the scores table, and I remember the east was down by about 15 points that you know, go in sometime in the third quarter, and Alan Iverson stopped

by the scores table and checked the score, did something, and he slapped the scores table and he said, watch us, we're coming back. And they fought back to win. You know, that would never happen now. I mean, there was no sense of pride like there was then.

No. You know, so, I mean, so I mean, the game itself is a different kind of issue maybe than the entire NBA, but the entire product sucks. The regular season, the regular season product sucks. The playoff product, in my opinion, doesn't suck. The playoffs are completely different. This is a philosophy you could argue with baseball, too. The athletes may be better.

but it doesn't mean the game is. Right. And the athletes may be better in the NBA, but it doesn't mean the actual game as it unfolds is more entertaining than it used to be. I don't think it is. Well, I would add to this, and I think you'll disagree with this. I think not only is the athleticism better,

I think that's without debate. I think the skills are better than they've ever been, and I don't see anything resembling the basketball ball that I grew up with compared to the skills players have right now. But I do agree with you, and I've never come off the take that the NBA has a major problem with its regular season product. The All-Star game, look, these players of today, the majority of them, ruined something that was, you know, not the most significant date on the sports calendar by a long shot,

but it was a date that people looked forward to. It was not, and I said yesterday, it's certainly not the midsummer classic. It's never been that. But the NBA All-Star game was always more of a look forward to event than the Pro Bowl was. Oh, absolutely. And they ruined it by deciding that they would turn it into something that wasn't a game anymore. You know, it was more, it was not a competitive event. And I read this quote from Kevin Durant yesterday, and he's,

He's been getting into it with people on Twitter about this. But he said, I guess, before the game sometime last week, quote, I think that when you get events like this All-Star Weekend, we don't worry about the competition. It's just more about celebrating the basketball family and the community around this time. It's a cool time. And I said yesterday, Tommy, at least Durant's being honest. At least he's saying it's about us.

It's not about anybody else. We want to have a good time together for the weekend and celebrate each other and the All-Star label that we've all, you know, a label that we've all, you know, achieved. But he doesn't want it to be a competition. And that's what's ruined it, is that it ceased to be, ceased being even anything resembling a competition a few years ago. And the commissioner has tried to, you know, the leagues tried to come up with new ideas to resurrect. this thing and the idea that they came up with for Sunday night was an abject disaster. I mean, it was really, really awful. And now they're talking about an international competition. I just would say that I don't think anything's going to work because the players just don't care

about the past. You know, and I say the players, the majority of players have made it very clear that this weekend for them is not about a competition. competition. You know, they don't give a shit what Kobe and Bird and Magic and Michael, how it was handled with them, despite the urging of the league and former players to respect the competitive part of this thing. They don't have the time for that. They don't care about it. So, you know, I don't think that an international matchup is going to matter. They're just not going to compete in this thing. So they may want to do away with it. But the NBA sucks. in the regular season, for sure.

I think USA versus the world is their last gas. I think they have to try it. I think it could generate some passion among the players. I mean, I don't know why Adam Silver is so reluctant to do it. I mean, he keeps downplaying it. It seems like it's the only thing left for it to try is, you know, USA versus the international competition, and I think that would generate some passion. If that doesn't generate passion, then I don't know what to tell you.

It's not a new idea. We've talked about this. They haven't done it. I know that. They're reluctant to do it. But the players... I think they're reluctant to do it because of the bad feelings it could create, because it could be so passionate.

I used to think that. about that possibility, about that format. I just think the ship has sailed on this thing. I think that the players of today just they want the week off. They don't want to exert themselves. They want it to be fun for them. And they, you know, I'm not saying. It's clear LeBron wanted the week off.

Announce is right before the game that he can't play. That was pretty weak. If you know you're not going to play, let somebody else take your spot, you know, or don't, you don't make that decision like right before the game. Durant's comment on Twitter yesterday, on X yesterday. I think it's more fun to complain about the NBA than to actually watch it. Crazy. Cancel All-Star weekend and let's just give everybody a break since we're so miserable

around this time. Well, yeah. But I would point out to Kevin Durant and others that feel that way that it's better that people at least have passion. enough to complain and to bitch about things versus not having any kind of emotion towards, you know, what they've done with this product. Because that's when, you know, they'll be in dire need and be begging for people to complain again.

I don't know. He should be one of the, he should be one of the stewards of the game. Kevin Durant, I mean, is what, 35 years old now? At least. Isn't he? Yeah, at least, I think. So he should be one of the caretakers of the game. Yeah, that's never been him, though.

He's a go out and play, you know, play hard, go home every night guy. But he's not afraid to speak his mind or complain in this case. Yeah. At least he's doing it on his Twitter account, and that's some fake Twitter account like he used to have. Yes, yes, I remember that. Yeah, I, uh... Look, it. It gives me no joy to say the NBA shucks,

because even though I'm a baseball guy, in my teens and my young adult years, the NBA was my favorite thing. My favorite thing. The Knicks were my favorite team. The Bird Magic Arrow was my favorite time. I mean, I just, I love the NBA more than baseball, more than football, So I think that's why I'm so disgusted with the product.

Because I know enough about basketball or I knew enough about basketball to know how good it can be when it's done right. How musical it almost is. To watch it unfold. And this is just not the product I grew up with. Yeah, but I've said this to you every spring. and early summer, the playoff product is still very good. And it's completely different than the regular season product.

In parts, it's good. You know, what's driving some of the international talk is this hockey thing, which I've not watched any of. I'll, you know, being completely honest. I've not watched any of it. I've, you know, read about it. I've seen some of the highlights. This Four Nations, you know, face off, you know, hockey tournament in,

Yeah, I haven't watched it, but people did get passionate about that. You know, I mean, isn't there a sense of pride among American players that probably the two best players in the league are white European players? Isn't there a sense of, you know, of frustration about that, you would think? Wouldn't you think so? I don't know. Does that really matter? I mean, they treat the NBA like it's a bank anyway, and it just keeps printing money for them and just delivering money.

You're right. You're right. I mean, TV networks are lining up, you know, to pay the NBA because it's live sports, and they think they're going to get the kids to watch, even though the kids just watch highlights, and they don't actually watch the games. But you're right. It's still, I mean, you know, they're talking about selling the Celtics for $6 billion. So, yeah, it's still a moneymaker.

And that TV deal that they cut is looking really good for the league because it certainly seems like a massive overpay right now. But, you know, part of that is because of the, you know, worldwide and international appeal of the game as well, I would assume. All right. Let's get to some football talk. some Jaden Daniels talk. We will do that and more after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, if you've lost your hair or you're losing your hair, it doesn't mean you can't find it again.

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who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. for full details and important safety information. This segment of the show is brought to you by Window Nation. Give them a call if you need new windows. 86690 Nation or head to WindowNation.com. Mention my name. They'll come out and give you a free in-home estimate.

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years without spending the money on windows. And they'll save you big on your heating and air conditioning bills. 86690 Nation Windonation.com. I've got a couple of Washington-related emails to read. Some good ones. This one from Landis.

Landis writes, longtime listener of yours, I know it's been about three weeks since the ESPN story about Dan Snyder's hate for his former team's success dropped. But one of the things that stuck out to me most was Snyder considering the idea of using alcohol as an excuse for his alleged behavior as a desperate move to keep the team. That Tommy was a fascinating part of that Wickersham Van Nata story.

Snyder, in the late stages of selling the team, didn't want to sell the team, and he thought about, you know, coming up with, hey, I was a drunk during the time that we treated people poorly. Anyway, Landis continues. I find it incredibly ironic that Scott McLuhan when he was here lost his job for the same cause and then get smeared on his way out by an anonymous team official in the Washington Post by claiming he showed up drunk at games and in the locker room. But then we find out eight years later that Snyder himself considered using alcohol

as the cause for his alleged behavior in order to keep the team. How sick and twisted. But thank God he's no longer our problem. That was one of the lowest moments. And that came, Tommy, three or four years before all of the, you know, allegations and investigation started. I always maintained that Bruce Allen was forced to hire a general manager because, you know, that was shortly after his winning off the field comments at the end of the season, and there was such a fan reaction to his postseason press conference that I think he was under pressure by Snyder,

or the team felt pressure to hire a general manager. So I think Bruce hired a general manager that he figured would fail. And that was Scott McLuhan. Yeah, I mean It was personal foyerable You know, personal issues I think he knew that sooner or later That you know

There'd be a situation Where he would put himself at risk And Bruce would be back on top And that's exactly what happened They brought in a guy Who was very good at what he did But he had had issues with alcohol And they moved him into a liquor store

I mean And it was really, but I still will never forget that story in the post and how much it angered me. And I, you know, here's when I knew that somebody in the organization had leaked it because we both came to the conclusion that somebody in the organization leaked this, which they did. But typically when I would go off like that, sometimes I'd hear something from something. somebody that says, eh, you're not exactly, you know, on target there. Nothing. It was the lowest moment, and there were a lot of low moments, you know, over the years. But to smear Scott McLuhan, who had a problem at the time, the way they did was incredible.

It just showed how low rent and how mean-spirited the people in that building were for all of those years. This from Rick, another Rick email, it's a different Rick. Hey, I heard your discussion of what improvements you can expect from Daniels next season. I feel the biggest, and by the way, my discussion, I don't think it was with you on Thursday. I think this was a Friday topic when I said, I read something from Aaron Schatz, who essentially said, you know, quarterbacks like Daniels, people are expecting major improvement, but he was so great, like, where is he going to improve? And I kind of thought exactly, like, where are we going to say next year, Tommy?

Oh, my God, he really worked on that during the offseason and got so much better. Like, there wasn't anything that he did at a level other than great. I agree with you 100%. And I think if we do see improvement next year, it will be because he'll have a better cast of characters around him. Like the offense and the team could be better, although, you know, it doesn't mean that the record will end up being better. Yes. Or it'll be something that, you know, the coaches know that we don't really know. It'll be subtle.

But anyway, Rick continues. I feel the biggest improvement he needs is his pocket manipulation. I feel he has a tendency to abandon the pocket too early and definitely looks to scramble right. I'd like to see the subtle foot movements and to the same. side with keeping his eyes downfield. I'm not knocking him at all. He had a wondrous season, but I do see room for a large improvement in his pocket maneuverability. I'll definitely be looking for that next season. Okay, there was definitely the comfort in scrambling right, but it wasn't at the total exclusion of scrambling left. But there was, and even coolly pointed out,

prior to the playoff game, probably an intention for Philadelphia to get him to scramble in that direction and then play it in that direction. In terms of his ability to manipulate the pocket, no, I saw a guy that moved one, two, three, four was quick, quick processing and probably bailed early from the pocket early in the season, but not later in the season. Also, when he bailed from the pocket, you know, you've pretty much got to go back to the opener to find examples of this, where he didn't look down field as he was scrambling, where that changed almost, you know, instantaneously. I mean, they talked about that after the opener, and I didn't feel like it was a problem at any point the rest of the year. But that's fine. Fair critique. I think

the overarching theme for me in this conversation about Jaden is that we really have to reach to find even areas in which they're not flaws. You know, they're not things that have to be fixed or he's not going to be a good quarterback. They are just very subtle things that maybe we'll notice, but maybe only the coaches will notice. I think you're right. It'll be subtle.

I think we will see the improvement because I think he'll have better weapons. I think he'll have hopefully, you know, hopefully. a stronger offensive line, if we were a deeper offensive line, at least to sustain injuries. And, you know, the rest of it, I take it will be subtle stuff. He'll have a year under his belt of seeing a lot of these players for the first time, just like a pitcher sees a hitter, a hitter sees a pitcher. You know, he'll know tendencies of players personally, as opposed to, to just, you know, being told them or watching them on film,

he'll have dealt with them in person and have his own mental notebook as to what this guy does and what that guy does. All right. I'm going to read one more email. I saved this one for last because of two reasons. One, it is timely in that about a year ago, roughly a year ago, the team hired Dan Quinn. and then two, this is really getting after you.

I've read many an email that have gotten after me, and this one really gets after you for the way you handled and talked about the Dan Quinn hiring from a year ago. And by the way, this is complimentary of me, although I have to say that I'm not sure that all of it is accurate when it comes to the complementing of me. so I will reference that as well. But let me just read this.

It's from Edward. He writes, hey, Kevin. It's been a year since Dan Quinn was hired, and I've reviewed the epic argument you and Tom had at the time. That day, Tom put on a show. He lost his mind calling the process a disaster, saying they fumbled it completely. He lamented that they lost out on the opportunity to hire the Seattle.

coach that was McDonald's, right, who Seattle hired. An incredulous Tom ripped the search committee for failing to land their first choice, Ben Johnson. I do remember you ripping the search committee. Oh, I know that. Yeah. I have no bones about that. I still have no bones about that. For failing to land their first choice, Ben Johnson.

He said it felt like they just took the last guy in the room. Tommy also took a cheap shot at Quinn, accusing him of being. emotionally scarred from the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, as benefited the doubt, Kev, you argued that Quinn was no worse than their second or third choice based on Adam Schefter's report. Let me interject real quickly. It wasn't based on Adam Schaefter's report. It was based on my report.

I had sources that told me shortly after they Zoom interview Dan Quinn for the first time that he was incredibly. impressive and was at the top or near the top of their list. I actually didn't say second or third choice. I said top of the list or near the top of the list. And that was really early on in the interviewing process for the team. Anyway, Edward continues. You felt Quinn was better equipped to put a staff together than Ben Johnson and that Ben Johnson didn't appear to be the leader that Dan Quinn was. that's where I would say you're giving me too much credit because I don't think I ever said anything about Ben Johnson versus Dan Quinn in terms of leadership or the ability to put a staff together. In fact, I said that, you know, I'm not telling you that I'm a big fan of them hiring Dan Quinn.

I'm just telling you what they think right now after interviewing Quinn for the first time. I was okay with Quinn, and I did speak to his leadership ability and his experience, but I did prefer an offensive hire as that process began. And Edward writes, you said you would have preferred an offensive guy as head coach, but that the real key was the number two pick overall and finding the right OC. Yeah, I mean, more important last year than the hiring of the new coach. was getting the quarterback right at number two. Edward concludes.

Now, a year later, it turns out Tom's rage-fueled meltdown might not have aged so well. So Kevin, please ask Tommy if he still feels like they fumbled the process so poorly, or should we give Tommy the benefit of the doubt? So go ahead. What is this all about? I mean, look, I'm going to give this guy credit, because I don't recall exactly everything I said, and he seems to have made it a homework project of his. So I'm going to give him credit for being right.

I mean, there was much, I do remember. I did rip the process. And I did think they fumbled the optics on the Ben Johnson. situation, not necessarily by not getting him, but the whole messy optics that occurred out of it. I did criticize him for that, but I'm going to take this guy at his word. I'm going to say, yeah, he's right about everything he said about me, and I'd have to be an idiot to say, I still would believe that, you know, after what we just saw.

So, no, if I thought Dan Quinn was the wrong guy, which I never said he was, I just said that I didn't think he was the guy they wanted, okay, initially. But he turned out to be a magnificent coach who assembled a great staff and his players believe, look, you'll get tired of Dan Quinn and maybe this won't happen for a long time when the team is losing and you're hearing the chronic positivity. unless he learned his lesson. That's what happened in Atlanta.

That's one of the things that happened in Atlanta, is that the message was the same, win or lose, and it didn't go over so well when they lost. But this is a guy who's smart enough to learn from his mistakes. So, no, I don't think I was right, and I still think the process was ridiculous. You mean if they start to lose, we'll get sick of Tell the Truth Mondays?

Yes. Yes. You'll get sick of the secret sauce. Yeah, the secret sauce and tell the truth. Yeah. Yes. I'm not sick of it right now. No. No reason to me. Right. It's great. It tastes like wine.

Well, look. I kind of, well, I didn't kind of. I certainly intimated over the summer, let's stop talking about secret sauce until we've won a bunch of games. Because it did seem like he was an authority on the secret sauce and what they were putting together and really, really confident. And they hadn't yet played a game. I remember having them on the show over the summer. And I said, you know, how much of this positivity means anything at this point of the season. And he said to me, he said, well, that's fair. He said that you don't really know anything until you start playing games.

And that is the NFL each year. I mean, you don't know anything until you start playing games unless, unless you have the quarterback position figured out. I think the thing in looking back on the hiring for me, and I'm sure the epic argument was me just being frustrated with you in trying to tell me who I had the actual report and the information when I said on this podcast with you and on the radio show with Denton, very clearly that they really like Dan Quinn. He's at the top or near the top of the list. This is what I'm being told. And nobody at that point said anything about Dan Quinn being a frontrunner. The Ben Johnson thing, in terms of it being handled poorly,

I think I said at the time, have they handled it poorly? Or are people just listening to media people who assume that Ben Johnson is the frontrunner and can have this job if you want to? because I think that that was more the issue with fans is that they were believing a lot of the reporting that Ben Johnson was the leading contender and the frontrunner and would be the guy once Detroit was eliminated from the postseason. I mean, the guy didn't, he didn't clearly want to be a head coach last year. And I think even if he had wanted to, he wouldn't have gotten a job. I think that Quinn was the leader and the culture setter they were looking for.

I think that was the gist of the epic argument that Edward was referring to, that you, like many people, thought Quinn was the last man standing in the room when they hired him. And I thought the complete opposite and knew that the truth was the complete opposite. But back to what you said with regard to, you know, a year later, how do you feel? we've all gotten things terribly wrong, and we'd be idiots for not saying, yeah, I got that one wrong. I've got a year's worth of data now that says they made the right hire, or at least at this point, looks like they made the right hire. Right. Absolutely.

What's the guy's name who wrote the email? Edward. Edward, you got me, buddy. He's an MD. He lives in L.A. MD? He's a doctor from L.A. What kind of doctor?

I don't know. Want me to look into it? I need a doctor. You need a lot of doctors. You have a whole team that keeps you upright. Yes, I do. And moving. Yes, Edward.

Thanks for the diagnosis, buddy. Yeah, thanks, buddy. Thanks, champ. Thanks, friend. All right, we got a lot more. We'll get to it right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, prize picks is the place to go to for daily fantasy sports. I have the prize picks app.

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All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly's. Well, you know, my time is running down here in a beautiful Miramar Beach. How much more time do you have? I'll be home in less than two weeks. Okay. You know, and the one thing I am looking forward to, though, is coming back to Shelley's back room at 1331 F Street, Northwest. There's certainly no place like it on the panhandle. in Florida, I can tell you that.

And to be away from Shelly's, for two months, I get withdrawals. I get withdrawal symptoms. I can feel it. I miss it. It'll be one of my first stops the week I'm back in D.C. at Shelly's backroom at 1331F Street, Northwest. See some of my old friends, make some new friends. You know, it's that kind of place.

It's a place that draws people. if they've been there once, they want to go back. Well, I've been there more than once. I've been there maybe as much as anybody who doesn't work there has been there. And I can't wait to get back to have a great cigar, to have the – look, I've had some great chicken tenders down here. The place right next door, Teddy D. Where Tommy Purify does his karaoke, they have excellent. contenders, but they're not as good as Shelly's, just like almost everything on the menu.

You can find out more about their menus of excellent at shelley's backroom.com. If you're taking Tommy out to lunch, it's not that hard. Just make sure the place has a box of crayons, a menu that you can draw and color on, and chicken nuggets. Now, you do, unlike your children, you do have to order Tommy a beer, maybe six or seven of them. But as As long as you're at a restaurant with pizza, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, you're good. By the way, those are my favorite restaurants when the kids were young, where you could just literally munch on everything they ordered, and it was typically better than anything you would order for yourself.

I'm a simple man with simple taste. Yes. You are. It's your simplicity that makes you so complex, though, as we've discussed for many, many years. Yes. All right. You had something about the Nats and Nats. something Mark Lerner said.

Well, Mark Lerner spoke to reporters yesterday at spring training, and there was a lot of stuff that he said that was just fraudulent. You know, he did say that the team is not for sale, but I believe it is if somebody comes along with the right price. There are family members that want to sell the team, but Mark does want to hold on to the team. God knows why, since he runs. that, you know, he doesn't run it like he particularly is interested in holding on to it.

But this is what he said. He was questioned. In my column I wrote the other day, I said that comment he made in a 22 interview to Dan Colco, where he said, anytime Mike Rizzo needs the money, you know, to buy free agents, all he's got to do is come tell me. That's basically a paraphrase of what he said. That's an outright lie, okay? because for a couple years now, Mike has gone to the family and asked for more money to sign free agents,

and he hasn't gotten it. Okay? You know, and so here's what Mark said the other day, quote, this is according to Barry's for Luguscom, quote, when Mike calls me and says, we really need to think about it for next winter, we'll talk about it, Learner said. Right now he doesn't think, and I agree with him.

There's no point in getting a superstar and paying him hundreds of millions of dollars to win two or three more games. Okay. That's not what Mike Grizzell is talking about. Okay? He wants to spend a little bit more so you don't have to hire,

you don't have to sign Josh Bell again for $6 million. I mean, they were in on Christian Walker, the free agent first baseman from Arizona. They went to his house. They met with him. But when it came time to come up with the money, three years, $30 million, the owner said no.

And he wound up signing with Houston. Okay, three years, $60 million is not outrageous hundreds of millions of dollars. That's not what he's talking about. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about supplementing the young talent with reasonably talented players who will be here more than one year at a time. Okay, so he just still, in his own way, you know, just lying. And here's the question, everybody needs to ask themselves.

Tell me the general manager in any sport who goes to his owner and says, no, no, no, don't give me any more money. Let's wait. Okay? Tell me that general manager. No, that's okay. You keep it. I don't need it.

I'll still keep shopping at the Salvation Army until we're ready to win. So tell me if you think that I'm on to something when it comes to kind of their behavior right now with respect to spending money, you know, putting a big outlay of cash out there for a big name player or a big piece or two to get them kind of over the hump. Because they have spent money in the past, right? Jason Worth, Max Scherzer. there's a list of players. They may not have spent big on their managers, but they spent big, and they have proven

that they are willing to spend big on players. But anyway, let me get to my point. My point is this. They may say that they're not selling, but you know and I know that if they get their number, they're out of here. They're selling the team. They're, you know, if they,

now they're not going to accept a nickel less than what they think it's worth. But maybe they're just, holding back because in the back of their mind they believe there is still a chance that somebody's going to step up and pay them what they want for the team. I don't think that's a fact. The learners claim they're losing $100 million a year. Okay.

I don't know how that's possible. But that's what they claim. They claim that, you know, I don't know if they mean their real estate business or the baseball business, but that's the number they throw out inside the building. That's why they're not spending money because they're losing money. They said, losing $100 million a year. I think that's bullshit.

I don't think they are. They're losing $100 million a year, yet they've never sold the naming rights and turned down numerous offers for naming rights because it wasn't the figure they wanted. They haven't made an MLB patch feel yet, where you can

sell the rights to a patch on the uniform. There are ways to bring in revenue that they've just ignored because that's their MO until they get their price. They just ignore it. So, you know, it's just they're pathetic owners who were very fortunate to have a good general manager. And right now they're lying to the fan base. And you know what? There's nobody else in town calling them to account for it except me. Is it possible that they lose $100 million a year?

I don't think so. Well, let me just tell you. I'm looking at something from Forbes, and this is from last year. Baseball just had a record revenue season. Baseball. Baseball just had their highest revenue number ever. Okay, so I'm looking at Forbes from March of 2024. So this does not take into account the 2024 season.

reason. The Nats were 16th in the league in overall valuation. In revenue, they generated 355 million in revenue. That looks like it's top half of the league or like 16th, 17th in the league. And their operating income was $63 million. So they were not at a deficit in operating income. But they're taking a bath in the real estate market. Of course. Everybody else is commercial real estate. I get that. Well, then get out of the baseball business.

You know, you own a baseball team. They're worth it like a bacon office. They're worth billions of dollars. Oh, I know. No one's going to have to hold a bake sale for them. They're among the wealthiest owners in sports. It's just frustrating that, you know, they just, they just present this facade, which is absolute false, and no one calls them on it.

Are they going to, do they have a chance to be any good? They've got good young talent on the team. they're going to be fun to watch. They have good young talent. Right. And they're going to be probably maybe better than they were last year. But you know what? The Mets added Juan Soto.

Right. The Phillies added the Miami Marlins ace pitcher to their rotation. Right. And the Braves are pretty good. The Braves have won the division five years in a row. Yeah. Okay. You need, I mean, Mike Grizzell and Davy Martinez have both said they want.

they want their players to play competitive games in September. Now it's a competitive games, meaning fighting for a wildcard spot or fighting for a division title because that's part of the maturation process. And they were out of it by the middle of August last year. And then your star, All-Star shortstop, is in the casino at 8 o'clock in Chicago for a day. And, you know what? Yeah, and you know what? If you had a veteran in the clubhouse who was there from Ward and a cup of coffee like Joey Gallo was,

if you had a guy who had been there for three years with a veteran presence as a leader, maybe that guy did not in that casino that morning. Well, I mean, Josh Bell's been around for a while. Yeah, but it's a one-year deal. Do they have no leverage? That's all about baseball. Do they have any? Baseball is about this.

Your contract and your stability and your leverage. Do they have any pitch? Your managers talk about it all the time. Do they have any starting pitching after McKenzie Gore? Well, I tell you what, the DJ Hearst was very exciting last year. The guy they picked up in a trade with the Cubs. He was erratic, but sometimes he'd strike out 11 guys in five innings. And then sometimes he'd be added a game after the fourth inning.

He's got a lot of promise. Jake Irvin. Look, they have a good young core of pitchers. You know, but... Is Cade Covelli going to pitch this year? I think he is. But no one knows what he's going to be like

coming off of surgery. But, you know, they wanted to add more power to the lineup. They wanted to add 60 home runs. They felt far short of that. All right. Somebody's getting after the learning. in this town. All right. Is that a column? Are you going to write a column about this? I want to read.

That's the column I wrote last week that I wrote. Oh, yeah, I forgot about that one. You know, the one you didn't read from before. I forgot about that one. That was a good one. All right. I will talk to you on Thursday. Okay, boss.