The Washington Nationals' deadline-day trade of reliever Brandon Kintzler to the Chicago Cubs came as something of a surprise, considering the Nats still fancy themselves as contenders. But the genesis of the deal might not have been from his on-field performance.

Washington traded Kintzler because the team believed him to have leaked that the clubhouse was in dysfunction, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Barely 24 hours after the initial report stated that the Nats' clubhouse was "a mess," Kintzler found himself heading to the Cubs for pitching prospect Jhon Romero, who's spent this season at Single-A.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo explained the decision to cut ties with Kelley this way: “You’re either in or you’re in the way. I thought he was in the way. That’s something you don’t come back from.”

Dear Nats Fans,

At the trade deadline, we faced an honest challenge of sticking with the roster and believing play would improve, or making moves for the future. We gambled at the deadline, I admit it. We believed that the talent was still there, and that we would just need inspired play and a few lucky breaks. The decision then was driven by heart and our desire to give this team every opportunity to turn the season around. We believed we were a few wins and a few breaks away from making a turn in the season, a few games from making a run for the top.

When something isn’t working, you evaluate the situation and take the necessary steps to improve it. You don’t just stand by, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. Unfortunately, in this case, that means making very tough decisions about our roster.

I believed in this team, and would have loved to see them all play healthy together this season. However, the time has come for us to make decisions that will bolster our roster for next season and beyond. This is about giving us some roster flexibility, giving us the opportunity to see some of our young talent, and seeing if we can still find a combination or two that could spark a difference.

These are incredibly tough decisions for us to make. We see the players on this team as part of our family.

Daniel’s performance since joining our club has been phenomenal. On a personal note, Daniel is one of my all-time favorite Nationals. I love the way he played the game and his enthusiasm is contagious. Arguably the top free agent signing of the 2015 offseason, Murphy represented our team in the 2016 and 2017 All-Star Games, took home two Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger awards (2016, 2017) and finished second in the 2016 National League Most Valuable Player voting.

Matt Adams was such a great addition to our team this year. He was a solid contributor, providing value off the bench as well as the starting lineup wherever needed. Matt is the consummate professional and we wish him the best in St. Louis.

We know that this is not easy for our fans — to see a player that you have been rooting for day in and day out suddenly shipped off to another team. But — at the end of the day — we have to do what is best for the overall health and well-being of the ball club.

The good news is this is not a rebuilding effort. We have a lot of talent on our roster — from seasoned veterans to enthusiastic young guys. And Mike Rizzo and his team will be busy during the offseason making sure we have all of the pieces necessary to come back and be competitive next year.

Most importantly — our goal has not changed — we want to bring a World Series trophy home to Washington, D.C. I truly believe the actions we are taking now will strengthen the franchise and keep us in the position of being a perennial contender.

Best,

Mark

BigEd76 wrote:From the owner:

Dear Nats Fans,

At the trade deadline, we faced an honest challenge of sticking with the roster and believing play would improve, or making moves for the future. We gambled at the deadline, I admit it. We believed that the talent was still there, and that we would just need inspired play and a few lucky breaks. The decision then was driven by heart and our desire to give this team every opportunity to turn the season around. We believed we were a few wins and a few breaks away from making a turn in the season, a few games from making a run for the top.

When something isn’t working, you evaluate the situation and take the necessary steps to improve it. You don’t just stand by, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. Unfortunately, in this case, that means making very tough decisions about our roster.

I believed in this team, and would have loved to see them all play healthy together this season. However, the time has come for us to make decisions that will bolster our roster for next season and beyond. This is about giving us some roster flexibility, giving us the opportunity to see some of our young talent, and seeing if we can still find a combination or two that could spark a difference.

These are incredibly tough decisions for us to make. We see the players on this team as part of our family.

Daniel’s performance since joining our club has been phenomenal. On a personal note, Daniel is one of my all-time favorite Nationals. I love the way he played the game and his enthusiasm is contagious. Arguably the top free agent signing of the 2015 offseason, Murphy represented our team in the 2016 and 2017 All-Star Games, took home two Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger awards (2016, 2017) and finished second in the 2016 National League Most Valuable Player voting.

Matt Adams was such a great addition to our team this year. He was a solid contributor, providing value off the bench as well as the starting lineup wherever needed. Matt is the consummate professional and we wish him the best in St. Louis.

We know that this is not easy for our fans — to see a player that you have been rooting for day in and day out suddenly shipped off to another team. But — at the end of the day — we have to do what is best for the overall health and well-being of the ball club.

The good news is this is not a rebuilding effort. We have a lot of talent on our roster — from seasoned veterans to enthusiastic young guys. And Mike Rizzo and his team will be busy during the offseason making sure we have all of the pieces necessary to come back and be competitive next year.

Most importantly — our goal has not changed — we want to bring a World Series trophy home to Washington, D.C. I truly believe the actions we are taking now will strengthen the franchise and keep us in the position of being a perennial contender.

Best,

Mark

bleh wrote:Fangraphs has them at 12% to make the playoffs... That's too high to punt the season IMO. And why not wait another week to do this? If they miss the playoffs by 1 game they're going to look bad/even worse.

thephan wrote:

gr wrote:

lethal wrote:

gr wrote:wait til amazon moves in next door at buzzards point. you'll have 15,000 nerds with lanyards mucking things up, even as ticket prices go up 20%.

My money's on Alexandria in the Potomac Yards area.

seems like the dulles location is the most likely in VA tho, since they already have 2 facilities there

Two? Try again. count data centers and it’s like 10 with 2 more on the way. 2 offices in Herndon.

Anyway, AWS powers mlb.com, so they watch free w/o needing to go downtown.

Loudoun is getting a minor league soccer club, maybe they can make good on getting that minor-league baseball team too. What would it take to get to Harrisburg Senators to come down Route 15 to Loudoun?

The Nationals have made it clear that they want to keep Rendon and sign him to a long-term contract. Rendon has made it clear he wants to stay in Washington and is willing to forego free agency if they can get the right deal done with them. However, there is still no deal in place and if they can’t agree on a contract extension, expect the Nationals to trade him by July 31.