Joe Warden

@TalkNats So far Tobini is 0-2 in trades and it’s not even close. Ferrer would be our anchor and we got trash for Bennett

Jake Bennett pitches a 6.0 inning scoreless 1-hit gem. His ERA pushes down to a 2.35 in his 9 MLB starts. He will probably be 2nd in the ROY voting behind Kevin McGonigle. And 8 months ago, Bennett was a Washington #Nats top prospect and Paul Toboni traded him to his old team.

@MarkZuckerman I wonder if this guy is coach able - while not routine he should have had that and the effort was abysmal. He doesn’t seem to care also

Dylan Crews: "You've got to know where you are at all times. I thought I knew where I was. I just mistimed it. ... I should've had it."

@GrantPaulsen It’s tough when it appears the Lerners won’t spend any money on players. I just hope there is a salary floor so they are forced to spend a pittance

This is the thing that needs to be mentioned about the Nats bullpen being a disaster. They’ve tried everything. They have given almost everyone a shot in leverage spots. Nothing has worked.

@ChuckDouglas_ Are you implying they look to trade CJ and/or Wood? Or griffin? That would be a terrible move

The Washington Nationals are likely locked-in as sellers at the trade deadline in three weeks, after dropping three straight to the NY Yankees and dipping back below. 500 entering the All-Star break. A blessing in disguise given the holes that still exist in the farm system + ML roster. A fun first half overall, but the long term health of the organization + major/minor league player development (versus wins/losses) should be the priority the rest of the season. #Natitude | @TalkNats @Nationals @paul30toboni

@spencernusbaum_ Did anyone ask him why he traded Jose Ferrer, a legit back end reliever?

Asked Nationals POBO Paul Toboni about the trouble they had identifying bullpen arms this winter, and how it related to everything else they had to address last offseason. His answer:

@spencernusbaum_ If you were to tell me they would be 48-49 at the break I would have been thrilled but with 28 blown saves it tarnishes it. They could easily be 58-39 with 10 less BS

Final: Yankees 5, Nationals 3 The Nationals are swept by the Yankees, surrendering a late lead in all three games. Washington now has an 8.10 ERA in the eighth inning and beyond at home. They head into the break one game under .500. Record: 48-49

@spencernusbaum_ Crews should have had that and made it much more difficult than it needed to be. He misplayed it. Loss is on Crews. He is total ass.

For the third game in a row, the Nationals took a narrow lead into the final two innings and couldn't hold on to it. This time, Crews can't make a tough leaping catch at the wall that would've kept them ahead. Alvarez walked the previous batter.

@MarkZuckerman Horrible play by Crews. Lost the game - crews is awful

Dylan Crews looked like he had a bead on Ben Rice's drive to the wall in left-center. He didn't quite get there before slamming into the wall. Two runs score. Nats down 4-3 in the 8th.

@spencernusbaum_ Development plan? “Chris - here’s the plan we will have the best offense in baseball and the worst bullpen in the history of baseball.” lol

Also, in a sign of the times: Chris Hacopian said the Nats presented him with the most organized development plan of any team he met with. Will have more on the draft process in the AM, but it lines up with so much of what I heard over the last few months.

@MarkZuckerman Beeter’s comments show a total lack of accountability and are delusional. He seems to not even care that he lost the game and it’s not the first time

Blake Butera and Clayton Beeter after the Nationals' 27th blown save of the season: natsjournal.com/p/not-quite-in…

@GrantPaulsen They did trade their only good late inning arm for a catcher hitting .200 in AAA. Ferrer is a quality leverage guy.

Back to back devastating losses to the Yankees via bullpen collapses. Two should-be wins turned into losses. Repeat performance of the galling Phillies series. Just a groundhogs day nightmare. Here’s where I’m at… 1) Impossible to blame Blake Butera. There is no right answer. When he goes with the lefty he should’ve gone with Beeter. When he goes with Beeter he should’ve gone with somebody else. They need someone to step up and it hasn’t happened. 2) There’s nobody walking through that door. They have claimed 145 arms since April. They’re bringing guys in and out to get chances. Throwing a lot at the wall. 3) Nobody is trading a legit late inNing arm yet. Market hasn’t materialized. I hope they’ve been working the phones for weeks but it’s July 11th. Trade deadline is weeks away and market isn’t really open for business yet. 4) If the complaint is “they built a bad bullpen” that doesn’t acknowledge that they were planning on being bad. They didn’t think they’d be this close and be wasting an elite offense with these late inning debacles. Hard to be mad they didn’t add a reliever to help the 68 win team they were supposed to be. 5) This doesn’t change how demoralizing and infuriating these collapses are. To do so many things well and see games implode over and over is one of the hardest things in sports. Really exasperating for fans but kind of is a side effect to the team’s incredible offensive rise and over performance. It’s like the lineup didn’t get the memo on what this season was supposed to be and it’s making the other stuff that hasn’t also overachieved that much more dispiriting for fans. Sobering reminder that this probably isn’t a year that will end up being as fun in September as folks are dreaming about. In the mean time … Feels good to feel something I guess?

@spencernusbaum_ It’s on the owners BUT Toboni traded the Nats best reliever for a catcher hitting .200 in AAA. Maybe Toboni doesn’t believe in needing a bullpen. But it’s on the Lerners - the worse owners in baseball

Final: Yankees 4, Nationals 2 The Nats led 2-0 in the 8th and turned to their two best arms, who allowed 3 homers. This, on the same day as the draft, was a sobering reminder of why the focus is on the future. MLB-high 27th blown save. Record: 48-48

@MarkZuckerman Overmanaging and way to state the facts - Tena should not be on the roster

Blake Butera had Jose Tena pinch-hit for Jacob Young and Luis Garcia Jr. pinch-hit for Nasim Nunez with the tying runner in scoring position in the 7th. Tena popped up on the second pitch. Garcia grounded out on the fourth pitch. Nats still trail 2-1.

@MarkZuckerman Ask the manager why he over manages?

I'm speechless. I'm without speech.

@MarkZuckerman Butera is over managing again. You should have the guts to ask him about that and be a journalist instead of a yes man.

Final: Phillies 5, Nats 4. For the second straight night, the Nationals were one strike away. For the second straight night, they were dealt a gut-punch loss. They reach the halfway point of the season at 41-40.

@JPFinlayNBCS “I just gotta catch the ball” but you didn’t and you also didn’t make that pick and you also missed a bunch of tackles. When are the excuses going to end

Mikey Sainristil on the muffed punt: “I got to catch that.” Says he practices them all the time

@JPFinlayNBCS As opposed to the last 5?

Dan Quinn - this one stings

@JPFinlayNBCS Mikey dropped a pick too and had been terrible all year

Mikey was returning punts bc Lane went down. he does practice it but yeah not ideal situation x.com/JonNestor/stat…

@HogsHaven Taking responsibility means nothing without any accountability and changes. DQ is not a good head coach and makes no in game adjustments or apparently in season adjustments

Dan Quinn regrets putting Jayden Daniels in the game: “I missed it, that’s 100% on me” hogshaven.com/pressers/38664…

@JPFinlayNBCS This guy always blames the refs and he can’t even speak much less play

Marshon Lattimore frustrated - we were right there but just couldn’t make plays