Talking Nats right now on XM-175

[Minty Fresh]

Interview with the Saint.

[tomterp]

Got it streaming now!

Singing the praises of Lannan.   

[Minty Fresh]

Scott Olsen:  Ready for being a great middle of the rotation type of guy.  Maturity issues appear to be behind him.

Vindicator:  Teams need guys like Vindicator who can go 200+ innings. (But, Redding didn't show a history of it, only last year)

On 2008:  Struggled with a lot of injuries and inexperience.  Everyone will be a year more experienced, healthy and confident that the team is moving in the right direction.

On Hanrahan:  Sounds like the Nats are going with Joel as the closer for the forseeable future.  Made "huge strides" in the mental part of closing out games. 

On young pitchers:  The hardest part is getting them into buying into pitching instead of throwing.  Randy said kids struggle with the notion of throwing softer instead of harder when they get into jams.  Usually the harder they throw the more they lose control. 

And he shared a laugh with the hosts regarding Balester's comments last weekend.

Great interview all around.

[tomterp]

Collin's aware his comments have been really grabbed, I've been exchanging comments in his blog this morning.

http://collinbalester.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/12/bally_minute_4.html

[hammondsnats]

did he mention anything else about our current starting pitchers candidates: D-Cab, Bally, Shawn Hill, Martis, Jordan Zimmermann, etc?

[Ray D]

Did he talk about Cabrera?

[tomterp]

Did he talk about Cabrera?

I missed the first half, didn't hear it mentioned in the 2nd half.

[Minty Fresh]

He mentioned Cabrera in passing saying that he's a project of sorts that they're hoping works in their favor.  "We're certainly impressed with his arm..."  blah, blah, blah.  Nothing you wouldn't expect.

As for the others, he made no mention of counting on Hill or Bergmann making the rotation.  He mentioned Bergmann's need for consistency and Hill's plans to come in healthy - but he warned that the organization needs to have backup plans in case they don't work out.  No mention of Martis that I heard and Zimmermann was mentioned as the hot young prospect they're taking a serious look at in ST.

[hammondsnats]

Thanks Minty good find.  I miss XM they really love their baseball on there.  Hopefully the MLB TV Network has similiar programming.

[tomterp]

Thom Lovarro is going to be interviewed live on XM 175 within the hour.  Let's see what "indications" he's talking about.