Nationals manager Matt Williams appeared on the Sports Junkies radio show on WJFK 106.7 The Fan on Wednesday, as he does each week, to talk about the Nats. One of the hosts of the Junkies, Jason "Lurch" Bishop asked Williams a sort of throwaway question about if it was a good idea to send 2 time All-Star Bryce Harper to the minors to get him out of a slump.
The Junkies, probably expecting a quick "Hell no" answer so they could just move on, got a little more out of Matt Williams, who didn't exactly shut down the possibility. Lurch didn't even just ask the question, he asked if it was "stupid". Williams told the radio host that he was not an idiot for considering that action, but mentioned that Harper was too special to send down.
Well of course this story has hit ESPN, and my favorite show PTI. Here's what Wilbon & Kornheiser had to say:
Should they send Bryce Harper down?
"They should! But I don't think they can." - Michael Wilbon
...saying it would be good for his "baseball" but bad for the franchise, manager, town, emotions...and later reiterating that he could use the work in the minors. More from Wilbon.
"I think now we're talking about 2 separate things. We're talking about what's good for his baseball and what's good for him and that franchise and as you know there's already this delicate balance, this dance that's being done around this kid, even though to me, he's not even close to being the kind of player that he ought to be, and injuries have played a good part of that."
"The relationship with the town, the manager, the club, I don't think emotionally the Nationals can afford to send him down to the minors to get well"
"They absolutely can not do that." - Tony Kornheiser
...saying it would fracture his relationship with Matt Williams which is already shaky due to an earlier benching incident.
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