I’m sure there are good analytics reasons why this kid isn’t considered a top draft prospect. And yet, Blaze Jordan is off to a great start with St. Louis and every MLB team passed on acquiring him *for free* in the Rule 5 Draft TWICE. Sometimes you should just take the guy who hits the ball hard.

After months of “Could GTA VI be the first $100 video game?!” speculation that mentally prepared people for that price point, announcing that no, it’s actually just $80…but you can get the Ultimate Edition for $100, makes the Ultimate Edition price seem super-reasonable! kotaku.com/grand-theft-...

Don’t trade him. I refuse to believe that a 30 year-old rookie who was playing in Japan this time last year would turn down a reasonable extension offer right now. Key word being *reasonable*. Not a classic Ted Lerner “Oh, he wants to stay here? Splendid! Let’s see if we can lowball him,” offer.

I can tell everyone is still upset. So as a treat, enjoy this old Tysons Corner jingle. youtu.be/ktW7Sl39dd0

Meh. Sorry, I don’t really care. Parker was fine and might have actually been fixed. Lovelady and Lord were uncharacteristically terrible. It happens. I’m still not really sure who Schultz is. My main takeaway is that Poulin is too valuable to waste as an opener. If Littell can’t hack it, cut him.

This sucks, but Lord had allowed just three runs in over a month and hadn’t pitched since Saturday. This is more “Baseball! 🤷” than anything else.

Orion Kerkering is the best Phillie ever.

Jesus, guys, fucking relax. Clearly what happened is that the Nationals marketing people saw all the attention the Wizards are getting tonight, got jealous, and ordered Butera to make the game more thrilling. I mean, do you people even know sports?

After the Wizards drafted Wall, they did a big event where he pulled up to the (then) Verizon Center and there was a big crowd and they tossed Wall t-shirts to fans. One of them went sailing right to a young kid…until I snatched it out of the air. I still have it. Anyway, I want my Dybantsa shirt.

Wait…a drafted player can just stand up and stroll ten feet to the stage? He doesn’t have to walk a mile through a corridor, pose in front of a mirror, and make a big show of being overcome with emotion for the camera? Take note, NFL!

That, too. I have no idea who any of the people involved are. But Caps fans seemed happy.

Two equally seismic D.C. sports events potentially happening tonight: 1) The Wizards drafting their next franchise cornerstone with the first overall pick. 2) Fucking ZACK LITTELL beating the Phillies.

Seems like a dumb reason to fire someone. Also seems like a dumb thing to do when you have a cushy six-figure investment bank job and you know your employer is super-uptight about bad press. I hope she gets to keep the trashcan, at least. nypost.com/2026/06/23/b...

…What? I mean, this kid is what the kids who bullied the Columbine shooters probably looked like. I wish someone had explained to him that when you’re in the 99th percentile of human attractiveness, the world is your oyster and you don’t need to do mass shootings.

Riggleman had no way of knowing at the time that the photo on the right would represent the pinnacle of his managerial career.

I’d like to think that Toboni has earned enough goodwill with the Lerners by now that he can call Mark and inform him—not ask—that they’re extending Griffin for $15M/3 years or whatever piddling amount it would take, and Mark would just grudgingly write the check.

I’ll never get tired of hearing Ryan Zimmerman attempt to navigate saying “Konami eBaseball MLB All-Star ballot” on live television.

It’s too bad the Yankees aren’t playing the Pirates, because this would be a classic The Pitt injury.

Scowls in both dugouts, probably.

I hope the creepy weirdos in Elmo and Minnie Mouse costumes try to start some territorial shit with the soccer hooligans.

On behalf of Washington Nationals fans, I’d like to salute the Canadian distaste for public financing of new stadiums. Especially in regard to the folks in Montreal back in the early aughts. 🫡 You guys rock. www.politico.com/live-updates...

Watched How to Make a Killing. I think what’s going to hold Glen Powell back from becoming the next Tom Cruise, or whatever he’s been touted as, is that he keeps picking *incredibly* shitty scripts. Set It Up was a silly romcom that probably cost ten bucks to make, and it’s by far his best film.

TBH, the Brown M&M always seemed super-judgmental to me. Way to go, Trump administration!

“Keibert Ruiz is potentially deserving of some votes for the All-Star team.” Way to sell it, Dan!

Another V reboot, but this time the lizard people who want to steal our water and enslave us to fight in their wars are from Silicon Valley.

Someone needs to stop Spencer before he writes an article marveling at how James Wood has never broken a bone or something.

While I agree that barring a July collapse, the Nationals should hang onto Abrams for this postseason and beyond, I’m absolutely dying to know what Toboni could get for him. With three Octobers of control, I don’t think there’s a prospect in MLB who could be considered off-limits from the Nats’ POV.

I could be wrong about this. I know very little about soccer. But I believe it’s widely accepted that Curtis Mead is Australia’s greatest-ever athlete. And I don’t see any Curtis Mead-types on this Australia team, you know? Prediction: U.S.: 10, Australia: 0.

It’s weird how Don Geronimo has just completely disappeared. Three years ago, he got fired after the Commanders training camp thing. He made some allusion to signing a deal for a new radio show somewhere. And even if that fell through, he could have easily gone the podcast route. Instead…

They’re giving out cropped jerseys?! That’s great. I can think of a couple of Nationals players who might have something written on their caps that night. Also, I wonder how many Congressional Republicans are going to be at the game, “not realizing what night it was.” Hey, Lindsey!

This is what the owners really want. They’ll take a salary cap if they can get one. But their “Won’t someone think of the fans?” pleas aside, they know they’re going to lose that battle. So this’ll be their proffered compromise. The international draft change is a good idea. The other two suck.

Announcing that you had an affair with Miss Oklahoma is bragging, not confessing. You’re not fooling God, pastor!

Dear New York sports fans: I hope you enjoyed the Knicks parade. Very happy for you guys. Please stop trying to send us Anthony Volpe. Thanks.

I hate this person. I’m not even claiming he should have given the $35,000 to charity instead. I’m saying he should have spent it on basically anything other than a tacky, completely worthless piece of cardboard.

“Mark Lerner has money to spend, and he doesn’t really spend it,” said Harper, adjusting his CJ Abrams city connect jersey. “Which is not really what you’re supposed to do when you own a sports team.” Generation Alpha is okay. www.nytimes.com/athletic/737...

If you’d asked me how many Dhar Mann films—sorry: “films”—there were, I’d have thought for a moment, run the numbers in my head, and, with a fair degree of confidence, said 225. Folks…

I miss the days when you could bring a huge stack of filled-in paper ballots to Nats Park and trade them in for a bobblehead or something. I mean, I never did it. Given how much time it took, that would be fucking psychotic. But I liked knowing I had the option.

The Athletic definitely needs to publish more articles about how much better Zack Littell has been of late.

A SNYDERIAN BLAST!

Blame Trump for this, sure. But this has been a Secret Service fantasy forever. If they could, they’d permanently close Pennsylvania Ave. access. And just like Obama and Biden did nothing to reverse the security theater installed by Bush and Trump, the next Dem president won’t do anything, either.

Start with 40%. The trades were good. And he played hardball when SD didn’t want to include Wood. (Preller: Fine. But you have to give us Josh Bell, too. Rizzo: …Sure!) The question is, was it the Lerners or Rizzo who refused to invest in tech like Trajekt? If it’s the latter, that 40% goes down.

Washington Nationals: 2020-2025

“I felt bad for Davey.” Jesus. Too much loyalty to this guy was Rizzo’s undoing. When your manager wants to fire all the coaches who helped win the World Series and hire his pals, you say no! When ownership says fire this loser who lost the clubhouse, you say yes! www.nytimes.com/athletic/736...

The D.C./NYC inferiority complex is real. Voters were so desperate to have their own Mamdani, they picked a democratic socialist who has nothing else in common with Mamdani. In four years, the anti-Bowser crowd will grudgingly acknowledge how well she held the city together during the Trump era.

Sucks for the Padres. But at least they have James Wood and CJ Abrams. Oh. Right. Well, they have Juan Soto. Oh. Right. Well, they do have “That’s What’s In.” And even AJ Preller can’t trade that away.

Every time I see that Virginia Lottery ad, I feel bad for The Secret Agent. If you’re playing a scratcher during a work meeting, that’s a cry for help. Be like The Woodpecker, who at least has the sense to do it in her cubicle. She might also have a gambling problem, but she looks cool doing it.

Of all the people whose lives have been destroyed via proximity to Donald Trump, Billy Bush’s destruction is by far the funniest. Well…maybe Ashli Babbitt’s. ew.com/billy-bush-a...

8-car train pulls into station. First two cars: Lots and lots of people. Middle four cars: SO MANY PEOPLE. Everyone is completely smashed up against each other. Last two cars: Everyone who wants a seat has one. I have no idea why you people do this to yourselves, but cheers from the last car.

The World Cup is cool and all, but do any of the players have names that make it seem like they’re time travelers from the year 1910?

I wonder what would have been considered the more shocking development back in March: A) The Nationals being three games over .500 in June and a viable playoff team, or B) Yankees needing to upgrade at catcher and Keibert Ruiz being listed as a potential trade target. www.nytimes.com/athletic/736...