Connelly Early

Emerson Hancock, let's just say.

Connelly Early.

Harleen Susana at some point.

Andrew Alvarez.

And then you address another one of your biggest needs, which is starting pitching.

When the Nationals first traded Curtis Meade to the Red Sox and you get back Connelly Early in return, that was probably the biggest trade that the Nationals made at the deadline.

Getting Connelly Early back, helping solidify this rotation, that is going to be in a few years from now, we're going to look back at that trade and say, what a deal for this organization.

Now, yes, Conner literally did have some elbow issues.

And it's funny enough, he did actually hurt that elbow against the Washington Nationals.

And I truly do believe in that.

And I think there are some big questions for the Nationals, like what happens with Jake Irvin? Do they non-tender him and that opens up a spot? DJ Herz, do they view him as a starting piece for this team? Or do they view him as a bullpen piece or maybe even a trade piece at this point? There's a couple of different questions surrounding this Nationals rotation, but right now you've got three guys that, in my opinion, you can write and pen to be in this starting rotation in 2027.

And that's Cade Cavalli, Connelly Early, you're one and you're two, and then you've got your five or four with Andrew Alvarez.

I'm moving on.

Connelly Early.

Here's a guy.

Okay, so the Nationals made a trade during the season with the Boston Red Sox.

You may or may not have seen that where they traded for Connelly Early straight up for Curtis Meade who they got very low and he did really well and they're kind of buying low a little bit on Connelly Early.

And look, I like Connelly Early as a talent.

But what did the Boston Red Sox see that they went, let's give up a lot of control of Connelly Early to get Curtis Meade, who was absolutely fantastic for the Nationals in 26, who unfortunately hurt his wrist and then basically didn't play for the rest of the season.

I like Curtis Meade in 27.

So what's their rotation now? Crochet, Toley...

Who's, Connelly Early or did they trade him? No, no, Connelly Early's gone.

Ranger Suarez.

Ranger Suarez is what I meant.

Do you stick with the long-term plan or do you recognize that the team has an opportunity to compete right now and make moves accordingly? And Breslow chose to be aggressive.

And one of the first significant moves was acquiring Curtis Meade from Washington in exchange for Connelly Early.

And I remember thinking that Meade was an interesting addition because he offered something that the Red Sox needed.

He could actually provide offense from the infield.

With Meade, you're still trying to understand what his role in Boston could look like.

Could he become the everyday second baseman? Could he provide some of the power this lineup was missing? Could he become a reliable middle-of-the-order contributor? Those are legitimate questions.

I don't think the Red Sox have definitive answers to those questions yet, but Something else I find interesting is that Connelly Early is still a promising young pitcher.

And when you trade somebody like that, there's always a chance that the deal looks very different a few years later.

And the comparison that I made was the Boston Red Sox.

The Boston Red Sox had just traded Connelly Early for corner infielder Curtis Mean.

And in the last calendar year, going back to last trade deadline, The Red Sox have moved Brandon Clark, Richard Fitz, Patrick Gall, David Sandlin, Hunter Dobbins, Connolly Early, Ben Hanson, Shane Drohan, Blake Aida.

All pitchers that they had traded.