BIB on the Go: The Challenge Of Making Trades These Days, With Paul Toboni

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Baseball Isn’t Boring 5 min 2 speakers 3 chapters transcribed
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What challenges do modern MLB front offices face when making trades?

Paul Toboni 0:00
Yeah, there should be some passion. This doesn't have to be boring.
Rob Radford 0:03
You don't get bored by baseball. Okay, one thing the game needs is more people like you. You. You. You. You. You. You.
Paul Toboni 0:11
You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. Welcome to Baseball Isn't Boring. Here's your host, Rob Radford. Players specifically, I think, like honest feedback, right? Whether it's like, hey, what they're working on developmentally, trade scenario, whatever it might be, they don't like being lied to or they don't like being kept in the dark.

How important is honest communication with players in baseball?

Paul Toboni 0:35
And so I think one of the things we're going to pride ourselves on as a staff and a front office is being really honest and communicative with our players so they're not left in the dark in ways that... you know, maybe certain players have, not necessarily in the Nats organization, but across baseball over the last 10, 15, 20 years.
Rob Radford 0:54
Two last things. I really appreciate your time. The last one's going to be about where you think people should go for the Super Bowl because, like, I don't know, like in your backyard, right, the Super Bowl this year?
Paul Toboni 1:07
Yeah, kind of my backyard. I'm still – I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm still a little bitter about the move from Candlestick. But I'm from San Francisco, and so the Niners are obviously down in Santa Clara now. Bum, they're not going to be playing in it. They had the easy path to doing so, but that's all right.
Rob Radford 1:21
Before we get to the place to go, you're one place. Even though you wanted to be next to Candlestick, it's not. We are here to help people in all sports. You brought people in from a familiarity from your organization. You've also brought players in.
Yes.
Rob Radford 1:42
So I'm anxious to see how that works. I mentioned Mickey Gasper. Obviously, you had Mickey Gasper, the Red Sox, Perales. Obviously, you have Perales. When you take over other guys, you say, you know, if I get a chance, I like this guy. I've always liked this guy. I'm not necessarily always going to be able to get that guy, but I'm going to explore getting that guy. In other words, the familiarity of some of the players that you've acquired for a person in your seat, like – What's that dynamic like? And it's, is that like something that you, you knew that this was going to happen when you took the job?
Paul Toboni 2:19
No, I don't, I don't think so. Like, um, you know, I mean, obviously I love, for instance, you know, uh, a number of players in the Red Sox organization, right. I would love to trade for him. Right.

What makes lining up trades increasingly difficult in MLB?

Paul Toboni 2:33
The bottom line is it's really, really challenging to, to line up. And I think it's, it's become more challenging, like in, uh, in, you know, recent years. And so, um, the Perales Bennett trade, like that was, uh, that was one where it just, uh, you know, those prospect for prospect trades are pretty rare. Um, and I think what makes it tough in that situation is like, Hey, you know, I obviously really like Perales, the group here really likes Perales, but so did the Red Sox, you know what I mean? And that makes it, that makes it challenging. Um, And, but the same goes for Bennett. You know what I mean? Like, uh, I, and we loved him here. So do the Red Sox. Right. And so it just takes lining up. And, uh, I, I've found that that's become increasingly difficult, uh, in, in, uh, recent years, but, uh, but it's all part of it.
Paul Toboni 3:18
And I think so much of, of lining up goes back to what we were talking about at the start, which is, uh, or I, what we just talked about actually with players, right. And just being honest and upfront with, uh, with teams about like, Hey, what it's going to take. And, uh, I don't think you want to develop the reputation where like you, you know, you're misleading teams. Right. And then they're like, you know, in future trade conversations, they're like, I'm not going down this path because I know we're going to be kind of drug through the mud. Like I just, uh, you know, I take the approach of being, being upfront and honest about it. And if the team's willing to meet it, great. Uh, we can, we can do something.
Paul Toboni 3:53
And if not also great.
Rob Radford 3:55
That is crazy.

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