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The Chicago Cubs traded for Brandon Kintzler, adding him to their bullpen for the stretch run of the season. There was a report following the trade in The Washington Post that said a reason the Washington Nationals traded the reliever was because they believed he was an anonymous source to a recent story that claimed their clubhouse was a mess.
Basically that report was calling Kintzler a snitch.
The story in question was from Jeff Passan.
Have heard from a number of people affiliated with the Nationals since writing this earlier today who have confirmed the central thesis: Washington's clubhouse is a problem, confidence in manager Davey Martinez has eroded and the Nats' trouble runs deep. https://t.co/817PsWn3du pic.twitter.com/kUwnQgj0hi
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2018
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Kintzler denied ever talking to Passan in a radio interview.
“I’ve never talked to that [author] Jeff Passan guy in my life, so that’s an interesting accusation,” Kintzler said on “Grant & Danny.” “I know for a fact that someone got him to admit his source was not a player, so it wasn’t me. I’ve never talked to that guy in my life.”
Theo Epstein was on ESPN 1000 Wednesday and he brought up another interesting detail, saying Passan actually called him and also said that he’d never spoken to Kintzler.
This is amazing: Theo just told @thekapman on the radio that Passan called him – unsolicited – this morning to tell him he's never even spoken with Kintzler in his life. Sure makes it seem like Nats are floating a bogus explanation for the deal. https://t.co/kfdoWctsQI
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 1, 2018
So, it really does sound like that story was made up and that’s a real bad look for a team trying to hurt a player’s reputation.
Yet, Kintzler has received support from his former teammate Sean Doolittle, who said the following after the trade.
He felt at home. Teammates got along with him. He was close with Doolittle and Max Scherzer, often bouncing ideas off them. He played the role of pitching coach, helping Tanner Roark and Gio Gonzalez with their mechanics during their struggles this season. His presence was felt.
“He helped me a lot in my career just in the years that we spent together so I’m going to miss him,” Doolittle said. “We’re going to miss his ability on the field. I think we’re going to miss him in the clubhouse as well.”
Kintzler made his Cubs debut Wednesday night and pitched 1.1 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, walking one, giving up a hit and he also recorded a nasty strikeout.
Happy birthday and happy #Cubs debut to Brandon Kintzler! #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/jnOkgkOvPW
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 2, 2018
After the 9-2 win, Kintzler went on about the report and wanted to clear the air.
Brandon Kintzler responds to perception of him as a divisive presence/leak in #Nationals clubhouse: “I just want to get my name clear. I don’t want my character being questioned. I work hard to be a very good teammate. That’s something I’ve learned coming up from Trevor Hoffman."
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) August 2, 2018
Brandon Kintzler: "They did their due diligence. That’s cool to see that they want to do their homework, know who they were getting. I respect that, for sure. It’s good that people back me up. That shows that everything I’ve done in this game over the years has paid off.”
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) August 2, 2018
The Cubs are happy to have him and obviously they did their background work on Kintzler, so all is well. Plus, he’s pretty good as is and that is ultimately what will matter the most at the end.
