That was then and this is now. 12 days and counting on Daniel Murphy #Nats

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Today is the 5th of January of 2016,  and we all found out over 12 days ago on the afternoon before Christmas Eve that Rizzo inked Daniel Murphy to a deal pending a physical.

This was written in the Washington Post on 12/24/15: “Because the agreement is pending a physical exam, which will take place after the holidays, the Nationals have not yet announced the deal. “

We later were told again via the Washington Post that the physical would be done after the Holidays and that tidbit was written on December 28th leading us to believe New Years.  Many had assumed ‘Holidays’ meant Christmas, and they would be wrong.  Which ‘Holidays’ were the Washington Post referring to?  Was the holiday Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Years, or should we get real creative and stretch that to January 18th for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday?  Very nebulous on when to expect the news conference so we continue to wait.

We have pondered the holiday delay could all be much to do about nothing and just a maneuver by Rizzo to take some extra time to make a trade so he wouldn’t have to make any cuts from his 40 man roster as Rizzo has to find spots for not only Murphy, but also for Stephen Drew.

As the clock moves to 2pm on the East Coast, should we have any concern that the Murphy signing hit a snag  and it’s déjà vu all over again?  Nah, most feel that there is no snag, but it will delay you officially ordering your Murphy jersey from the MLB.com Shop.  When we asked our source what the deal is with Daniel Murphy’s signing he said he would get back to us on it, and that message was from yesterday.  Still waiting by the phone…..

Compared to the delay on Mike Napoli signing when he was rumored to be going to the Cleveland Indians on December 19th and became official today (h/t DonH aka Zmunchkin), Paul Hoynes told his readers that the Napoli physical was done on December 19th and it would be official “this week” which didn’t happen for 2 1/2 weeks later.

In the meantime, it’s almost hard to believe but as of right now, the Nationals have not officially made any Major League moves for position players, and the only official moves have been for the four bullpen arms in Perez, Gott, Petit, and Kelley.

In the meantime, today is a special day as we say Happy Birthday to A.J. Cole!

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