Now, that particular Passan blog cites multiple sources, meaning Kintzler couldn’t have possibly been the only one airing these grievances, and it certainly wasn’t the only story this year portraying the Nats’ clubhouse as an unhappy place. It’s a weird situation for a weird team, one in the middle of an underwhelming 53-53 campaign—which they started as one of the favorites to win the pennant. It looks like they’re really starting to crack down on that “iffy” culture, too—they also designated Shawn Kelley for assignment, a day after he threw a tantrum on the mound after giving up a homer, ostensibly showing up his manager.

Manager Dave Martinez is, per Ken Rosenthal, “widely viewed in the industry as overmatched.” Generally, turmoil has permeated this underperforming club, no matter how many times members of the organization deny that there’s anything wrong, though it’s impossible to say if correlation is also causation, and if so, whether the dysfunction is causing the mediocrity or the other way around. Another question is whether the rot goes deeper than a couple of allegedly bad apples. If Bryce Harper didn’t already have one foot out the door before this season started, very little that’s happened since makes for a convincing reason to stay.