My big sister worked in TV News in DC. This headline is clickbait. That's the story. "The Athletic" is pulling click bait. Who are the sources? Name them. It's framing a narrative with no way for us to fact check a thing. Unnamed Sources is utter bullshit. It could be anyone.
"The Athletic" is owned by the folks who own "The NY Times." "The Athletic" is not about reporting. It's clickbait and scaring people for fun and profit.
The story is terrifying for Nats fans and fascinating for baseball fans. We follow the clickbait and ads so that "The Athletic" and "The NY Times" can make money.
"The Athletic" is making stuff up. They are making a narrative and cherry picking facts because whoever wrote and approved that doesn't know shit.