You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
2025-26 Top 50 Free Agents Live Chat
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
ERS
10:36
If Giolito had received the QO, would you guys have predicted him to accept?
Steve Adams
10:36
I think so
Tim Dierkes
10:36
We were doing a late debate on that situation but yes, I think we leaned that way bc him being out on the market with a QO would've been really rough for him
Dahntahn Pittsburgh
10:36
Who should Bob Nutting pursue at a high-ceiling level in free agency?
Steve Adams
10:36
Ending with an elbow scare is tough, and even throughout his awesome 20-start stretch to close the season, he wasn't missing bats anywhere near his prior levels. He wasn't even league-average in that regard.
10:37
"Pirates owner Bob Nutting" and "high-ceiling free agent" do not compute
Tim Dierkes
10:37
I don't really know how to answer this, haha
Steve Adams
10:37
If you're at all a believer in a potential Cedric Mullins bounceback, then I can see that
Tim Dierkes
10:37
usually the high ceiling deals are for SPs, they don't really need that.  So I guess Okamoto could be an answer
Steve Adams
10:37
(I'm not really, but maybe some folks are!)
Jared
10:37
Will the Rockies sign any real free agents this offseason? Do you think the addition of Paul DePodesta will affect the offseason strategy bring more aggressive or conservative than usual?
Steve Adams
10:38
Think the Rockies are going to be at the beginning of a very, very long rebuild both in terms of their roster and the infrastructure of the organization itself.

I don't see them doing anything more than short-term pieces who could maybe be flipped at the deadline.
Tim Dierkes
10:39
That will be fascinating to find out.  My guess is that DePo will come in and tell the Rockies they suck and it ain't getting fixed through free agency.  But I also assume he's going to shake things up in a lot of ways in Colorado and that should be fun.
Brewer Fan
10:39
Brewers have anymore flexibility this year with some contracts coming off the books and Chourio's big numbers not kicking in yet? Think there is any all-in moves they could explore? I know I know... they wont.
Steve Adams
10:39
Yoan Moncada? Luis Rengifo? That sort of bat (re: Rockies)
Tim Dierkes
10:39
I had Gleyber in Milwaukee before he got the QO
10:41
A Quintana-esque signing if Peralta and Woody leave. A trade for Paredes maybe. Moncada works there. Geno was my long shot pick for them
Steve Adams
10:41
Eh, Hoskins is off the books sure, but they're also paying big a big arb raise to Contreras and now have an unexpected (but very welcome) semi-notable $8MM or so to pay Andrew Vaughn following that hilarious breakout. That'll eat up a fair bit of the payroll that's coming off the books.

I don't expect them to spend much. Operate on the trade market, bring in some sneaky value free agents. The typical Brewers playbook.

Not a bad thing. If it ain't broke.......
Turang also arb-eligible for the first time. Megill gets a raise. Payroll already looks similar to 2025.
Jim C
10:41
You're describing Bichette as a non-SS...is it a done deal that he moves to 2B?
Tim Dierkes
10:42
More that we feel he only has a year or two max at the position, or something of a backup SS/starting 2B role
Steve Adams
10:42
Yeah. No one's signing Bo with the expectation that he's their shortstop in even 2029, let alone like 2032.
DC's Finest
10:42
Name one FA and one trade who Paul Toboni could get this offseason
Steve Adams
10:42
You're signing the bat. And the youth. (Bichette)
Tim Dierkes
10:43
For the Nats FA, I'll say Caratini. The trade...eh, I'll make Steve do it?
I'm not sure this is the right time to trade Gore
Nattitude
10:44
The Nats are going to spend big this free agency. Similar to the rangers a few years ago. They have to accelerate the rebuild
Tim Dierkes
10:44
That I do not see
Steve Adams
10:44
I don't expect the Nats to be that aggressive. Could see Caratini, sure. Maybe take an upside swing at Rengifo, Moncada ... hope for a Hoskins bounceback?

I think it's 100% the right time to trade Gore. And CJ Abrams.
A trade acquisition...... hard when they're rebuilding
ERS
10:44
As a general question, how do you balance what you would personally give to a player versus what you expect the market to give?
Steve Adams
10:44
You're looking at younger guys, maybe who've fallen out of favor in their current org.
Triston Casas to the Nats. book it
Tim Dierkes
10:45
There are some, like Keith Law, whose list is entirely about what he would give to the player.  Ours is almost entirely about what we expect the market to give, but certainly our "man I would not do this" creeps in a bit.
We have been doing this for 20 years.  Every year I think there are fewer GMs on whom we can pin our "bad" FA contracts.  Which means they're just gonna happen less, as we saw with Alonso last winter
Steve Adams
10:47
I think in general, we're also kind of conditioned to think at least loosely in the same vein as today's front offices. We sit and stare at this stuff all day everyday for years on end. In 2009, I probably would not have been on the "Hell yeah pay Dylan Cease and Devin Williams despite terrible ERAs" team, but now it's more, "Oh I can totally see why teams would completely disregard the ERA and pay for future projection."

Maybe they won't with those two specifically, but just using them as examples.

There are still times where we have to plug our nose and pick someone to get paid even though we'd never personally do it. Sometimes those are right. (Madison Bumgarner)

Sometimes, we predict a long-term deal for Pete Alonso much to our own chagrin, and then we end up wishing we'd have just predicted the short-term deal we all thought he was going to have to take.
cap
10:48
I don't really understand why a salary cap is such a huge issue for the union. It's true that it would limit the megadeals, like Ohtani's, Soto's and perhaps Tucker's this offseason, but if it's coupled with much higher minimum salaries and stronger incentives for the low-spenders to increase spending, then it's not obvious to me that a salary cap would be harmful to most players. A significant raise in minimum salary alone would be very impactful for many players, even if it doesn't matter too much to the superstars.
Tim Dierkes
10:48
Please don't take this response as condescending, that's not my intention.  Sometimes it is hard to convey tone in a live chat.  So let me start there
10:49
I have an opinion that there are two books that are required reading for any salary cap talk (no idea if the questioner has read them of course)
10:50
One is Marvin Miller's book.  $14 on Amazon.  The other is John Helyar's Lords of the Realm
Connecting…