You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Chat With MLBTR's Steve Adams: 10/2/18
powered byJotCast
Steve Adams
2:58
Happy postseason y'all. The next few weeks should be tons of fun, and then we get a stacked free-agent class and probably plenty of trades to follow in the offseason. Hooray baseball.
Going to finish sending an email quick and then we'll get this underway. Feel free to start asking questions whenever
3:00
Alright -- let's roll
Kiki
3:00
Should the A's consider reacquiring Sonny Gray?
Steve Adams
3:03
I think any team in need of rotation help would be wise to look into it. Cost of acquisition is down, his poor year will suppress his arb raise, and he seems to be on the outs in the Bronx. Gray is obviously a capable pitcher -- a damn good one at times -- but the Yankees have changed his pitch usage in a way he said he wasn't fully comfortable with earlier this year. And pitching at that bandbox hasn't gone well for him. I can't imagine the constant media barrage he's facing is doing him any favors, either. Get him to a larger park and I there's a good rebound candidate there
Madison Bumgarner
3:03
What are the odds that I get traded this off season?
Steve Adams
3:05
Better than when Evans was still the GM, but I don't think Larry Baer is going to want to rebuild, either. I feel like whoever comes in will try to go for it, and then if things go south, maybe make some changes next summer. And frankly, Bumgarner just wasn't quite as good in 2018 as he has been in past years. Teams would love to have him still, but I think most fans have a pretty bloated perception of his on-field value at present. He's still good -- but he's not 2015 MadBum, either.
Motown
3:05
Witt locked in for the Orioles at #1??
Steve Adams
3:05
No one is locked in for the No. 1 pick in the draft right now.
3:06
There's an entire spring season to play for amateurs, injuries happen, etc. The Orioles might not definitively know who they're taking until the day of the draft
Alex F
3:07
Where will josh Donaldson sign
Steve Adams
3:07
He's been linked to the Cardinals long enough that I'd make them my off-the-top-of-my-head-four-seconds-of-thought-put-into-this-answer guess, haha
Fred
3:07
Where does Garrett Richards end up and does he get more than Drew Smyly?
Steve Adams
3:08
He's going to sign cheaply enough that you could realistically put him almost anywhere outside of maybe the Rays or Pirates or A's. Something along that 2/10 that Pineda and Smyly got would make sense. Maybe a little less since he's had so many other injury troubles
Jason Yanquis
3:09
Yankees could probably use 1B insurance that would be OK with being a bench guy if Voit and/or Bird work out. If Mauer doesn't retire, is that a fit?
Steve Adams
3:09
Mauer has flat out said he doesn't want to play anywhere but Minnesota, and reaffirmed as much on Sunday. I think it's a return to the Twins or retirement for Joe.
Shatkins
3:10
The Blue Jays need to free up some playing time for all the kids. Considering performance, contract status and trade value, who should management prioritize dangling on the offseason market?
Steve Adams
3:13
I don't think they'll pick one guy and say, "OK, we've got to trade Teoscar Hernandez to open some at-bats" or anything like that. They'll generally be open-minded about who they market and who can return the most promising pitching in return. I think Pompey is more or less gone off that roster, Solarte's option could well be declined, and Aledmys Diaz is pretty expendable, though.

Jays fans have asked pretty consistently in the past about the possibility of trading Pillar, and that finally seems more plausible to me than it has in years past.
Patrice Lecroix
3:13
AJ pollock to the White Sox?
Steve Adams
3:14
I don't think you're going to see the ChiSox signing guys who are already 30 (31 in Pollock's case -- well, in December) when they aren't realistically expected to compete next season. Maybe on a one- or two-year deal, I guess, but Pollock is getting four, minimum, and probably wants Lorenzo Cain money.
Theo
3:14
Is Addison Russell tradeable? Or do we just DFA him?
Steve Adams
3:16
I don't think there's any good way to judge that until we know the outcome of the investigation, honestly. If he's not suspended, some team might be on board, but his value is obviously at a low point between the allegations and a generally lackluster career at the plate (specifically the past two seasons)
A’s are Nuts, right?
3:16
Liam Hendricks chosen to Start instead of Edwin Jackson, Mike Fiers and Trevor Cahill ?
Steve Adams
3:19
Hendriks has been awesome since he came back, and he'll just be "opening" the game for an inning anyway. Heavy ground-ball rate, less homer-prone than EJax and certainly Fiers, which matters all the more in that park.

I'd have preferred to see Cahill, but he just pitched Saturday.
Tom
3:20
I hear White Sox making manager change???
Steve Adams
3:20
Haven't seen/read/heard anything to suggest that
Ross Atkins
3:20
Who am I hiring? Molitor? Stubby Clap? Eric Wedge? John MacDonald?
Steve Adams
3:21
I don't think even Atkins knows the answer to that question so there's no way to give a good answer there, even though I'm sure we'll start getting ludicrous columns placing "odds" on who'll be hired. Sigh.

Molitor may very well stay in Minnesota at least, so probably not him.
Dustin
3:22
Can the Nats still address the holes in their roster if they spend big on keeping Harper?
Steve Adams
3:24
I don't think it'd stop them. They can backload the deal to an extent, and I'm sure a contract of that size would come with deferrals anyway -- as many large Nats contracts do. Plus they have Gio, Madson, Murphy, Wieters and smaller commitments like Reynolds and Joaquin Benoit (oops) coming off the books. And they saved money in trading away some guys like Adams, Murph, Gio, etc.
Patrick Burke
3:24
Jed Lowrie, David Robertson, kelvin Herrera, Brian McCann,Adam Jones, Nathan Eovaldi, and sonny gray complete angels offseason moves to swing the  pendulum?
Steve Adams
3:25
If you head into the winter strongly hoping your team is going to acquire even 1-2 specific players, you're going to be let down 95% of the time. Mapping out seven of them is just asking to be disappointed. I wouldn't want anything to do with either of McCann or Jones anyway -- neither of them has been good this season and neither offers much promise of a bounceback.
Tom K
3:25
Thoughts on Molitor being fired?
Steve Adams
3:29
Doesn't seem like Falvey and Levine ever really wanted him. Keeping him was an ownership mandate when they took the jobs, and they didn't have any choice but to extend him after he made the playoffs out of the blue last winter and won "Manager of the most unexpected contende--" er, Manager of the Year. It was even evident in how long it took them to come to terms on a contract after the season.

Generally speaking, I think he was a good bridge from Gardenhire (as old school as old school gets) to whoever Falvey/Levine hire. Molitor was way more open to defensive shifts, was willing to experiment with the whole "opener" strategy and generally carried a more open mind than Gardenhire ever did. He still made some weird bullpen decisions, botched a double-switch in major fashion during interleague play, etc. He wasn't without his in-game faults, but that's true of most managers.
3:30
The most baffling thing he would do on a persistent basis, though (at least in 2017), was show enough confidence to have Jorge Polanco hit third but then continually have him drop down sac bunts. I just...... I don't know. I saw a stat late last year that Jorge Polanco had dropped down more sac bunts than the rest of baseball's No. 3 hitters combined
Robot chicken
3:31
For everyone who complains about their questions not being answered, here’s a thought; maybe you are not as insightful and profound as you think..HA
Steve Adams
3:31
I don't know if this is saying I'm not insightful/profound (which is true!) or if those commenters aren't, but I'll use it as a reminder that it's impossible to answer even 1% of the questions I get in these. Thanks for sticking with us all the same!
Dodgers Jedi
3:31
Does Kershaw opt out? Or do the Dodgers restructure? Or do they let him walk?
Steve Adams
3:32
If they don't extend him before the opt-out date (five days after the World Series), he's opting outl
out*
Load More Messages
Connecting…