You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Chat With MLBTR's Steve Adams: 10/4/18
powered byJotCast
Steve Adams
3:00
Apologies to all the Jeff Todd fans of the world -- he's currently romping through Scotland and enjoying beautiful scenery, various whiskeys and searching for the Loch Ness Monster. So... you're stuck with me.
3:01
'Tis a sad Thursday.
But we can still talk about baseball and all of life's frivolities! So let's get under way
JW
3:01
Any idea on what type of deal Trevor Rosenthal will be looking at this winter?
Steve Adams
3:03
He's got the same agent as Greg Holland (Boras) and is in a very similar spot to the one Holland was in. Holland signed for a one-year $6MM deal with loads of incentives and a vesting player option. I'd imagine Rosenthal will be looking for something similar but perhaps a bit more money, as the importance of bullpens is only increasing and he's also a few years younger than Holland was at the time.
It is NOT a Reds October
3:03
R. Iglesias gets traded this offseason
Steve Adams
3:04
They haven't traded him yet even though it's made plenty of sense to listen to offers, and Dick Williams is on record talking about wanting to be competitive in 2019. I don't see that happening, but if that's their goal, they're not trading Raisel.
Ponyboy
3:04
What are the chances that the cards go after Harper or Machado?
Steve Adams
3:04
I'm sure they'll be involved in the market for both, but as far as St. Louis issuing a record-setting contract, I don't think that's going to happen
Don
3:05
Who will the LA Angels pick as there manager ?
Steve Adams
3:06
Lot of mentions of Eric Chavez early on, but early speculation doesn't always translate to an actual hire. They'll interview 10 or so candidates, and the boring but realistic answer I always give to this question is that even the Angels don't know the answer to that question yet.
Zulander
3:06
Top 5 for the 2019 draft Whitt; Rutschman; Espino; Laneliers;Greene.... do you agree?
Steve Adams
3:07
There's little point in forecasting who's going to go at the top of the draft when there's still an entire high school/college season to play out. Casey Mize wasn't even on the radar for No. 1 overall this time last year. Brady Singer was the consensus 1-1 pick a year out from the 2018 draft, if I recall correctly.
Peter
3:07
Are the Mariners giving Nelson Cruz another contract? What might that look like?
Steve Adams
3:08
Reading between the lines from Dipoto's comments earlier this week, I think there's a chance they move on. I'm paraphrasing here, so dig up his comments at the Seattle Times or Tacoma News Tribune, but he effectively said "If we were certain we wanted to continue with a dedicated DH, this would've been resolved awhile ago"
3:09
I think Cruz can fetch $15-18MM on a one-year deal and perhaps two at a slightly lower rate, if someone is OK with a strict DH. He'll be limited to AL teams, though, and a lot of clubs are moving away from pure DHs, while some others still have clear players claiming those positions (Ohtani/Pujols in LA, Khris Davis in OAK, etc.)
Diddy Did Do It
3:10
Could the Giants swing some sort of Belt + Someone for Bird and Gray?
Steve Adams
3:11
I don't see Belt as someone they need to dump, though I recognize that's not a popular opinion among Giants fans. He's a really good hitter who played through injuries in the second half and saw his production tank. Injuries are a concern, sure, but I don't think they need to or should sell low on him.

As for the Yankees' side of the equation, I'm not sure how much more emphatically Luke Voit could've staked a claim to next year's 1B job.
I don't think they'd be too excited about Belt, and I expect them to use their financial resources elsewhere
Breh
3:11
Best trade chip the Blue Jays this offseason?\
Steve Adams
3:14
I don't think they'll do much subtracting, at least not when Sanchez and Stroman have their values at an all-time low. I do think they'll be sellers next summer, though, barring epic rebounds for both of those right-handers and some good fortune in free agency. They've spoken about a desire to turn some of their position-player depth into pitching talent on the trade market, though, and I think Pillar has value even coming off a terrible season at the plate. The glove just makes his floor so high.
He's a fairly short-term asset who is getting more expensive and can be replaced with internal options, so I'd go PIllar.
HB
3:14
Yanks after Corbin and Machado?
Steve Adams
3:14
I'll be surprised if they're not in the market for both
Doothedo
3:14
what does the nats offseason look like?
Steve Adams
3:17
Have to finally get a real catcher, probably try to solidify the bullpen and back of the rotation. They need a secod baseman, too.

Of course, priority #1 is going to be re-signing Harper. And if they can succeed in that endeavor, then maybe they'll look at moving Eaton to try to address one of those needs. He's so good when he's on the field, but the injuries make that easy to forget/overlook. I can't see a world where the Nats entertain moving Robles or especially Soto, even if they can keep Bryce
Nick STL
3:17
Is Miles Mikolas a free agent after 2019 or does he have arbitration?
Steve Adams
3:17
Free agent
Right Field Crazies
3:17
Will Moustakas have a difficult time getting a decent deal again? Or do you see there being more interest this year
Steve Adams
3:20
He had a worse season than he did in 2017, and he's a year older now. The absence of draft-pick compensation will help him, but I don't think he's going to cash in significantly. Looking back at our 2017-18 free agent predictions, going high on Moose was the most regrettable decision we made. None of us thought he was worth anywhere near what we predicted, but we just kind of shrugged and said "guys in their prime who hit almost 40 bombs get paid, regardless," and put out a guess that we didn't even feel good about. We couldn't have foreseen the free-agent market collapse coming, but I think even in a normal offseason, we'd have been way high considering his OBP woes, lack of speed and questionable defensive ratings.
3:21
Digression aside: I can't fathom him topping three years, and that's even a possible reach
Mark DeRosa
3:21
Do I end up with a big league manager job this off season?
Steve Adams
3:22
I don't see any earthly reason why he should, but I said the same about Aaron Boone last year. DeRosa seems to want to manage, and maybe his camp pushes that idea on the media a lot, but his TV work makes him seem pretty old-school in terms of evaluation and data usage. I think he'd be good at building relationships with the players, which is crucial, but that alone doesn't seem like enough qualification to be a serious candidate when he's never coached or managed elsewhere.
Nats
3:23
Odds Nats pick up Wilson Ramos
Steve Adams
3:23
I can definitely see the Buffalo going back to DC
Khris Davis
3:23
What will his 2019 BA be?
Steve Adams
3:23
Smart money is on .247, right? Ha
Jon
3:24
Any veteran player who did not play in 2018 that you can think of trying to make a comeback for 2019?? Peavy, etc.
Steve Adams
3:26
Peavy is a good candidate, yeah, since he seemed to want to return earlier this year. Maybe Lackey? But he wasn't keen on a minor league deal last winter, and he's certainly not getting an MLB deal now. Other possibilities ... Yunel Escobar, Seth Smith, Scott Feldman, Huston Street ... don't think any of them formally retired.
Drew Storen now that he's recovered from Tommy John surgery last September
Load More Messages
Connecting…