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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 2/17/26
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The bigger they are,
1:54
I forget who but someone from MLBTR threw out some amusing "wild" takes for the upcoming season on a chat a few weeks back, and one of them was that neither Ohtani nor Judge will win MVP this year. Do you agree?
Steve Adams
1:56
Tim was asked to come up with some "hot takes" in a recent mailbag, and he prefaced it by saying he doesn't necessarily think any of those things are certain, he was just listing some unlikely opinions that he feels are plausible.

If I had to bet on at least one of Judge or Ohtani winning, I would say that's likely, of course. But not excessively so. Judge barely ousted Raleigh last year. Both he and Ohtani have notable injury histories. It's not hard to see a scenario where neither wins an MVP.
Matt
1:57
Even without Pablo, the Twins still have a lot of SP options and LHH OF (plus a clear need for a RHH IF bat). Does a SWR, Larnach, and Alex Jackson package get a deal done for Paredes?
Steve Adams
1:57
I wouldn't consider that enough of an upgrade to move Paredes
1:58
Woods Richardson is a fourth/fifth starter. Larnach probably should've been non-tendered. Jackson is a third catcher.
Girsch
1:58
How does MLB assuming local distribution rights affect teams’ financials?
Steve Adams
1:58
They get less money than they would have under the RSN deals, but it varies from situation to situation.
Blue
1:59
What’s the deal with Walker Buehler signed “minor” league? No team was interested in him?
Steve Adams
2:00
Stuff is down considerably compared to where it was before his second Tommy John. He has a 5.10 ERA, 17% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate over his past 40 MLB appearances / 201 innings.

I wouldn't have given Buehler a 40-man roster spot, either. (Though I figured someone would give him like $5-6MM based on name value, admittedly)
Kris Bryant
2:00
Do you think Kris Bryant will play baseball again or is his back issues just gonna be too much to recover from. I've got the same thing he was diagnosed with. Back pain at 34(when my tissues started) now 40 are no joke.
Steve Adams
2:01
I tend to lean no, especially after some comments he made this morning. Which is a shame. Everyone will poke fun at the contract, and that'll be the legacy for now, but man, what a great player early in his career. That he's been reduced to this at a still-young age by a chronic condition that's probably going to impact him for the rest of his life is just an abject bummer.
Ortiz
2:02
Clase is toast, any chance I pitch again?
Steve Adams
2:02
Doubt either ever throws a pitch in the majors (or minors) again
Tterb Ytab
2:03
Thoughts on Brett Baty?
Steve Adams
2:04
Nice solid regular -- not a star but maybe winds up with an All-Star nod or two in his career since he's talented enough to put together a real nice first half and get some fan support.
Sid
2:04
Who gets more playing time this season, Mark Vientos or Matt Shaw?
Steve Adams
2:06
There's an easier path for Vientos to hit his way into a notable role on the Mets' roster, even if everyone's healthy, than there is for Shaw in Chicago. So I'd lean toward him, but obviously it just takes one injury for Bregman or Hoerner for Shaw to be in an everyday role.
Or a Swanson injury, since Hoerner would slide to SS and Shaw would play 2B
M's Fan
2:06
If one of the top five starting pitchers for the M's goes down in Spring Training, do they run out Hancock or roll the dice early with Anderson?
Steve Adams
2:07
Kade Anderson didn't even throw a professional pitch after being drafted last season! Love the optimism, haha, but it'd be Hancock, Dane Dunning or Cooper Criswell
(Or an additional signing ... Zack Littell, Tyler Anderson, Jon Gray, etc.)
Schanuel
2:08
Do I develop any power throughout the next few years?
Steve Adams
2:08
He's never been projected to hit for power, and his batted-ball metrics thus far in the majors are ... well, they're not great.
Guest
2:09
Who will be the Giant's 4th Outfielder (or 5th) and who gets traded seeing Matos and Encarnacion are both out of options?
Steve Adams
2:10
Drew Gilbert or Will Brennan are probably ahead of both? To your point, I have a hard time seeing both Matos and Encarnacion make the roster. I think there's a chance they're both off the roster by camp's end.
I Pika-Choose U
2:10
Does Cleveland know it's almost time for baseball to start?
Steve Adams
2:11
Hard to find a team that had a worse offseason. Maybe their ownership group thought the lockout started *this* winter.
Park M
2:12
You’ve mentioned Jon Gray a couple times but won’t he be out for a while due to TOS?
Steve Adams
2:13
Oh true. I just had our remaining free agent list pulled up and listed him a couple times off the cuff. Wasn't thinking about his specific timetable. I haven't heard when he'll be ready or even if he plans to continue pitching -- he was noncommittal last year -- so I could've been using a better arbitrary example in those cases, oops. Can we pretend I said, I don't know, Patrick Corbin instead? Haha
2:16
Alright I've got to wrap up for the week. I'm on X @Adams_Steve and Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social for more questions.

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Thanks for chatting, everyone!
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