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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 2/22/22
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Trading the present
2:41
For Dbacks fans, if Merrill Kelly, David Peralta and/or Nick Ahmed get moved in separate deals before the season, who would bring back the most exciting prospect? At the deadline?
Steve Adams
2:42
Kelly's the only one of those guys I think would bring back much of anything. Ahmed's contract isn't cheap, and good as the glove is, he was one of the worst hitters in baseball last year. Peralta is a 34-year-old corner outfielder with below-average offensive numbers and an $8MM salary. You could sign Tommy Pham or Corey Dickerson for that price, maybe less, and feel like you got something similar.
What to Do when the season is delayed
2:43
You prefer Ted Lasso or Netflix's Atypical as a show to get into when there's no baseball on a nightly basis?
Steve Adams
2:43
Haven't watched Atypical. Love Ted Lasso
Just finished Peacemaker on HBO Max as well, which was excellent.
Bryan
2:43
If/When the lockout goes into the regular season, will the players get paid for the games not played because of the owners lockout?
Steve Adams
2:44
I am increasingly optimistic that the lockout won't last into the season, although depending on how much of Spring Training is left on the calendar when they agree, they could still need to nix some games in order to get a proper Spring Training in.
MLBTR reader
2:45
Could you guys do trade previews, who could get traded on each team and mock trades?
Steve Adams
Mark M
2:46
Are Padres really going after Olsen?
Steve Adams
2:46
Preller is at least loosely involved in the market for most notable trade candidates. I wrote 1200 words or so this morning explaining why, despite some interest on the Padres' behalf, it doesn't seem all that likely to work out.
Die Hard White Sox Fan
2:47
Do the White Sox have enough young talent to put a trade package together for Lowe or another impact 2nd baseman. Alot of people dont want us to trade Vaughn but he would have to headline, correct?
Steve Adams
2:50
The White Sox have tons of young talent, it's just that most of it is on the MLB roster. That's why they traded Madrigal last summer (whoops). Vaughn, Sheets, Crochet, Kopech all have lots of value. Jake Burger has some value. The system has plenty of 40 FV types of guys and a handful who are a bit better than that. Those guys have value.

I'm sure they could get Brandon Lowe out of Tampa, but I'm also sure ChiSox fans would generally hate the cost to do so.
Sandy KnowFacts
2:50
Between Myers and Hosmer, who do you see as more likely to be moved this off-season? Who could they be potentially be dealt to?
Steve Adams
2:51
Myers has a year and $21MM to go (assuming next year's $20MM option is declined). It's way easier to move that than Hosmer's four years and $59MM -- particularly considering his offense was worse in '21 than Myers'.
Nate
2:51
Am I being a totally unrealistic Cubs fan in thinking that the Cubs can get Correa, KK from the Rays, and resign Rizzo back and really win the division?
Steve Adams
2:53
I could see Kiermaier, sure. Rizzo perhaps but I think they'd prefer to move on and give Schwindel a look. If the market for Rizz gets weak enough, perhaps they swoop. I don't think they'll sign Correa. I certainly don't think that entire trio of moves happening in conjunction is realistic, and even if it did, I still wouldn't call them division favorite.
2sday
2:54
Are the Astros still favorite in the West?
Steve Adams
2:55
I have them as the favorites right now, yeah, but there's plenty of dealing left after the lockout. Mariners, in particular, are likely to be aggressive.
Tigers' Hopeful
2:55
The Dbacks seem like a potential trade partner to fill out our rotation. You think Merrill Kelly or Luke Weaver would be a better get as a 5th for us? Madbum seems too expensive to make sense
Steve Adams
2:57
Kelly is a free agent in a year and there are comparable arms available in free agency. I probably like Weaver more than most, but again ... if you're the Tigers, why don't you just sign a decent fifth starter in free agency? Even looking beyond Rodon and Kershaw, there are plenty of good options out there: Greinke, Pineda, Cueto, Tyler Anderson, Kwang Hyun Kim, Drew Smyly, etc.
Rangers13
2:57
With the uncertainty of Jung's injury and the possibility that the Rangers will need to send IKF in a trade for SP, which makes more sense for us trades for CHapman at what cost or McNeil at what cost or bite the bullet and sign Bryant?
Steve Adams
2:58
I think it's likelier to just hang onto Kiner-Falefa. They have plenty of trade options that don't include him, and as mentioned with regard to the Tigers, there are still solid arms in free agency.
Matt
2:58
Would the Twins be crazy to flip Austin Martin for a different pitcher? It doesn’t make sense to me to essentially replace Berrios with say, Sonny Gray
Steve Adams
3:00
I don't think they'd flip Martin to get Gray, an older pitcher than Berrios who is only controlled one more season than Berrios was. If they could get someone with three to four years of club control remaining (Zac Gallen, just for speculation's sake), that'd make the entire gambit more sensible.

Even then, though, the plan surely wouldn't have been to get Martin and immediately trade him for another starter. But sometimes unforeseen circumstances lead to unexpected transactions.
Joe
3:01
What would a White Sox trade for Kiner-Falefa look like (to play 2b for the Sox)?  Any chance Kimbrel would make sense for them?
Steve Adams
3:02
The Rangers know they're long shots to contend in 2022. The Seager/Semien/Gray signings were made more with 2023 in mind. I don't think Kimbrel does much for them, and certainly not if they're giving up multiple years of one of their current starting big leaguers.
Guest
3:03
I ran track and cross country at a East Bay Area high school in California and had a guy named Steve Adams as a teammate. That wasn’t you was it?
Steve Adams
3:03
Ha, no I was freezing my butt running meets in 30- and 40-degree weather in Minnesota in November (late cross country) and March (early track).
Tinker to Evers to Chance
3:04
Do you still think Kikuchi to the Cubs is an option since they signed Stroman?
Steve Adams
3:05
I don't think one makes the other decidedly less likely. They got Stroman at a price that likely even surprised the Cubs. My pick of Kikuchi to the Cubs was about a belief that the Cubs would want to sign some guaranteed innings with a good bit more upside than his asking price would suggest. Kikuchi fit (and still fits) that mold. Downward spiral late in '21 notwithstanding, I still think there's a good big league starter in there.
Weitz
3:06
what would Hosmers contract cost the Padres in prospects to move completely?
Steve Adams
3:08
More than they'd be willing to give up. We've never seen a team purely dump a contract of this size by attaching it to prospects, but if you look at what some of the big international signings were getting before MLB capped that market, you get a sense of things. The Red Sox gave Yoan Moncada a $31.5MM signing bonus and paid a $31.5MM tax on that signing back in 2015. That was effectively buying a top prospect for $63MM -- and that was back when teams' paths to acquiring amateur talent weren't quite so regulated. Is San Diego giving up CJ Abrams to save $59MM? I don't think so, but that's the kind of ask you're looking at.
Rangers13
3:09
In the past the Rangers have been interested in Archer, would a 2.5 million salary for 1 year with incentives be worth the gamble?
Steve Adams
3:09
Seems reasonable to me.
Red
3:09
Saw the suggestion from Bowden recently that Schwarber should be a DH target for the Cardinals. There's a big difference between "should" and "is," but do you see him as a realistic fit? Or do the Cards lean on some of their younger bats that are coming up (Gorman, Yepez, Nootbar) -- and maybe compliment with a vet option?
Steve Adams
3:09
Schwarber "should" be a DH/OF target for a lot of teams. I don't expect the Cardinals to be frontrunners in his market.
Red Sox Catchers
3:11
What should the Red Sox do? Extend Vazquez? Plawecki? Both? Trade for a Catcher, who? There nothing in the system to speak of.
Steve Adams
3:13
Vazquez is a perfectly solid 2022 option. I think the bat will bounce back a little bit, and the glove is excellent. There's plenty of quality backstops on the market next winter: Willson Contreras, Austin Barnes, Max Stassi, Omar Narvaez, Tucker Barnhart, Mike Zunino and Vazquez himself.
JL
3:14
A lot of discussion has gone into stopping tanking.  Just for fun, what if MLB enacted policies that sped up rebuild?  For example, the 5 worst teams in baseball get even larger bonus pools, and extra draft picks between the first 5 rounds.  Maybe the the worst 3 teams get two picks each at the start of each round.
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