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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 2/7/23
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Steve Adams
1:56
If he's holding out hope for an MLB roster spot, I'm not surprised teams have balked. Maybe once camp opens and a team can free up a spot by putting someone on the 60-day IL, they'll take a shot on Reyes.

At this point, it's possible the Chafins, Moores, Smiths, etc. of the world are just waiting on that, too. Easier to sign a guy when you don't have to DFA someone to put them on the roster.
Cleveland cowboy
1:56
Am I crazy to think Josh Bell could be a 30/90 guy this year? First good home park and tons of speed ahead of him in lineup
Steve Adams
1:57
Bell obviously has the power to do it, he just needs to stop hitting the ball on the ground so much. A guy with his power shouldn't rank in the top 5-10 of MLB hitters in terms of ground-ball rate, and yet here we are.
Buxton
1:57
Top 3 MVP finish if I  stay healthy and play 140+ games this season?
Steve Adams
1:57
Based on talent alone, sure, I'd buy it. But Buxton staying healthy for 140 games seems like a reach
Wrigley Field
1:59
Who is closing for the Cubs in 2023? Boxberger? Estrada?
Steve Adams
2:03
Seems like something they'll sort out this spring and early in the season. I imagine they'll cycle through a few options. Brandon Hughes did a nice job last year but also had shaky command and was pretty homer-prone. Boxberger will probably get mixed in a bit.

If the plan is for Adbert Alzolay to be a full-time reliever, he might be my pick. Small sample down the stretch last year but he looked good out of the 'pen and they don't have an obvious rotation spot for him right now.
Buff
2:04
Do you see De La Cruz getting the primary share of AB's in left field for the Marlins?
Steve Adams
2:05
Early on, yeah, I'd  look for him and Sanchez to get plenty of run out there. Jazz in CF, Garcia in right. Soler at DH. Feasible that someone like Jerar Encarnacion, Peyton Burdick or JJ Bleday forces the issue, though.
They're all on the 40-man right now
bucco fan
2:05
do the pirates make a playoff push this year or when would you expect them back to 2014 form?
Steve Adams
2:06
No not in '23. I could see the '24 Pirates being in a similar spot to the '23 D-backs or Orioles, though, which is a good place to be considering the Buccos are in a far weaker division than either Baltimore or Arizona.
Roger Thornhill
2:06
How do feel about projections?
Steve Adams
2:07
Like, in general? They're a decent big-picture tool but they're inherently never going to predict a breakout. There's little sense in getting mad that ZiPS isn't predicting a 39-homer season for Oneil Cruz or something, for instance. If projection systems were predicting tons of 99th-percentile outcomes like that, they'd be far less accurate and less useful
No Name
2:08
Where does Jurickson Profar sign and for how much? Did he make a mistake by opting out?
Steve Adams
2:09
I can't really answer the first part since even Profar himself doesn't know the answer. I still expect him to come away with more than what he turned down, but it sure seems that he/Boras overestimated his value early in the offseason.
Griffey = goat
2:10
Is Teo a significant upgrade for Haniger?
Steve Adams
2:10
If both are healthy, I think they're decently comparable -- but Hernandez seems like a better bet to stay healthy, and he comes with less age risk.
2:12
Alright I've got to wrap up for the week. Thanks, as always, for chatting -- and sorry for all the questions I can't get to in these. I'm on Twitter @Adams_Steve if you're so inclined and always happy to take more questions there.

You can also consider signing up for our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription package, which (among other things) grants you access to subscriber-only chats and email mailbags, and your odds of getting a question answered in those arenas is obviously much higher. Subscribers also get ad-free viewing, weekly email articles from Anthony and myself, exclusive fantasy baseball advice from Brad Johnson, autograph giveaways and more. It starts at $2.99/month, and you can read more or sign up here:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/membership?ref=chat-2-7-23

Have a great week, everyone!
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