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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 4/16/24
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Ari
11:43
Thoughts on Jackson Merril?
Steve Adams
11:45
Impressed by the bat-to-ball skills, approach and plate discipline at such a young age. I feel like a broken record saying none of these early .340 to .390 hitters are going to sustain their .400+ BABIPs, haha, but that's true of him as well.

Still a really impressive first look in the big leagues -- and not one that just looks like a total fluke. He could hit a wall and fall into a slump, just like any hitter, but what he's done so far feels like it has more legitimacy than most hot April starts.
don123ny
11:46
7 years at $210m would that get Alonso signed?
Steve Adams
11:48
Not to keep harping on our subscription stuff, ha, but that was my topic for yesterday's piece. I think that's toward the upper end of what he can realistically command but feel there's a better chance he checks in south of that. And I'm the high guy on Alonso on the MLBTR staff, apparently.
Sam
11:48
Do you guys that are writers for MLBTR hang out very often?
Steve Adams
11:49
I'm in St. Paul, Tim and Nick are Chicago guys. Mark, Darragh and Leo are in Toronto. Anthony's in Buffalo. So ... no! Haha. But we talk regularly. Of the current staff, Tim and Anthony are the only two I've met in person. But Mark and I have worked together here for like a decade-plus. Darragh and I chat daily online and record the podcast together, etc. So we interact, but we're not all getting together to catch a game every week or anything.
Greg Allen
11:50
The Padres still need outfield help. Which SS should they target to address this?
Steve Adams
11:50
I laughed at this more than I probably should have, ha.
Allegheny Al
11:50
Over under 10 starts for Quinn Priester for Pittsburgh this season?
Steve Adams
11:50
I'll take the over
Magglio Ordonez
11:51
The Tigers will finish O/U 81.5 wins this season?
Steve Adams
11:51
I picked them for a Wild Card spot! Over
Jolly Roger
11:51
Are the Pirates going to get my hopes up every April only to come crashing down by summer?
Steve Adams
11:54
This year's Bucs feel better than last year's. I'm a big Jared Jones guy (my NL ROY pick), and they've got Skenes coming behind him to pair with Keller in the long run. Hayes, Reynolds, Suwinski and Cruz can all hit. I think Davis will too, but he looks overmatched still and could probably benefit from some more upper-minors reps. He still doesn't even have 400 minor league PAs above A-ball.
Grid King
11:55
Which players do you find yourself using most often on Immaculate Grid?
Steve Adams
11:56
Forgettable relievers who bounce from team to team like a pinball. I remember a lot of those guys and utility players who had like two-week stints with a certain team because of this job, haha.
Guest
11:56
McCutchen HOF?
Steve Adams
11:57
Is Andrew McCutchen a Hall of Famer?
Yes (27.7% | 56 votes)
 
No (72.3% | 146 votes)
 
Total Votes: 202
Altuve's Knee Guard
11:58
Is Forrest Whitley going to be a boon to the Astrps' pitching staff?
Steve Adams
11:59
I think he'll just give them a fresh arm. Whitley hasn't been the same since all of his arm injuries. His command has tanked and I don't have high expectations on his outlook, which sucks, because that would've been a very different answer like five years ago.
Ooklah the Mok
12:00
With his IL stay coming to an end, is there a market for Tajuan Walker?
Steve Adams
12:02
At $18MM per and coming off an injury, no. I think they'll just make it work by shuffling around the guys they have. Besides, you trade Walker and then sustain another injury or two and you're right back scrambling for depth. Turnbull's looked great, but he also barely pitched the past two seasons so it's not like he can be expected to give them 140 innings anyway, and who knows if he'll start to wear down as the workload ramps up? He's also just not going to maintain a .211 BABIP and 81% strand rate.
Blue Man Group
12:02
Most important thing for the brewers offense to keep up its pace is…
Steve Adams
12:04
They're just not going to keep this pace. It's not realistic. But between Contreras, Yelich, Hoskins, Adames, Chourio, Ortiz... I do think they have a more talented group than a lot of people probably gave them credit for.
12:07
Re: McCutchen, btw, I say yeah Hall of Fame. But I'm a "big hall" guy and don't really care or get worked up about who goes in. Someone like Harold Baines shouldn't be in there, sure. But it's cool for his fans and after reacting with a "Well, that's dumb," I moved on haha. Cutch won an MVP, has 300+ homers, had a six-ish year peak as one of the game's best players, remained a quality regular even after that peak, is going to top 50 WAR in his career ... that's a pretty darn good resume.

If you don't think it's good enough, I respect that and don't think that's an egregious stance to hold. But I also just don't care enough about Hall of Fame voting and Awards balloting to get into nuclear coulda/shoulda/woulda debates. Maybe that makes me a boring sports fan, haha
Bill
12:08
William Contreras has been a beast. Braves probably wanna take that trade back.
Steve Adams
12:08
Not as badly as the A's do. Atlanta was willing to give up Contreras for Murphy, and Oakland said "Actually we'd rather have Esteury Ruiz, and we'll also give you Joel Payamps."
Spud
12:08
You forgot Frelick, Mitchell, and Turang.
Steve Adams
12:09
I didn't forget them, I'm just not as high on them as the rest of Milwaukee's bats. Frelick can hit but probably not for any power, which is fine. I'm less bullish on Turang and especially Mitchell, but I won't be shocked if any of the bunch ends up as a good hitter.
Brandon Belt
12:10
Do the Brewers sign me?  I seem better than Bauers and Dunn as a lefty DH option don’t  I?  And a better 1B bat than Bauers straight up.  Surely the Brewers can go a bit higher than their approximate 100 million payroll.
Steve Adams
12:10
Someone should sign him. Belt still mashed righties last year. I don't get the lack of interest, even if you assume a 30% (or more) strikeout rate and an IL stint or two
To answer more directly, yeah I'd rather have him than Bauers
12:12
Ok, I've got to wrap up. Thanks for participating, as always!

If you want more opinions from the MLBTR team, you can learn more about our Trade Rumors Front Office package and sign up here. In addition to ad-free viewing, you'll get weekly email analysis/opinion columns from Anthony and myself, a weekly mailbag column with Tim Dierkes, weekly fantasy baseball advice from Nicklaus Gaut, a weekly subscriber-only chat with Anthony (where your odds of getting a question answered are much, much higher), extra insight from Darragh McDonald, access to MLBTR's Contract Tracker and Agency Database, and more. It starts at $2.99/month. Anthony's on vacation this week and last, so I'll be running a chat for subscribers tomorrow (you should've already gotten an email on that!)

Thanks everyone, and enjoy the rest of your week! I'm on Twitter / X @Adams_Steve for more questions whenever you like. Take care.
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