Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 4/21/26
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Timo
1:29
What do you think happens when dylan crews returns? Does James wood dh full time?
Steve Adams
1:30
They'll just rotate Wood/Crews/Lile through the corners and DH. If anything, I'd give Daylen Lile more time at DH. He was so, so bad in the outfield last year. Can hit though!
Omaha
1:31
There is no way the Twins can stay a .500 team with the poor defense and bullpen.  Tom Pohlad seems like lip service.  Who all do you see traded between now and the deadline to beef up our up and coming farm system prior to the sale of the Twins (which will happen after the 2027 lock out), and what kind of return do you envision?
Steve Adams
1:32
Joe Ryan, Josh Bell, Ryan Jeffers, Taylor Rogers, Justin Topa, Anthony Banda, Bailey Ober are the most obvious trade candidates, assuming they sell some short-term pieces (which still seems likely).
1:34
Sorry had to answer a phone call quick
Frankie7
1:34
I just saw a report that the dodgers want to trade Dalton Rushing and James Tibbs for mason miller because of the edwin diaz injury. As a padres fan I am torn because dalton rushing is good but campusano has been doing good and also Mason miller is a beast. Doubt this trade will happen though. inter division trade. Thoughts?
Steve Adams
1:34
That "report" is from a parody account on Twitter.
Randy Potemkin
1:34
Are the Padres proving a great bullpen is more valuable than a great rotation?
Steve Adams
1:36
Any team can win in a monthlong sample, and there are lots of paths to doing it. There are countless examples of teams with great bullpens who haven't contended. In general, absolute statements along those lines tend to lack nuance and ignore context.

I'd prefer a dominant rotation to a dominant bullpen, but stacking one while ignoring the other isn't a recipe for long-term success regardless.
FM
1:36
What's your take on the Ohtani rule?
Steve Adams
1:37
I find the fact that Craig Counsell whined to the media about the rule far more "bizarre" than the rule itself.
Mets reset
1:37
Is Juan Soto part of the solution to righting the ship or could the Mets deal him before the deadline this year?  What would you do?
Steve Adams
1:37
I would put the chances of a Juan Soto trade somewhere around 0.003%.
Speaking of Giolito
1:38
Speaking of Giolito, doesn't Houston make sense? They have a million injured guys and need innings badly.
Steve Adams
1:38
Absolutely, but their owner, Jim Crane, tends to be pretty averse to paying the luxury tax and they're only about $10MM shy of it right now
Everyfan
1:39
Do you think a much more severe luxury tax coupled with a floor gets things done instead of a cap to avoid a lost 2027 season
Steve Adams
1:40
I think they should just enforce the de facto floor they have. Teams are supposedly required to spend a certain portion of their revenue sharing dollars, and yet you've got Cleveland running a $60MM payroll, which to me is more of a joke than the Mets/Dodgers trotting out $300MM+ payrolls.
Ron Blomberg
1:41
I agree with "Next CBA."  Get rid of the DH.  But ehy won't consider it becuase they think we just want more big musclebound sluggers to hit 40 homers and strike out 400 times.And no amount of evicence witll convince them otherwise.

But then, the game's marketing people insist that you can't market the game.
Steve Adams
1:44
Ratings are up. Attendance at its highest rate in years. Money coming in hand over first from streaming deals with Netflix, Apple, NBC, etc.

You may prefer the no-DH era, but there's a good bit of evidence to suggest there's a pretty substantial portion of the fan base that either feels otherwise or doesn't feel strongly enough about it to turn away.

I grew up watching AL ball, so I'm admittedly biased to an extent, but pitchers hitting was always boring to me, and I don't buy the fact that there was "more strategy" in that version of the game. The strategic components are just different now (and better, IMO).
Nico Hoerner
1:44
I seem to be good for 6-7 WAR per year.  That puts me comfortably over 70 WAR for a career (25 war already).  Am I on a sneaky hall of fame career trajectory?
Steve Adams
1:46
He has exactly one six-WAR season in his career and has never reached 7 WAR (per either B-Ref or FanGraphs). He's only 28, so hey, maybe he stays healthy, piles up 2500+ hits and wins a bunch of Gold Gloves, but I would take "no" side of a Hoerner HOF bet here.
Reds Fan
1:47
Can we keep it up? can't see the offense being this bad all year and could you imagine louder and burns out of the bullpen when lodolo and green come back
Steve Adams
1:51
I think the offense will improve. Stephenson's not going to keep running a sub-.200 BABIP. Steer's chasing more right now, but given where his contact levels are at, I don't think he's going to keep punching out at a 30-31% clip. McLain's a weird one, but I remain semi optimistic. He's taking tons of walks, not striking out much. He's not hitting the ball hard whatsoever, but during spring training he averaged 93 mph off the bat with a 57% hard-hit rate in a sample not all that much smaller than his current regular-season one. Hector Rodriguez looking good in AAA.
TxDude
1:52
Do you think any hitters from the old years of baseball (Ruth, etc) could hit today’s pitchers? Velocity and movement is just insane now
Steve Adams
1:55
Depends. Are you magically teleporting peak Babe Ruth to modern day ball? Like he just wakes up in 2026, still playing for the Yankees, and has to go try to hit Tarik Skubal or Mason Miller or Paul Skenes? No chance, in my mind.

But if you bring 1920s Babe Ruth to 2026 and give him time to work with trainers, buy into the whole host of new ... everything .... about the game, etc., I'm sure there's innate talent that could be coaxed out and developed.

But in general, I think the physicality and superior optimism of modern players would bowl over players lifted directly out of a prior era. Even today's hitters can't touch Mason Miller!
Victor Scott III
1:56
Will I breakout of my slump or continue my downward spiral
Steve Adams
1:57
I just don't think Victor Scott is going to hit major league pitching. Fine bench player in a classic speed/defense reserve outfielder, but his bat is just so light.
Carter Stewart
1:57
Am I a 2027 Major Leaguer?
Steve Adams
1:57
Man, that's a name I haven't contemplated in a bit.
Stewart was the 8th overall pick by Atlanta several years ago, didn't sign, and went to Japan instead
1:58
He'll be 27 this offseason, doesn't miss tons of bats or have great command. I could still see someone signing him with a good showing, sure, but he probably hoped the NPB gambit would work out better for him than it has.
MC Kitties
1:59
I really struggle with this. Do you keep Skubal all year for a playoff win or two and just let him walk getting nothing in return or do you trade one of the best starting pitcher for a nice haul and go for it all next year?
Steve Adams
2:01
Keep Skubal. What are the Tigers even doing if they trade him? "We want to win a World Series, but we'd rather have a 'sustainable' contention window where we hope we can stumble into having multiple Skubal-esque talents under control for more years?"

Go for it now. And then just pay the guy to stay. Everyone acts like it's a foregone conclusion that he'll just walk, but my gosh, the Tigers' only players signed beyond 2027 are Framber Valdez (who's signed through '28 but can opt out after '27), Kevin McGonigle and Colt Keith.
2:05
Even if you subscribe to the belief that the Tigers can't consistently run a $200MM+ payroll -- I do not, but that's a separate discussion -- they have nothing on the long-term books. They can pay Skubal $45MM per year -- more than that! -- and still build a good team around him.

I often think the "Yeah, but the end of that contract will be so bad" argument is justifiable, but Skubal is a Detroit legend already who's one of the clear best pitchers in baseball (THE best, for me), and you're buying beginning at age 30. I get it, the final few years will suck, but when you're talking about the literal best in the business squarely in his prime, and with SO many cheap/good young players to put around him (McGonigle, Clark, Dingler, eventually Rainer and Briceno) ... just pay the man.
But even if you know he's going to walk, I still keep him and try to win now. Your best chance to win a World Series is the one with Skubal+Framber leading the staff.
AcesLow
2:06
What does SEA do if LCastillio has a 5.00 ERA at the break?  they now have several viable replacements looming but he's been such a fixture it's hard to see him getting bumped from rotation this year if healthy...
Steve Adams
2:08
I wouldn't be too concerned about that. He's made four starts: one very good, two clunkers, and one fine. Velo's right in line with last year (sinker's actually up a bit). Command is still good. Swinging-strike rate down a bit... I doubt he's getting back to peak strikeout levels, but if Castillo keeps running a 20 K%, 8 BB% and 40 BB% in that park, he's going to be fine. Maybe he's more of a 4.00 to 4.25 ERA guy now than the mid-3.00s we're used to, but that's fine.
Card fan since 85
2:09
So far so good! Still "rebuilding?!"
Steve Adams
2:10
They have a bottom-five rotation in MLB for me, so yeah, I'm not buying it. Fun start though, and some exciting steps from Walker, Wetherholt, Burleson and others.
Well maybe not huge steps forward for Burleson, but just doing what he did last year is good!
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