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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 5/14/24
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Steve Adams
1:40
I was talking with Anthony Franco a little about the Jays last night, and we kind of agreed that if the team misses the playoffs, then it's probably fair to suggest that any of Schneider/Atkins/Shapiro could be in jeopardy. I still think the Jays have some better days ahead because there's so much latent talent on the team, but it was an underwhelming offseason and the team has underperformed on top of that.
Trade targets
1:41
I’ll keep asking…how long of a leash and how much longer can Dodger fans believe “all in” includes carrying several regulars hitting under .175?  Chris Taylor is lost.  Give him a chance to be sent down to work it out or send him packing.  Outman needs AAA time.  Recall Vargas.  Pages in center.
LAD
1:41
What to do w Chris Taylor and/or Outman esp when Heyward returns.  They had long enuf time to get it right.  Wish they send Outman down and release Taylor.  What say you.  Thx
Steve Adams
1:41
Lots of these types too
1:43
I think there'd be more pressure to move on from Taylor -- and maybe they already would have -- if the division felt as competitive as some might've expected it to be. The Dodgers are 6.5 games up and have the best run differential in MLB (+76). They can afford to keep trying to get Taylor and Outman back on track for now. They're winning in spite of them.

I don't think that same thinking will hold true all year. If we're mid-summer and they're both still struggling, then optioning Outman or moving on from CT3 absolutely becomes more feasible. (Optioning Outman sooner than that wouldn't be terribly surprising, I suppose.)

I doubt the Dodgers are going to be carrying Taylor on the roster into the postseason if he's hitting .115/.200/.265 or whatever.
Matt
1:44
Could the Guardians be a problem this year?  Vogt seems to have taken to his role easily, nobody is playing over their head, and they haven't even gotten their normal level of starting pitching thus far.
Steve Adams
1:47
I would disagree that no one's playing over their heads. Steven Kwan and David Fry both definitely are. Not a knock on Kwan, who I like as a player, but he's not going to keep hitting .360 all season with minimal to no power to speak of. I'd also put Ben Lively in that category.

I don't think they're going to be able to get their normal level of pitching with Bieber and Williams hurt and McKenzie really looking diminished (I know the ERA is decent lately, but the velo is still way down and the command is bad).
1:48
That said, Josh Naylor is awesome, Jose Ramirez hasn't been Jose Ramirez yet, Manzardo should hit eventually. There are some positives, to be sure. I just don't buy the lineup as a whole and think the SP for once looks like a real issue.
Tanner S
1:49
what would baltimore give up for someone like tanner Scott
Steve Adams
1:51
I love Tanner Scott, but he's walking 22% of his opponents this season. If they're going to trade to replace Kimbrel, that doesn't strike me as the most stable option to pursue.

Regardless, Scott probably nets a couple of mid-tier prospects from any team he goes to. He's a free agent at season's end. It's not like he's costing a club someone like Kjerstad, Norby, Mayo, Basallo, Povich, etc. It wouldn't really dent a farm as strong as Baltimore's to get him. I just think they'd probably prefer to avoid acquiring one guy who's currently doing a routine tightrope act to replace their own in-house tightrope act.
Greg
1:51
The Dodgers have 1B, DH and Catcher locked up for at least the next four years until Freeman's contract is done. Do you think Rushing and/or Cartaya are dealt this summer? Does Cartaya still have any trade value?
Steve Adams
1:54
Cartaya's value is down a good bit, but it's not like no one would want him or anything. Fair to winder if LA wants to sell low after his Double-A struggles in '23-'24 though.

I wouldn't be surprised to see either dealt this summer for the exact reasons you said, but especially with Rushing, they could wait until the offseason or even next year. He's barely played above A-ball, and his glove behind the dish has been a work in progress since the draft because he didn't get as much playing time as you'd expect at Louisville with Henry Davis ahead of him
Guest
1:55
Matt Olson is giving me older Chris Davis vibes!
Steve Adams
1:56
Chris Davis was K'ing in 35-40% of his plate appearances and saw his hard-hit numbers tank late in his career. Olson is at 25%, and his average exit velo is 94 mph with a ludicrous 57% hard-hit rate. I'm not worried he's suddenly become a bad hitter. Good hitters have bad stretches.
Sonny Gray
1:56
Am I now kicking myself because I signed with St Louis? Im now stuck here for 3 years. I could have gotten paid anywhere, but other places, I would be on a winning team.
Steve Adams
1:58
I'm sure he expected the team to be more competitive, but he's going to look around the clubhouse, see Goldy/Arenado and a bunch of other guys with track records and assume the team will pull out of it. I'm not saying that's likely, but I think players just tend to assume their roster is capable of more than it realistically is, ha.

We don't know who else offered Gray close to what he got in St. Louis, so I doubt he's beating himself up too much. If the Cards are really going to be this bad, he can always try to facilitate a trade -- or one might just present itself naturally. If they're bad enough, teams are going to call about the good players they do have.
Chris
1:59
If Rizzo continues to hit at this cromulent rate is a net 11m an easy pickup call, or can avg 1B be found on trees?  Also, as fungible as even good relievers are, they kind of have to resign Holmes, right?
Steve Adams
2:00
I wouldn't call Rizzo's offense "cromulent" -- though great word in general. He's above average by a wide margin in each of batting average, OBP and especially slugging. He's been good, period. The $11MM call seems easy if he were to end the season with these exact rate stats, especially since he's such a well-liked guy and leader in the clubhouse.
2:01
Holmes seems to me like someone who could realistically top $50MM in free agency. Raisel Iglesias got 4/58 at the same age. So I wouldn't say the Yankees HAVE to re-sign him, but it sure feels like they'd want to keep him, yeah.
Cool Mama Bell
2:02
Will we ever see the return of chats with former players, umpires or front office staff?
Steve Adams
2:04
I think we'd like to do player chats again, yeah. They're a good bit of work to get set up though (more than you'd expect, ha), and they didn't actually reach the level of attendance you might've expected. They generally still drew good numbers, especially when we had a Dan Haren or Chipper Jones or someone particularly well-known chatting, but it's definitely not something where the value to the site aligned neatly with the level of effort required to facilitate them. We're baseball nerds though and thought they were cool/fun so at some point yeah we'll likely bring them back.
2:06
Ok, I've got to wrap up. Thanks for participating, as always!

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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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