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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 6/20/23
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Sean
1:44
The Rangers continue to lead MLB in runs scored and have more than 100 runs than the Astros. Do you think the Rangers will hang on and win the AL West?
Steve Adams
1:47
It's a cop-out to say, but it's also true... it depends on health and the trade deadline. If both teams had to lock their rosters from outside acquisitions right now and were guaranteed health of the remaining names the rest of the way, I'd probably lean Rangers, yes.

But both teams are going to be active at the trade deadline. The Rangers have a lot of injury risk in their rotation in Eovaldi, Gray and Heaney. One serious injury to Semien, Jung, Seager, etc. changes the lineup in a meaningful way.

I think this version of the Rangers is legitimately good and was underrated heading into the season (myself included among those who underrated them). But it's a context-dependent game and the calculus is going to change repeatedly over the next six weeks in particular.
Would you rather…
1:47
Build around Soto or j ram?
Steve Adams
1:49
Are we taking contract/asking price into account? Does budget matter? Soto's younger but also will cost like 4x as much as Jose Ramirez's previous extension did.

I probably say Soto regardless, but if you tell me I'm working under A's-esque payroll constrictions or something, that might change things, ha.
Team Kaptain
1:50
Could Blackburn be an option for the Reds???
Steve Adams
1:51
Paul Blackburn will be an option for basically any team looking for rotation help. Whether a pitch-to-contact guy who's had some minor home run issues dating back to 2021 is the best fit for the Reds and the launching pad where they play their games is up for debate, but yeah, he'll be available.
Red Sox Fan
1:52
Buy a righty OF and a 2B
Steve Adams
1:55
RHH OF would be a nice add with Duvall's health shaky thus far and the all-LH remainder of the OF mix (Refsnyder excluded, I guess). Lots of options to speculate on... Lane Thomas fits the bill nicely. The Sox seem to love Arroyo, for reasons that are lost on me, but they have him and a $10MM Kike Hernandez ... I would imagine that's their hopeful Plan A
Tigers fan
1:55
Do the Tigers sell or stand pat. There's no way they try to buy at the deadline, right?..... right?
Steve Adams
1:58
I think they'll just be another data point in moving away from the notion of "bad teams sell, good teams buy". It's not how it really works anymore and hasn't for awhile. Yeah, there are always a few teams that are just selling veterans for prospects, but even good teams are trading big leaguers for other big leaguers more often, and look at the Tigers' offseason trades... the veterans they did trade still brought back young, MLB-ready players.

I don't expect them to give up any young, controllable prospects for short-term upgrades. But I do expect that they'll also acquire some MLB-ready talent who can step into the lineup before the end of the season. Is that strict "selling" or just a different spin on "buying"?

It's all kind of blurred, but in general, I think it's better not to think of things in such a dichotomous way.
Tom
1:58
Pirates are sinking. Would Philly consider a reunion with Andrew McCutchen to give them some righthanded corner outfield offense? Would Cutch be willing to leave Pittsburgh?
Steve Adams
1:59
McCutchen signed in Pittsburgh because he wanted to be back there. He said publicly that while he loved all of his other stops in his career for various reasons, Pittsburgh has felt like home. I don't think, especially after all the winning early on, that the Bucs would want to trade him or that he'd want to leave. Another RH bat seems sensible enough for the Phils, but I don't think it'll be Cutch.
Tarzan
2:00
Are the Marlins for real? Can they maybe even win the division?
Steve Adams
2:02
I don't think anyone's unseating the Braves, who are where they are despite lengthy absences from Max Fried and Kyle Wright -- both of whom are expected to return this season. And Atlanta will be active to some degree at the deadline, too.

But yeah I can see the Marlins hanging around the wild card scene. They could stand to improve their defense, the bullpen and add some more offense, though hopefully Jazz's return will help with the latter.
JJ
2:04
Someone I think we will be hearing about come late july (assuming STL doesn't dig itself out) is Jordan Hicks. He seems to have gotten his control issues somewhat under "control" and has a 34% K rate. Finally starting to K guys they way you would expect someone with a 103 mph FB.  Assuming he keeps it up and doesn't revert to his high BB ways, how much might he be worth in 5 weeks?
Steve Adams
2:09
He's a rental, so even teams that are buying the recently improved command (which really only dates back a month or so) know they're only getting a couple months of him prior to free agency.

The gold standard for a rental reliever has generally been the Yankees getting Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman, but Chapman was more dominant and established than Hicks. The Cardinals wouldn't be out of bounds to ask for an MLB-ready talent that's kind of been displaced on his current team (similar to when they gave up Lane Thomas for a Jon Lester rental or when the 'Stros gave up Teoscar for Liriano) or trying to just cash in big with some far-off, high-ceiling prospects in the minors.

The success rate on the latter is quite low, though, and I don't think the Cards are going to go full tear-down anyhow, so I'd anticipate them looking for talent closer to the Majors.
2:10
In general, you're not going to get the same type of return for Hicks that the Pirates could if they made Bednar availabile (which they won't) or that the Tigers would for dangling Alex Lange (which is a bit more feasible).
Dodgerskingsfan
2:10
Would giolito and Kelly be worthwhile pickups for the dodgers?
Steve Adams
2:11
Sure, Giolito especially. Kelly, they've kind of been-there, done-that. He's not super cheap and even when he's pitching well (like he is now), there are injury concerns and he's pretty inconsistent.
Your marlins take
2:12
Ummmmm the marlins bullpen has been excellent. What are you talking about?
Steve Adams
2:16
It's been good. They're 14th in the Majors in ERA and 10th over the past month. There are also injury concerns among the group, three guys walking more than 10% of their opponents, and plenty of generally unproven commodities. They're not exactly the 2015-16 Royals with some insurmountable trio nailing down every close lead under the sun late in games. And even if you think the current group is sufficient, the reality is that they're going to deal with injuries eventually.
2:18
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 a weekly subscriber-only chat where your odds of getting a question answered 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-6-20-23

Have a great week, everyone!
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