You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 7/15/25
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Draft Day
1:35
Sooooo many shortstops taken in the first round of the draft! Why do you think that happened?
Steve Adams
1:38
Shortstops are generally the best players/athletes on their teams and can slide down the defensive spectrum. Shortstops, pitchers, catchers, third basemen and center fielders are going to dominate the top rounds of the draft in a given year. I'm not sure there was an unprecedented number of shortstops selected or anything within this year's first few rounds -- though 15 of the first 30 is obviously quite a lot. Just happened to be the nature of this year's class, I supposse.
Brewer Fan
1:39
Idk how much you follow draft prospects, but any team you think had a particularly good draft?
Steve Adams
1:41
I don't focus hugely on the draft. It's not my area of expertise or anything. I'm not a scout, and if we were going to cover the draft in earnest, it'd be something that'd require a resource to dedicate more than like half their time to, which isn't a great ROI for us.

There's tons of great draft content at Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN (Kiley McDaniel) and The Athletic (Keith Law).
Soler
1:42
Would halos have to eat some of his contract to trade him?
Steve Adams
1:42
They'd have to eat almost all of it. He's a bat-only player whose bat has been 18% worse than average, and he's earning $13MM this year and next.
the sad Braves fan
1:43
How much has Marcell Ozuna’s value declined by his hip injury and poor performance. Thank you for doing these chats!
Steve Adams
1:43
It's down, for sure, but there aren't going to be tons of impact bats available on the market, so he should still garner plenty of interest and net a return of some note.
rocky colovito
1:44
would not dbacks get more for Suarez if they exercised his $15 M option for next year and traded so team receiving gets 1/2 years of service?
Steve Adams
1:44
Suarez doesn't have a $15MM option. They had a $15MM option on him for the 2025 season, which they picked up. He's a pure free agent at season's end.
Cards Fan
1:45
Do you see the Cards buying or sellers at the deadline?
Steve Adams
1:46
Both? I think they'll trade Fedde and be open to moving Helsley but could also see them swinging deals to bring in some younger big league arms, for instance.
Patrick
1:46
Are the Reds buyers or sellers? If buyers, who would they go after?
Steve Adams
1:49
I'm working on their entry in our ongoing Trade Deadline Outlook series right now. I lean toward modest buyers and expect them to be in on a variety of right-handed-hitting bats and/or some help at 1B.

They do have a tough start to the second half with the Mets, Rays and Dodgers standing as three of their first four series opponents, so if it goes south in a hurry that could change.
Orioles
1:50
What are we doing with Mayo? He's just sitting on the bench and he needs AB's
Steve Adams
1:52
I have long since given up trying to understand what the Orioles are doing with Coby Mayo and Heston Kjerstad. At this point I just hope both of them get traded so they can get an honest everyday look somewhere.

You could argue that Kjerstad sort of got that this season, but it was like four weeks of mostly regular at-bats before they started reducing his role.

I'm not even a huge Kjerstad believer -- I like Mayo more -- but I still find it baffling that he'll be 27 in February and have close to two years of MLB service but so far has all of 300 MLB plate appearances across parts of three seasons.
Detmers
1:53
Lots of halos questions but would cubs send Cassie for detmers 1 for 1? Who says no?
Steve Adams
1:53
I'm the resident "Detmers will be good eventually!" guy, and I still wouldn't do Caissie/Detmers 1-for-1 if I were the Cubs.
Jays Hopeful
1:54
Will the jays swing big this trade deadline? Will they consider moving Arjun Nimmala or Trey Yesavage for a real upgrade?
Steve Adams
1:55
I expect the Jays to be one of the most active and aggressive buyers at the deadline and don't think they'll really have anyone truly off limits. Yesavage is close enough to the majors that he could help in the second half, though, so I can't imagine him going unless it's for a controllable and meaningful pitching upgrade.
Natitude
1:55
What would the potential return be on Mackenzie Gore and 2 years of control?  Should the Nats new leadership entertain such an offer?
Steve Adams
1:55
Should top what the White Sox got for Garrett Crochet. I don't think it'd happen before the offseason though, if at all.
Adam
1:56
Does Willi Castro bring back a real return?
Steve Adams
1:57
If the Twins sell some veteran pieces, yeah, Castro should net them a nice prospect. That's not the direction the team is considering right now though, and they open the second half with series against the Rockies, Dodgers and Nats -- so two of three pretty winnable series right out of the gate.
Braves Fan
1:59
I think the Braves should consider trading Murphy. SD needs a catcher. Could Atl pay some of Murphy's contract and get a better return?
Steve Adams
2:00
I think they probably will, but catchers are tough to trade midseason -- it's hard to learn an entirely new pitching staff on the fly, mid-playoff push -- and there will be more interested clubs in the offseason.

Also not at all convinced the Padres have the money to add Murphy. If they had that kind of payroll space, they'd have put together a more interesting slate of offseason additions than Jason Heyward, Connor Joe, Martin Maldonado, Elias Diaz, Jose Iglesias and Gavin Sheets.

(Yes, they signed PIvetta, but they backloaded that deal in mammoth fashion,  which only further points to limited 2025 resources)
Yoshida
2:01
Do the redsox trade him?  How much of the contract would they have to eat?
Steve Adams
2:01
80-90% of it?

Jesse Winker, another LHH "outfielder" who's best relegated to platoon DH work, got a year and $7.5MM this winter.
Daniel Byrne
2:02
Tigers are deficient in the bullpen. Do you anticipate they will try to strengthen it?
Steve Adams
2:03
Every contender will try to strengthen its bullpen. Tigers are no exception and will probably be more aggressive than most, given the steps back from Hurter, Holton, Brieske, etc. this year.
Chris Young
2:03
Adolis is available? Who am I getting for him?
Steve Adams
2:06
I don't think Garcia has massive trade value, given his salary and looming arbitration raise. But I do think the Rangers will listen on him for those reasons. They've tried, unsuccessfully, to retool their offense. Garcia probably gets a raise to $13MM+ for his final season of club control. Texas already has more than $131MM on the books next year, and that's not even including Joc Pederson's $18.5MM player option, which he'll exercise.

So you're at $150MM in payroll and need to replace Tyler Mahle, Patrick Corbin and Jon Gray on the roster, plus half the bullpen (Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Chris Martin, Luke Jackson).

And you have questions at catcher and the infield corners.
Colin
2:07
Jose Ramirez available? I'd love to see him in Seattle for a package starting with Harry Ford, Williamson and a bunch of prospects
Steve Adams
2:08
No, and he has a no-trade clause. But that sort of trade would be tons of fun (and cost more than Ford, Williamson and a smattering of mid-range prospects)
Taker55
2:09
Who is in the running for this year's most unforeseeable QO? Trent Grisham?
Steve Adams
2:11
Grisham is a decent one. Ryan O'Hearn, Tyler Mahle are another couple options after a quick scour of my free agent leaderboards. Probably blanking on an under-the-radar name or two
bill
2:11
Any chance K Ruiz gets offloaded by the Nats to a team looking for a change of scenery upgrade a t C
Steve Adams
2:13
With all due respect to Ruiz, I'm not sure which team that's hoping to add a catching upgrade looks at him and thinks, "Yeah, that's our guy." His bat has declined three straights years. His framing is poorly rated. He's not great at blocking balls. And he's owed $35MM over five seasons from 2026-30.
FA
2:13
Any chance Rizzo or Candelario or more of the free agents sign soon? Deadline seems like the time to sign imo
Steve Adams
2:14
Candelario already signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. Seems like David Robertson is gearing up to sign soon.
Connecting…