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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 7/26/22
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Steve Adams
11:28
I do see them in there. The long-term payroll outlook is clean if they want to try to extend him, and the Giants made a legitimate run at Bryce Harper in free agency. This front office is pretty averse to long-term risk, but for Soto, I would imagine much of that goes out the window.
James Click
11:29
Dbacks willing to listen if Christian Walker offers? He would be a good fit in Houston with two years in control following this season.
Steve Adams
11:31
They are, but I feel he's a little more redundant there than a Josh Bell type. Walker's modest slash line is propped up by huge production against lefties. They have a watered-down version of this skill set in the 2022 version of Yuli Gurriel already. I don't think Walker is a massive upgrade against right-handed pitching. He's been better than Gurriel against righties, for sure, but he's still below-average against them.
Chuck
11:32
I'm confused as to why the Nationals are putting Soto on the block. Two years is forever in today's baseball world. If I was (for example) the Cubs I'd give them the entire Iowa roster for him plus Ian Happ and Contreras and would still consider myself a winner. Why are the Nats punting?
Steve Adams
11:34
They have one of the worst farm systems in baseball even after last summer's fire sale, an even worse Major League roster and $60-65MM in underwater salaries to Corbin and Strasburg guaranteed in each of the next two seasons.

I generally think rebuilding should only be a last resort and not the go-to strategy it seems to be for so many clubs these days, but I get the Nationals' rationale in this case.

They're also selling the team, which factors heavily into all this.
Mark
11:34
Baseball is a summer sport. Shouldn’t 110 games should be plenty?
Steve Adams
11:35
You might be able to convince some owners that it's fine to lop April off the schedule (particularly those in cold-weather cities where attendance is poor), but games (especially in warm weather) = money
Josh
11:35
Can you see the Twins acquiring both David Robertson and Daniel Bard at the deadline?
Steve Adams
11:36
I don't think the Rockies will trade Bard. Robertson seems totally viable, but that's not unique to the Twins. He fits on pretty much every contender.
sam
11:37
What is going on? MLBTR reported Brock Porter had "signed" with the Rangers BUT for some unknown reason the Rangers had not made an announcement of that happening. Is there an issue?
Steve Adams
11:37
Porter agreed to terms with the Rangers, which is not the same as signing. They came to terms on a bonus, which is followed by the physical, paperwork, etc. etc.
Texas just now announced the Kumar Rocker signing, and his bonus was leaked the morning after the draft.
Michael
11:38
Other than Quintana is there another Pirates player you think will be moved?
Steve Adams
11:39
Is it too late to say Daniel Vogelbach?? Ben Gamel could go. Chris Stratton, too.
Sleepy Bear
11:40
If the Brewers acquire Josh Bell who does that squeeze off of the roster?
Steve Adams
11:42
I just find it hard to see how McCutchen works in there. I don't know that they'd move on, given his veteran status and all that. And I know he's been a bit better since a terrible start to the season. But Tellez/Bell should get the bulk of ABs at 1B/DH in that scenario, and you can use Brosseau as the platoon partner with Rowdy. Cutch just hasn't hit lefties well this year, and that's sort of the whole point in signing him... he was supposed to be a bit better than average against RHP and absolutely torch LHP.
Irate Nate
11:42
Over under on reds moving 4 mlb players by deadline
Steve Adams
11:44
Over/unders are supposed to be fractional for this very reason! I would set the number right at 4 (so, over on 3.5, or under at 4.5).

Drury, Pham and Naquin should all go.  Castillo, Mahle and Minor all have chances to move.
Naquin doesn't get enough love as an option. He's not great and isn't going to fetch some franchise-altering haul, but he can hit righties well and handle all three OF spots (albeit not especially effectively in CF). He's cheap, too. He'd help a lot of clubs as a role player down the stretch.
11:45
And there aren't TONS of lefty hitting outfielders available
Joey
11:45
I am surprised the Reds have yet to trade Castillo or Mahle. Anyone hearing what the hold up is?
Steve Adams
11:45
They haven't been traded for the same reason that pretty much no one else has been traded.
11:46
Teams wait until the buzzer to acquire as much data as possible before making potentially franchise-altering moves. It's a byproduct of the increasingly analytical and data-driven approach to front office construction. It's less fun than the deadline used to be for most of the month, and then sheer chaos every year in the run-up to the deadline.
11:47
I personally enjoyed it more when things were a bit more spread out, but that's just how the game is these days.

Also, Mahle was on the IL for most of July, which obviously played a role in his market.
Slick Rick Hahn
11:47
Why is no one talking about us as a Soto landing spot??
Steve Adams
11:48
Mainly because the White Sox have a record payroll already and the worst farm system in MLB. But if they were willing to give up Kopech, Vaughn and others from the system, sure, I buy them as a contender to get him.
Stroman
11:49
After a few good outings does somebody give the Cubs a stupid enough offer to get me?
Steve Adams
11:52
I can see him as a long-shot trade candidate. Basically all the damage against him this season has been confined to three awful starts. At the same time, his value is probably down from where it was in the offseason, when the Cubs won the bidding on him. I'm not sure anyone's going to put together a particularly enticing offer to land him right now.

I also expect the Cubs to keep making some mid-range additions to continue building back toward respectability this offseason (and perhaps at this deadline), and Stroman counts toward that goal.
John
11:52
The Orioles won’t shock me by trading Mullins or Hays, would they?
Steve Adams
11:52
I don't expect either to go, no.
CJR
11:53
Do you think Soto gets traded prior to the deadline or WSH waits until the offseason?
Steve Adams
11:54
If I'm guessing -- and, to be clear, that's all anyone can do right now on whether he'll actually be traded -- I lean slightly toward an offseason deal when there's more time, a potentially wider field of interested teams, and when 2022 draftees can potentially be included in the return.
David Stearns
11:55
We're showcasing Ethan Small for the Twins tomorrow...is he enough to pry Arraez away?
Steve Adams
11:55
That is not what's happening, and no.
John
11:55
Does Garrett Crochet have a chance to get traded? Would the Sox sell low on him?
Steve Adams
11:57
You could throw him into that list of hypotheticals I mentioned (alongside Kopech/Vaughn) as names the Sox would need to be willing to move to get Soto since their farm is so thin, but generally speaking, I'd be surprised to see him go. (And, for those who just joined, no I do not think the White Sox are an actual, plausible Soto fit)
Angels
11:57
Would there have been a time when Adell, Marsh and Detmers would have gotten Soto?
Steve Adams
11:57
Doubt it. The asking price for Soto would've been even larger when that group's value was at its peak. The notion of a Soto trade wasn't even a thing at that time.
WW
11:57
How has this chat gone 28 minutes without mentioning Luis Castillo?
Steve Adams
11:58
Because the most common question is "Tell me where Luis Castillo will be traded," and not even Reds GM Nick Krall knows the answer to that question right now, haha.
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