You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 7/8/25
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat
Dodgers Fan
1:48
What would it cost us for 3+ months of Adrian Houser?  The guy seems to have found a fountain of youth with the white sox.
Steve Adams
1:51
I don't think Houser is going to command a notable prospect return, nor do I think the Dodgers would target him. They're only going to be aiming for pitchers who'd start playoff games for them, and that's not Houser.

He's throwing harder, granted, but the strikeout rate and swinging-strike rate are still noticeably worse than average. His sub-2.00 ERA is largely a product of him stranding 85% of the runners he's allowed to reach base, which is 15 pecentage points above his career level and 13ish above league-average. He's not going to keep that up, nor is he going to keep seeing only 4% of the fly-balls he yields turn into homers. (His career mark and the league average are both around 12%)
Adam
1:51
If the Pirates did trade Skenes (I know they won't but humor us here) would they be able to ask for more than the Nats did for Soto?
Steve Adams
1:51
Yes
This Guy Right Here
1:51
Who are the White Sox going to move?
Steve Adams
1:52
Adrian Houser, Aaron Civale, Mike Tauchman. Maybe Steven Wilson. I expect they'll find a way to trade Robert but the return is going to be middling.
Marty
1:53
If the pirates eat say 15% or 20% of the remaining money owed to Hayes do they Yankees find him more attractive than a Ryan McMahon?
Steve Adams
1:53
I doubt it. Hayes has stopped hitting because of chronic, ongoing back troubles. McMahon is more productive currently. He's not as good a defender, but you feel better about getting competent to above-average offense out of him.
Your name
1:54
Both Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas have been awful while Michael McGreevy has shown he's capable of being a back of the rotation starter. Could either Fedde or Mikolas be moved to the bullpen/released since neither will bring back anything in a trade
Steve Adams
1:58
Mikolas was at least pretty serviceable until that absurd six-homer start against the Cubs. But he was never likely to be traded, thanks to his salary and no-trade clause.

Fedde had real value in the offseason, and he's shredded most of that with his strikeout rate disappearing and his command worsening considerably. Another team might take a chance on him to round out the back of the rotation, but the chance for a decent return was back in the offseason and the Cardinals for whatever reason chose not to do it.

I wouldn't say McGreevy has proven anything yet, but he's more deserving of a rotation spot than Fedde, based on merit, yeah. Fedde has an ERA of almost 6 since his shutout against the Nationals (and rate stats to match it)
Phillie Phanatic
1:58
Phillies need a right-handed Lfer or CFer. Who could that  potentially be? Seems like mostly lefty bats are available.
Steve Adams
2:00
Ramon Laureano, Chas McCormick, Harrison Bader (if the Twins wind up selling short-term guys). Lane Thomas has to be running out of leash in Cleveland, but he's a change-of-scenery guy at best.
Dick Monfort
2:00
I am the one responsible for the poor performance of the Rockies and the unfairness it causes to the fans of Denver and Colorado. I need to sell the team, don't I? (Fisher, Nutting, Sternberg...take notice)
Steve Adams
2:01
He doesn't *need* to, no. But would they be better with a less meddlesome owner who didn't operate in such insular fashion? Almost certainly, yeah.
Philly Rocks
2:01
Alec Bohm and a prospect to the Rockies for McMahon; who says no?
Steve Adams
2:02
McMahon is signed longer than Bohm is controlled. Rockies won't (or shouldn't) be looking to acquire someone with such little club control remaining.
reds reds reds
2:02
could taylor ward be in cincinnati come july 31? cheap salary, breakout season, angels have had interest in chase petty, and could be the rh bat the reds need.
Steve Adams
2:05
I would say Ward's breakout was in 2022. This year he's striking out and popping up at career-worst rates and barely keeping an OBP around .300. He's also making $7.825MM (not *that* cheap, at least for the Reds) and will probably get a raise to $11MM or so next year, perhaps more, depending how the counting stats finish up.

I'm not saying the Reds shouldn't have any interest, but if the Angels asked for Chase Petty, that'd be an easy no for me, even with Petty's brutal debut performance earlier this season.
Bobby Cox
2:06
Did you see the trade scenarios on ESPN for skenes, acuna, etc. They felt light imo. What did you think?
Steve Adams
2:09
I've been asked about all of these, with many suggesting that David Schoenfield's column constitutes a genuine rumor for something that might happen. It's an opinion piece designed to generate conversation, which it's doing, but he's not saying or reporting that any of Skenes/Acuna/Buxton will be traded.

It's just a thought exercise. I haven't given much thought to whether the packages feel light or appropriate because it doesn't really matter. None of the three are going to be traded.
coaches
2:10
Hitting and pitting coaches are usually fired in the off season aren't they ? It's hard to find a new one in mid year isn't it  as decent ones would be under contract ?
Steve Adams
2:10
More common in the offseason or in the last week or two of a season, yeah. But the Rangers swapped out hitting coaches already early in the season.
Cardinals fan
2:12
Where will Arenado be playing in August?
Steve Adams
2:12
Third base, for the Cardinals.
TxDude
2:13
The Rangers offense has looked lost all season. And even most of last season too. Big changes have to coming eventually, right?
Steve Adams
2:15
I mean, they already made big changes. They traded Nate Lowe, brought in Jake Burger and Joc Pederson -- all in the name of hitting fastballs more effectively. It didn't work. They fired their hitting coach and hired Bret Boone. It hasn't done much.

I'm sure larger-scale changes are coming, yes, but they're made some attempts that haven't paid off.

Adolis Garcia seems like a trade candidate whether the Rangers are in the race or not, since he's going to be a non-tender candidate after the season and isn't hitting well for what's now a second straight season.
Marty
2:16
Why aren’t the twins considered sellers? Looks like they could have some of the best movable assets this deadline.
Steve Adams
2:16
They're trending that way, but at five games out from a Wild Card spot and with three-plus weeks to play until the deadline, they're going to keep their options open
Slappy Slapster
2:17
What value do you think Seth Lugo has in trade? Many of the Royal faithful think he would bring a top 100 prospect +. I don't think so due to his 2026 option.
Steve Adams
2:17
I lean more toward your view of things. The player option/opt-out is pure downside for the acquiring team.
Sir Nerdlington
2:18
What would you expect to be the cost for a Suarez/Gallen trade package? Seems like the Cubs-Snakes line up too well to not make this happen.
Steve Adams
2:19
I don't really think it's true that the Cubs specifically line up any better than the Yankees, Tigers, Mariners or several other clubs. Most teams could use another starter, so any team looking at 3B -- or just for a bat in general -- lines up pretty nicely with the D-backs on that sort of combo
Dave
2:19
If the Rangers are sellers, will they try to move deGrom?
Steve Adams
2:21
He has a full no-trade clause and will be owed $88.3333MM through 2027 after the trade deadline. Most of the teams that can stomach that type of annual salary are CBT payors, several of whom (Mets, Yankees, Dodgers) would owe a 110% tax on the $37.85MM AAV of what remains on his contract.

Lots of questions about trading deGrom every week. Doesn't feel all that feasible to me.
Padres
2:22
What would it cost to get Adolis in left?  Padres could use that slg.
Steve Adams
2:24
Not much. But "use that SLG" is an interesting frame for a player who's currently slugging .380 with a career-worst .152 ISO. Garcia is popping up more than ever and hitting a lot of pretty harmless fly-outs. He's more reputation than known commodity right now (hence why he probably won't be  ALL that hard to pry loose)
2:26
Ok, I've got to call it this week. I'm on X @Adams_Steve and Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social if you have more questions.

If you want more opinions from the MLBTR team, you can learn about our Front Office subscription package and sign up here. In addition to ad-free viewing on the site and in the app, you'll get weekly analysis/opinion columns from Anthony Franco and myself, a weekly mailbag column from Tim Dierkes, weekly fantasy baseball chats and columns with Nicklaus Gaut, two weekly subscriber-only chats (one with me, one with Anthony) where your odds of getting a question answered are much better, direct Q&A opps with Darragh McDonald, access to our new Trade Deadline Outlook series, access to our Contract Tracker, GM Tracker and our Agency Database, and more. It all starts at $2.99/month.

Thanks and enjoy the rest of your week!
Connecting…