You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 7/9/24
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Steve Adams
1:35
I share the skepticism, largely because I question the rotation depth. They're not teeming with options beyond the current group, and guys like Houck and Crawford are about to hit (or recently already did hit) their previous career-high workloads.

We'll see what they do at the deadline, of course, and it's worth tipping my cap to them for already wildly exceeding my expectations for the 2024 season. I wrote them off entirely entering the year and they've thrived without Giolito, Casas, Story, etc. for much/all of the season. They've been way better than I thought, but the second-half pitching outlook still worries me.

Let's see if they add a starter and maybe someone who can finally give them some offense at second base.
Todd C
1:35
I haven't read him connected to the Braves, but AA always operates in stealth mode. How about Kepler as an outfield target?
Steve Adams
1:35
If the Twins were willing to trade him, sure, but even with several LHH corner OF alternatives I don't think Minnesota's all that eager to move him.
Lindor_smiles
1:37
Please resolve this debate, I have steak diner riding on this:  I have with a co-worker, I say Lindor is clearly a top 5 SS, he says he isn't. Am I getting my free steak?
Steve Adams
1:39
I'd probably have him in my top five. Henderson and Witt likely go 1-2, but some combination of Lindor, Seager, Elly, Correa and Abrams round out the final three spots. Betts, if you count him, but he's obviously better in the OF and at 2B.

I'd need to actually sit and think on it, but Lindor has almost become underrated at this point.
Which happens a lot when guys sign big contracts and are more good than elite.
crairic
1:40
What would a trade of Bellinger to Giants look like? I know he is possible free agent at end of year.
Steve Adams
1:42
I don't view Bellinger as a likely trade candidate just because lining up value on guys with opt-outs is so hard. If he gets traded to SF and mashes for two months, he's going to opt out and become a free agent. If he slumps or gets hurt, he opts in for next year and immediately becomes a contract they don't really want.

Trading for opt-out guys is so difficult. Plus.. Bellinger isn't hitting all that well anyway.
Trea Turner
1:42
Ahem.
Steve Adams
1:43
The danger of doing these things off the cuff! That's why I said "probably" and said I'd have to sit and really think on it. Trea's in the top five, yeah. Still think Lindor probably is in there even if it's "just" at No. 5.
Road to 59
1:43
Neris's club option turns into a player option at 60 appearances, does that include post-season games?
Steve Adams
1:43
Nope
Just Fowl
1:44
From your Nats article this am, it seems Corbin would be a target for BOS: innings eater, pitching well lately, expiring. If WAS eats about $8-9M, Sox could trade from the 35-40 FV bin, maybe 2 of Lugo, Paulino, Jordan, Dobbins. Realistic?
Steve Adams
1:45
If the Red Sox were willing to pay $9MM of what's left on Corbin's salary, the Nats would giftwrap him and send him to Fenway immediately with no additional return. Corbin still has about $15.5MM to be paid out. Shedding $9MM of that would be a coup for Rizzo.
Chris
1:46
No chance Verlander’s 2025 option comes to fruition correct?  Asking as a Mets fan looking to save some dough.
Steve Adams
1:47
I wouldn't say NO chance. He needs 83 more innings. Not likely at this point, but not out of the realm of possibility.
John
1:47
Do you prefer that teams wear their own jerseys in the asg compared to the ones mlb makes each year? I liked when they would have a bp jersey that was uniformed and then during the game wear their own teams jersey with a patch.
Steve Adams
1:48
I liked when they wore their own, but I don't really care much one way or the other. I stopped getting worked up about ASG voting, Hall of Fame voting, Awards voting, etc. long ago. The sheer rage it produces among many fans just always reminds me that I'm happy I decided to shrug and say "Does this really matter? Does it impact my life at all?" Ha
Stevey Steve
1:49
I imagine all the writers on this site write from their respective homes or offices. Does Tim ever get you guys together, say once a year, just to see a face and say hello?
Steve Adams
1:50
We do work from home. We've done a meetup in Chicago before, and Tim and I have gone to the Winter Meetings together several times. We also typically do a Zoom call with video when all four of Tim, me, Anthony and Darragh do the podcast together. But yeah, it's a rarity to get real face time with my coworkers. I've actually still never met Darragh in person, though we've done a bunch of Zoom calls, phone calls, etc. and talk daily over Google chat and/or Slack.
Ken
1:51
I know there are rumors about Brent Rooker being on the block, but what about JJ Bleday? His bat has come around and he plays a passable centerfold, is cheap, and has years of control before free agency.
Steve Adams
1:53
All of the reasons you listed are reasons for the A's to hang onto him as well. He's controllable through 2028, hitting well, playing decent defense. He's maybe not the star OF the Marlins hoped for when they took him fourth overall and maybe not quite to the level the A's hoped when they traded AJ Puk for him, but the huge decline in his K% and his gains in contact off the plate are really encouraging.

I doubt the A's are in position to say "no" on much of anyone, but Bleday is younger than Rooker, more controllable, etc.
Jon
1:53
Thanks for the chat. I heard that Jazz Chisholm made some pretty negative comments about Miguel Rojas and wonder if things like this impact a team's willingness to trade for a player?
Steve Adams
1:54
I doubt the Dodgers are going to be in a hurry to grab Jazz and add him to their clubhouse dynamic after the public spat the two had earlier this season (which was started when Chisholm spoke candidly in thinly veiled stories about Rojas telling a young player to act more professional after a home run)
1:55
(I recall thinking it was pretty easy to infer based on Chisholm's story that Jerar Encarnacion was the player in question)
Ken
1:55
Speaking of Rooker, which teams do you think will have the most interest in him? What kind of return should the A's expect?
Steve Adams
2:00
Phillies, Royals (who previously had him, oops), Reds, Guardians all come to mind off the cuff. Mariners kind of, but same division and again, a lot of the K-heavy approach they tried to move away from.

It's three years of Rooker (well, three and a half). I expect he'll be fairly pricey in arbitration with all the power numbers. He's already turning 30 this offseason. There's minimal defensive value.

I think he should still fetch a nice return, but I don't think the headliner is going to be a super-premium prospect. Several people have asked so far this chat if Rooker will net a Top-50 prospect in baseball, for instance, and I think if that were the asking price clubs would probably just look elsewhere to upgrade the lineup.
Rays
2:00
Could the Rays deal more MLB pieces, maybe making room for Caminero?
Steve Adams
2:02
I think they'll deal another starter (Eflin or Littell) -- both to make room for Springs and to manage some '25 payroll while also restocking some young talent. Littell's been in rumors more, but Eflin seems more like the guy they'd want to move with that $18MM salary next year. Could always hang onto him for now and revisit in the winter though.
Mariner Fan
2:02
Any chance Dipoto makes a deal with the Angels?  Seems like too much bad blood for the two sides to even talk.
Steve Adams
2:04
The Angels' GM, Perry Minasian, wasn't there when Dipoto resigned and left due to his rift with Scioscia and with Arte Moreno seemingly siding with his manager over his GM. I don't think Dipoto is ever going to shy away from talking trade with anyone, but you'd be correct to point out we've yet to have a Jerry-to-Perry connection. Part of that could be the two teams both typically operating in win-now mode within the same division for much of their overlap, however.
Curious A's Fan
2:05
A Top 50 prospect for Rooker would be extreme... but why would the A's settle for a package that didn't include a (back half) Top 100 prospect? He's one of the Top 20 hitters in baseball right now and maybe the best bat available on the Trade Market.
Steve Adams
2:06
Yeah, some club might pony up a 50-FV type to headline a package. That'd be a back-half-top-100 guy. I think that's a reasonable centerpiece with another lower-tier name or two involved, but Rooker's lack of defensive value, strikeout issues, age, etc. are all going to undercut some of the value his bat brings. (Not that he's old, but usually if you're trading for three seasons of a guy, it's not his age-30 through age-32 campaigns.)
Hazen
2:06
How much longer is seawalds leash?
Steve Adams
2:07
Fairly long? He's probably exhausted some of it. And I get that three straight blown saves is always tough to stomach, but the track record is there and prior to his first blown save in this ugly stretch, he'd allowed one run in 16 2/3 innings with a 15-to-3 K/BB
Pitching
2:08
Never thought I’d see Cleveland’s rotation be this bad. Surely the FO isn’t thinking Logan Allen,  TMack, and Cookie are answers for a playoff run. Bibee Williams and Lively aren’t necessarily who I want to hang my hat on against the big batting the AL. I don’t see any call up ready prospects in AAA. What will they do
Steve Adams
2:09
I think Bibee would be a fine playoff arm, and I'm sure they're hoping Gavin Williams pitches like one as well. But to your point, I'd be surprised if Cleveland doesn't add an established arm in the next three weeks -- which is a wild thing to say since Cleveland never seems to need to go outside the org for SP, but their depth is finally looking shaky for the first time in ... I don't know? Two decades?
2:11
Seems likelier that they'd just trade for someone who they think they can improve rather than pay sticker price for Crochet or Flaherty or one of the top  arms on the market. Like they'll get Trevor Rogers and fix him or pluck Ryan Feltner from the Rockies and make their fans groan, only for him to post 13 starts of 3.50 ERA down the stretch or something to that effect.
Bucs
2:12
Does Nick Gonzales' performance put him as a lock for 2B in the future and encourage Pirates to trade off other 2b/ss prospects? (Termarr Johnson, Peguero, Bae, etc)
Steve Adams
2:15
I don't think so at all. Not disparaging Gonzales by any means, but he's been a league-average bat at 2B with solid defense. That's a good player, but there's some good batted-ball fortune and he's not helping himself out with many walks (4.3%). He's given himself this current opportunity to show he can do the job, but he needs more growth to cement that -- and he certainly hasn't done enough for me to think the Pirates should call 2B set and be willing to move someone like Johnson.

Peguero and Bae are further down the pecking order and have been surpassed by Gonzales, in my view.
Connecting…