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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 8/27/24
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Steve Adams
1:37
Yeah I'm sure we'll highlight some of the top names to keep an eye on. All eyes on Roki Sasaki at the moment, depending on whether the Marines post him or not.

KBO infielder Hyeseong Kim will be posted. Japanese righty Kona Takahashi, perhaps.
Patrick
1:38
Tigers will need to sign 2 or 3 SP this offseason. How likely are reunions with any of Flaherty, Lorenzen, and Verlander?
Steve Adams
1:39
Verlander seems like he'll want to go to a clear contender. Flaherty, possible, but it's pretty rare to see a team trade someone and then re-sign them the following offseason.

Lorenzen's going to be available on a cheap one- or two-year deal, so I suppose that's plausible, but they need to be aiming considerably higher than that.
Sloth
1:40
Tonkin? Sure... if the Twins were going to shuffle their bullpen and were willing to DFA Okert, why didn't they grab Hector Neris for the pro-rated minimum salary?
Steve Adams
1:41
Michael Tonkin has been better than Hector Neris. (That's a sentence I would not have expected to write a few months ago.)
Neris is walking more than 13% of his opponents with a career-low K% and career-worst velo
He's been at his worst in leverage spots, as was the case with Okert.
in the rye
1:42
catchers are hot commodities in general. How is it that Elias Diaz became available and that the Padres were able to pick him up on a minor league deal?
Steve Adams
1:42
He's a passable-not-great defender who hasn't hit whatsoever since a short stint on the injured list with a calf injury in June.
John
1:43
What's the FA pitching market like this winter, beyond Burnes and Snell?
Steve Adams
Adam
1:44
Are you better with Soto at say 60mil/year or getting 3 players for the same dollar amount?
Steve Adams
1:45
Depends on which team you're talking about. If it's the Mets, Dodgers, Yankees, etc. where payroll's really not an issue, just sign Soto. More theoretically, a mid-range payroll club that's never going to spend more than $150-160MM total has way less margin for error if 40% of the payroll is locked up in one player who could get injured at any time.
Angels #30!
1:46
With all those available pitchers on the market, and the Angels badly needing *something*, who do you see as a potential free agent pickup for them?
Steve Adams
1:46
The Angels have signed two starting pitchers to multi-year deals in the past 12 years: Joe Blanton (2/15) and Tyler Anderson (3/39). I don't think their owner, Arte Moreno, is going to green-light spending heavily on any top-tier SP -- even though he absolutely shoul.
should.
Red sox prospects
1:48
The red sox seem to be massing a nice haul of position player prospects outfield specfically seems overloaded with duran, abreau and rafaela currently in place .it seems like now may be the time to sell high on duran with anthony looking ready...thoughts?
Steve Adams
1:50
I'm not "selling high" on a guy who's been one of the 10 best players in baseball this season because there are prospects behind him. If Roman Anthony forces the issue, great, but Anthony is 20 years old and has all of 12 games above AA under his belt. I have no reason to think he won't live up to his potential, but Duran has four years of control and would be in the MVP conversation if he were in the NL. The only reason he's not in the AL is because Judge, Witt, Soto and Henderson have been so incredible (especially the first two).

Even if this is Duran's peak year, 80% of this would still be a clear All-Star.
Buffalo Boys
1:52
Which of the Blue Jays AAA players called up before and after the deadline have a chance of sticking around next year.  Horowitz, Clement and Lopperfino feel like they should have some sort of a roll in 2025 don't they?
Steve Adams
1:54
Horwitz has hit his way into a chance at regular playing time next year, yeah. Clement sticking around as a utility guy makes sense, but I don't think he'll repeat this power and his OBP is already poor. Loperfido needs to cut down on the strikeouts. I don't think anything he's done thus far is enough to make the Jays comfortable penciling him into next year's lineup or to prevent them from signing/acquiring an outfielder who'd drop Loperfido down the depth chart. He has a 35% strikeout rate and .285 OBP this year (33% and .263 as a member of the Jays).
Thatjoshguythere
1:54
O'Neil Cruz a long term OF? No real good CF prospects in the near future for PIT
Steve Adams
1:56
Plus speed and literal top-of-the-scale arm strength. He'll need to work on his reads, routes, etc. -- but he was never a great shortstop anyhow. Lots of scouts have pegged him as a right fielder in the long run, which I can see, but no harm trying him in center now while he's in his physical prime, given the organizational need. Can always move him to RF in a few years if he slows down. The arm will absolutely play there.
John Tudor
1:58
Been seeing some MVP buzz for Lindor. Does anyone actually think great shortstop defense closes the gap between a 135 OPS+ and a 175 OPS+?
Steve Adams
2:00
Well, it's elite shortstop defense versus ... no defense. At all. So I can certainly see the argument and I do think there will be people who subscribe to that thinking, yeah. I'd still take Ohtani (whose baserunning has also been elite), but I don't think it's an insane thing to suggest that premium defense at a premium position balances out a lot of the gap in offensive output.
Angels Fan (no, really!)
2:01
Do you see the Angels releasing any veterans (Pillar, Drury, Moore, Rendon (please!), before the end of the month to be nice and give them a chance trim payroll to sign with a contender?
Steve Adams
2:02
No on Rendon, and Moore is dealing with an elbow issue.

I could see Pillar going on waivers and sticking with the club if no one claims him. Drury as a release candidate makes sense. No one's going to claim him, but maybe a contender signs him to a minor league deal for depth
For the AA
2:02
I think it's reasonable to assume that Fried signs elsewhere for 2025 and beyond. I also think it's likely that Morton retires after this year. Who's in Atlanta's rotation next year? Sale, Lopez, Schwellenbach, and Strider? Someone they already have like Elder or Holmes? Or a Free Agent?
Steve Adams
2:04
Everything you just said makes sense. And I would expect a free agent or trade pickup to join the depth group behind Sale, Lopez, Schwellenbach. They're not going to have Strider right away, in all likelihood, and I doubt they'll entrust two rotation spots to the group of Bryce Elder, Ian Anderson, AJ Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep, etc.
Roki
2:05
Am I really staying put?
Steve Adams
2:05
It's entirely his team's decision, and we have no way of knowing for sure which way they'll go.
BackendbullpensbeenthePitts
2:06
Steve, what are the chances the Pirates look to sign Chapman again for 2025? I know it rides against their youth crusade but I wonder what capacity Bednar will fill going forward. A possible trade candidate Himself?
Steve Adams
2:07
Seems like they went after Chapman when it became clear they weren't going to get the starter they wanted. Starting depth isn't an issue anymore, but they badly need bats. I don't see Chapman as a priority given their limited financial resources.
Barry
2:07
Does Soto cut the Yankees ANY sort of break in free agency? If the top two offers are Mets: $600M and Yankees: $550M, could you see Soto sticking with Judge, the pinstripes, etc?
Steve Adams
2:09
For $50MM? No. If it were like 600 vs 610, I suppose you could stick with the team you know. But $50MM is a hell of a discount, especially when the larger number gets you to that big round record no one's going to break for a loooooooooooooooong time.
Sad Sox Fan
2:10
Which former Royal will be our new manager?
Steve Adams
2:11
Mark Teahen! (I have no idea on this, of course. I just picked a former Royal who played with Getz and who also has White Sox ties, ha)
2:12
Ok, I've got to wrap up. Thanks for participating, as always!

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2:13
I'm also on X for more questions and such: @Adams_Steve
Have a good week, everyone!
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