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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 9/25/18
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Steve Adams
3:50
Newcomb has faded as his workload has risen, but I'm not dealing him for anyone with that sort of OBP deficiency -- regardless of Hedges' defensive abilities.
Hank
3:51
Does David wright get a hit in his final game?
Steve Adams
3:52
I hope Trevor Richards just grooves him a fastball down the middle. Hell I hope he grooves every pitch to him. Two teams with zero postseason outlook... let's just see an awesome memory. Swing for the moon, Captain.
Pittsburgh Pirates
3:53
Biggest offseason need for us is?
Steve Adams
3:55
Lots of rotation depth there, but with Meadows gone and Polanco sort of up in the air following shoulder surgery, I'd like to see them add some OF help and at least another infield bat somewhere. Josh Bell's huge step back in power isn't helping them.
D-backs Fan
3:55
The D-backs, in my opinion, should get a big bat to behind Paul Goldschmidt. Their offense has really struggled this year. They also would probably need pitching help but they got a "starter" from Japan. I also think they should resign A.J. Pollock because he is irreplaceable. What is your opinion?
Steve Adams
3:57
They don't have the payroll to re-sign Pollock, add another bat and then somehow find a way to retain Goldschmidt. I think they're right at the end of this window they've had and would be well served to begin re-tooling. Doesn't have to be a full-scale teardown but when you have a poor farm, your best players are all on the cusp of free agency and you're in tight payroll space, "go spend hundreds of millions in free agency" doesn't seem the best route to me.
Brian
3:58
If Kimbrel walks who is closing for the Sox next year?
Steve Adams
3:58
My bet would be someone not in the organization at present. Zach Britton? Adam Ottavino?
Buckley
3:59
Why does Sabean get a textbook free pass in SF? He signs off on all those deals. He threw Evans under the bus. Does Bochy need to go in your opinion?
Steve Adams
4:00
He really doesn't get a free pass -- he's staying in the organization but the Giants made it clear that whoever is hired is going have top say in baseball ops decisions. Sabean will be working with Baer but he's not going to have much authority over the roster, if any. That doesn't sound like a free pass to me.
Tim
4:01
Should Cardinals ship Martinez to AL as a DH or try to move Fowler? Either way, isn't O'Neill the presumed future in RF?
Steve Adams
4:02
I think they'll try to do both, with the former much much likelier to happen. O'Neill is a candidate to be the RF, sure, but they have other options, too. I will say that his radically improved K% in the minors has curbed a bit of the concerns I had about his OBP, but he still needs to bring that over to the Majors
Bob Dole
4:03
Which free agent makes the most from a great playoff run this post season?
Steve Adams
4:05
I think fans generally overthink how much a big postseason can impact a player's earning capacity -- especially in 2018 when front offices are SO data-driven. It's all inherently going to be small sample theater, and there are months/years of prior data to inform those free agency decisions. Morrow might've earned himself a couple million more last year, but I don't really think anyone's going to do anything in the postseason that wildly impacts their free-agent pricing.
Jack
4:06
Who's your NL MVP?
Steve Adams
4:10
I mentioned Yelich as an increasing favorite for me last week, and in doing so, I did a disservice to Jacob deGrom -- who's been so damn good that I think he could just win Cy Young and MVP honors. I don't really care about the MVP coming from a playoff team (that's not how I would define value, nor do I consider there to be an iota of logic to that argument). I can't see a starting pitcher from a terrible team winning the award (yet), but you'd have a hard time convincing me that there's any one player's performance you could add to a team this year that would be more impactful than deGrom's has been.

On the position-player side, I'd lean Yelich, but felt like I should put that mea culpa out there. I think Jacob deGrom has been the best player in the National League this year, and if you gave me one 2018 performance to "draft" and build a team around, it'd be deGrom.
Lyle
4:10
Which reliever makes the most money in free agency?
Steve Adams
4:10
Probably Kimbrel
Ing Ping
4:10
How many years away is KC from competing again? Right now they look like the walking dead. Dead corpses.
Steve Adams
4:10
Can't see it until at least 2020 -- probably more like 2021-22.
Potter
4:10
Is Osuna a free agent after this year? Whenever he hits free agency will teams treat him like they did at the deadline or do people pretend nothing happened since the Astros took him?
Steve Adams
4:13
He's controlled through 2020. As long as he's producing on the mound, a team will find a way to take him, and they'll point to today's charges being withdrawn as a point in his favor, even though it really doesn't change much. We'll never definitively know what he did or didn't do, but the definition of the peace bond sure makes it look the prosecutor still thinks there was some wrongdoing, and Osuna already accepted a 75-game suspension. None of that'll matter, though. I imagine a few teams will take a hard pass, and some will just be willing to look past it to sign a guy who is really good at throwing a baseball.
So Much For That
4:14
You pick Yelich?   So much for that Cub bias......
Steve Adams
4:14
WHOOPS
The next Jack Morris?
4:15
Making it easy- All the teams currently in the playoffs make it. You have 1 game to win- All healthy, all fresh. Who gets the ball? Who is the one most would pick that you would stay away from?
Steve Adams
4:18
A few months ago I'd probably have said Scherzer, but deGrom has just been SO preposterously good in '18 that I'd update that pick to  take him.

I don't know that there's one I'd stay away from more than others. Maybe Bumgarner? I feel like people would look at the 2014 World Series and use that as justification that he becomes preternaturally unhittable in the playoffs. That seemed to earn him this "big game pitcher" rep that was more deserved at the time but isn't as true now. He's still good, but he's not among the game's 10 best starters.
Mark Shapiro
4:19
I think Osuna is controlled through 2021 because of the time he lost during his suspension
Steve Adams
4:20
Oh I think that's actually correct. My mistake. He had three years of service even coming into the season and now will not accrue the requisite 172 days to reach the four-plus bracket.
Keith
4:20
Will the DBacks trade Goldy this winter?
Steve Adams
4:21
I'd bet against it, but it'd be a totally rational thing to do even if fans would riot in protest.
msgpea
4:21
Reread the Jack Morris question, both Mets and Nats eliminated.
Steve Adams
4:23
Reading is hard! My mistake again. I'd take Scherzer or Verlander with an ever-so-minuscule slant toward Scherzer. I don't know if a lot of people would choose him, but I'd veer clear of Kyle Freeland even though he's getting a lot of love for the nice season he's had.
Good grief. What's wrong with me.
4:24
Just realized what I did, ha. Verlander gets my pick. Freeland steer clear. Reading really is hard.
Mariners Fan
4:24
Regarding Denard Span, do you pick up his option? He's performed well in his role and is supposedly a great clubhouse guy, but do you really invest that much in a platoon guy?
Steve Adams
4:24
It's basically an $8MM decision for them, which maybe makes it more tempting than if he had a smaller buyout, but that's not where I'd commit that money.
LT
4:25
It's hard to accept the loaded Nationals couldn't make the playoffs.
Steve Adams
4:25
Haha apparently. My brain just had an intense meltdown in the past 10 mintues.
4:26
Ok, I have to wrap this up for the week. Jason will chat tomorrow at 6:30pm CT, and Jeff on Thursday at 2pm. I'm on Twitter @Adams_Steve, and we'll do this again next week! Thanks for chatting everyone!
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