You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Live Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 8/8/17
powered byJotCast
Steve Adams
3:10
Happy Tuesday. We'll get underway in a minute but feel free to start piling in questions now
Gogerty
3:11
considering how Jaime got moved twice in a week, do you think Coppy will hold out longer to make a trade next time?
Steve Adams
3:13
I doubt the Braves were in the dark about the possibility of moving him for a decent prospect or two, as the Twins did, if they were willing to eat his salary. Atlanta's system is deeper than almost any in the game, and the key guy that Minnesota acquired (Zack Littell) might've become Atlanta's 20th-best pitching prospect or so. At a certain point, I wonder if they just valued the $4.7MM they saved over getting a Double-A arm that they barely even have room for in Double-A or Triple-A.
Bo
3:14
Harper cleared waivers... Is it too simplistic to say that because of this, his value < his contract?
Steve Adams
3:14
Harper cleared waivers because everyone on the planet knew the Nats would pull him back and it wasn't even worth having someone spend the time going through the procedural steps of even placing a claim. He had a 0% chance of getting traded -- why bother claiming him?
Trev
3:15
Does profar have to clear waivers to be traded now or not being on 25 man allow him to be moved whenever?
Steve Adams
3:16
All 40-man players have to clear before being traded. Since he's not on the 25-man, he could be included as a PTBNL -- though the fact that he was the PTBNL wouldn't be kept a secret long, and teams might just let him clear as a courtesy at that point. That basically happened with Leury Garcia and the Rangers/White Sox in the Alex Rios trade a few years ago.
Brian Cashman
3:16
I'm pondering a 5-year, $48 million extension for Didi. Do I have your blessing to pull the trigger?
Steve Adams
3:17
You can ponder that all you want, but Didi's agent would laugh you off the phone with that lowball offer. He's going to make $18MM or so over his final two years of arbitration, so you're essentially buying out his first three free-agent years for $10MM apiece with that offer.
Lost pants of Lunhow
3:18
Is it safe  to say Verlander  won't be traded  to my team Astros?
Steve Adams
3:19
I didn't expect Verlander to be traded last month and I don't expect him to now. All of the "Astros didn't do enough" narrative is fairly silly to me. Yes, I think they'd have been better suited to add another starter or a better lefty reliever than Liriano, but this team has a 17-game lead on the West, and their postseason fate will be determined far more by the work Luhnow & Co. have done over the past three years than by the work they did (or didn't do) in the month of July
3:21
But there are probably dozens of people preparing hot-take columns in advance... one focused on how Luhnow damned the Astros by not making a deadline move and another focused on how Luhnow is a genius for resisting pressure and bucking the trend just like he always has.

They'd have been better off with Sonny Gray in their postseason rotation, sure, but I don't think the addition or subtraction of one theoretical player somehow overshadows the brilliant work Luhnow and his staff have done to be in this position in the first place.
3:23
That's a long rant, but basically, the notion of "trade deadline winners and losers" being "judged" within 72 hours or a week of the deadline is nonsense from my vantage point, which is why you'll never see that type of opinion piece on MLBTR and why you'll rarely see any such pieces linked to here, unless they include more genuine analysis than "this team did good because it made a lot of trades."
And now to step off my soap box :)
James Franco
3:23
Why would they even put Harper on waivers if they knew no one would claim him and that a trade has no chance? What possible value is there in doing that?
Steve Adams
3:24
The Nats, like many other teams, probably put their whole roster through waivers as a means of:

A. Gauging market interest in players they're actually interested in moving this offseason and
B. Masking which of those players they actually are interested in moving.

The majority of players in baseball will be on waivers this month.
Ben F
3:24
Twins have help on the way with Gonzalez moving to AAA?  Only 2 1/2 back of a wild card
Steve Adams
3:25
I'm a little surprised they haven't pushed Stephen Gonsalves and Fernando Romero a bit more aggressively, honestly, though they know what they're hoping to see out of each in terms of progress at each level. I do think both could be up this season, though maybe they'll be a bit more cautious with Romero due to his injury history.
Paul W
3:25
Any chance Trader Jerry adds a starting pitcher for the M's this year?
Steve Adams
3:26
Generally speaking, my answer to "is there a chance Jerry Dipoto trades for XYZ" is always going to be a resounding yes.
3:27
With Felix ailing and 'Kuma looking less and less likely to help in '17, I'd actually be surprised if he doesn't find another starting pitcher. Total speculation here, but Marco Estrada? Extreme fly-ball pitcher moving to a more spacious park with a strong OF defense -- would fit their needs well.
Klentak
3:27
So Rhys Hoskins is still in AAA... why?
Steve Adams
3:28
They just moved him to left field, so I'd imagine his bat is in the Phillies' lineup in the next couple of weeks. From an offensive standpoint, what more does he have to prove in the minors? Now it's just a matter of finding a way to get him into the lineup.
Noel
3:28
If NYY needs to shore up their rotation in the offseason, which FA pitchers might sign a 2-3 year contract?
Steve Adams
3:30
I could see any of Cahill, Chatwood, Estrada or Hellickson in the 2-3 year range. Lance Lynn in the 3-year -- maybe 4-year -- range. Also wouldn't rule out the Yankees further looking to the trade market in that regard. And there's also the Otani factor, if he does indeed come over. Yankees would have to be a consideration there.
Adam Steves
3:30
Coming up next on MLBTR: "Mike Trout placed on waivers, immediately claimed and immediately pulled back - welcome to Tuesday"
Steve Adams
3:30
I honestly wonder if he'd just clear as well. Maybe some team with a stacked farm makes the claim and just tries to gauge how ludicrous the package would need to be, but yeah he'd be pulled back.
Ryan
3:31
Why did everyone make such a big deal about Puig being placed on revocable waivers last year when it is already know that 99% of players are placed on revocable waivers at this time of year?
Steve Adams
3:31
Because there was a genuine chance that the Dodgers would actually have traded Puig last year (unlike Harper in 2017, for instance).
Dayton Moore
3:32
What trades if any do you think I make this August?? Cozart? Nova?? Anyone else?? Thanks!!
Steve Adams
3:33
I could see Estrada going there, since they had interest prior to the non-waiver deadline. (I do think the M's would place a claim before the Royals, though, and they have priority.)

Cozart makes some sense, with Alcides' struggles at the plate. Pirates aren't moving Nova.
Mike
3:33
Will any team outside of yankees pursue cc this winter?
Steve Adams
3:36
Sure. He's pretty quietly been really, really good since mid-May. The peripherals don't mesh with his 2.54 ERA in that time, but if teams even view him as an innings eater that's capable of posting something closer to his 3.82 FIP, there'll be interest. The one concern might be that he's averaging about 5 2/3 innings per start, but with the increased emphasis on deep bullpens and multi-inning relievers, that probably wouldn't even be a massive deterrent in his market. I'd expect quite a bit of interest in him as a free agent.
Rob
3:36
do the marlins do anything in august?
Steve Adams
3:37
Could see them moving Ziegler and/or Tazawa, though they'd need to eat some cash in either case. Both would clear waivers, though. (And if they didn't, I'd bet on Miami just relinquishing both.)
steve adams secret twin
3:37
What would you do with Dansby Swanson trade him or keep him?
Steve Adams
3:38
Keep him. It's not even a question in my mind. I mean, if someone approaches you and blows you away with an offer, at least listen. But shopping him or selling low because he didn't immediately blow up into a 5-win superstar or something is silly. Most players struggle early in their MLB careers, and Dansby never even played at AAA before jumping to the Majors.
Smith
3:38
Of all 30 stadiums, what's the best food you've had?
Steve Adams
3:41
Well I've only been to 13 of the 30 (15 if you count parks that have since closed), so I can't speak to them all. But Safeco, Target Field and Kauffman are all great for food for various reasons. Citi Field has some pretty solid options as well. Andrew Zimmern's goat burger at Target Field was pretty great, but I think they discontinued it. Garlic fries at AT&T and Safeco are terrific. Kauffman has some solid BBQ options. Citi Field has a Fuku outpost (David Chang's fried chicken sandwiches -- glorious)... parks in general are stepping up their cuisine and beer games.
Russ
3:41
What is the claiming order players that are dfa
Load More Messages
Connecting…