You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
MLBTR Live Chat
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Ro
6:58
Is lester a hall of famer? Who would be a career comparison in terms of if he gets in or not?
Mark P
6:59
Lester is an interesting case.  My inclination would be to say no, and I don't think he'd garner enough support from the writers.

However, in context, Lester might be one of the last of the "traditional" workhorse starting pitchers of his era, and could get extra credit from a veterans committee by that logic.  Sort a Jack Morris-esque case, plus Lester also has the championship rings
Brave Man
7:00
Are the Braves really standing pat on its outfield?  No Soler, no Rosario, no Pederson.   Looks like we are going to enjoy last year and let the Mets and others have this season.
Mark P
7:01
Acuna's return, Duvall, Pache, Waters isn't a bad starting point, plus there's whatever happens with Ozuna.  Also, as last year showed, the Braves are pretty good at assembling an outfield on the fly
kevinthecomic
7:03
Was Tsutsugo's performance increase in Pittsburgh last year for real, or just a short sample fluke?
Mark P
7:04
Hard to say, and it's really hard to gauge Tsutsugo's career as a whole.  He still hasn't played even a full season's worth of games as a big leaguer, not to mention his first two MLB years came under pandemic circumstances and on three different teams.

It could be that simply sticking in Pittsburgh and getting some regular playing time is all he needs to settle in.
7:05
Also, not for nothing, but there's also less pressure with the Pirates than on win-now teams like the Rays and Dodgers
Cards fan
7:06
Does Jacob degrom opt out and make more than 50 million AAV for 5 years?
Mark P
7:08
DeGrom turns 34 in June and is coming off an injury-riddled year.  We shouldn't be taking that opt-out as a foregone conclusion by any means.  He'd need to be fully healthy and have a vintage JDG year to land a deal like that on the open market.  And even so, I can see teams balking simply due to that injury history, even if he's fine in 2022
7:09
The reason Scherzer was able to land that AAV at his age was both because he's great, but just as much because he's been durable
JJROB808
7:10
Is there any chance(crossing my fingers) that they will do away with the infield shift. I miss seeing great hits up the middle turning into outs.
Mark P
7:11
I don't think the shift will be outlawed entirely, but maybe adjusted in such a way that "extreme" shifts aren't allowed
Rally Monkey
7:11
Ahmed makes sense as a SS target for the Angels. Would a nominal prospect and the DBacks paying about 10 MM of his remain contract be fair?
Mark P
7:13
Ahmed is owed $18MM over the next two seasons, so it's not such an onerous amount that the D'Backs would be looking for a salary dump (especially since the D'Backs aren't entirely punting on 2022).

This isn't to say that Ahmed couldn't be traded, or even that the Diamondbacks wouldn't ultimately prefer to move him prior to Opening Day.  But a team like the Angels might have to give up more, either in prospect capital or in taking on more of the contract
Brian A
7:14
if that Marte trade could happen would the Jays drop out of Chapman discussion
Mark P
7:14
Presumably so, since then the Biggio/Espinal tandem would play third base.  

That is, unless the Jays moved Biggio (and/or Espinal) as part of a deal for either Marte or Chapman
Aaron Ashby
7:15
On the Baseball America’s future projections podcast, the hosts said that Ashby is the best left handed pitching prospect in baseball. Do you really think the Brewers would trade him?
Mark P
7:16
In a perfect storm circumstance, maybe.  But it would have to be a truly great offer for a player under long-term control, and one who the Brewers feel can help put them over the top for a World Series
Dalton Wilcox
7:18
What kind of trade Value does Cristian Hernandez of the Cubs have?
Mark P
7:19
He'd definitely draw a lot of interest in trade talks, even if he's still so young and his pro career has barely started.  I'm not sure he's quite highly-touted enough to be the centerpiece of a trade package for a proven star player, however, and thus the Cubs might prefer to just hang onto him and see what they have
7:20
Especially since the Cubs aren't likely to start moving their top minor leaguers after all of this process towards reloading the farm system
Greatest Homer
7:20
Kirk Gibson in the WS dragging himself around the bases after knocking it out of the park should be in the discussion.
Mark P
7:20
Absolutely.
Rally Monkey
7:20
Jo Adell for Aaron Ashby?
(Keep the Adell for _____ alive)
Mark P
7:20
Incredibly, we made it over two hours into this chat and this is the first Jo Adell question.  Amazing!
7:21
I'm not sure either team makes that offer, but both would give it legitimately consideration
Hitman
7:22
How about if Mattingly gets a couple of rings in MIA?
Mark P
7:23
That would be really interesting wrinkle to Mattingly's HOF case....suddenly he'd have the Gil Hodges type of resume as a Series-winning manager AND a fine playing career
I wanna live
7:24
Is it time to start a new baseball league?
Mark P
7:25
Time to bring back the Federal League.  Who do you think will win the series between the Chicago Whales and the Brooklyn Tip-Tops?
Guest
7:25
Groshans + Martinez + Pearson + Kirk lower prospect is the price for Marte + Gallen
Mark P
7:25
I don't see the Diamondbacks moving Marte and Gallen in the same trade (if either are traded at all)
Bobby Grich HOF
7:27
If you were the Angels GM who would you do at the SS position. ?
Mark P
7:28
I like that earlier suggestion of a Nick Ahmed trade.  Ahmed isn't expensive, his glovework will be a big help to the defense (which may be quietly the Angels' biggest need), and while he's not a great hitter, it would at least help if he could get back to his 90 wRC+ number of 2019-20.
MoonBeamMcSwine
7:30
do you agree that the owners presentation of a draft pick incentive for a rookie getting ROY, MVP and Cy votes supports earlier promotion and more $$ earlier for prospects?  Creative by the owners?
Mark P
7:32
I don't hate the idea.  On the one hand, it's the kind of move that really only addresses the type of elite prospects who are likeliest to win/compete for those awards, but then again, those are the only prospects whose service time teams try to actively manipulate.
Nolan W
7:33
Any thoughts about how long ST will be delayed, if it is at all?
Rich A
7:33
Your prediction for start of spring training
Mark P
7:35
I lean towards the last week of February.  I will say, however, that while the players obviously aren't going to take the owners' offer from earlier this week, it's at least a good sign that the two sides got back to the table earlier than expected.  

It really made zero sense that no substantive talks were on docket from December 1 to their initial late January date, so I'd like to think that both sides used some common sense and realized it couldn't hurt to at least get the ball rolling early on talks
Even if not much progress is made by late January, that still counts as a bit more than the zero that would've been made if negotiations hadn't begun at all
Connecting…