JotCast | MLBTR Live Chat with Steve Adams -- 3/14/17

MLBTR Live Chat with Steve Adams -- 3/14/17

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Wainofan

4:16

Chances cards are sellers on Lynn, wacha or Oh at trade deadline? First two are rebuilding value the longer they can stay healthy and are pitching great. Oh is valuable and certain to be FA. Lots of young arms in our high minors that might be able to replace them.

Steve Adams

4:16

I wouldn't expect that unless they completely bomb out (the team, not those three players) in the first half of the season.

Dave

4:17

What more does Byungho Park have to do to make it back onto the Twins' opening day roster?

Steve Adams

4:18

If he hits as well in the second half of the spring as he has in the first, I think he has a good chance to do so. Vargas has an option remaining, and there's room to carry both Grossman and Park

Mole man

4:18

favorite sport besides baseball?

Steve Adams

4:18

Basketball

Josh

4:18

Why do players who know they're not completely healthy even attempt the orioles physical?

Steve Adams

4:20

A guy like Pagan, or Balfour, or Gallardo -- anyone who's had trouble with their physical in recent years -- isn't going to show perfectly on a physical. Shoulder/elbow/knee fatigue and wear and tear are going to be apparent. And if Baltimore is the team that's offering you the best contract and there are millions of dollars at stake, what player's going to turn down the opportunity?

Cookie Monster

4:20

Is Hwang the starting 3rd baseman for the Giants on opening day?

Steve Adams

4:22

Nah, I think it'll be Nunez no matter what. I think Hwang will make the roster, though his willingness to head to AAA might tempt the Giants to take Hill as a utility option to open the season. He's performed reasonably well

Adam

4:22

Do the padres have enough hitting, defense, speed and bullpen to at least flirt with .500 for the first few months? The starting rotation looks terrible, but they should be average-or-better in pretty much all the other dimensions

Steve Adams

4:23

Projecting them to be average-or-better means expecting Schimpf to repeat, Sardinas/Aybar to play at a high level, and a combo of Renfroe/Hedges/Margot to perform well right out of the gate. There's way too many question marks on that roster. I don't think they'll be a .500 club much longer than the first couple weeks of the season -- if that.

Drafted too Early

4:24

First closer to lose his job this season? Also, if Addison Reed is lights out in April/May, does Familia automatically get his job back in the 9th when he returns from suspension?

Steve Adams

4:24

I think Familia will come back and get the ninth. Jeanmar Gomez would get my vote for first closer to lose his job. Could see Fernando Rodney as well. Brandon Kintzler, too, if he opens in the ninth for the Twins.

Smokey Ranchero

4:25

Do the Orioles run tests that other teams don't or are they just pickier about results? It seems like it would be a fairly standardized process

Steve Adams

4:26

I think the general consensus is that they're just a bit more particular about their test results. I mean, Balfour's deal fell through in Baltimore and he signed a two-year deal in TB not long after (which proved to be a disaster -- so good on Baltimore in that instance). We'll have to see how Pagan's season plays out

4:26

Do you ever worry Badenhop is going to take over your job?

Steve Adams

4:26

Ha -- Burke is now working in the D-backs front office. I think he has a decidedly cooler job than me.

Curly_W

4:27

In answering the question about closers, do any Nats even get considered as closers?

Steve Adams

4:27

The only knock on Shawn Kelley would be that he's probably not going to go on three straight days. I think he's a fine ninth-inning option, with someone like Treinen or Glover or Blanton stepping up in the event that the Nats have save opps three straight days.

Kelley has been an all-out monster in the 'pen over the past two seasons.

Brian

4:28

Bruce for Puig - $$ are about the same - Who hangs up?

Steve Adams

4:29

What do the Dodgers gain in that deal? They trade the higher-upside, younger piece with multiple years of team control for an older and more flawed player. I don't see why the Dodgers would consider it

The Mets couldn't even give Bruce's contract away this winter, it seems.

David Price

4:29

Should I just have the tommy john surgery instead of pretending that I'll get ok with rest?

Steve Adams

4:30

If doctors were telling him he needed TJ, he'd have the surgery. Obviously he's being advised that he can come out of this OK, and we can hardly blame him for following their advice and for wanting to play out the 2017 season.

Pirates fan

4:30

In answering the other question about closers, do you think the Nats probably regret giving up Rivero for Melancon last summer? Rivero is looking like he's going to be an absolute beast.

Steve Adams

4:32

I said at the time of that deal last year that I dug it for Pittsburgh. Giving up any MLB-ready, controllable piece for a reliever rental just doesn't make much sense to me. Melancon was an improvement for the Nats, but how much of one over Rivero? Not nearly enough to justify that trade, in my mind.

shmalex

4:32

why isnt Ervin Santana being shopped?

Steve Adams

4:33

The market for starters has been surprisingly weak this winter. I thought Ervin represented plenty of surplus value entering the offseason, but that was before guys like Nova and Hammel settled for $26MM and $16MM, respectively. Twins would probably get more if they move him this summer, and they may also want to see what type of breakouts/steps forward are in store for their young talent before making that call.

Ryan

4:33

Jordan Schafer to have elbow surgery. So I guess his small chance to make the club fanished.

Steve Adams

4:34

Yeah, which is too bad -- sounds like he had some intriguing velocity off the mound, and I'm always in favor of any potential two-way player in the Majors. (Let's go Christian Bethancourt!)

Nick

4:34

Justin Morneau and Tim Lincecum... are these former stars done?

Steve Adams

4:34

I think Morneau could still latch on somewhere and be a bench bat this season. Lincecum, too, could probably land a minors deal. At a certain point he has to at least try pitching out of the 'pen before hanging it up, I'd imagine. I'd be curious to see how he is in that role.

South Side

4:35

Are the WSox going to keep Moncada in the minors long enough to p/u an extra year of control as the Cubs did with ryant ?

Steve Adams

4:36

I think so -- and it's more justified in his case than in Bryant's. Moncada's strikeout issues are still a valid concern. There wasn't much to worry about in Bryant's case, it didn't seem.

Doug

4:36

Arenado is not with Boros

Steve Adams

4:37

Touche -- forget he switched to Wasserman. Still don't think an extension happens unless the Rockies are interested in paying Stanton-level money. (Maybe a bit more)

Coppy

4:38

Do you see my team competing this year or just +/- .500 club?

Steve Adams

4:38

Still think they're under .500, but this year'll be a step in the right direction.

12 to 6

4:38

Top 5 boardgames?

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