JotCast | Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

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Joe

2:29

Thanks for holding these insider chats, it's always nice to have another chat. How many viewers are showing up for them (as opposed to the what, thousands? that show up to regular chats?)

Steve Adams

2:30

You're welcome! They have a different feel and are fun to host in a different way than the normal ones. During busy times we'll get upwards of 2k people in a public chat. These ones have topped out around 30 active participants at a given time, but people are still coming and going throughout, and we get a healthy dose of preloaded questions from folks who want to ask but can't make it to participate live.

2:31

I imagine that'll continue to grow, and if it gets to a certain point maybe we'll start hosting multiple FO chats per week, but for now it does greatly improve the odds of getting questions answered and allow for a bit more dialogue

dksary

2:32

Could the braves get one of the optioned Cleveland SPs with Ian Anderson or Drew Waters as the headliners?

Steve Adams

2:32

Plesac isn't worth that, but that'd be a hell of an offer to try to pry Clevinger away. I'm still not sold Cleveland is just going to ship them out, but I have to think other teams are going to try. Anderson or Waters headlining a Clevinger package certainly isn't outlandish.

Phanatic for Life

2:33

What happened to the NL East? It was supposed to be the most competitive. Which teams have the least flaws to at least make as one of the eight?

Steve Adams

2:34

The Braves lost their entire rotation. The Phillies' bullpen is historically bad. The Mets ... well, this sort of thing seems to happen to them every year.

Nats are tougher to figure out, but they're so talented that I wonder if they have another late surge in them.

Joe

2:34

Seriously, what did the White Sox do to earn the Free Agent Bat curse they seem to be under? Can't remember the last time the White Sox big FA bat worked out (probably Thome?). I know it's early, but Grandal has been very underwhelming and now (slightly) injured... tell me I just need to be patient please??

Steve Adams

2:35

I think it's a patience thing. Grandal has played through a few minor injuries. He's still walked in 17% of his plate appearances. I'm not too concerned about 78 plate appearances when he's not playing at 100%

dksary

2:36

Have you guys ever considered doing a MBLTR fantasy league?

Steve Adams

2:37

We used to do a staff one that has kind of fallen apart. And when we had our own fantasy-centric side site that we operated, Tim would run one with readers.

Could be something we look into doing in the future again, but it's nothing we've talked about presently. I'll bounce it off Tim, though!

bloomingunin

2:38

There has been talks of a mass wave of non-tenders in the offseason to cut costs. Who do you think the biggest names would be and would some team like the Marlins or Orioles just scoop a large portion of them up?

Steve Adams

2:41

I don't think the Orioles will spend much of anything. Marlins are on the brink of trying to come out of this rebuild, so you could see that sort of thing from them, though. Most likely ones is a tough thing to come up with on the fly, but I'll take some time and look at arb classes this week, and I'll try to come up with some names. Ask me again next Thursday, but I'll rattle off a few for now....

2:42

Folty, E-Rod, Mazara, Knebel and Matz all stand out as guys in the 4+ going to 5+ category

2:43

I wonder even about someone like Eddie Rosario -- $7.75MM this year, a raise for 2021 when the Twins have Larnach and Kirilloff looming? Could of course trade some of these guys too.

Boston Red Flops

2:43

Any takers for Nathan Eovaldi? He’s not far removed from dominating the 2018 Playoffs.

Steve Adams

2:43

He's not, but he's been injured since then and is owed $37.56MM through the end of his contract.

2:44

He's also pitched very poorly

More concisely: I think the Red Sox are stuck with that one.

A’s fan

2:44

Does Mariners pitcher Tajuan Walker fit the team’s cheap modus operandi of trading for low-cost, no future Obligation rental acquisition?

Steve Adams

2:45

Sure. But he fits like 12-15 other teams looking for rotation help, and I don't think anyone is going to give up a huge return for six starts of a good-not-great rental with pronounced durability concerns.

Alex

2:46

What do you think the Giants could fetch for Yaz at the deadline ? Do you think it’s smart for us to aggressively pursue a trade for a top 100 prospect?

Steve Adams

2:48

I really go back and forth on this, to be honest. I was skeptical of him last year even though the underlying numbers didn't give much reason to be. He's doing it again now -- even better -- and I'm coming around to the fact that the Giants might've just really gotten themselves some kind of steal.

If a club is willing to part with something massive to get Yastrzemski, the Giants have to consider it. If they're weighing five years of him to add some pitching prospect off the back half of most Top 100 rankings and another few lower-tier pieces ... I don't think that's incentive enough to part with five years of the guy.

2:50

There's still a chance he turns back into a pumpkin -- we've seen it before -- but I'd bet on him maintaining before I took anything less than a major return. And I don't know that a team is going to give you something like an MLB-ready starter and then some kind of Top 50 prospect based on a year of output in his late 20s.

He's hard to gauge because instances like this are rarely sustained.

John

2:51

With the controversy over the Tatis 3-0 pitch and the "Unwritten rules" and a majority of support for Tatis, are we now past all of the old guy rules?

Steve Adams

2:52

Traditionalists will always complain. That was nonsense, but some people still just want players to put their heads down, be robots, never speak and heaven forbid do anything that might upset the other team when they're down.

2:53

I loved Marc Carig's point that the same people roasting Tatis for swinging 3-0 -- aka, you know, trying to win? -- are the same who'd roast him for jogging out a grounder to first in the same spot.

Swing, hit grand slam: STOP TRYING SO HARD YOU ARE SHOWING UP YOUR OPPONENTS.

Hit grounder, jog it out since you're up big: BENCH THIS FOOL -- ARE YOU TOO GOOD TO HUSTLE?

2:54

You either try to win or you don't He should've swung at the pitch, and he should run out a grounder there too.

set Dustin Fowler free

2:54

How about the A’s sending Georgia native outfielder Dustin Fowler home to the Braves in exchange for pitcher Sean Newcomb?

Steve Adams

2:55

Both teams are contending and in need of someone who can provide immediate help. I don't think either fits that bill with any certainty. Also hard to see the Braves move Newcomb if they're not getting a more reliable arm as part of the deal (which would take Newcomb + others, obviously)

Finally Won

2:55

With the way he is swinging the bat, what do you think realistically the Red Sox could get for Moreland? Don’t they have to trade him when his value will never be higher?

Steve Adams

2:57

He's a 35-year-old platoon 1B who can't hit lefties. His value isn't high just because he's had 53 productive plate appearances. Teams in 2020 are going to look at the entire picture and evaluate, not make a rash decision based on a hot streak a player is unlikely to sustain.

Ted

2:59

Why doesn't MLB go to the electronic strike zone? Umpires are graded on how they compare, so why not just go ahead and get it right?

Steve Adams

3:02

I think it presents more problems than people realize. Jeff Todd and I had some fun debating this last time we were together ... think of the insane things teams could try to pull. Bases are empty, so you don't need a catcher since who cares if the ball goes to the backstop (although I talked to someone with a team who said that rules require a fielder to be behind the plate, ha).

You eliminate an entire skill set of framing/receiving, so teams aren't going to care who's back there. You could put JD Martinez back there. Could put any 80-armed, defensively limited slugger back there. Miguel Sano!

I think it sounds good in theory but there are tons of strange components people don't think about

SteveM

3:02

Kenta Maeda throws a gem and doesn't get the win. What is wrong with this, or am I wrong to think it's wrong?

Steve Adams

3:02

Wins are a bad stat.

3:03

We shouldn't care about them -- at least not in the current manner they're determined.

GBS42

3:03

Will Adbert Alhozay keep starting for the Cubs? He looked really good in his first outing.

Steve Adams

3:04

He'll get his chances down the line, but they'll probably be more limited in 2020. Lester, Chatwood and Quintana are all free agents at seasonn's end though.

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