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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

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Steve Adams

2:04

Hey all -- thanks again for joining. Sorry to be a couple minutes late, was finishing up that Cubs post.

Let's get underway!

Ron

2:04

Given the Blue Jays have financial space, what bad contract should they be looking to trade for as long as a starting pitcher is part of the deal?

Steve Adams

2:05

I'd rather just see them sign Bauer or Jake Odorizzi than take on an unnecessary contract to get a pitcher.

Jordan

2:06

Any idea what the Rockies are doing, if anything? I'd love to pry German Marquez from them, but I'm not sure they're even awake.

Steve Adams

2:07

I assume this question came in before the latest batch of Arenado rumors, but that's obviously on top of the pile for them right now. I think a Marquez trade makes sense, but that'd represent a massive shift in precedent under this ownership and GM. I can see them moving their most expensive veterans (Arenado) and guys they're soon to lose to free agency anyway (Trevor Story) -- but Marquez is neither.

Allen

2:08

Who do you see playing leftfield and Third base for the Braves?

Steve Adams

2:08

Eddie Rosario and Austin Riley?

Becky

2:08

Where does Eddie Rosario sign and does he get a multi year deal? Thanks

Steve Adams

2:09

And no, I don't think Rosario will get a multi-year deal. Some clubs might prefer him to Joc or to Schwarber, but all of those guys are in a similar bucket to me.

David

2:10

How do you asses the Nationals chances to win the East or win enough games to make the playofffs this year?

Steve Adams

2:12

They're better than they were in 2020. I don't think they're the favorite in the division, of course, but I expect a lot of the NL East to be in the Wild Card race. Any team with Scherzer/Strasburg/Corbin up top in the rotation and Soto/Turner in the middle of the lineup is in good shape.

SC_braves

2:12

Has MLBTR ever considered doing more in other areas? YouTube, Reddit, etc?

Steve Adams

2:14

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtSQqVoTCBo1QxtT3gP63uw

What the heck

2:15

Where'd the rest of my answer go?

Booo -- ok quick tl;dr version

Yes we have YouTube. We cut it off because it wasn't the best use of resources when we tightened things up due to Covid. Jeff was running it before, but he bought his own business in his hometown and is now part-time with us, so when we reboot it shortly, you'll be stuck looking at my awkward face

2:16

I'm sure I sold the heck out of that! But you can check out the general vibe in those videos there

Jon

2:16

These are the only teams who are yet to issue a fully-guaranteed MLB contract; which FA would you assign to each of them?: Reds, Rockies, Pirates, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, A's (asking this on 1/28 so it may no longer be quite true)

Steve Adams

2:19

I'd have said the Cards because of Yadi and Waino, but that's obviously happened now. A free agent for each team, on a MLB deall?

Reds: Jonathan Villar? He could be a minor league deal guy though.
D-backs: Brandon Workman (they need 'pen help, and Hazen has a pattern of bringing in guys he drafted with the Red Sox)
A's: Jonathan Schoop or Marwin Gonzalez?
Pirates: Pick an upside starting pitcher ... Mike Foltynewicz?
Rockies: Kevin Pillar

Left Field

2:20

Odubel Herrera, with the Phillies absorbing all but the league minimum salary, to any team in the league for a couple of used rosin bags that have been left out in the rain. Who says no?

Steve Adams

2:20

If any team wanted him, at all, even for $1MM in salary relief, he'd already be gone. No one's giving anything up for him.

Meltontherussianspy

2:20

The Dodgers are only 5.5 below the CBT, how can they even afford Justin Turner?

Steve Adams

2:21

They can remember that they are the Los Angeles Dodgers and that the luxury tax is a stupid, silly thing that comes with minimal penalties for a team of their wealth and just sign the guy.

2:22

Seriously, if the Dodgers signed Turner for, say, $12MM per season, they'd go over the tax by $7.5MM. As a first-time offender -- they dipped under the last couple years -- they'd owe a 20% tax on that $7.5MM. That's it.

Treating the luxury tax like a cap is a sham, and it's mind boggling how so many owners have convinced fans his is normal.

Yes, if you exceed it three years in a row, the repercussions escalate, but even then, they're only really bad if you're shattering the tax line by $40MM+.

Jeremy

2:23

How many people join these Front Office chats?

Steve Adams

2:24

The Front Office ones get a lot of questions in advance, but as for live participants, I'd say we generally range from 10 to 35 people at once. A lot of people treat it kind of like Tim's mailbag ... ask a question in advance, hope to get an answer and then come back to read later. We have 16 in here right now, which is a little on the light side, but I also didn't tell Tim to send out an email blast reminding readers that I'm chatting right now.

Guest

2:24

Was Jon Lester a bargain deal for the National in light of the other SP signings?

Steve Adams

2:25

There's some value just in adding the innings, the durability, the leadership, etc. But Lester was pretty bad in 2020 as well. I didn't think it was some crazy price to pay, but "bargain" seems too favorable as well. It's about where he should've landed.

Dallas

2:26

Can I go home from work yet?

Steve Adams

2:26

Tell your boss you have my permission.

Jeremy

2:26

MLBTR Podcast I would be listening to 24/7!

Steve Adams

2:27

We used to do a podcast, as well! It plateaued around 10-15k listeners, I think, and it was a pretty significant investment of time that didn't have a great ROI for us. We've kicked around booting it back up in the future though. It was fun to do, though it also often resulted in Jeff and I talking on the phone at like 1-2am trying to figure out what the hell we were going to discuss since it was a dead time of year, ha.

Rangers29

2:28

Wait, so if I say AHHHHHHHHHHH, you'll answer my question, right? Thanks. Biggest surprise player from each team in the A.L West next year?

Steve Adams

2:28

I don't know that the AHHHHH has anything to do with it, but sure, I can spit out some names I like. I haven't put a lot of thought into this, so give me one second to think on a few (though it's going to be Kikuchi in Seattle)

2:32

Mariners: Yusei Kikuchi
Angels: Justin Upton (still made gobs of hard contact, .378 xwOBA when he made contact)
A's: Sean Manaea (maybe he's not a "surprise," but I've been high on him for a long time ... Nik Turley if you want more of a wild card, but that's just an upside shot in the dark)
Astros: Ryne Stanek
Rangers: Joely Rodriguez

Jeff Dominique

2:32

Are the Dodgers holding off re-signing JT waiting a trade to eliminate $8MM in salary, similar to Adam Ottavino from NYY to Boston? Would this give MLBPA support that the owners consider the CBT threshold an actual salary cap? Will they cry collusion?

Steve Adams

2:35

I think they're more just letting him explore his market. They know he wants to stay, so he'll take any offer he gets to them with a chance to match/top it.

Not sure who the Dodgers could successfully peddle in that fashion. Joe Kelly, I guess. Doubt they're getting anyone to take the last two years of Pollock, even after he had a nice 2020

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