You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Trade Rumors Front Office Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 5/26/23
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat
Steve Adams
12:52
Putting these two together since they're similar
12:53
This is off the cuff so by no means a comprehensive list, but some names to keep in mind:
12:55
Aroldis Chapman, Scott Barlow, Brad Hand, Mark Leiter Jr., Brad Boxberger, John Brebbia, Alex Young, Aaron Bummer (still think he's going to right the ship), Joe Kelly, Kendall Graveman, Buck Farmer, Lucas Sims, Josh Staumont, Michael Fulmer are among some of the many arms who could hit the market
Chapman leads off the list because it feels like a veritable lock he'll be traded as long as he's healthy
Crash
12:56
How much more leash does Manoah have? If this keeps up, he has to go to Buffalo to sort it out, does he not?
Schneid
12:56
Do the Jays send Manoah down and call up Bowden Francis?
Steve Adams
12:59
I honestly don't know what the Jays can do here. There's such little precedent for someone going from top prospect to Cy Young candidate to effectively unrosterable in such a short amount of time. Manoah's command is just gone. He's lost velocity, his hard-contact numbers are way up. I have no insight into this and I *loathe* speculating that someone is pitching through an injury, but I keep staring at him wondering if he's at full health.

I thought he was bound for some regression from last year's showing, but he's swung SO far in the opposite direction that I'm stunned.

If he's fully healthy and this is all mental, then yeah at some point they have to send him down. He can't keep trying to sort this out at the big league level when they're trying to contend.
TheBeatlesShow
1:00
Hey Steve, a Buffalonian here.  Thanks to Covid, the Blue Jays brought major league baseball to my home town.  Dream come true.  Anyway, hitting one into deep left field here.  What do you think the record of the current A's team would be if they played in Triple A?  And thank you, too.
Steve Adams
1:02
Oh man. I shudder to think what kind of numbers that pitching staff would put up in the bandboxes and launching pads that permeate the Pacific Coast League. It's such a hitter-friendly environment.

They'd probably still be better -- their hitters would be facing worse pitching -- but at this point I genuinely think there are Triple-A teams that are more talented than the A's. It's just such a bad team.
CBA
1:02
Did I imagine it but I thought there was a provision where similar to the NBA you could wave 1 player and not have their salary count against the cap.  You still had to pay and as long as the contract still would have been in effect you could not waive another.  Did I dream it?
Steve Adams
1:04
Nope -- no MLB equivalent of that. In the past, salary that was outrighted off the 40-man roster didn't count against the luxury tax, but that's how Rusney Castillo was permanently relegated to Triple-A and the MLBPA negotiated that out. Maybe you're thinking of that situation?

But right now, there's no way to strike money from your competitive balance tax outside of finding a taker on the trade market.
Oscar Gamble
1:05
What do you see for Andres Gimenez ROS? Next five years?
Steve Adams
1:08
He wasn't ever likely to replicate last year's production -- that'll probably go down as a career year -- but I'm still surprised  with the step back. He's not driving the ball nearly as much (avg exit velo is down like 3 mph), but he's still putting the ball in play at a well above-average rate. I still think he can hit something like .250/.320/.390 down the stretch and salvage a decent all-around year, if only because I can't find one thing in his game that just seems wildly off from his 2022 pace. He's not suddenly chasing off the plate way more. HIs contact rate hasn't plummeted. He's not skying the ball and popping up at an alarming rate. He just stopped hitting the ball hard, and so long as the rest of his approach remains similar, I think that'll have to bounce back to some extent.
1:09
Long-term, I still like the player and think he can be a plus defensive shortstop or second baseman (I'd play him at SS) with average to slightly above-average offense and plus baserunning.
Don's Matting
1:09
The most controversial but necessary move the Jays should make to right the ship?
Steve Adams
1:09
Option Manoah?
Anthony volpe
1:10
If he keeps on playing like this, struggling both defensively and offensively, do you think there’s a chance the Yankees send him down for a bit to see if he can get things sorted out? It’s not unheard of to happen and he hasn’t gotten going like expected
Steve Adams
1:12
Yeah, they could. It was an aggressive promotion. And at least while he was struggling in April, he was walking a ton. Now he's not walking much, the strikeouts are up, and it's just a tough approach all around. They have alternatives at shortstop, and Volpe only had 99 Triple-A plate appearances (that were below average) before he got called up to the Majors.
Buff
1:13
Does Kody Clemens have a long term role at 1b in Philadelphia?
Steve Adams
1:14
Long term as in beyond this year? I can see him getting plenty of ABs there in the near future because of injuries, but I don't think he'll hit enough to be a long-term option for them at 1B, no
Bob T
1:14
Hey Steve, what are your impressions of Zach Neto so far. He seems to have some intangibles that resemble a natural leader. His defense is a huge step up from anything the Angels have had since Erick Aybar. He is using the whole field and looks comfortable beyond his limited pro experience.
Steve Adams
1:17
I've only watched two of his games, so I can't speak much to his intangibles, but I saw him make a pair of really nice defensive plays and thought he generally looked sound at shortstop. Early defensive ratings back that up. it's impressive for someone with such minimal minor league experience to come up and not only look so solid defensively but also post a strikeout rate well south of the league-average. His chase rate on pitches off the plate is even further below league-average.

Runs well, puts the ball in play, fields well, doesn't chase a ton -- it's a promising start  to his career, especially considering how quickly he got to the Majors.
1:20
Alright, I've got to wrap this up for the week, even though there are still some questions pouring in. Sorry for those I haven't gotten to. You can certainly ask me more questions on Twitter @Adams_Steve, and I'll have a chat on the main site next Tuesday. Anthony should be back to chat with subscribers again next Friday.

Thanks, as always, for the thoughtful questions and fun conversation. And thanks for subscribing and supporting our work. It means the world to us, and I am honest when I say it's humbling that you guys think highly enough of MLBTR to pay for our insight and analysis. We appreciate our subscribers more than I can accurately depict.
1:21
I'll have a piece going out via email later this afternoon looking at the rebounds of a pair of former NL MVPs (Bellinger, Yelich) and running through which I feel is more legitimate and sustainable, so keep an eye out for that. Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend! Happy Memorial Day, all!
Connecting…