JotCast | Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 12/29/25

Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 12/29/25

Steve Adams

11:53

Final Front Office chat of 2025! Hope the holiday season has been treating everyone well. As always, feel free to ask a question about any of the remaining free agents, possible trade scenarios, team outlooks and whatever other Hot Stove-related topics (or, frankly, other topics!) are on your mind!

I'll get going at about 1:30pm CT. Looking forward to i!

1:30

Let's get underway!

Drake

1:30

What are your thoughts on the Soderstrom extension? I like it overall and hopeful the A’s can get at least one more of their core locked up too

Steve Adams

1:33

I'm a big Soderstrom backer, so for me, getting the deal done and buying out at least three free agent years for a sub-100 guarantee is a move well worth making. That's not to say Soderstrom sold himself short. A year ago, he looked like a fringe contributor, and now he's signed the eighth-largest extension of any player ever for his service class. Most of the guys ahead of him (Tatis, Witt, Posey, Trout, Yordan, Bregman) were already superstars when they put pen to paper.

It's a good move all around. Soderstrom is definitely a guy I'd look to build around, particularly with how well he took to LF.

jrizz1e

1:34

biggest player traded between now and start of spring training?

Steve Adams

1:35

I don't know if Brendan Donovan counts as a "big-name" player among most MLB fans, but he's a big name for front offices and I think it's far likelier than not that he ends up traded.

Ben Cherrington

1:35

Can either ROH or Horowitz play 3B ? Meintakwicz(sp?) did this on the steel city a few years back.

Steve Adams

1:36

Doug Mientkiewicz played 33 games (30 starts) at 3B for the Pirates in the late 2000s and, as one would expect for a 34-year-old first baseman making that move for the first time, graded out terribly.

The Jays gave Horwitz 250ish innings at 2B, and he didn't fare all that well there. O'Hearn isn't playing 3B.

1:37

I think you'll just see the two split time at DH and 1B. O'Hearn could see some OF time, depending on injuries elsewhere on the roster.

1:37

If the Os are serious about a TOR arm, is Eflin taking Kremers place in the rotation? What is Dean Kremers trade value?

Steve Adams

1:39

They wouldn't move on from Kremer even if they add an Imai, Valdez, Suarez, etc.

Kyle Bradish only pitched 54 innings between the minors and MLB last year. Eflin himself was under 90 IP. Injuries are an inevitability. We don't even firmly know when Eflin will be healthy enough to take the mound in a big league game.

Bringing him back at $10MM was a relatively reasonably priced depth move with a decent bit of upside. Any big league team is going to need far more than five starters to get through a season. The O's will probably have 7-8 guys start 10+ games next season. The rotation will sort itself out.

Foley

1:39

As good as Logan Gilbert is the Mariners should consider trading him, realistically they won’t have the money to sign him and with two years of control they should get a haul that could help now and later

Steve Adams

1:42

Eh, I just see this as a different iteration of the Tarik Skubal idea that I've pushed back on since trade speculation surrounding him started. The Mariners are a clear win-now team with a viable World Series window. You don't trade your best starter in that spot. They're doing everything in their power to win in 2026-27, as they should.

I also don't really agree that they can't sign him. Gilbert might cost half as much as Skubal in free agency (barring a pair of Cy Young wins of his own the next two seasons). He'll be a free agent heading into his age-31 campaign. He might command $150-225MM, depending on health and performance over the next two seasons. Steep, sure. Beyond the scope of plausibility for the Mariners? I don't think so. The Mariners have $64MM in guaranteed money on the books in 2028, which would be Gilbert's first free-agent season.

Falvey

1:42

Should I trade Ryan for Samuel Basallo - need help at both C and 1B?

Steve Adams

1:43

I don't think the Orioles signed Basallo to an eight-year extension just to trade him a few months later. The optics there would just be ugly.

If the O's were actually open to that, then yeah, the Twins would have to think pretty hard about trading Joe Ryan for a Basallo-led package, but the whole thing just feels rather implausible to me.

Lloyd

1:43

Detroit needs a right-handed bat and Philadalphia wants to cut ties with Nick Castellanos. Does it make sense for the Tigers to offer a nominal PTBNL for Castellanos? He hit well in Commerica when he played there. There was some discussion of trying him out at 1B before Detroit traded him to the Cubs; as a righty DH, pinch-hitter and backup in RF and maybe 1B, would he add enough value to make a deal where the Phillies eat most of his contract work for both clubs?

Steve Adams

1:46

The Tigers don't even need to offer a PTBNL. If they told the Phillies they'd eat like $2.5MM of the contract, the deal would be done. Maybe less. Philadelphia is probably just going to release him.

That said, Castellanos just wasn't a good hitter last year, and it wasn't pure bad luck. His strikeout rate was up from 2024. He had the second-worst walk rate of his career and some of the worst batted-ball metrics of his career.

I don't see why the Tigers would guarantee him a 40-man roster spot. He's not a clear upgrade over anything that's in house, regardless of name value and nostalgia.

Someone Set Us Up The Nohm

1:46

Is there any reasonable scenario whereby the Phillies move on from Alec Bohm this offseason, and if so, how wide does that open the door for Miller?

Steve Adams

1:48

If there's some scenario where the Pirates, A's, etc. miss out on their top infield targets (e.g. Okamoto), maybe they take a low-cost flyer on Bohm. But ever since the Phils tendered him, I've kind of assumed he'll be there next season. I don't think there's a ton of trade value there at that price. Committing to tender him a contract seems like an indication that they'll go with him and pivot to Aiden Miller at some point if need be.

Eric

1:48

What are the chances Okamoto gets signed by the Pirates??

Steve Adams

1:51

Feels perfectly viable. They put out a notable offer to Schwarber, were willing to spend on Naylor, got a deal done with O'Hearn. There's no good way to put a real percentage on this -- all of those things are just made-up numbers to drive discussion and engagement -- but they're one of a handful of teams with something like a better-than-10% chance to sign him, I suppose?

Colin

1:51

What do you see as Bobby Miller's future with the Dodgers?

Steve Adams

1:51

Bullpen or traded, probably

Kevin

1:52

I'm dissapointed in the Giants offseason so far. I think a closer, a #2 starting pitcher, an excellent outfielder and a second baseman are minimum requirements for competing for a play-ff spot. And so far just a #5 starting pitcher and a few minor league signings. Is Buster waiting for the market to come down on key free agents and trade targets?

Steve Adams

1:55

I'd call "disappointed" a pretty charitable description of how to view their offseason thus far. It seems like ownership isn't keen on spending any real long-term money, and the short-term moves they've made are just ... meh?

Signing Adrian Houser for $22MM seems like a wild overpay, particularly considering the fact that both Brad Keller and Luke Weaver signed the same deal a day later. Jason Foley and Sam Hentges are fine bullpen projects, but they need some certainty.

I don't mind slow-playing the relief market in theory, but they need a lot of help back there and it sure seems like they're relegating themselves to one-year pickups.

I don't think they've had a good offseason at all. There's time left to change that, but the supply of difference-makers has dwindled, and nothing the front office or ownership has said/done thus far lends support to the idea that they'll be real players for the handful of big names left.

David

1:55

Hi there! Any chance Framber’s market gets to the number of years that my Mets will bite?

Steve Adams

1:57

I wonder how many years it'd need to be. Feels like Stearns has been reluctant to go past three on anyone thus far, though maybe if Valdez dropped to four years at a hefty AAV he'd consider that enough of a dip to jump into the mix.

I still think he should get five years, which I can't see the Mets doing, but if it ends up being like 120-130 over four years, maybe they throw their hat into the ring. They need to do something, rotation-wise.

Mariner Steve

1:57

what would a good trade package look like to trade for Arenado

Steve Adams

1:58

I wouldn't give up anything of value for Arenado, period. I don't think he's even an upgrade for the Mariners. If you want a bridge, I'd rather roll the dice on like ... Yoan Moncada ... or just sign Willi Castro and then slide him into a utility role once Colt Emerson forces his way into the mix.

TEXAS OUTLAW

1:59

Would a trade of Saeger and Burger for Story, Casas and an prospect (no money changing hands) work out for both sides?

Steve Adams

2:00

Sounds like the Rangers just get a lot worse to me

2:01

I realize they'd save some money, but to what end? They shed some payroll in 2028 and beyond. Ok? They also severely decrease their chances of being relevant in the next couple seasons.

Jonah Heim

2:01

Any news on me? I know I struggled, but I assume a low end, 1 year major league deal is out there for me somewhere? Will I have to wait for Realmuto to sign?

Steve Adams

2:02

Yeah I expect he'll sign a cheap one-year deal somewhere. Could be after Realmuto, sure, but I don't think that's a necessity for him.

2:02

If the season started today, who is getting the bulk of saves for Washington?

Steve Adams

2:03

It would be ... bleak. Clayton Beeter or PJ Poulin, I guess?

Arthur Dent

2:04

Dipoto has indicated the M’s might still make one more signifcant move. Setting aside the cost of $’s and/or prospects, who is the best fit out of Donovan, Marte and Okamoto?

Steve Adams

2:06

Marte is the best player of the bunch, so Marte.

But these things don't happen in a vacuum, either. I doubt they're willing to give up the pitching needed to get either Donovan or especially Marte right now. Of the two, I can see the cost on Donovan "dropping" to focus more on prospects than on immediate MLB-ready guys, so I'd call him the more realistic of the two.

So, I guess my off-the-cuff, very unscientific ranking would go Donovan, Okamoto and Marte --- at least when considering context.

Again, throwing all that out the window ... Ketel Marte is one of the 10-20 best players in baseball. If you're not factoring in money, prospects, etc. -- it's easily him.

I also just don't think Ketel Marte will be traded.

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