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Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat with Steve Adams: 3/3/25
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Steve Adams
3:04
Until a couple hours ago I'd have said Jose Quintana, ha. Probably David Robertson or Kyle Gibson, just because veteran arms like that tend to have plenty of interest. But they're both older guys who are likely being picky about location, contention outlook, and other factors.
Gadzooks
3:05
Do you think we see a significant trade a la Dylan Cease to San Diego during Spring Training this year?
Steve Adams
3:08
I've been saying I think Stroman will go, but if Luis Gil's shoulder injury is serious at all, that greatly reduces the likelihood. I don't think Cease/King is going anywhere at this point and I've never loved Robert Suarez as a trade candidate with the post-2025 opt-out.

There'll be so many injuries popping up around the league that I'll say yes, we get at least one swap of note, but identifying who it'll be -- since it'll be in part tied to an injury that can't be predicted right now -- seems all but impossible.

Candidates: Arenado, Jordan Montgomery, Fedde, Starling Marte, Rhys Hoskins
Lefty
3:08
Encarnacion looks like a sleeper DH with high EV rates. Matos may be ready to make the jump to productive OF. Flores is healthy. Young starting pitching depth is promising. Am I delusional or are the Giants a sneaky pick for 2nd in NL West?
Steve Adams
3:09
I have the Giants fourth in the NL West, but the gap between where I have them and Arizona (second) isn't so large that I can't see San Francisco getting there -- especially if they get better luck on the injury front than the D-backs and Padres.
ClarkeinEcuador
3:10
Why so little love for Dale Murphy got Hall of Fame? He hit 398 homers, consecutive MVP awards, the Silver Slugger Award for four straight years and the Gold Glove Award for five straight years.
Steve Adams
3:14
I'd have Murphy in there, but among old-school detractors you'll have those who say he lacks sufficient counting stats and longevity. (He was very good from 1980-87 but pretty pedestrian outside the peak.)

Newer voters are probably turned off that both fWAR and bWAR have him in the low to mid 40s. His final career line produced good-not-great batting average/OBP/slugging as well.

I'm pretty loose with who I think should go in, so heck yeah, put Dale in. But I can see the cases his critics on either end of the age/tradition spectrum would raise against him.
Manfred
3:15
You guys will never criticize the commish? Even if it’s deserved?
Steve Adams
3:17
Four years ago we had people wondering why we were so brazenly on the side of the players in CBA talks. I'm not sure which specific Manfred silliness you're referencing, but I've definitely criticized him before. The man seems woefully cavalier with his word choice so often. Calling the World Series trophy a "piece of metal," saying that owning a MLB team is less profitable than the stock market ... there are many from which to choose.
3:18
But I'm also not going to unfairly criticize him the way many would prefer -- most of whom seem to have the misguided notion that Manfred's job is to act in the "best interests" of baseball and act on behalf of the fans, when he really just works for MLB owners.
Lloyd
3:18
The lockout is coming! Let both sodes miss an entire season of income!
Steve Adams
3:19
Does seem quite likely we'll have an offseason lockout at some point, but I wouldn't bank on a lost season and I certainly wouldn't root for it. Trying to imagine going a year without watching a MLB game. I'm already sad thinking about it.
Miami Middle
3:20
Thank you for taking my question; I always learn something. What do you think of Norby/Otto? Will Norby become a league average regular or better? Is Otto a future utility guy?
Steve Adams
3:24
I'm more down on Norby than I was a year ago. His contact skills took a step back in 2024, both in the majors and in AAA, and he's still not making much hard/loud contact. I think there's enough pedigree and tools in there for him to hit his way into regular status, but 2024 wasn't the step forward I was hoping for. Seems like they really want him to work out at third base, but I'd like him more at second or in left field.
3:25
Lopez can be a glove-first guy at 2B, but I do like him more for a utility role since I don't think he's going to hit much -- probably not even to his 2024 levels. Suppose he probably doesn't have the arm they'd prefer for left side of the infield, but 2B/LF/CF with occasional spot starts at SS/3B, plenty of speed and decent bat-to-ball skills could make him a nice bench player.
Japan Series
3:26
Will you be up taking in the Japan Series here in a couple of weeks?
Steve Adams
3:27
If you want to try to convince Tim Dierkes to fly me to Japan, by all means. I would love to go see the Japan Series (and see Japan in general, ha).

As it is ... I'll probably try to watch on TV. I believe the games are at 5am CT, which is doable!
Manfred
3:28
“But he works for the owners so he gets a pass for hurting the game” love your logic. You’re not an owner so I don’t know why you and your regular commentators bring that up like it matters to the fan perspective. What if he was more like Fay Vincent? Who was also employed by the same bosses. Your reasoning is flawed, from a fans perspective
Steve Adams
3:32
The logic gap is that Manfred should care what fans think. As long as they're raking in money from sponsorships, streaming deals, etc. and the owners keep enjoying rising revenues, he's doing his job.

I don't give him a "pass" for doing things that fans (myself included) dislike -- but that's not whose interest he's acting in. So, I think the free runner in extra innings is colossally, painfully bad. I hate it with a passion. But the owners clearly wanted it, and the players signed off because it reduces some injury risk and all that. Fine. He's doing his job there.

Rob Manfred is not and never has been someone who should take fan interests into consideration. Any commissioner is probably better at his job if he can tune all that out.

Fans would surely prefer one easy-to-access, blackout-free streaming service. Maybe that's the end goal here as RSNs wither and die, but in the meantime they're making money hand over first with TBS, FOX, Apple, Peacock and other streaming/national rights deals.
3:33
The owners are unanimously extended him. Fans might hate the work he's doing and cringe whenever he speaks publicly, but his job isn't to cater to us. It's to keep the owners happy and they clearly are.
Curious A's Fan
3:34
Do the A's get an extension done with Lawrence Butler before Opening Day?
Steve Adams
3:37
I thought they made a pretty fair offer to Rooker. They've shown their willingness to spend some money (or rather, that they'll spend enough to bump their CBT levels and keep the MLBPA off their backs).

An extension for Butler, JJ Bleday or Mason Miller all make good sense to me. That they're already talking with Butler and he's praising the org and saying he wants to be there maybe gives a bit more optimism.
It's total guesswork to predict if a deal gets done, but I like Butler and think the A's have enough motivation to try to position themselves so they're not in this "need to spend to up the CBT level!!!" every year that they'll get something hammered out.
Big Fan
3:37
Great chat. How long have you been writing for this wonderful website?
Steve Adams
3:38
I got a part-time spot doing Sunday afternoon stuff back in 2008 (!) and have been full-time since 2013. Not sure which of those is crazier to think about or makes me feel older, ha.
Sam
3:39
Are we going to see Gibson, Lynn, or Turnbull sign soon in the wake of Quintana settling in Milwaukee?
Steve Adams
3:39
I think you'll see them sign soon because they've seen what happens to pitchers when they sign much later than this. Hell, Lynn has experienced it (2019, when he signed with the Twins mid/late March)
ClarkeinEcuador
3:41
I’ll be in Miami next month because my wife has two surgeries scheduled. The Marlins are home to the Nationals while there - who should I look forward to seeing play in person?
Steve Adams
3:44
Hopefully your wife comes out of everything OK. That sounds like a scary time.

Marlins-wise: Xavier Edwards, Connor Norby... catch a Sandy or Max Meyer start if you can. They don't have many position players of note right now. If Deyvison De Los Santos is up by the time you're there, he could put on a power show (even though I don't love the overall skill set)

Nats have some better young talents: James Wood and Dylan Crews chief among them. Wood is a monster in the making.
MLB fan
3:44
Brewers got a good for Quintana. You think the fact he sees Brewers as a playoff team is the difference between signing with the Pirates?
Steve Adams
3:47
Certainly could be. He also has far fewer hot young arms breathing down his neck in Milwaukee if he has a slow start. Lots of things go into these decisions, though. For instance, we don't know how he felt about the coaching staff, training staff, etc. when he was in Pittsburgh a few years back. Not saying he had an issue, but with any player, it's totally plausible they didn't get along with the head trainer, bullpen coach -- whoever it might be -- and that factors into the thinking.

We also still don't know the extent of incentives package in Milwaukee or the exact term Pittsburgh offered. If the Bucs offered him 6 guaranteed but that was basically it, whereas the Brewers are at 4.75 with another $4MM available in incentives, it's easy enough to see why he preferred the latter.
3:48
We don't know -- and likely never will know -- all of the factors that went into his decision. There's so much that goes into the process that no one other than those directly involved in the process can know.
3:51
I've got to wrap this up! Thanks for chatting, as always. We appreciate all of our subscribers so much. I'll have a free chat on the site tomorrow afternoon, and Anthony will have another subscriber chat on Friday. We'll also be rolling out our Offseason In Review series beginning this week, and that'll fall under the subscriber umbrella as well, so keep an eye out for that.

I'm on X @adams_steve and on Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social if you have more questions. Enjoy the week everyone, and thank you again!
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