You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat with Steve Adams: 4/14/25
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat
D Robertson
2:48
We are few weeks into the season, which contenders should be in touch with me about my plans to pitch or not in 2025?
Steve Adams
2:48
All of them? There's no team whose bullpen wouldn't be improved by adding David Robertson.
Lucius Malfoy in Thailand
2:48
What team’s performance (or under performance) has most affected your preseason expectations?
Steve Adams
2:51
Probably Atlanta? Not that I think the Braves are done or anything, but a 4-11 start isn't easy to recover from, especially when their big offseason addition is out half the season after getting popped for PED usage. Getting Strider back will be big, of course, but they've also lost Lopez for half the season and are without an interesting depth option at a shortstop position badly in need of help (Nacho Alvarez).

I still think they can make the postseason, but I only had them as a Wild Card team to begin with, and I'm less confident in that now that they're already seven under .500, of course.
JeffyM82
2:52
What do the Jays do when Scherzer is ready to come back?  Easton Lucas has earned his spot in the rotation so far.
Steve Adams
2:55
Lucas is a 28-year-old with under 275 professional innings since being drafted in 2019. He's had a pair of nice five-inning outings, but anyone can look good over 10 innings when you have a .167 BABIP and a 100% strand rate.

Not saying there's nothing there, but we're nowhere close to "Easton Lucas has made Max Scherzer superfluous" territory. Plus, there's a decent chance someone else will get injured in the meantime. Pitchers break.
Bandit
2:55
Buying this Jung Ho Lee breakout?
Steve Adams
2:58
Buying that he's a credible big leaguer, sure. The full extent of this breakout, which is backed by a huge average on balls in play and 22% of fly-balls turning into home runs is another story though.

From last year to this year, Lee is hitting .286/.342/.432, which feels a lot more real than the video game numbers he has this year. He's not going to maintain a .352 ISO or .372 BABIP, but I can see him as a genuine starting center fielder, sure.
Reds fan Ryan
2:58
Reds starting pitching staff- buy or sell?
Steve Adams
3:02
Depends which arms. Hunter Greene as a borderline ace (but not THIS good, since no one is THIS good)? Yeah, I can get behind that. Nick Lodolo posting matching ERA with an 11% strikeout rate... that I will pass on.

Greene and Singer as legitimately strong SP options, yes. Lodolo, not in his current state, though he hasn't had a huge dip in velo and is still getting tons of chases, so maybe he can get some of the K's back.

In the 'pen, Santillan and Ashcraft are interesting. Pagan feels like a ticking timebomb with those homers
Bregman
3:02
If I wanted to stay with the red sox, how many more years and $$'s would need to be added to entice me to not opt out?
Steve Adams
3:03
At this point, anything north of 5/160MM and he can say he got $200MM for his first six free-agent years.
Johnny Quest
3:04
I know everyone wants Sandy Alcantara traded, but the fish have played well so far. Any chance they catch lightening a bottle and are still in the hunt at the trade deadline?
Steve Adams
3:04
I cannot see that with the currently constructed roster, but weird things happen, so sure, we can say there's a 1-2% chance. But I am not optimistic
Magnifying Glass
3:04
Why is Emilio Pagan's one home run allowed in 7.2 innings "a ticking time bomb" but Triston Casas' .185/.254.296 line through 70 PAs "small sample"?
Steve Adams
3:06
Emilio Pagan entered 2024 with the highest HR/9 of any pitcher ever (min. 400 IP), gave up 1.42 HR/9 last year and posted a 5.85 ERA at home, in baseball's most homer-friendly park, versus a 3.00 on the road.
3:07
Most guys who give up HR as frequently as Pagan don't even get to the point where they reach free agency or where they reach 400 total IP, so credit to him for just making it work, but I never understood his fit at that ballpark, and it really didn't look great last year. I don't have high expectations in 2025.
Joshua
3:08
What's your thoughts on Alex Call? Obviously he's not going to keep putting up the numbers he has this year and his 30 games last year, but could he be a later career type find ala Lane Thomas (although higher OBP and less SLG). If he keeps playing as an everyday regular couldn't he be a possible help to a team like the Royals?
Steve Adams
3:09
I like the plate discipline, but it's under 200 PAs with a near-.400 average on balls in play and a hard-hit rate barely north of 30%. I'm selling the surface-level numbers, even though he's the kind of guy I love to root for.
Rox
3:10
Still early, but are the Rockies probably the worst team in baseball this season? They have no signs of life on the field, at the plate, on the mound, in the front office, etc. Only things they can hang their hats on our Doyle, Tovar, (maybe) Marquez, and Halvorsen. Everyone else looks uninterested in playing at this point.
Steve Adams
3:12
Ryan Feltner is good! Chase Dollander might be. Not a lot to get fired up about otherwise. Angel Chivilli missed a hilarious number of bats last year... like a 19% swinging-strike rate, which is tons of fun. But he's nowhere near that this year.

In general, it's pretty bleak and I don't see a path out of their current standing on the short-term horizon.
Diamond in the Rough
3:12
What nondescript prospect do you think will end up a starting MLB player? I am starting to be a Will Wagner believer
Steve Adams
3:15
Suppose it's probably too late to throw out like ... Wilyer Abreu or Tyler Fitzgerald, but neither was a top prospect and I think both can be quality starting players. Jonathan Aranda, perhaps?
3:16
And I like Will Wagner! Decent contact profile, can move around the diamond, great discipline in the upper minors
Twins Fan
3:16
I'm feeling rather pessimistic about the Twins this year. While my hopes weren't high in the midst of a potential sale, we don't have all the injuries to point fingers at like last year and the year has started really poorly. Any reason to hold onto hope?
Steve Adams
3:18
They're 10% through the season and haven't had a single plate appearance from Brooks Lee or Royce Lewis. They're in a winnable division. I thought they'd get out to a better start, and I picked them to win the Central because I like their depth options (especially in the rotation and infield) better than a lot of other clubs in the division.

If I'm not writing the Braves off for 4-11 in a tough division, I'm certainly not writing off the Twins at 5-11 in a softer one, but between this start and last year's collapse, I can't blame you for being pretty unenthused.
Texas Ranger Suarez
3:18
What bats are available via trade right now that could improve the Royals' outfield?
Steve Adams
3:22
I don't think there's much of anything out there in trade right now. The Royals have needed OF help for years but just keep telling themselves MJ Melendez can do it. As the deadline draws closer, I'll arbitrarily throw out Jesus Sanchez, Mike Yastrzemski and Lars Nootbaar, but the summer market is a long ways from being sorted out.
3:23
On the prior Max Scherzer question, Jays just said he still has persisting soreness in his thumb and is seeing a specialist this week, which certainly doesn't sound like a swift return is in the cards.
3:25
Alright, I've got to wrap this up. I'm on X @Adams_Steve and Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social. Sorry for the questions I couldn't get to, but I'm happy to take them on social. I'll also have a free chat tomorrow afternoon, and you can always send questions I didn't get to in for Mailbag consideration or save them for Anthony's chat on Friday!

Thanks so much for supporting MLBTR with your subscription. You guys mean the world to us. Enjoy your week! Thanks everyone!
Connecting…