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: 5/12/25
powered byJotCast
Steve Adams
12:17
Good afternoon! We'll get this going at 2pm CT, but feel free to start sending in questions anytime.
2:01
Hello! Let's get rolling
The "Mayor"
2:01
Is it time to panic in Detroit with the Jack Flaherty signing? His last 3 outings have not been good. What about Alex Cobb, when does he make his debut?
Steve Adams
2:05
In general, there aren't really any one-year deals that I think merit much panic at all. With regard to Flaherty, it's three rough starts -- really just two of his past three. Strikeout and walk rates are still good. Swinging-strike rate still fine.

He got bombed for four homers this past outing, which obviously stings but is also pretty fluky. Maybe he tipped some pitches, but homer spikes tend to even out over a larger sample.

As of three days ago he had a 3.79 ERA, 29 K% and 7.5 BB% -- that's all quite good. Four homers blew him up to a mid-4.00s, but no, there's nothing with regard to Flaherty's stuff or rate stats that make me think he won't bounce back
Bradke Hrbek
2:05
The Twins getting Bader, Coulombe and France for $8.75M combined is feeling like an incredible steal... Do you have a favorite bargain value signing or set of signings from the past offseason?
Steve Adams
2:10
You're skipping the buyout on Bader's deal, I think. They cost $10.25MM guaranteed as a trio, not $8.75MM, but that's beside the point. It's a very nice trio of late-offseason signings.

That's up there for best set of bargains for any one team.

Some other individual ones I liked at the time that have panned out well: Andrew Heaney ($5.25MM), Jose Quintana ($4.25MM), Austin Hays ($5MM)

Some that I liked that haven't gone so well... Scherzer ($15.5MM), Shinnosuke Ogasawara (at $3.5MM over two years, why not? But not great so far)
Rafael Devers
2:11
Where do you stand in the standoff?  More the front office’s fault for mixed messaging?  Or more my fault for not stepping up and taking my grievances public?
Steve Adams
2:14
Both? I see the Devers PR tour is in full force today -- think I've counted three notable columns saying it's not really his fault? -- but they both share blame.

The Red Sox don't sound like they've communicated well with the player himself or internally between the front office and dugout staff on all this. This feels like something they should've been bracing Devers for well earlier than they did.

But the player himself can't simply be absolved, and it's nonsense to say "Well he already accommodated them once with the DH move" when he did so kicking and screaming.

Fans tend to just kind of roll their eyes when they see "[Player] willing to move positions" as a story, but this is a reminder that it's not universal. Everyone is different, but man, if I'm signed to a $300MM contract and I truly want to win, I'm taking the "wherever you need me" approach we've seen from Betts in L.A.
2:15
I get something like Jonathan Lucroy nixing that trade to Cleveland all those years ago because they were going to play him at 1B and DH, and he was about to be a free agent and felt staying behind the plate was best for his earning power.

Devers already signed the mega-contract. There's probably more nuance  than we'll ever know behind his stance, but the optics are just bad.
Joshua
2:16
Ok, so hear me out.....should the Nats deal MacKenzie Gore at this years trade deadline? At the deadline he'll have 2.5 more years of control and if the Nats do not spend this offseason that would make at minimum 1.5 years of that control non competitive seasons. He is also a Boras client so an extension might be doubtful. He has his highest trade value right now. Would something like Gore to Boston for a package headlined by Marcelo Mayer make sense? Thanks.
Steve Adams
2:20
If a Mayer-level prospect were actually on the table, sure, you think about it. When you're talking about a near-MLB-ready 55-FV prospect as the possible headliner, you've got to be willing to hear things out.

I don't think the Nats will aggressively shop him. With 2.5 seasons left, he could realistically front a pair of contending rotations. And if the 2026 season doesn't go their way, they'd still get massive value for him at the '26 deadline.

If GM Mike Rizzo knows that ownership isn't going to support any high-end free agent pursuits, I'd be a bit more open to it. But in general, this feels like a "We'll listen but we don't want to move him" situation, and if someone offers you like .... Mayer, one of Dobbins/Fitts, and another prospect (just using the Red Sox as one example since you used them in the question), yeah you have to consider it.
Tigers CF
2:20
Given that its tough to find good production from a center fielder. Does javy Baez actually have trade value as a CF
Steve Adams
2:20
No
No one is going near the Baez contract
2:21
He's hitting well but it's largely due to the .380 BABIP. His batted-ball metrics are still poor. His approach is still terrible. He's not walking at all.
2:22
Baez had an awesome stretch of 10 games, and I was genuinely happy to see it, because I can only imagine how hard it is for a guy like that, on a personal/mental level to struggle so much immediately after signing a major deal, but I don't buy the renaissance at all.
ClarkeinEcuador
2:23
How can MLB allow a team like the Rockies this year and the White Sox last year be so bad? I think it’s bad for baseball in general to have owners that aren’t trying to be competitive.
Steve Adams
2:24
The sad thing is the Rockies HAVE been trying to be competitive. (The 2024 White Sox, not so much)

Teams not trying to compete isn't anything new. Ever since the 2016 Cubs and 2017 Astros made full-scale, everything-must-go teardowns en vogue, clubs have tried to copycat the technique (and, in doing so, inherently diminished the returns on said strategy; tanking doesn't work as well when 4-5 teams are doing it simultaneously).
2:25
I do agree that in general, I don't like the practice. I'd rather see teams try to win every year.
2:26
Insofar as what's "bad for baseball," I think MLB fans -- not you, specifically, just speaking in broad terms -- tend to use that as a catchall to describe something they don't personally like.

It's a subjective term and impossible to really say what's good or bad for the sport. The league is more profitable than ever though, and attendance leaguewide is up, even if that's not true for every individual market.

Is that "bad", then? It depends what you're trying to define. Bad for the quality of the immediate, short-term product? Bad for long-term growth? Bad for attracting new fans?
2:29
I just tend to not like the term because it's thrown around so much and is inherently impossible to prove and seemingly nebulous by design.

I think it would be "bad for baseball" to slash the league from 30 to 24 teams. But short of something drastic like that, I think people fretting for the sport's general well being are typically well intentioned by also frequently making mountains out of molehills.

Again, this is NOT a direct means to swat down this specific question as silly or invalid -- I, again, hate the idea of tanking from a fundamental level -- but I chose to use the question to get up onto a personal little soapbox, haha. I'll step down now!
Jed Hoyer
2:29
At what point will my continuing failures to build an effective bullpen cost me my job?
Jed Hoyer
2:29
Is this my final year as the Cubs POBO?
Brian
2:29
What trades should the Cubs make? They definitely need more bullpen help
Steve Adams
2:31
I would imagine Hoyer's fate is inextricably linked to how the team performs. If the Cubs win the division by 9 games and make an NLCS appearance, I don't think Ricketts will boot him. If the bullpen once again fumbles and they miss the playoffs or sneak in via Wild Card only to get bounced right away, I would more seriously buy the idea of a change in baseball ops.

I do think the point on Hoyer's inability to build a bullpen is valid, but I have my doubts that it rests on Jed and Jed alone.
2:33
The Cubs were burned bad by the Craig Kimbrel signing --  at least early on -- and basically haven't spent on a reliever since. That's still the most recent multi-year deal they've given to a relief pitcher.

Free agency isn't the best way to build a roster, but you can often find a decent arm or two if you're willing to commit on mid-range two-year deals. The Cubs haven't been willing to do so, and at this point it seems like such a deliberate and stubborn refusal that it feels more like something an owner would mandate than something a level-headed baseball operations leader would mandate.
Alex Anthopoulos
2:34
Can I realistically maintain the “still early” narrative with a straight face, when this team has glairing holes to overcome in offense that come from last season. The return of Acuña and Strider will certainly help, but if the big stars don't start to produce like they can, this will be a loooong season. Is it fair to say the Braves championship window is slowly closing?
Steve Adams
2:39
Atlanta has a better record right now than at the 2021 trade deadline. I think it's fair to say it's still early. We're a quarter through the season, and the Braves have barely gotten nothing or almost nothing from Ronald Acuna Jr., Spencer Strider, Reynaldo Lopez and Jurickson Profar. That's four guys you'd have reasonably predicted to be among the top 8-10 Braves in terms of value provided in a scenario where everyone is healthy.

I'm down on the Braves in general, given the final few spots in the bullpen, the ugly bench and the fact that you've got Eli White and Nick Allen playing on the regular. But it's also not at all out of the question that they get healthy and rally.
2:40
And, looking ahead to 2026, you've got Acuna, Albies, Riley, Olson, Murphy, Strider, Lopez, Schwellenbach, Baldwin, Harris, an option on Sale ... there's  a lot to like.
Hopefully ownership gives them more leeway to address the depth, because as I said, the final couple spots in the lineup, in the bullpen and their entire bench (Baldwin aside) ... a lot of rough spots to fill in there.
Rangers13
2:41
What will Helsley, Suarez from SD and Finnegan be owed at the deadline? Rangers really need one of them.
Steve Adams
2:42
In general, the easy way to determine that is to take the player's salary, divide it by 186 (number of days in the regular season) and multiply by the number of days left.
For Helsley you're looking $2.6MMish from his $8.2M salary
2:44
Finnegan's $6MM salary contains $4MM in deferred money, which muddies things a bit
He'd have $634K left of the $2MM he's being paid this season. The acquiring team would owe double that in terms of deferred money down the road. (about $1.27MM to be paid out in the future)
2:45
Suarez would have $3.17MM left this year and a two-year, $16MM player option at season's end.
2:46
The player option makes it almost impossible to trade him. He's going to be priced like a high-end closer, but the acquiring team would be taking on pure downside. He either continues pitching lights out and opts out, or he tanks/gets hurt and sticks them with $16MM in unwanted salary.

Plus, the Padres are playing really well, so I have doubts he'll be available anyway.
Brewer Fan
2:47
I know the pitching could in theory improve soon, but is there any reason to think this offense is going to get better? Think this roster is worth trading prospects away to help?
Steve Adams
2:51
I do think it's reasonable to expect Yelich and Contreras to improve, though I wonder if at a certain point they'd just be better off giving William a couple weeks to rest that broken finger he's playing through. (Ouch, by the way ... professional athletes are crazy) Jackson Chourio's approach has spiraled this year, but if they can get some more patience back in his game, he's way too talented to continue basically producing league-average offense.
The Brewers have quite a few guys underperforming, but the only ones playing way above their heads are Bauers and Haase, and they're role players anyhow
Load More Messages
Connecting…