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Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat with Steve Adams: 6/2/25
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Steve Adams
12:40
Good afternoon! I'll get this started at 2:30pm CT, but feel free to send in some questions ahead of time if you prefer!
2:23
Greetings all! Let's get underway a bit early
Mrs Murphy
2:24
Is it time to wave the white flag in Atlanta? This offense is just a lost used to be.What’s next for them?
Steve Adams
2:27
Quite a few questions like this from Braves fans, and understandably so, given the poor performance of late, but I generally don't think it's too late for almost any team in MLB, with the obvious exceptions (Rox, Marlins, White Sox, probably the O's and A's).

Atlanta is 5.5 back in the Wild Card chase and "only" four games under .500, which is pretty remarkable when you consider the early struggles and all the time they've had without Strider and Acuña.

Heck, the 2021 Braves were three under .500 at the deadline, and they went on to win the World Series. The Mets and Astros were 10 under .500 this time last year. The 2019 Nats and 2022 Phils were buried even further.
2:29
I was underwhelmed by the Braves' offseason, and losing Profar to a PED suspension is brutal, but it's still a talented core with plenty of winnable series on the near horizon. They get the Rockies, A's, Angels, Orioles, Marlins and a currently struggling D-backs club all before the All-Star break.
Bored at Work
2:29
Next 2024 draftee to make their debut? (Excluding Caglianone obviously)
Steve Adams
2:32
In general it's always good to bet on the Angels. They habitually draft guys they think can move quickly. They were pondering a Christian Moore promotion late last season, even.

He got out to a slowish start in 2025, but here are his last 29 games/132 plate appearances: .325/.409/.430, 12.5 BB%, 25 K%.

Could stand to see more contact, but he's scaled the K's back from where he was earlier in the season. He was striking out close to 40% for the first couple weeks.
NatsFan
2:33
How does the Nationals suddenly crowded outfield mix play out? Is there any scenario where Lile and Hassell make Crews the odd man out? Does one of the four become trade bait? Could they look to add a controllable piece this July like a Mitch Keller leveraging one of those outfielders in a package?
Steve Adams
2:36
I just don't see it as all that crowded, at least not yet. You've got the two cornerstones in Wood and Crews, and from there, it's anyone's guess.

Jacob Young can run and play the hell out of CF, but his already light offense has wilted further this year. Neither Hassell nor Lile has come up and hit in such a way as to command everyday playing time. I've been down on Alex Call every time I'm asked about him as a trade candidate because I think he's primarily BABIP smoke-and-mirrors, and he's regressed pretty heavily of late.

You're not going to get a Keller or any type of controllable arm for someone like Young, Call, Hassell or Lile anyhow, but I certainly don't think any of them would push me to be willing to move Crews.
2:38
For all the talk about Dylan Crews' struggles, if you toss out his first two weeks he's hitting .234/.315/.459 with a 7.3 BB% and 24.2 K% with pretty good batted-ball metrics. And he's doing that as a 23-year-old who played all of 100 minor league games before being called up.
Wandering Chief
2:38
Why haven't the Braves call Kimbrel up?
Steve Adams
2:41
His velo's down a good bit (sitting 92 mph) and he had a bunch of command troubles earlier on, but at this point you're talking 10 2/3 shutout innings with a 32 K%. He walked a couple guys last time out but before that had gone 6-7 appearances without a walk. I'm a little surprised he's not up already -- and that no team has tried to force the issue with the upward mobility clause Ken Rosenthal recently reported him to have.

You have to believe he can stick once you do call him up, since he can't be optioned. In that sense, the Braves are a bad fit because they only have two optionable relievers: Dylan Lee and Daysbel Hernandez. I would imagine that lack of flexibility plays into the equation, but I'm still a bit surprised.
Twins Fan
2:41
What's a realistic expectation for Kody Clemens? It's still a small sample, but there's a lot of red on his Baseball Savant page. His BABIP isn't even above average, so what's the explanation for this performance?
Steve Adams
2:44
Well, his BABIP is a bit above average... but not a lot. He's at .317 with the Twins and this year's MLB average is .293. So, a tiny bit, but for a guy who's hitting the ball as hard as he has, that makes sense.

I still think there's a lot of small sample work at play here. He's struggling recently and unsurprisingly seeing a lot more velocity while doing so. If you look at the pitches he's had the most success against, he's done a lot of damage on mistake sliders and changeups. He hasn't hit velocity all that well, particularly on the fringes of the zone. I imagine there'll be lots of attacking him with good velo at the top of/just above the zone and just off the outer third to try to induce more chases. He's actually doing a decent job laying off sliders/changes designed to induce chases.
2:47
That said, it's hard to fake the batted-ball quality he's had: 96.5 mph average exit velo, 62% hard-hit rate, 15% barrel rate. He's not going to keep that up, but you don't see many truly "bad" hitters do that kind of damage over the course of 80 plate appearances without a crazy high strikeout rate.

Clemens is legitimately intriguing, to an extent, as someone who could be a nice little DFA gem in the vein of the Twins' Willi Castro jackpot in minor league free agency a few years ago. He's earned himself some leash there, and he can play all over.

He's not this good, of course, but I can buy him as a play-me-anywhere platoon bat off the bench.
Rox
2:49
Who would've thought after Julio Rodriguez signed a deal worth $400 mil+, years later the face of the Mariners would be a catcher nicknamed "Big Dumper", who could be having the greatest offensive season by a catcher in history.
Steve Adams
2:52
Raleigh was a third-round pick and top prospect at that same time, so it's not like no one would've expected him to be good. Also Julio's deal "only" guarantees him $209MM! A mere pittance, I say.

But yeah, what Raleigh's doing offensively this year is well beyond what could've reasonably been expected of him. Twenty-three bombs in 58 games with a 15% walk rate is bananas for anyone -- let alone an elite defensive catcher who's DHing every time he's not behind the plate.

It's insane that Raleigh is this good and not even close to the MVP front-runner because Aaron Judge is just not human, but that shouldn't take away from how incredible Raleigh's been.
Beano
2:52
Thoughts on playing time in Colorado? K Huira, Freeman, T Estrada, Hilliard, Arcia (who has surprising pop...)
Steve Adams
2:55
I imagine Estrada's going to get everyday playing time because that's what they signed him for. My expectations are minimal, coming off the broken wrist and several prior seasons of hand/wrist injuries, though.

I don't think any of the others will hit enough to really make it an interesting debate, and I wouldn't agree on that characterization of Arcia's power. He's basically been league-average in terms of his isolated power (slugging minus batting average) since his breakout in Atlanta, and the batted-ball metrics are pretty weak.

He can get into one every now and again, but I think over a larger sample you're going to see plenty of pedestrian contact. It's a really rough collection of position players in general over in Denver right now
Dave
2:55
Dodgers trade Lindsay and Outman to Pirates for Heaney and Santana -who says no?? Thanks
Steve Adams
2:59
I don't think Outman has much trade value right now. Anthony Franco and I were talking about something Dodgers-related last week and he commented that he wouldn't claim Outman off waivers right now. I tend to agree for the most part, though a team in dire enough straits outfield-wise might at least do that.

Pittsburgh could fit that bill (the Royals more so), but I don't think Outman is included as a meaningful component of any return for them.

Kellon Lindsey has a lot more value, but he's K'ing in close to a third of his plate appearances in A-ball and is years off from being a factor in the majors. I think the Pittsburgh front office probably wants more proximity to the majors with how brutal the rebuild has been and how bad the offense is.
Steve M.
2:59
What do you see as the Number 1 need for the Washington Nationals if they were buyers at the trade deadline?  Thanks.
Steve Adams
3:03
Controllable starting pitching, even if it's just a Quinn Priester/Simeon Woods Richardson/Mike Burrows type -- a fourth/fifth starter who's maybe too far down his current system's depth chart to get a real rotation look but is viable enough at the back of a major league group. (Obviously would prefer to see them aim higher, but just saying some guys in that vein would have more utility in Washington than their current orgs)

Herz is out with Tommy John surgery. Who knows what to expect from Cavalli at this point? Sykora is intriguing but they're easing him back from that hip surgery. Clemmey's a nice arm but is walking almost 19% of his opponents in A-ball right now.

In the majors, Parker and Irvin look markedly worse than last year. Irvin's velo is down about 2 mph, and his swinging-strike rate has plummeted under 7%.

MacKenzie Gore is a monster, but I'd be looking for plenty more arms.
Angels Fan
3:04
It might be time to send Kochanowicz down to AAA, but would it make more sense to have Detmers make a few starts, or actually bring Caden Dana up to start?
Steve Adams
3:05
I'd start either one of those guys over Kochanowicz and would have from day one. Kochanowicz had a 7% swinging-strike rate and 9.4% strikeout rate last year. I don't think he's a viable starter at present.
Brewer Fan
3:05
Lets say Brewers are targeting Jesus Made to be called up in 2027. They would want him and Chourio paired together with as much around them as possible for the 6 years (min) that they have Made. Is that the kind of thing front offices would consider in certain team building decisions? i.e. Lets not call up Misiorowski this year so we can have him for an extra year when Made and Chourio are together. Seems more like something us fans rather than front offices do but just curious.
Steve Adams
3:08
I don't think so, especially not with regard to a pitcher (and particularly one who throws this hard). You're obviously hoping to keep that core together as much as possible, but we don't know what Made or Misiorowski will look like in the majors, nor can you assume they'll all be healthy together (again, Misiorowski in particular, just because he's a pitcher).

If the Brewers are in the mix and think their best team in the second half includes Jacob Misiorowski in their rotation, they'll call him up. There's no point in holding him down for a year, possibly hurting your chances in 2025, to buy an extra year of control that'd be in the 2030s anyway.
Cat_Herder
3:09
Meadows is activated. Do we see Javy playing more infield?  Or a 4th OF?
Steve Adams
3:11
I think you just see Baez playing less, period. I loved his early resurgence because even though these guys are paid through the roof, I have to think it is mentally anguishing to take the kind of heat from fans that he did and to just look in the mirror and feel like you're disappointing the team/holding it back.

Baez having an awesome six weeks to begin the season when the team really needed someone to step up is an awesome feel-good story.

...He's also hitting .152/.170/.261 with no walks and 13 strikeouts in his past 49 plate appearances.
ClarkeinEcuador
3:12
I haven’t seen any timeline on Alex Bregman’s return. Have you seen or heard anything?
Steve Adams
3:12
When he first got hurt, either Bregman or Cora likened it to the quad strain he had a few years ago that cost him two months, so I'm guessing he's going to miss a month-plus
Dave
3:13
For previous Pirate/Dodger substitute Freeland for Lindsay and Outman -  Heaney and Santana to LA?
Steve Adams
3:13
If I'm the Pirates, I'm putting Andrew Heaney and Dennis Santana on the first flight out of town if it gets me Alex Freeland, but I don't think the Dodgers would do that.
Alex Freeland
3:13
How loud does my knock have to be OR are we just waiting for the inevitable Muncy core injury for a call up?  Freeland has been a fighter his whole life.
Steve Adams
3:14
Speaking of!
3:15
I personally don't think his "knock" has been all that loud overall, though he's picked up the pace recently. He's also done so at a time when Max Muncy has begun hitting like ... well, Max Muncy. The three homers over the weekend are obviously fresh in everyone's memory, but they just further reinforce how good he's been since mid-April, really.

Muncy's last 150 plate appearances: .254/.373/.475, 15.3 BB%, 17.3 K%
3:17
I wouldn't fight anyone on the idea that the Dodgers' best lineup might have Betts back in the OF over Conforto, with Freeland at shortstop, but I don't think he's emphatically forcing the issue just yet and I do think Conforto has better days ahead of him
3:18
Or that he's already reaching those better days (.260/.397/.420 over his past 63 PAs)
Dylan Cease
3:18
I am 1-4, and have a hard time getting to the fifth inning these days. Are we concerned about my next contract yet?
Steve Adams
3:21
Cease's last five starts, by innings:

6.2 IP, 6.2 IP, 7 IP, 5 IP, 4.2 IP

I wouldn't say he has trouble getting through five, and the record means literally nothing with regard to his next contract.

Cease is sitting on a 3.67 ERA with a 3.11 SIERA over his past nine starts. He's fanned 29.6% of his opponents along the way with a 7.4% walk rate -- both excellent marks.

Laboring against the Pirates isn't a good look, but it's not like he was blown out by them -- and even if he was, oh well, it's only one start.
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