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Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat with Steve Adams: 6/23/25
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Steve Adams
2:45
Gap between Judge and Raleigh isn't large enough for Judge to miss six weeks and hold Raleigh off. Probably isn't big enough for him to miss 2-3 weeks and do it.

Cal will probably cool down at some point, but realistically, so will Judge. Again ... just two outrageously good seasons. The AL has had some monster competitions in recent years. Judge and Cal this year ... Judge and Witt last year.
No Neck Williams
2:45
Is Zac Gallen toast?  He doesn't seem to miss bats often.
Steve Adams
2:47
Gallen is doing his best to mimic Lucas Giolito's path to free agency, which isn't a good thing. As steady as they came for years prior to his platform season and suddenly everything's coming off the rails. There's no huge loss in stuff, but the command is worse and it's costing him not only in walks but also in homers and a notable dip in chase rate.

I won't say he's "toast," but he's the other end of the spectrum in regard to the prior person's question about Bo Bichette; I'm not sure anyone has harmed his free agent stock more in 2025 than Zac Gallen.
The Miz
2:48
Should I sign an extension with Milwaukee now? Lock in money before my inevitable Tommy John? (Aggressively knocking on wood)
Steve Adams
2:49
He already got a $2.35MM bonus in the draft, which lessens the urgency on his end somewhat. I'm never going to knock a guy for locking in that first payday, but a lot of players are averse to it, and we haven't seen the Brewers do that with a pitcher since Freddy Peralta, whose extension was absurdly team friendly. But Peralta signed as a teenage amateur for a bonus around $100K... pretty different situation than Misiorowski.
2:50
Oh, I take that back. Aaron Ashby signed a five-year deal that looks ... well, not great.
RoxTalks
2:52
Last year I asked if whether or not the Rockies were the worst run team in North American sports, to which the moderator said they did not think so. With everything that’s happened this season, and no end in sight with this regime, I’m curious as to what you think. Are the Rockies the worst run team in North America?
Steve Adams
2:53
I don't know who was running that chat, but the Rockies are certainly (in my eyes) the worst-run team in MLB. I'm not knowledgeable enough about all the other major sports to comment on all of North America though.
OP
2:53
Think Oswald Peraza would make it through waivers unclaimed at this point? Close to 70 ABs this year and not even a 50 wRc+, the only chance someone takes him is if they need another infielder on the bench?
Steve Adams
2:56
Nah I think some rebuilding team would claim him and just let him run with regular playing time. If you're the White Sox, all you have to do is DFA some flotsam at the back of your roster and plug Peraza in at 2B over Josh Rojas. Marlins, Rockies, lots of teams could easily make room and might prefer to give him a look rather than what they're typically trotting out at an infield spot (or even just give him a utility role with more playing time)
Chris
2:56
last AL MVP question, but should voters weigh in the fact that Raleigh is a catcher (thus handling an entire pitching staff) when choosing between him and Judge?
Steve Adams
2:58
They should, and do. Most voters aren't just going to look at the WAR leaderboard and say "Ok there's my ballot," but most are absolutely at least going to look at wins above replacement when contemplating their votes, and one of the major things WAR does is weight value relative to position, with catchers receiving a much larger bump than outfielders, given how hard it is to find quality offense at such a physically demanding position.

Even beyond that, voters for years have cited that very discrepancy when considering catchers and shortstops relative to a first baseman or right fielder.
As they should! Raleigh doing this as a catcher is patently absurd.
Brewer Fan
2:58
Lol I liked that Ashby deal so much at the time... maybe some signs of life now?! Maybe haha
Steve Adams
2:58
Thought it was a great deal for them too
Bradke Hrbek
2:59
Buxton hit .391/.481/1.217 with 6 HRs last week, and it added up to 6 RBI and 7 R for him as the Twins dropped 5 of 6. What are your thoughts on having a team's best power guy hitting leadoff vs. middle of the order?
Steve Adams
3:00
They've batted Buxton second, third, fourth in the past. I imagine part of this boils down to him being comfortable there and part of it from them wanting to maximize his plate appearances. He's who you want coming up for that fifth PA in the ninth inning as opposed to sitting on deck or in the hole, but I do get the frustration. It's always a little irksome when a leadoff hitter goes on a power binge like this, but really, the only time he's the guaranteed leadoff man is in the first inning. At any other point, he's hitting mid-game and could be coming up third, fourth, fifth etc. in an inning
Still an A
3:00
ESPN fantasy sent me an alert warning on a major PCA regression in the 2nd half. Do you see that happening as well?
Steve Adams
3:06
I don't know if I see "major" regression, but I don't think he's going to sustain this output. He swings off the plate more than any qualified hitter in MLB, and the guys immediately following him aren't great company. Sal Perez, Michael Harris II, Yainer Diaz, Gabriel Arias. In years past, you'd say "Perez, Harris, Diaz -- OK!" But .... not in 2025, haha.

PCA's contact rate is in the bottom 20% of MLB hitters, and he's in the top 20% in terms of homer-to-fly-ball ratio. Not saying his power can't have jumped a grade or more, but he was never seen as someone who should be able to sustain 19% of his fly balls leaving the yard.

I don't think he'll turn into a total pumpkin, and the glove/speed still gives him an amazing floor, but I do think the bat will slow down unless he can make some real changes to his approach.
You Get What You Pay For
3:07
Have any early extensions besides Acuna and Jackson Chourio (and Ozzie Albies) NOT been duds? Julio Rodriguez isn't an MVP candidate (anymore), Brayan Bello should get kicked out of the rotation until his performance improves, Jonathan Singleton and Scott Kingery flopped, we're still waiting on Colt Keith to do something, and Evan White..... Yikes
Steve Adams
3:07
This is just the sort of thing our Contract Tracker is for!
Here's a list of every extension for every player with under 3 years of service over the past decade:
3:09
Yordan Alvarez, Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Greene, Bobby Witt, Corbin Carroll, Blake Snell, Ketel Marte, Brandon Lowe, Jorge Polanco -- lots of good ones
Arizona Sell Off
3:09
Will Arizona be in a position to bring back impact talent when they sell off their expring 2025 and 2026 contracts this Deadline and Winter? Or should fans expect depth returns that don't really inspire excitement at announcement of the deals?
Steve Adams
3:11
Mixed bag. They can get something for Eugenio Suarez, and I think they'll do that, with Lawlar ready to step into his spot. Merrill Kelly and Josh Naylor can get some talent. Gallen's a tough call. Hard to get a ton right now, but if he strings together even 3-5 good starts, his value's going to tick up quickly.
3:13
I've got to wrap this up for the week. I'm on X @Adams_Steve and Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social if you have more questions. I'll also have a free chat on the site tomorrow. Tim's mailbag will run on Wednesday -- you can submit questions with "MLB Mailbag" as the title via email to membership@traderumors.com -- and Anthony will have a subscriber chat on Friday.

Thanks everyone for joining and hanging out for an hour. Enjoy your week!
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