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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 5/17/22
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Steve Adams
2:13
Greetings all! Sorry for the lack of chats the past couple weeks! I was off during that time but we'll get back into a regular Tuesday rhythm.
HTown
2:13
Should the Astros be concerned now after what happened to Jake Odorizzi last night
Steve Adams
2:15
Quite the change in nature from the Odo questions that frequented these chats a month ago! ("When will they DFA this guy already?")

I think they still have decent depth, but they're facing a daunting stretch of games over the next month-plus. Verlander, Framber, Urquidy, Javier and Garcia is still a nice top five, and they have some serviceable depth on the 40-man in AAA.
2:16
If another injury of note pops up, it'll be more concerning, but I still like the quintet they have. And we'll see how bad Odorizzi's injury is. (It did not look good.)
Chris
2:16
Thoughts on the sort of package Quintana could land at the deadline assuming he's dealt?
Steve Adams
2:17
He's looked a lot more like his old self recently, which is good for the Bucs! That said, it's a 2-ish month rental of a guy who most contenders aren't going to consider a playoff starter. You're looking at a prospect or two that the Pirates can slot somewhere into the 20-30 range of their system probably. I don't think anyone's going to part with a prospect of too much note for Quintana at this point
Kirk
2:18
Which makes more sense for Washington: Trading Josh Bell or try to re-sign?
Steve Adams
2:21
Depends on the asking price, of course. We were just talking about Bell a little bit earlier today when doing some preliminary work on our Free Agent Power Rankings. I'm higher than Anthony Franco is on him and much lower than Tim Dierkes is on him, so there's a split camp even among the MLBTR staff. If you can get him to sign a nice three- or four-year deal, that's semi-reasonable. If he's looking five years and Castellanos money or something by now, I'm out.
2:22
Bell is hitting .291/.377/.497 over his past 659 PAs -- it's a pretty notable sample at this point.
Gary Pickle
2:22
Royce Lewis to 3rd or OF when Carlos Correa returns?
Steve Adams
2:23
Yeah I don't think there's any way they send him down with how he's performed. He'll stick in the lineup, and he's gotten some OF work in the past. The athleticism is good enough that I doubt they're too concerned with his ability to handle just about non-catcher/pitcher position
Gene Simmons
2:24
If Pujols develops a knuckleball, do you think he could milk another couple of years outta his farewell tour?
Steve Adams
2:24
He'd need a knuckleball catcher! What's Josh Thole doing?
Guest
2:25
Should the A's just waive Elvis Andrus and bring up Allen?
Steve Adams
2:26
If I were them, I'd have done it before the season started. I'm sure they're stubbornly holding out hope that Andrus does enough to convince some team to take on a million or two of his salary this summer.
X-Rays Tunnel Vission
2:27
The Rays seem to get a lot out of their organizationally-ranked prospects. Any other teams out there that always seem to get more hits than misses on the Top 30 any beyond (whether it be trade resources or big league production)?
Steve Adams
2:28
I just expect that in any given year, the Cardinals are going to have one or two random 40 FV prospects just pop up and be unexpectedly awesome. The Rays are among the best at that, though, yes.
AA
2:28
Do the Braves really miss Freddie as a leader or do you think the team is just looking for themselves this year?
Steve Adams
2:32
I think they just had some obvious flaws coming into the season. The outfield was bad. Rosario overachieved immensely in his short run with Atlanta last year, and re-signing him always seemed like a landmine -- even at a semi-reasonable 2/18. The Braves clearly Duvall, but I've never been a fan of the skill set given his perennially poor OBP. Some more depth in the rotation might've been nice.

The Braves were a fun team last year, but I didn't pick them as division winners in 2022... I actually don't think I even had them as a Wild Card team when we did our preseason picks for Front Office subscribers.

I don't think it's Freeman's departure so much as a faulty outfield (which is of course better with Acuna's return) and some questionable depth.
Jeff
2:32
Is Biggio officially a bust?  Or do you think this trip to AAA will turn him around?
Steve Adams
2:34
I think "bust" in general is a silly term, given how often we see guys return to the big leagues and break out after some time away. It's also relative to your expectations for him. He was worth something like 4 WAR through his first 162 or so big league games, so he's already provided some value.

I don't think he's a "bust," but I never expected stardom from him or anything. I think he can still be an OBP-driven platoon option who bounces around the diamond a bit.
Call me your sweet scooby doo
2:34
Hey Steve, favorite mlb prospect who will be a star coming up? Why?
Steve Adams
2:35
I don't know if I have a "favorite," but if Julio Rodriguez still counts, sign me all the way up to the moon.
Eric T
2:35
Willson Contreras is really playing well right now. Should the cubs try to move him now when he is performing at this high of a level? What would a return look like?
Steve Adams
2:37
Barring some kind of prolonged stretch that convinces scouts of a material change in his skill set, I don't think a hot streak really enhances a player's value all that much in 2022. The benefit to shopping Contreras now rather than in July would be that the acquiring team gets four months of him rather than two.

You saw the returns for Bryant, Baez, etc. last year. I don't think they're going to get anything amazing for him -- probably one decent name who slots into the upper third of their top 30 prospects or so and some lower-level guys.
2:38
It's rare you see a rental fetch a big return at this point. I'm still pretty surprised the Twins were able to pull Joe Ryan for Nelson Cruz, for instance, though Ryan raised his stock a bit after that trade.
Bloom and Gloom
2:39
Xander has said he’s ok with having Boris open negotiations again. How likely is it a deal gets done—or has that ship sailed?
Steve Adams
2:40
The Red Sox' last offer was to tack on a year and $30MM. They're not in the same stratosphere. Xander's putting some pressure on the front office and ownership with those comments, I suppose -- maybe "pressure" is too strong a word --but I don't expect an extension to happen.
Tony LaRussa
2:41
Does Molina/Pujols/ Wainwright all get inducted in the HOF together first ballot ?
Steve Adams
2:41
If they all retire together, probably. No indication from Waino that he's done yet though!
Joe
2:41
Hey
Steve Adams
2:41
Sup Joe
Rest of the league.
2:42
Chances Soto could be dealt at the deadline? What would a possible package look like? (Padres) Abrams, Campusano, Hassell, Mears, Myers?? Just spitballing
Steve Adams
2:42
I just see the chances of Soto being moved as so small that it's barely worth speculating over. I'm sure teams will call and try to pry him away, and there'll be rumors as a result of it, but I don't consider it all that plausible.
Cleveland
2:43
Cleveland has far too many MIF prospects/players. Miller, Freeman, Arias, Gimenez, Rocchio, Rosario, Tena, Martinez. It’s simply impossible to keep all these. Logical trade partner for them? They have a lot of quality prospects, not just quantity. Perhaps Murphy from Oakland? Or maybe the Pirates realize it truly is time to trade Reynolds.
Steve Adams
2:43
They could use some help behind the plate, so yeah, Murphy makes good sense. Especially since he's controllable and still relatively affordable, as opposed to, say, Contreras, who's expensive and a pending free agent.
Adley Rutschman
2:44
I have been waiting patiently with few days playing my position back to back.  Why I am still in triple A?
Steve Adams
2:47
I imagine whenever the O's call up Adley, they'll want it to be a weekend series at home. They were on the road this past weekend. He also hasn't really hit in the nine AAA games he's played, though he obviously mashed there in 2021.

I don't have insight as to when Rutschman will be called up other than to say that the O's are probably going to want to be confident that he won't be in the running for AL ROY. That sounds like nonsense of course, but it's a byproduct of the new CBA rewarding players with service time for finishing well in Awards voting. If you're a tanking team, why risk it?

Hope I'm wrong, but the O's haven't done anything resembling a "win-now" move since .... I don't know? Signing Alex Cobb in 2018?
Rusty Staub
2:47
Is Tarik Skubal the real deal?
Steve Adams
2:47
I love Skubal
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