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Chat With MLBTR's Steve Adams: 5/28/19
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Steve Adams
3:37
As I have suddenly realized, it is indeed Tuesday -- not Monday! Memorial Day weekend messing with my brain/schedule. Let's get this delayed chat underway
Nationals
3:38
Total teardown time?
Steve Adams
3:39
Nah,I don't think they need  a full-scale rebuild when they have guys like Soto, Turner and Robles all controlled for so long. They've still got Corbin in his prime as well. Some near-term prospects who have a lot of promise, too, even if Carter Kieboom's first look was a bit disappointing on the whole.
3:40
But, could they trade Rendon this summer? Absolutely. Same goes for any other shorter-term vets performing well.
I wonder if they'd even consider Scherzer, given his age, salary, etc. It'd be a bit similar to the Tigers' 2017 Verlander deal.
Cleveland Fan
3:41
Looking to rebound next year, what pieces could Cleveland trade and how much could the get? Bauer for a Hiura package make sense?
Steve Adams
3:44
Hiura hasn't hit much yet, but he's already at the MLB level and a clear long-term piece there, particularly after dealing away some other players in the system (e.g. Isan Diaz). I don't imagine they'd be anxious to move him for a relatively short-term and already expensive pickup like Bauer.

That said, moving Bauer isn't crazy if they can't close the gap on the Twins in the next couple of months. I'd wonder about him Kluber and Hand at the deadline, and I've said before that it's at least plausible that they could entertain offers on Lindor. They know they're not signing Lindor long-term, and Bauer has said on multiple occasions he'll never sign a multi-year deal anywhere. They'll have some tough decisions there, particularly with ownership's offseason cost-cutting still fresh in our minds
3:45
There's still time for them to close the gap, but it's gotten pretty sizable (10 games)
pepenas
3:46
Is it true Kewchel on one year deal? I dont buy it.
Steve Adams
3:46
I'm expecting him to sign a one-year deal and re-enter free agency after the season, yeah
Soxhata
3:46
Can you envision Dallas Keuchel as a beardless NY Yankee in a week or so?
Steve Adams
3:48
I hope he signed elsewhere just to keep the beard, ha, though I'm a bit curious as to what he'd look like clean-shaven. At any rate, the Yankees are one team I can definitely imagine as a Keuchel fit, yes. There are several though. (Phillies, Braves, Twins, Padres, etc.)
Disgruntled Mets Fan
3:48
Is any team in baseball hated by its own fans as much as the Mets?
Steve Adams
3:49
In the social media age, it feels like fans enjoy hating their "favorite" teams more than they enjoy cheering for them. That said, Mets fans have plenty of reason to be pissedd off at the club
Kimbrel
3:50
Any chance a team says we want you now or is it 100 percent going down June 3?
Steve Adams
3:50
He's not going to be ready to pitch right away anyhow. I can't imagine him signing between now and the draft
patigersfan
3:51
Race for the Worst:    Who ends up with the worst record:   Tigers or Orioles?
Steve Adams
3:52
Tigers aren't even at the bottom of their own division!
Worst record in MLB in 2019 (aka No. 1 pick in 2020 Draft)?
Tigers (4.3% | 28 votes)
 
Orioles (56.4% | 365 votes)
 
Royals (3.9% | 25 votes)
 
Marlins (28.7% | 186 votes)
 
Giants (6.6% | 43 votes)
 
Total Votes: 647
Brandon Hyde
3:53
Losses are mounting how safe is my job???
Steve Adams
3:53
No one thought the Orioles were going to be good when Hyde was hired as manager. His job security was never going to be tied to the team's record.
Mikey primo
3:54
Can you see draft compensation effecting rendons market? Seems to be a theme of the past couple of years
Steve Adams
3:55
Rendon is too high-profile a player to have it really hamper him. Kimbrel aside, superstars have generally gotten paid in free agency. There's also a very real chance Rendon is traded this summer anyway, which will eliminate the possibility of draft compensation anyway
Austin Riley
3:55
Can I maintain these offensive numbers?   Pretty impressive!
Steve Adams
3:57
18 strikeouts against two walks in 51 PAs ain't good. He's not going to continue seeing 42% of his fly-balls clear the fence for HRs or 44% of the balls he puts into play fall for hits.

I think Riley will be a good hitter in the long run, but he's going to regress in the short term if he doesn't slash his K% and show a bit more discipline in the future.
Melchez
3:58
How about a shout out to the Twins?  Best record in  baseball and hardly anyone knows.
Steve Adams
3:59
I don't think it's true at all that no one knows. They're pretty highly talked about throughout the game and here at MLBTR as well. Jeff just wrote like 1500 words on how good the Polanco/Kepler extensions look, too:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/05/the-hidden-gems-of-the-extensio...
Jim B
3:59
With the Orioles having several pitching prospects who should be ready in the next two years. Namely D L Hall, Grayson Rodriguez, and Blaine Knight. Doesn't it make sense to draft catcher Adley Rutcshman over Bobby Witt, jr.?
Steve Adams
4:00
It makes sense for them to take whoever they think is the better prospect. The rest of their system should have absolutely zero bearing on who they take.
connor
4:01
Will Monte Harrison and Zac Gallen get a call up soon?  What are Marlins waiting for?
Steve Adams
4:03
Harrison is still striking out in 31% of his PAs in Triple-A. Gallen looks plenty ready for a shot, but the Marlins have some solid starters as it is. And at this point, if they wait another 3 weeks or so, neither player will reach Super Two status. There's no urgency for them to rush anyone to the Majors when they know they're going to be terrible.
Dodger Fan
4:04
Are we the best team in NL?
Steve Adams
4:04
They get my vote
Mark Melancon
4:04
how much salary does SF have to eat to move me? Where do I go and what is the return?
Steve Adams
4:08
It'd be a similar situation to the Ian Kennedy one I wrote about last week. Melancon isn't a sunk cost necessarily, but he's clearly overpaid. If he were a free agent, could he get $10MM over two years? Probably. But he's making $14MM in 2019 and 2020. So even if they pay him down to, say, a total of $10-12MM (combined) from now through the end of 2020, there's still no surplus value to convince a club to give anything up.

If they eat half or a little more of the money remaining, maybe they could dump the contract. If they want to get a prospect or two, I have to think they'd need to eat the bulk of the roughly $23MM he's still owed.
All of that ignores, too, that Melancon has a full no-trade clause
Big Show
4:09
Twins played nothing but terrible teams so far, theyre just the new Mariners, nothing to see here.
Steve Adams
4:10
The Twins won their season series against the Astros.

When the Mariners had their hot start last year their run differential was +13. The Twins are at +110 right now, which is the best in the Majors by 20 runs.
4:11
Seven games against the Astros isn't all that telling, but it kind of flies in the face of the notion that they can't beat a good team.
4:12
And their run differential is tough to ignore.

Maybe they're not *this* good, but they're much better than last year's Mariners were, and they're going to add pieces to this club now that they have a 10-game lead in the ALC.
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