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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 9/17/24
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Steve Adams
8:39
Good morning! We'll get started at 1pm CT, but feel free to send questions early if you're so inclined. Looking forward to it!
1:02
Greetings! Sorry to be a couple minutes late. Got tunnel-vision on something else I was writing. Let's get going!
Guest
1:02
With the Rockies very crowded in the OF, and the Farm very crowded at the position, who is most likely to be dealt?
Zac Veen should get a crack at making the Club outta ST?
Steve Adams
1:05
I don't really agree that there's a logjam. Brenton Doyle looks awesome and has exceeded all expectations I had for him. Great, great season that has proven me completely wrong about his ability to hit.

Beyond that? Nolan Jones has had a dismal season. I expected some regression there, but not to this extent. I don't think he's a fixture out there just yet. Veen only has 20 AAA games and hasn't hit well there. Jordan Beck hasn't established himself, nor has Sean Bouchard (who'll be 29 next May) or  Hunter Goodman. Yanquiel Fernandez hit well in AA but has been brutal in AAA.
1:06
I think they're better served hanging onto the group and seeing who can really force his way into the OF mix alongside Doyle.
Tigers fan
1:06
If the tigers squeak into the postseason , does hinch get manager of the year consideration?
Steve Adams
1:06
He'll get votes but I expect it's going to be Vogt or Quatraro.
Boog. Just Boog.
1:07
I'm sure the Tigers are kicking themselves for trading Jack Flaherty but overall it's been a positive year for them. Do you think this season is a turning point for the franchise and they can be contenders for a while?
Steve Adams
1:08
I don't even know that they're kicking themselves there. Yeah, it'd be nice to have him of course, but the pitching has been very good for the most part, and Trey Sweeney's already playing nice defense at short -- even if his bat hasn't been great. Plus, Thayron Liranzo has been a maniac in High-A with them and hit his way onto some top-100 lists. They could've gotten a draft pick and they'd be in better postseason position right now, but they're still in the mix without him and have a lot of long-term value they wouldn't have otherwise had.
Rbase96
1:09
Do the A's trade Rooker in the offseason? He would be the best bat on the trade market
Steve Adams
1:12
I was surprised they didn't consider it more strongly at the deadline. I'm not sure this winter will be any different, but they'll at least listen on him.

With Rooker, JJ Bleday, Lawrence Butler and to a lesser extent Shea Langeliers all looking like good pieces for '25, they could forgo more aggressive sale tactics and see how they hold up in the first half of the '25 season.
Twins fan
1:12
It was clear to everyone that the Twins really needed more SP depth at the trade deadline. One injury to one of Lopez, Ryan or Ober would really put us up against it and so its proved. Even if we do scape a wildcard we won't get past Houston or New York with the pitching we have. Why did the Twins not make any significant moves at the deadline? A rental or two wouldn't have added much to the payroll. It's infuriating. Very unfair to expect Matthews or Festa to fill the void left by Ryan.
Steve Adams
1:14
There weren't many rentals of any consequence available, and ownership clearly didn't have much interest in adding payroll either last offseason or at the deadline. The Twins looked hard at Kikuchi, and then the Astros made what everyone considered to be a fairly stunning overpay to get him (a price that was largely reflective of the lack of supply on the market).

The Twins needed more depth at the deadline and in the offseason. Ownership asked them to shave $30MM or so off the payroll on the heels of a postseason series win. The front office's decision to make Anthony DeSclafani their go-to depth option was weird, and I was surprised they didn't add Michael Lorenzen when he was sitting out there and signed for under $5MM, but that probably only further underscores the lack of resources they had.
Reds GM
1:15
In your opinion who are some players that could be non-tender candidates this offseason?
Steve Adams
1:17
Heyyyy mid-chat news -- source tells MLBTR the Blue Jays claimed Nick Robertson from the Angels.

Back to the chat!
1:19
Non-tender candidates on the Reds specifically? Santiago Espinal comes to mind. Leaguewide... a few off the cuff: Mike Yastrzemski, Trent Grisham, Patrick Wisdom, Luis Urias, Leody Taveras. I don't know if the Guardians will straight NT Lane Thomas, but I could see them trying to move him rather than pay his arb price after the struggles he's had in Cleveland.
Pete alonso
1:20
Pete is coming off his weakest season and will have a QO attached, will this hurt his market and could he take the QO and try again next year?
Steve Adams
1:21
Nah there's no way he'll take the QO. I do think the relative down year and the attached QO will impact him negatively, to an extent, but I still think he's looking at a nine-figure deal in free agency
Paul
1:21
the Red Sox consider trading Duran while his value is so high  for a starting pitcher?
Steve Adams
1:25
I've seen lots of Red Sox fans suggest this over the second half of the season and I continue to be perplexed by it. Duran is playing at a pace that would garner legitimate MVP consideration in a lot of seasons. (Not this one, with Judge and BWJ going absolutely bananas, of course.) He's controlled for four more seasons after this one and is only entering his first arb year.

I get the excitement over Roman Anthony. Abreu has had a nice season. Rafaela is at least going to be a plus-plus defensive CF with questionable offense -- potentially a star if he can be more consistent at the plate.

There's still no way I'm moving Duran. I guess if the Pirates offered you Skenes or something, sure, but that's obviously not happening, ha.
Giants
1:25
Is Farhan as good as gone after the reports came out about Posey taking lead on the Chapman deal? Where do the Giants go next, 10 season of 500 baseball they can't and won't do a full rebuild with the $ they make so who do you get in the off season because Soto is not coming here.
Buster Posey, GM
1:26
I mean, where there's smoke there is fire, right? What's surprising is that the story came out with such clarity around the fact that "ownership was frustrated" with the inability to close deals.
Posey
1:26
Is Posey about to take over the Giants?
Negotiations
1:26
What do you make of the report that small-stake owner Buster Posey negotiated the framework of the Giants deal with Matt Chapman? A sign of things to come?
Steve Adams
1:26
(This is only a fraction of the questions I've gotten on this, so seems like one to take! Ha)
1:30
First and foremost, I do not have any first-hand knowledge of the Giants' plans for the front office. I also loathe speculating about someone losing their job -- particularly what I presume is their dream job. I try not to make unfounded speculation about a manager, GM, etc. being cut loose because I am aware that we have a decent platform here with 800K+ followers on Twitter, that teams, players, agencies etc. all check MLBTR regularly.

With that preamble aside, I cannot think of many instances where ownership has effectively done an end-around because of frustration over their top baseball ops executive's approach to a contract negotiation -- at least not in this fashion. There are myriad examples of Scott Boras or Casey Close (Excel Sports) or whichever agent negotiating directly with ownership on a free agent. Hal Steinbrenner called Aaron Judge to close that deal. They'd known each other for years. Ditto, to a lesser extent, with Jim Crane and Justin Verlander.
1:31
This feels different than all of those scenarios. Again, I do not know that Zaidi's job is in trouble personally. But this looks like a fifth losing season in six years, and this is a strange situation where ownership has by all accounts gone over his head to get a deal done. It strikes me, just logically speaking, that it'd be hard to look your fans in the eye (metaphorically) and say, "We didn't trust Farhan Zaidi to get the Chapman deal done, but he's still the guy we want running the offseason and building this team."
1:34
Also, it seems highly unlikely that the leak would've come from Zaidi here. Someone got this information out to the public, and it seems far likelier that it came from someone within ownership. (Not saying Posey specifically, of course) I don't know why you'd let that information get out and then just continue operating as normal. It's a strange situation, and from a purely third-party standpoint, it does not seem like a good omen for current baseball ops leadership. That is my opinion on the matter -- again stressing that I do not personally know or have an inkling of their plans with regard to baseball operations leadership.
Nats
1:34
Let's say that Nats are able to sign Soto this offseason. Who's the odd man out in the current outfield? Does someone more to 1st?
Steve Adams
1:35
Assuming Crews/Wood don't need any more minor league seasoning, you could pretty easily just play Young in CF every day for the defense and then rotate Soto/Wood/Crews through the corners and DH.
KH
1:35
Do you see the Guardians resigning Shane Bieber to a 2 year deal while he rehabs?
Steve Adams
1:36
If you're Bieber, I don't think you want the second guaranteed year on the contract. Or at least, you'd want an opt-out after year one. He could be back by next summer, and if he comes back and looks like himself, there's a big payday waiting for him in the 2025-26 offseason. If you lock yourself in through 2026, you're not a true free agent until you're heading into your age-32 season, which is not ideal
Guest
1:37
Offseason trade idea: White Sox get Twins’ Edouard Julien in exchange for eating Randy Dobnak’s contract and the mutual option buyouts. Julien looks to be odd man out based on plans for Royce Lewis to handle 2B in future, so Twins benefit by using him to free up salary. Meanwhile, White Sox can handle salary hit even with payroll cuts coming, and they get a controllable player to try out at 2B after Lopez is non-tendered.
Steve Adams
1:38
Dobnak is owed $3MM next year and a $1MM buyout on his 2026 option. That's it. The Twins would be saving $4MM by dumping him. They're not going to give Julien away to save $4MM.
Goober
1:38
Cleveland’s pitching depth has taken a hit. What do they do for next season? Bring back Lively?
Steve Adams
1:41
Lively only signed a one-year deal, but I looked into it at the time he signed and confirmed that he'll stay under club control via arbitration after the season. Oftentimes, guys coming back from NPB and KBO have language built into their contracts allowing them to become a free agent when that return contract ends. But Lively had year with the Reds organization, and thus his contract with Cleveland didn't have that language built in.

In other words, he's Cleveland's for four more seasons after this season if they choose to retain him. Great add for them, and I fully expect them to keep him. He'll likely be a Super Two player and arb-eligible beginning next winter, but off the season he's had that's fine. He's not going to be expensive and that extra control is very nice, even if he's on the older side at 32 (33 in March)
Zaidi’s Replacement
1:42
Chances Giants go after Walker Buehler this off season? Shown an ability to rehab arms well and young enough to grab on one year or multi year deal. If he returns to form would be a great arm to add at potentially a reasonable price.
Steve Adams
1:44
He's a very Zaidi-like addition, both conceptually and because Zaidi was the Dodgers' GM when they drafted Buehler in the first round.

If you're Buehler and you're looking for a place that you feel will give you a good chance at returning to form, the Giants certainly make sense. Huge park, track record of big turnarounds (Gausman, Rodon, DeSclafani, Junis, etc.) Then again, the Dodgers also fit that mold.

I think they'll be in the mix for him regardless, and if Zaidi is still in place that'll make the fit all the more sensible.
Ken
1:44
Are folks fooling themselves into thinking Ohtani will be an above average pitcher again after his second TJ surgery?
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