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Chat With MLBTR's Steve Adams: 9/18/18
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Steve Adams
3:50
Apologies on the late start! I am currently under the weather and operating at decidedly less than 100 percent and was trying to stock up on some much-needed rest prior to getting underway. I'll try to carry on as best as possible, but bear with what I assume will be slow response times, ha.
Extra game?
3:50
Is anyone else hoping for a tie for the NL Central, NL West, and then a tie for the second WC game? How awesome would it be to get extra baseball??
Steve Adams
3:51
Give me all the high-stakes, sudden-death playoff scenarios possible
That's what baseball is all about, right? Twins/Tigers game 163 in 2009 was more exciting than most of the actual playoffs that season (though perhaps being from MN, I'm biased, ha)
Medic Mike
3:51
Baez have a real argument for MVP?
Steve Adams
3:54
A case, sure, but we're getting to the point where it's kind of hard to overlook Christian Yelich's increasingly absurd season. He tops Baez in every rate state, most counting stats and is one of the league's better baserunners. Defensive questions will ding him. There isn't a clear runaway favorite at this point, but I'm leaning more and more toward Yelich myself (with my nonexistent ballot)
joey bart
3:54
Am I the starting catcher for giants in 2020?
Steve Adams
3:56
Maybe by the second half/end of 2020, but I think they'll ride Posey at catcher as long as possible and also won't want to rush Bart to the big leagues. Catchers often take awhile to develop anyhow, though Posey himself showed that that's not always the case
Guest
3:56
What if any free agents do you see the Orioles signing??
Steve Adams
3:58
No one all that high-profile. They'll need to add SOME pitching depth, since they simply don't have any. Might add a versatile infield type (probably left side) and some relief help that they could try to flip at the deadline, but you're generally looking at guys who are limited to one-year deals or pitchers limited to fairly modest two-year deals (Cashner style or cheaper)
Just a random person
3:58
Cargo has been slumping as of late. Does he sign another one year deal?
Steve Adams
4:00
I can't see him getting more than a one-year deal, and I still have no clue why Colorado re-signed him. He's been fine there, but they had other options and could've reallocated that money elsewhere and probably found more value rather easily
Swedescott
4:00
It seems logical the Phillies will pursue both Harper and Machado this winter, but how can they bolster their pitching?  A homecoming with Hamels?  Any under-the-radar free agent SPers they may sign quickly this winter?
Steve Adams
4:03
At this point, I think you have to assume Hamels stays with the Cubs. Given how he's thrown for them, 1/20 isn't crazy at all.

Patrick Corbin will probably sign the largest non-Kershaw contract for a pitcher this offseason, with Dallas Keuchel not all that far behind. If you're looking at value buys on the free-agent market for starters, sign me up for giving Charlie Morton a huge salary on a short-term deal (one or two years, $20MM+). Trevor Cahill will be a high injury risk buy with some upside. I'm a perennial Nathan Eovaldi optimist as well
AngelsintheTroutfield
4:04
Cashner have any value or is he more of a salary relief guy?
Steve Adams
4:06
Salary dump -- he's just not very good, and it's not like you can even say he's an affordable source of 200 innings, because he's not durable either. Someone was probably going to give him two years this past offseason, but it was never going to be a good decision. He was one of those free agents you shrug your shoulders at and say "History says this guy will get paid, but I can't for the life of me really see why"
JD
4:06
True or False - Sonny Gray pitches for the Yankees next year.
Steve Adams
4:06
I think he'll be moved in the offseason
Joe
4:06
Does J. Happ come back to the Jays as an ace starter?
Steve Adams
4:07
He'll be a free agent and probably want to sign with a more clear-cut contender. He's not an "ace" anyhow, though he's an underrated starter in my eyes
Charles Hudson
4:08
Do you still feel that Blake Snell should not win the AL Cy Young Award?
Steve Adams
4:09
I don't think Snell is underqualified or a poor candidate, to be clear, but I do think the extra 40 innings that Justin Verlander has on him right now is an enormous factor in his favor.
4:10
Snell's been great on a per-inning basis, but right now he's trailing who I consider to be the front-runner by 20 to 25 percent of a season in terms of total innings. That's incredibly hard to overlook.
4:11
Rangers announce a Triple-A affiliation with Nashville..... that's not good for the Nats
4:12
They'll likely end up in Fresno now, which is one hell of a commute when they want to bring someone up or send them down. Jeez.
Jeffrey Todd Helton
4:12
Agree or disagree and why: Jacob deGrom should win the NL Cy Young this year and it should be unanimous
Steve Adams
4:15
Agree. He's been the best pitcher on the planet by a long shot, and if anyone points to his "win-loss record" as a justification in not voting for him, they need their head checked. DeGrom should be the most overwhelming proof in recent memory that "wins" and "losses" for pitchers need be stuffed deep down into a box and packed in the back of a car's trunk. That car should then be set on fire and pushed into the ocean.
Artie
4:16
What s the chance the Mets trade Wheeler or DeGrom?
Steve Adams
4:18
I don't think they'll move deGrom coming off a Cy Young season when they claim they're going to try to contend. Flipping a year of Wheeler when his value is at a high point seems far more logical... get some kind of MLB-ready piece back for his final season of control.

Having said that, while it seems logical to me, the Mets rarely act in logical fashion. I have a hard time truly seeing them move any of their established big leaguers.
Manny
4:18
Will I sign with the Dodgers?
Steve Adams
4:19
I don't see why they'd outbid the field for him when they have Turner signed and expect Seager back. Plus, when have the Dodgers, under current leadership, ever outbid the field on a free agent of that magnitude? They didn't even make the highest bid for Kenley when they re-signed him, and their other largest expenditures are Hill and McCarthy. I don't think they're going to throw $350MM+ at Machado.
4:20
If they break the bank for any free agent, it'll be Kershaw (and that, too, will be on a smaller scale than Machado)
Ted
4:21
How do you see Hosmer's contract by now? Albatross?
Steve Adams
4:21
It was absurd the moment he signed it.
cashmoney
4:22
Judge starts tonight, a huge boast for the yanks
Steve Adams
4:23
If he's at full strength, which I doubt. He's coming back from a broken wrist, which is not an easy thing for hitters to recover from. Look at how bad Justin Turner was for two months or so when he was activated earlier this year.
4:24
In the majority of cases, that's an injury that has a lingering impact on a hitter. Judge is an absolute freak, so I don't want to bet against him, but it's tough for me to buy that he's 100% when we're something like nine days removed from him saying the fracture hasn't fully healed and he's still in a decent amount of pain.
John
4:24
Michael A Taylor traded this offseason? the Nationals rarely start him since Robles has been up
Steve Adams
4:24
Yeah, I can see that. Nats will be trying to re-sign Harper, and even if he goes elsewhere, they'll have Soto, Robles and Eaton as a starting trio.
Acuna go boom
4:25
Is it just me, or did the entire Braves rotation come down with a case of the yips at the same time?
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