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Live Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 7/25/17
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Steve Adams
3:06
Six days and one hour until the non-waiver deadline! I'll spend the next hour getting to as many questions as possible, but remember that Jason will chat tomorrow night at 6:30pm CT and Jeff again on Thursday at 2pm, so there'll be several this week, as always
Nationals
3:06
Soto and Voth for Sonny gray?
Steve Adams
3:07
Soto's stock has risen, obviously, but Voth doesn't have much appeal as a second piece with the way he's bombed in Triple-A this year. I don't think that means the A's would be closed off to his inclusion in a deal -- he's had success in AAA and was more or less viewed as MLB-ready entering the year -- but he'd be more of a throw-in third or fourth piece than a focal point of the trade.
Koh
3:07
Should the rangers trade yu darvish and should the Dodgers trade for him?
Steve Adams
3:09
Generally speaking, I think the Rangers should move Darvish if they're 5-6 games out at the deadline. I understand wanting to hang onto him, but if they're doing so for a longshot Wild Card appearance where they have no ability to set up who will even pitch in that game for them, I don't think it's in their best interest to hang onto him. If they rattle off 4-5 straight wins, it might be a different story.
As for the Dodgers, I kind of reject the notion that they now NEED to trade for Darvish since Kershaw is hurting again.
3:10
They're far and away the best team in the National League, they can coast into the postseason... their "need" to add Darvish isn't much more acute to me than it was five days ago when we though Kershaw was healthy
Ryan
3:10
Do the Reds move Cozart?
Steve Adams
3:11
I'll be surprised if they don't, but I'll add that I might be in the minority in saying that I think he'd reject a qualifying offer, even at $18.1MM, so he could still net them a pick if there are no good offers.
Zack Cozart
3:11
Will my awesome new donkey and I have to move?
Steve Adams
3:11
Didn't Donald get a full no-trade clause? That donkey needs a new agent.
Sam
3:11
Where is Verlander going
Steve Adams
3:11
I don't think he's going anywhere
Dustin
3:12
What is your take on the Padres/Royals trade from yesterday?  Do you think the Padres got enough for that trio of pitchers?
Steve Adams
3:13
I think people scoff at the return because it didn't have enough "prospect value," which is silly. Matt Strahm was the Royals' #1 or #2 prospect heading into the season, and for all his struggles, he's 25 years old with five years of control remaining beyond the 2017 season. His season-ending injury had nothing to do with his arm.

And Esteury Ruiz is getting a ton of love from Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs and others since the trade. Just because he's not on a Top 100 list right now doesn't mean he won't be this offseason or in the future; people are really beholden to those lists and I think it's an increasingly short-sighted means of looking at trades.
3:14
Plus, a 1.5 year dice roll on a free Travis Wood is damn nice. If he has any kind of rebound late this year or in 2018, they've got a nice trade piece on their hands. If not, cheap innings still have value for a team with that kind of rotation questions
Matiolo
3:14
Do you think James Paxton's early season success is legit or will he fall back to his previous levels?
Steve Adams
3:15
I think Paxton, on pure talent, is one of the better starters in the American League. As to whether his arm will ever hold up enough for him to string together multiple seasons of 180-220 innings -- I have more doubts
Jake
3:15
Opinion of Cubs going after Verlander? Is it a good move, what will it take?
Steve Adams
3:16
I don't think any team taking on the $67MM Verlander is still owed would be a good move. If the Tigers are going to pay down half of that money, then maybe we're talking, sure, but all indications to this point are that the money they're willing to contribute is relatively minimal.
Earle
3:16
Talk in NYC about a Verlander / Ellsbury  (+ minor leaguer). Any chance?
Steve Adams
3:17
How does that really benefit the Tigers unless the minor leaguer in question is someone like Torres or Justus Sheffield? It's wishful thinking. Verlander's trade value is legitimately negative right now as long as he's owed what he's owed, in my eyes.
Dave Dombrowski
3:17
Are there any players I should target before the trade deadline and will devers be enough at third base?
Steve Adams
3:19
I think Devers is basically getting a week or so to convince Dombrowski and Co. that he can handle the job, and if he doesn't really come out firing, they'll trade for Lowrie or Nunez. Either one of those guys is a nice fit, as they can play other positions in September if the Sox at that point deem Devers ready. Spell Pedroia, Bogaerts, etc.
Victor
3:19
Will the Marlins get a return similar to the Phelps trade back for AJ Ramos or do you think Ramos will net them more?
Steve Adams
3:20
I think he'll net them less than Phelps. He's more expensive, and the only real point in his favor over Phelps is that Ramos has more saves. If anything, that's a negative in trade talks, though, since it means he's in for the greater arbitration raise this winter despite the fact that Phelps is very arguably a better pitcher.
3:21
Also I don't think the Phelps return was all that great -- I saw tons of "Wow the Marlins got four prospects for Phelps, the relief market is going to be nuts!" types of reactions. But the Marlins got 4 prospects for Phelps because they traded him to a team with a thin farm system and took a quantity over quality deal
And, honestly, not sure that was a bad route for Miami... that system is thin as thin gets, so adding volume with the hope that one or two of those guys exceeds expectations makes some sense
Brent
3:21
Do you think Seattle can make the wild card or do they still need some help?
Steve Adams
3:22
Sure they can. They're only 2.5 games out. But they need some additional rotation help
Ariel
3:22
Sonny Gray has a start today. You think A's sit him down in case of any trades?
Steve Adams
3:24
Only if they're in pretty advanced talks at the time the start is nearing. Otherwise I expect him to make the outing. Even if he gets rocked for 5-6 runs, it's not going to impact his value as long there's no injury at play. The notion that one great or bad start can alter a player's trade value is utter nonsense. Some tried to suggest that Jaime Garcia's two starts prior to his trade "really increased his trade value," and he was (predictably) dealt for an underwhelming return.
StrosFan
3:24
So is Britton available or not? If so are we talking elite level prospects in return?
Steve Adams
3:25
I think he's available if and only if a team offers up elite-level prospects, as you're suggesting. But he's been hurt most of the year, is already expensive and will become even more pricey this offseason. There have been plenty of suggestions that his stuff just isn't quite as good as it was prior to the injury, so it's going to be a risk for some club to give up its very top minor league assets to take him on. I think Brach and O'Day are much likelier to go.
3:26
Maybe even Givens -- though he'd be extremely expensive as well given the club control remaining. (But, that also makes him arguably the one piece the O's should market the most aggressively. That won't happen, but that's my lame hot take, ha)
Corey
3:26
What team will Addison Reed be on this time next week
Steve Adams
3:28
There's really no way of knowing -- I know everyone wants predictions and whatnot this time of year, but the reality is that there are probably 5-10 teams that would love to get Reed, and even the Mets don't know where he'll end up. The team that acquires him doesn't even know for sure that it's going to get him yet. Dodgers, Astros, Rockies, Cubs -- there are lots of teams that could make perfectly reasonable sense.
I don't think he's going to end up somewhere like Minnesota or Milwaukee -- one of the surprise contenders that is trying to walk the line between rebuilding and contending. His value is too high and the prospect cost would be too steep for them since Reed is a pure rental.
Dean
3:28
This Price and Eck is getting blown out of proportion in the media.  Thoughts?  Keep it in-house.
Steve Adams
3:29
I think Price has acted like a complete and utter clown, and his scuffles with the media aren't limited to Boston.
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