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Live Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 7/3/17
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Steve Adams
3:20
Hello world. I'm off for the fourth tomorrow, so let's do my usual Tuesday chat on a Monday. Madness -- pure, utter madness I say.
3:21
I'll start grabbing questions in a minute or two -- got to finish firing off an email quickly here or else I'll forget to do so after the chat, ha.
Ian
3:23
Who's ur final vote for (I have LoMo and Bryant)
Steve Adams
3:25
I doubt I'll bother casting a vote, but I thought it was pretty silly that Andrus was left off given the year he's having. Bryant and Turner are a toss-up for me in the NL, but I'd probably lean Turner just for the video game batting line, even though it's in a smaller sample due to injury. I don't think there're too many ways to go wrong, short of voting for Reynolds, who has been awful away from Coors Field
Rally
3:25
At .500, do the Angels sell off their surprisingly decent bullpen arms, Escobar, Maybin, etc., or do they go for the WC?
Steve Adams
3:26
I think if they're hovering within range of the Wild Card they'll try to contend. It's been a rough few years there, and they're hanging around without Trout, which they have to feel is encouraging. Plus, sure you can get some decent pieces back, but it's not like they're passing up the opportunity to acquire an elite haul of talent if they don't trade Norris, Yunel, Petit, etc.
Blofeld
3:27
Yonder Alonso traded or extension? Which is more likely?
Steve Adams
3:27
Traded is more likely. I'm sure the A's are open to an extension, but probably a two- or three-year deal at a middling rate, whereas Alonso should easily top Trumbo's deal in free agency and has a solid case for four years and $56-70MM if he maintains his breakout.
Lou Tully
3:28
If Eduardo Nunez is healthy, any new thoughts on teams that might be interested in dealing for him?  Maybe the Nats with Turner out?
Steve Adams
3:31
Mike Rizzo said this morning they're not really going after SS help, and the 'pen is clearly a larger priority. The Red Sox are the easiest fit for me, though you could at least make the case for some fringe-ier buyers like the Angels and Orioles to have some interest. Not a huge market for left-side-of-the-infield help right now, though injuries always create further openings. Back to New York could be a theoretical fit, depending on Headley/Andujar
Rangers
3:32
Who do you see in need of Lucroy? What do we expect in return?
Steve Adams
3:33
Mariners, Rox, D-backs could all use an upgrade behind the plate. Maybe the Rays to pair with Ramos, though Sucre is somehow performing passably with the bat, and trading for a rental doesn't feel too likely for TB.
I don't think it's at all a foregone conclusion that the Rangers trade Lucroy like some are speculating though, for what it's worth.
3:34
Being open to trading him if they can get a solid return isn't the same as saying they're going to dump him somewhere just to clear time for Robinson Chirinos, whose production obviously isn't sustainable.
Gonna toss up a quick headline on the Jays designating Glenn Sparkman, one minute!
3:36
Okey doke
jon
3:36
What's wrong with Manny Machado? He's still hitting for power, but his batting average, and OBP are horrible
Steve Adams
3:38
I don't think there's anything wrong with him. He had the sixth-lowest BABIP in baseball as of this weekend and the 25th-best hard-hit rate, or something along those lines, when I was looking into his struggles. There's a pretty sizable disconnect there, and his K rate is only modestly elevated. He's hitting the ball on the ground too much and needs to get some of his line drives back to really boost the average, but I think he can have a fine second half
Banana Bruce
3:38
Who gets traded first: Jed Lowrie or Sonny Gray or one of the A's bullpen arms: Doolittle or Madson?
Steve Adams
3:38
Lowrie's the likeliest to go, for me. Doesn't have as much trade value as Gray so it shouldn't take as long to find a partner, and the A's are really going to want to clear room for both Barreto and Semien to play regularly, as Susan Slusser recently pointed out.
Art
3:39
Tyler Naquin? Call up soon?
Steve Adams
3:41
Perhaps, but with Zimmer, Chisenhall and Brantley all there and controlled through at least 2018, I wonder if there's also a chance they shop Naquin around a little bit. There was a massive amount of BABIP help in last year's success, though I do buy the power against right-handed pitching. Still, corner outfield's an easier spot to replace than most, and maybe some team would be intrigued by five years of control over Naquin. Oakland always loves platoony guys with power that can kind of fake it in center field!
Jimmy the Freak
3:41
Blue jays pick up montero but why? Certainly this team can't still be thinking playoffs.
Steve Adams
3:41
It cost them nothing and makes them better. Why not?
3:42
It's not like they're worried that 26-year-old waiver claim Luke Maile's development is going to be hindered. Maile was playing behind Martin anyway. Maybe they don't make a huge push and go crazy as buyers later this month, but they could still hold course and try to hope for a Wild Card spot... if that's the route, then having Montero around is better.
twiner
3:42
Nats get kintzler and duffy
Steve Adams
3:43
I don't think the Twins are going to trade away any pieces -- certainly not one with four more years of control like Duffey
Nick
3:43
Where is Sonny Gray pitching on July 15?  and is it a different team on 8/1?
Steve Adams
3:44
The specific timing of a trade, and honestly even the specific destination, is pretty much guesswork at this point. But I do think he'll be traded, and I listed as many as 11 teams that seem at least quasi-plausible last week, elaborating a bit on what level of sense each makes as a landing spot:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/06/looking-for-a-match-in-a-sonny-...
Jon Daniels
3:45
Should I trade Darvish and if I do, who's buying and what can I get for him?
Steve Adams
3:45
I'm going to start beginning each weekly chat with, "Hello everyone -- I don't think Yu Darvish will be traded. Let's get underway" :)
I think they hang onto him
Tyler Naquin
3:45
Are you insinuating the A's may want to trade for me??
Steve Adams
3:46
I very speculatively made that connection -- let's not run away with putting words in my mouth here, ha
Zac
3:46
Is Justin Verlander's trade value dropping?
Steve Adams
3:47
He's making $56MM over the next two seasons with a full no-trade clause and declining stats across the board. I've considered him a fairly unlikely trade candidate since this winter due to the NTC, and his performance this year hasn't helped him.
Jeffrey Todd
3:48
Why is everyone down on Matt Adams value and referencing his old numbers?  He shed 30 pounds in the offseason. New player. Although keeping up at his current pace isn't likely either.
Steve Adams
3:49
Sure, he looks better. He also still can't hit lefties, doesn't have much defensive value and his hitting all of his homers at the Braves' launching pad of a new home park. And it's 165 plate appearances. I'm not turned off to the idea that there could be genuine improvement here, but the notion of moving Freddie Freeman to third base to accommodate him is nuts to me, and I don't think you'd have teams falling all over themselves to acquire him in a trade if the Braves put him back out there.
Can of Corn
3:49
Chipper sure thing HOF?
Steve Adams
3:50
If he's not a first-ballot HOF then the BBWAA should just be disbanded
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