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Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat with Steve Adams: 2/24/25
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Steve Adams
11:34
Spring training is here! Thanks, as always, for both joining and for subscribing! I'll get this underway at 3pm CT (perhaps a bit sooner, depending on news flow, but no later than that) and chat for at least an hour. Feel free to submit some questions ahead of time. Looking forward to it!
3:01
Hello!
Let's get underway
Dodgers fan
3:01
Is arenado still in play
Steve Adams
3:03
"In play" as in "generally available"? Yes. "In play" as in "an option for the Dodgers"? I've never put much stock in this offseason's reports connecting the two sides. Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes pretty firmly pushed back on the idea more than two months ago when he replied to questions about Arenado's availability by emphasizing that Max Muncy is his third baseman. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Katie Woo of The Athletic have regularly downplayed other reports connecting Arenado and the Dodgers.
3:04
I'm sure Arenado would love to play there -- that much is generally a well accepted truth. But the Dodgers haven't looked like a real trade partner to me throughout the winter.
Darren
3:04
Should the Jays take a chance on JD Martinez? Not entirely convinced on their offense
Steve Adams
3:04
In a word: Yes.
In more words, this is what I wrote about the fit last week:
  • Blue Jays: The Jays tied the Tigers with that same 88 wRC+ in 2024. They’ll hope for better production from Bo Bichette. That’d be a big help. Adding Anthony Santander to the lineup helps against both lefties and righties. Nothing else they’ve done has addressed the deficiency versus southpaws, though. Andres Gimenez will probably negate some of the gains from a Bichette rebound and Santander’s arrival. Toronto doesn’t have a set DH right now. Adding Martinez would cost Will Wagner and Davis Schneider some at-bats; it could perhaps even bump Schneider to Triple-A. That’s fine depth to have. Wagner filling in all around the diamond — maybe even settling into a full-time role or the lion’s share of a third base platoon with Ernie Clement — and Martinez at DH would be an improvement over the current setup.
3:05
Martinez to Toronto makes a good bit of sense to me
Guest
3:05
Does Joey Wiemer have a shot at 4th OF in KC this season?  I am having trouble making sense of that OF jumble past Isbel.
Steve Adams
3:07
I think Dairon Blanco is more in line to be the prototypical "fourth outfielder," but Wiemer is in the mix for a role. (And it's worth noting that Blanco was scratched today with some Achilles soreness)

Nelson Velazquez is also on the 40-man roster but is out of options. I'd prefer Wiemer to him.

In general, the Royals' outfield is a mess, and if they get a month or two into the season and Melendez and Renfroe look like the 2024 versions of themselves, the front office won't have much choice but to explore alternative options.
Diamond dan
3:07
Trading Naylor was a net-loss for an area that Cleveland dearly needs - power. Are northern Ohioans going to settle for more small ball, or do you see some reason for optimism in the crowded OF situation, plus no attrition to the likes of Santana & Ramirez?
Steve Adams
3:10
I'm sure they're hoping for more power contributions from larger doses of Jhonkensy Noel and Kyle Manzardo, plus a full season of Lane Thomas (with better results than his bleak regular-season showing following the trade).

I'm not optimistic, though. The Guards' lineup looks decidedly underwhelming to me. Eventual promotions of Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana should help, but they're banking a lot on in-house improvements -- many from guys who I just don't personally find all that likely to actually improve.
Mets Fan
3:10
If the injury of Nick Madrigal take him out of the roster by opening day, should the NY Mets consider to sign José Iglesias or instead they should give that playing time to Luisangel Acuña or Brett Baty?
baseball gods laugh and laugh
3:11
Mets offer Iglesias $5 million for one year with a $5 million vesting option for 200 PAs. Who says no?
Steve Adams
3:13
There's no way Madrigal is making the Opening Day roster following a dislocation and a fracture in his shoulder. It's not an "if" at this point.

I think they'll go with Acuña. As I pointed out when writing up Madrigal's injury this morning, signing Iglesias leaves them with one position player who can be optioned: Francisco Alvarez. That lack of flexibility either leaves them playing short-handed when regulars need maybe two to four days to rest but don't need a full 10-day IL stint. Or, it forces them to place good players on the IL longer than necessary.

They're already going to have some tough scenarios pop up with the near-nonexistent flexibility they have. Signing Iglesias really gums things up.
3:14
As for the price, I don't know that I'd have pegged Iglesias for much more than $5MM even back in November. At this point I don't think there's any way he gets that kind of deal. I think if someone offers him $1-2MM on a big league deal, he should be taking it.
Guest
3:14
Nats fan here. Fair or not, I think of Pittsburgh as a peer that has Skenes. However, they are being given 14% chance to make the play-offs and our odds are less than 1%. Are they really that much better than we are?
Steve Adams
3:16
I don't think the Nats come close to matching Pittsburgh's pitching, but I pretty similarly think the Bucs are a long way from having the type of lineup upside the Nationals have with Wood, Crews, etc.

Bigger difference is the division. The NL Central is weak. The NL East is stacked. If you put the Pirates in the East and the Bucs in the Central, it'd probably be the Nats who were coming in around 10-15% for playoff berths with the Pirates down at that 1%
Lefty
3:16
How anxious are Bosox to jettison Yoshida? Would they pay at least half of the 55 million for a low minors flyer prospect (19 year old pitcher who throws hard with propensity to walk hitters)? He seems like a perfect fit for San Francisco.
Steve Adams
3:17
I would rather just sign Alex Verdugo for a year than trade for Yoshida -- and I'm not really much of a Verdugo fan.
Speaking of which
Micah
3:17
In reference to KC’s outfield, is there any chance of Verdugo going there?
Steve Adams
3:19
Yeah, I think he makes some sense there. I'm not big on Verdugo's overall skill set, but it's not hard to see him bouncing back to something like 2 WAR next year -- while probably being paid as though expectations are considerably lower than that.

A lot of teams have in-house guys who I'd rather just roll the dice on than give Verdugo, say, $5-8MM. The Royals aren't one of them.
Wrote this last week (within that same JD Martinez/Blue Jays post) on Verdugo/Royals:
  • Royals: If it’s not abundantly clear by now, the Royals need outfield help. Relying on Melendez/Isbel/Renfroe just feels far too flimsy for a club with postseason aspirations. It worked out last year, but Kansas City can’t count on another 10-WAR season for Bobby Witt Jr. or impeccable health from the top four starters. Verdugo is coming off a down year himself, but he was a durable and reasonably productive regular from 2020-23. His plus bat-to-ball skills fit the Royals’ offensive approach, too.
Here's a link to that if you didn't see it:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/the-best-remaining-free-agent-p...
Scott
3:20
If some of the Angels pitching prospects look really good in spring, could you see Tyler Anderson being traded?
Steve Adams
3:21
Their rotation already looks pretty suspect, and they're clearly trying to field a competitive roster even though they quieted down after an active start to the winter.

I tend to think they'll just hang onto Anderson for the innings and then market him in July if/when they're a ways down the division standings.
Michael Andolini
3:21
Name a significant player you think will be traded before the start of the season.
Steve Adams
3:21
Unexciting answer: Marcus Stroman
Rox
3:21
Is Michael King a potential fit with Colorado? His GB% leave some to be desired, but his spin rate and movement are elite which could be beneficial at altitude.
Steve Adams
3:22
There's no sense in the Rockies paying a premium for a one-year rental like King when the rest of their roster is nowhere near contending. They can pursue him in free agency next winter, but they'd probably have to significantly overpay since he'll have interest from contending teams and also have some justifiable reservations about signing on to pitch his home games at Coors.
Kyle Finnegan
3:22
Am I signing back with the Nationals? Rizzo says they have been in touch and it takes 2 to tango.
Steve Adams
3:27
Based on what the Nats have been offering relievers, I have a hard time seeing it. They clearly weren't interested in paying Finnegan something like $8-9MM -- hence the non-tender. Their bullpen signings are clocking in around $3MM.

It's hard for me to see how they non-tender him if they think "this might be an overpay by a million or so." It's not as though they have any real payroll concerns. I suspect they felt $8-9MM was a relatively significant overpay.

We don't know what they're offering, but my suspicion is that it's well shy of his projected arb salary. I keep thinking someone will give him $5-6MM, but at this point if that type of offer was out there, you have to think he'd have taken it.

So I suppose the longer the staring contest goes on, the likelier it becomes -- but I do just have a hard time seeing them putting forth an offer that feels compelling, given the context of their other free agent dealings.
Joff Smoth
3:27
How are signing bonuses used strategically vis-a-vis team payroll, CBT, etc?
Steve Adams
3:28
Think they're more just a tax benefit for the player. (e.g. "You live in Florida where there's no state income tax? Here's a huge signing bonus that's exempt from the state taxes you'll incur while actually pitching/working in California!")
Kevin in Dallas
3:28
Does Texas have a trade they are working on the back burner, because after signing Pillar yesterday that’s a lot of Outfield help to carry and a less smaller bench.
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