JotCast | MLBTR Chat with Steve Adams 5-3-16

MLBTR Chat with Steve Adams 5-3-16

Steve Adams

3:32

Hello! There are some new features in Jotcast that we're checking out -- I have no idea how they'll look on your end, as this is brand new for me as well. So apparently we'll all investigate together!

3:33

If I'm reading into them correctly, I think you can comment/discuss under my individual replies and also like or react to them. We'll see how it goes!

Jeff Goldblum

3:33

Love the new layout.

Steve Adams

3:33

Excellent.

Guy

3:33

Do you think we should expect Braun to be on the Brewers come 2017?

Steve Adams

3:34

I do, if only because that contract is so daunting. I'm sure they'll be open to moving him, but whenever you're discussing a deal that big, I'd bet against being able to trade it just because it's so complex.

Ian

3:34

Which early season surprise is most likely to keep up an all star pace?

Steve Adams

3:36

Jeremy Hazelbaker probably. He's 28, has a career .274/.329/.441 line in 800+ games at AAA and is rocking a near .400 BABIP with a 32% strikeout rate. It's a fun story, but it's even less likely to last than Trevor Story for me. Aledmys Diaz gets mention as well, since he's not going to hit .470 or whatever on the season, but I can at least see him continuing to be an above-average hitter

Andrew

3:36

With jj hardy out for 4-8 weeks, do you think machado will be playing short and Alvarez it Davis playing 3rd?

Steve Adams

3:37

Sounds like Machado at SS and Ryan Flaherty at third base. Pedro Alvarez shouldn't be anywhere near third base unless he's standing on it with the Orioles batting. I guess I can see Davis getting a handful of starts there with Trumbo at 1B and Reimold/Kim in the OF corners or something, but I don't think that'll be a frequent alignment.

Trevor

3:37

Will Jake Lamb or Brandon Drury be AZ's 3B of the future? what happens to the man who loses out?

Steve Adams

3:38

I'd just put Lamb at 3B and Drury at 2B once Jean Segura's fluky hot streak comes to an end.

Jeremiah

3:39

What pieces can the Twins sell off at the trading deadline? The season is already lost.

Steve Adams

3:40

I wouldn't call it lost, but it certainly doesn't look great. They were in a similar spot last season and went 20-8 in May, though, so stranger things have happened. Jepsen's an easy one to move as a FA at season's end. Suzuki if he's hitting a little bit. If Nolasco keeps being serviceable, his contract really isn't that bad for a mid-rotation guy, so he'd have maybe neutral trade value. But, it's a young team, so there isn't a ton to consider moving. Plouffe, perhaps.

Bruce

3:40

Nolan Arenado or Manny Machado for the next 10 yrs?

Steve Adams

3:41

Machado is almost two years younger and can still play shortstop, so I'd go with him, but I wouldn't fault anyone if they felt strongly for Arenado. Both are among the 10 best position players in baseball.

Jason

3:41

Does the Sandoval situation seem fishy to you? He and his struggles are one of the biggest stories in baseball and kind of out of nowhere a nagging injury requires season ending surgery? Seems to me like it was a "no, seriously, you REALLY need to have this surgery" type of deal by the Sox.

Steve Adams

3:42

Players don't just get surgery as a cover-up. If it were a phantom DL stint that he never came back from or he missed two months with or something, sure, have your suspicions. But I don't think James Andrews is cutting into a guy's shoulder to help team and player save face.

Scott

3:43

Steve, what's going on with the Blue Jays Bullpen? Brett Cecil is starting to scare me. Should they even be giving him the ball anymore unless it's 22-0?

Steve Adams

3:45

I'd be more concerned with Storen, whose velo is down like 2.5 mph. Cecil's actually inducing the most soft contact of his career and is still reasonably close to his typical velocity. Storen just doesn't look very good at all right now.

Alyssa

3:45

Do you watch Game of Thrones? If so, has social media enhanced or hindered your viewing experience?

Steve Adams

3:45

Watched Season 1 and part of 2 then quit. I'm that guy, apparently. I don't get the love.

Hawes

3:45

Any feeling that the Braves may want to take on a contract like Matt Kemp's to create an impression that they might want to improve?

Steve Adams

3:46

I don't equate "improving" and "absorbing Matt Kemp's contract" as parallel concepts whatsoever, and I think many would feel the same. If they take on a contract, it'll probably be a smaller one than Kemp as a means of adding some Comp Balance picks or prospects.

John

3:47

Has a GM ever contacted you to correct something you wrote?

Steve Adams

3:47

Not that I can recall, though occasionally someone from a club will reach out to put something into context when it seems curious at first.

Damon

3:47

True or False: Phillies will be below .500 by the end of this month.

Steve Adams

3:47

I'll bet against that.

Thom

3:48

Tigers pitching - bullpen really this good? rotation really this bad?

Steve Adams

3:50

I was pretty concerned about the rotation entering the season. I have no earthly idea why Detroit gave Mike Pelfrey $16MM, and Sanchez's control problems are strange. Verlander's numbers will (or should) improve, but on that same token Zimmermann is in for some pretty huge regression. If Daniel Norris and/or Michael Fulmer can't add some stability to the mix, they're going to need to go outside the org come July.

The Freak!

3:50

How can Giants management let Tim Lincecum sign elsewhere when Peavy and Cain are this terrible?

Steve Adams

3:50

Who's to say that Lincecum is going to be any better? It's been three years or so since he's been a quality big league starter and he's coming off a major surgery.

Isaac

3:51

Aren't most high-profile contracts insured? How come Panda Bear's wasn't?

Steve Adams

3:51

I was surprised by that as well, honestly.

Patrick-11

3:51

How many times a week is there a chat?

Steve Adams

3:52

Tuesday afternoons with me and Thursday afternoons with Jeff Todd/his enormous beard

Austin 3:16-4:20

3:52

Do you see Shelby Miller turning things around? No one seem to factor in how he would handle the pressure of the trade from D'Backs management.

Steve Adams

3:54

The whole "pressure of the trade" thing is a cop out. He was traded for Jason freaking Heyward an offseason ago and had a career year while the national media and a future hall of famer (Chipper Jones) proclaimed him the new Atlanta ace. There's either something very mechanically wrong, very physically wrong, or both. Miller's had control problems before, but 19 walks through his first 23 innings is outrageous, and his velocity is down two miles per hour.

William Beane

3:56

Kind of a naive response here Steve. MLB and the Red Sox are so powerful that this could absolutely happen.

Steve Adams

3:56

Right, because that's what Boston with with Rusney Castillo, Hanley Ramirez, Allen Craig, Rick Porcello and Carl Crawford -- just made them undergo unnecessary surgeries to save face.

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