MLBTR Chat with Steve Adams 9-22-15
Trying out the embed feature on the new software -- hopefully this works. Fingers crossed! Ha.
Steve Adams
Hooray! You even get to look at my smiling mug now. Technology's amazing.
Steve Adams
Peyton
Do you think Max Kepler will get any playing time?
He might get a start or two and some pinch-hit appearances, but I don't think they'll give him regular at-bats. Even with Buxton not hitting, he's their best defender in center, and I doubt they're going to sit Rosario or Hicks in favor of Kepler.
Steve Adams
Mike
What do you think of the Brewers hiring of David Stearns as GM?
The age concerns are overblown. He's worked in the industry for a dozen years, spending time in the commissioner's office and with four different baseball ops departments. Stearns had a ton of responsibility in Houston's front office as the sole AGM, and he's well-respected around the game. It's a fine hire in my eyes, though I did think he came off a bit nervous in his intro presser -- not that I necessarily blame him for that.
Steve Adams
Fin
Is it time to get rid of the crazy 40man rosters in September and stop the player move madness
I'd be fine with the oft-suggested idea that you can expand rosters all you want but have to designate a smaller number of players for that day's active roster -- maybe give each club 3-4 extra players... a couple bench bats and an extra arm or two
Steve Adams
Lincecum
Will I be A Giant in 2016 and under what circumstances?
I have a hard time seeing him elsewhere. If he's recovered from his hip surgery, and the Giants watch him throw and see 91-92mph or something, I won't be the least bit surprised for a return. If he's still in the upper 80s and San Fran is only comfortable on a minors deal, then I think another club will guarantee a few million.
Steve Adams
Doug
Is there a realistic option with 30HR potential for the Indians to pick up this offseason through FA or trade?
I don't expect them to sign anyone who I would call likely to hit 30 homers. They could make a run at a buy-low guy like Morneau and hope for that outcome, or hope Rasmus gets there, but no one that'll be expected to. In trades, sure. They have tons of desirable pitching, so it just depends what they're willing to give up. If they're serious about Marcell Ozuna, he could conceivably hit 30, or at least 25+. He hit 23 in 2014.
Steve Adams
Dale
What do u think of the Phillies rebuilding process so far?
For all the flak Amaro takes, I think he did well to eat money to enhance returns on some of the veterans, and I think the Hamels return looks good on paper at least (though it's too early to slap any kind of grade on a trade of that magnitude).
Steve Adams
Side note to any that are copying/pasting their questions over and over -- all that does is make me block your questions from displaying.
Steve Adams
christian P
Would you blow up are re-tool the 2016 Angels.
They're two games above .500, 3.5 from a Wild Card spot and 4.5 from the division with a not-yet-prime-aged Mike Trout and a mid-prime Kole Calhoun, plus young pitching coming in the form of Heaney and Newcomb. I mean, I get the frustration over their inconsistency, but they can be plenty good in 2016.
Steve Adams
Ed
Lindor ROY?
At this point, it's close but he's probably ahead of Correa for me, yeah. Final 2 weeks will have a big impact on that race -- it's been a fun year for rookies in both leagues.
Steve Adams
Alex
Who do you see the Giants realistically signing? They need quality, consistent starting pitching badly, but will probably be over-bid for the likes of guys like Price.
They were willing to go to $160MMish for Lester, so it's not like they're shy about making big offers -- If Price lands elsewhere, I can see Zimmermann, Cueto, Greinke being more affordable options that could end up there, then maybe a second-tier guy (Kennedy?)
I do expect the Giants to sign at least one pretty notable starter.
Steve Adams
Roger
What pitcher could you realistically see the cubs signing this winter?
Any that are available are on the table, Price included.
Steve Adams
Phillies announced that Pete Mackanin will be retained to manage the club in 2016, and he has a club option for 2017 on his new contract. Good for him.
Steve Adams
Gut
Daniel Murhpy will be playing where next year? and what contract would you expect for him?
Too early to say where -- off-the-cuff prediction, which should include the caveat that I haven't thought about this too extensively yet... four years in the Nick Markakis to Jhonny Peralta range -- $44-52MM. Lots of teams will need 2B/3B help -- Angels, White Sox, Yankees, Padres to name a few.
Steve Adams
Ron Santo
How does Arietta not get the CY Young?
Well, Greinke and Kershaw have been better, so that might play into him not winning it if/when he doesn't.
Steve Adams
Jonathan
should the marlins pick up some pitching this winter or try to ride it out with the several young arms they have? or both?
Marlins will be in on pitching -- they want to acquire controllable arms via trade, and they'll also be open to adding a veteran FA presence into the rotation as well. I'll be surprised if 2016's rotation consists of candidates that are all already in the organization.
Steve Adams
huh?
is this working?
I sure hope so -- can everyone see this?
Steve Adams
Theo
We see you. Seems slow.
Cool -- maybe it'd be better not embedded onto the page and instead linked off to a separate page next week. I'll look into it post-chat. Thanks
Steve Adams
Manu
Rockies should trade CarGo?
I think so, yeah. As I said in my "Three Needs" post on them, they have a clear strength in developing bats (in part due to Coors, but they produce hitters that can hit away from Denver as well) and a huge weakness in developing pitching. Yet, they rarely deal from that strength to acquire pitching. And the last time they did (with the exception of the Tulo trade), they went after a big ground-ball arm in Jordan Lyles. Nothing against Lyles, but I'd like to see them pursue strikeouts more heavily.
Steve Adams
That said, the Tulo trade, from a philosophical standpoint, made sense to me. We'll see how Hoffman pans out though.
Steve Adams
Marlins have interviewed Manny Acta as a possible managerial replacement, per Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. I'd love to see Acta get another chance.
Steve Adams
Dennis
When a player is place on waivers, that player has to go thru the league he is currently playing in first before that player goes thru the other league. Why doesn't baseball have the waiver wire in order with all 30 teams from worse record to best record?
That is the offseason waiver priority, and it carries into the first month of the season. The per-league waiver priority is only used during the season.
Steve Adams
Also Steve
Biggest needs for the White Sox this winter?
Add a real catcher and figure out second/third base. Improve the terrible defense. I think they'll be in better shape in 2016 so long as Eaton and Melky sustain their second halves. I'd like to see them add a right-handed arm to the rotation to replace Samardzija as well.
Steve Adams
Anonymous
Parks and Rec or Veep
Parks and Rec. Not close.
Steve Adams
Anonymous
The Angels have Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Santiago, Skaggs, Shoemaker, and Heaney slated for five rotation spots next year. Do you think they'll trade a couple of those guys and what would be the likely return?
I can see them trying to shed the remainder of Wilson's contract. I expect Weaver, RIchards, Santiago and Heaney to be in the rotation next season... Shoemaker there until Skaggs returns, I suppose. I'm not expecting them to pursue much starting pitching this winter, though for what it's worth Tim Dierkes and I were talking about this not 24 hours ago, and he disagrees, saying he thinks they could move Wilson and look for a nice mid- to upper-tier arm. I don't see i with the luxury tax concerns and needs at second base, probably third base (not sold on Kubitza/Cowart) and in left field.
Steve Adams
Lexi
What are the keys to the A's getting back in contention?
Improve the bullpen and get a clean slate to start from. I know A's fans are tired of hearing this, but I think they were terribly unlucky for much of the season. Their run differential was exceptional and suggested that they should've had a much better record, as did the BaseRuns projection system and a number of others. There are, of course, human variables that make any mathematical or statistical projection impossible for 100 percent accuracy, plus just pure randomness, but I think there's some nice talent in Oakland.
Steve Adams
steve
chance's of AA being in Toronto next season and beyond
I expect an extension.
Steve Adams
Fanatic Fan
If you were the Seattle Mariners. Which GM would you hire?
There's no great way to answer these types of questions since we see only a glimpse of what goes on behind closed doors. I've spoken to people who have worked with Jerry Dipoto and said good things about him, though, and I think he's made quite a few good moves, though he of course has misses as well (Grichuk in the Freese trade looks regrettable). I'd like to see him get another shot, and he fits Seattle's desire for an experienced GM.
Steve Adams
whinny one
why does the chat room quit working after a few minutes?
Seems like some people are having issues here. I'll look into this and maybe next week try hosting it off-site as opposed to embedding it into a post. That might be part of the issue, because I don't believe Tim had these problems when he hosted last week. Sorry about that. I'd say just refresh the page if it happens.
Steve Adams
Padres!
Padres: Assuming a qualifying offer on Kennedy and MUpton starting in CF... can we get an upgrade anywhere by trading away parts of our infield? Alonso, Gyorko, Solarte, Spangenberg are all decent players. Or, what else can we do to put a playoff contender on the field?
I think Kennedy is a no-brainer for the QO. He'll reject without much other consideration.
Bossman Jr. has quietly had a nice rebound in his limited time with San Diego, though I'm not sure that means they want to run him out there as a starter. He's had some BABIP luck in his favor and is still whiffing a ton (albeit less than in his terrible Braves years). He might still be more of a platoon/part-time guy for me.
Gyorko and Alonso have some semblance of value, though Gyorko's contract negates quite a bit of it. If they're looking to move someone young that has some value, Myers would be my pick, perhaps, but his injuries have been problematic.
All in all, they're in a tough spot, because the guys who SHOULD be trade candidates haven't performed well enough to maximize their value. If they're going to bring in upgrades via trade, it's going to have to be by trading Tyson Ross and/or Craig Kimbrel, I think.
Steve Adams
Jason
Who's the next Cuban sensation and when are they eligible?
Eddy Julio Martinez is a free agent right now, though he'd be a couple years away. There's not any sort of predictable timeline for when top Cubans are going to make the jump to Major League Baseball (or try to, anyway). Yulieski Gourriel and Alfred Despaigne would garner huge attention, but there's no telling if or when they'll make the move.
Steve Adams
Tigers
Will the Tigers ever try to upgrade their bullpen? Its been since 2006 they have had contending teams with no bullpen. Will this new GM finally spend money on the bullpen?
You say that as if Dave Dombrowski never attempted to do that. He signed Nathan, traded for Soria, Veras, Krol... signed Joaquin Benoit... Dombrowski made plenty of efforts to fix it, they just came up short often. Avila may approach it differently, but he was involved in all of those decisions as well.
Steve Adams
Matt E
Parks and Rec or The Office?
Parks and Rec is my favorite sitcom since Seinfeld, I think, so it's going to beat just about everything folks. I love The Office, though. Less enthusiastic about Veep. It's ok.
Steve Adams
BoSox8
What is your opinion of Kenta Maeda?
I'll have a better one once I start trying to talk to some international scouts on his 2015 season. We'll try to put together a profile on him like we do other top free agents, so this is a better question to ask down the line.
Steve Adams
Prich
Help me out... How do I tell a loved one they are a moron for not being impressed with Cal Ripken JR's streak?
I'm not sure how you could love someone who isn't impressed by that. I'd disown family members if they brushed that off.
Steve Adams
Michael
Is there a sense within the Dodger organization on what they want to offer Greinke to stay?
The only thing holding Greinke back from being an easy $150MM+ candidate is that he's going into his age-32 season. The age-36 year has historically been as far as most clubs are comfortable guaranteeing a pitcher's contract.
But, Greinke's having a historically great year, so $150MM still seems possible me -- hell, $150MM over five years would even seem plausible. What the Dodgers are willing to offer... they're probably not even sure on that yet. Money's hardly an issue for them, though.
Steve Adams
Mike
House of Cards or Breaking Bad?
Breaking Bad trumps just about everything.
Steve Adams
Mike
Given Samardzija's durability, do the Yankees sign him?
I'd expect them to be one of many teams interested. Most of free agency is impossible to predict at this point, and Samardzija's even more difficult than most. They've been intrigued with him in the past, though, I believe, and the need for rotation stability there is pretty clear.
Steve Adams
annoyed
if you could answer baseball related questions that would be ocol.
Sorry for the 60 seconds of torture you've been put through in the free chat you're hanging out in.
Steve Adams
MooneysRebellion
Name a pitching candidate that would be a perfect one year deal to go work with Mickey Calloway and his pitching voodoo?
Mat Latos fits that bill.
Steve Adams
ega05me
Which starting pitcher should the Rays trade this offseason considering their extensive depth?
That's the thing I find odd about reports that they might move a starter this winter -- none stand out as obvious trade candidates to me. Dombrowski could go for broke and try to make Archer the type of controllable arm the Sox want to add, but I can't see Archer being moved coming off this season with this type of control. Moore's value is down due to injury. Ditto Smyly and Cobb. Not sure Erasmo has a ton. Odorizzi might be the most logical, but he's not even arb-eligible yet and is quite good, so the return would need to be huge.
Steve Adams
Chris
What do you see the Pittsburgh Pirates doing this offseason?
Find another Ray Searage reclamation project, get a better solution at first base after they non-tender or trade Pedro Alvarez. Consider trading Melancon because money.
Steve Adams
CubGuy
This is an awesome format!!!!!! Thank you so much for all the hard work!
Happy it's going over well. Will hopefully smooth out some kinks next week. I've got to run for now, but remember you can always submit questions to our Mailbag (mlbtrmailbag@gmail.com) which runs on Mondays. Otherwise, you can find me on Twitter: @Adams_Steve and I'll of course be back next Tuesday for another.
Enjoy your week, everyone!
Steve Adams