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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams: 4/29/25
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Steve Adams
8:27
Good morning! We'll get underway at 1pm CT, but the queue is open if you want to submit some questions ahead of time.
1:02
Let's get underway!
ChRays
1:02
Any thoughts on the trio of Rays rookie outfielders so far (Misner, Mangum and Simpson)? What happens when the three former starters (J Lowe, DeLuca and Palacios) return? thank you.
Steve Adams
1:06
I have to think Simpson is going to stick in center field and push DeLuca into more of a reserve outfield role, which is a better fit for him anyhow. Misner and Mangum are both benefiting from pretty big batted ball luck (so is Simpson, to be fair, but I like the speed/contact/defense profile better with him).

If everyone's healthy, I'd assume you're looking at Morel-Simpson-Lowe, with DeLuca as a fourth OF and Misner/Mangum as depth options in AAA. If we get to the summer and the Rays trade Yandy and open 1B for more Aranda time, you could get some extra DH reps for Misner/Lowe, but I don't think that's a foregone conclusion by any means yet.
Chris
1:06
Is Kelenic going to be cut, traded or held for depth?
Steve Adams
1:07
Depth for now. It's not like Eddie Rosario can be counted on to give you much offense. Lots of Verdugo and Harris for now, with White/Fairchild/Rosario to hold the fort down while they wait on Acuna's return.
Mo Mistakes
1:08
Why did I hold on to Fedde and Helsley?  I understand I couldn't move Arenado, but Fedde and Helsley's value can only go down, no?  Or is there hope that a contending team will pay more at the deadline for half a year than a full year?
Steve Adams
1:11
I don't know. I take comments like this most weeks, not to dump on the Cardinals, but because they are constantly asked in such volume. They both should've been traded. Cardinals brass clearly let the beat know they think a team might be willing to offer more in July for Helsley than they were in the winter. Maybe the offers were truly light, but I have a had time believing they were so bad that the better play was just hanging onto them.

Fedde has really gone backwards, and Helsley hasn't been his typically dominant self yet. There's still time for both to turn it around and drum up some more trade value, but holding onto this pair just felt like a glaring misstep before the season even began.
Squints
1:11
Any of the White Sox SP you lole what you see so far? Need something cheerful that isn't at the concession stands.
Steve Adams
1:14
It's been pretty bleak. Shane Smith looks solid-ish, but not to the extent he's been thus far. He's also a Rule 5 guy with scant experience above Double-A, a good-not-great fastball, a below-average strikeout rate and a .219 BABIP.

As far as Rule 5 guys go, he's fairly interesting, but that's a low bar to clear. If he ends up as a serviceable fourth/fifth SP, that's still a nice Rule 5 grab, though, and I think there's a chance for that.
Bob
1:15
When will Bubba Chandler finally get called up?
Steve Adams
1:16
It's just silly to keep him down at this point. I think he'll be up mid-May. He should very arguably be up already, based on how the back of the rotation has fared.
Alex Anthopoulos
1:16
The Braves claimed Ian Anderson on Sunday and DFA'd him today for make room for AJ Smith-Shawver. Care to weigh in on my reasoning? Why I keep making this head scratching moves instead of taking a more straight approach to address the club needs?
Steve Adams
1:19
They needed an arm for a day. That's all there is to it. Lots of teams make short-term waiver claims like this. Anderson stood out more to Braves fans because of his history with the organization.

With regard to just doing something more straightforward, it seems pretty clear that Anthopoulos had some budgetary restrictions this winter. The Braves didn't spend much. They didn't add meaningfully to the rotation despite obvious depth concerns. Ditto the bullpen.

I'm not sure why on earth they opted to take on $3MM of Rafael Montero's contract (well, I am.... they were intrigued by the new splitter, but yikes) ..... but I agree I'd rather have seen them just give Phil Maton $3MM or something when he was sitting in free agency in early March.
CJ Preller
1:20
Is there any team that has a salary dump contract swap for Xander? preferrably OF or 1B?
Steve Adams
1:21
Xander Bogaerts might be the least tradeable person in baseball with nine years remaining on that contract.
Blue Orange Birds
1:21
How much longer can the Orioles give Ryan Mouncastle and his .529 OPS until they replace him with highly touted prospect, Coby Mayo?  Can the O's send Mountie back down to AAA?
Steve Adams
1:24
He can still be optioned for another 33 days as of this writing. He entered the season with 4.105 years of service, placing him 67 days shy of five years. Once a player hits five years, they have to consent to be optioned.

So ... I would guess Mountcastle gets another few weeks but is perhaps optioned if that date gets close and he hasn't turned things around.

In his defense, he's still making really good contact. Exit velocity, hard-hit rate are right in line with 2024. Pretty noticeable drop in contact within the zone, though.
Angels
1:25
How long do we stick with Hendricks?  At $2.5 MM it seems easy to just cut him or at worst have him as the long man in the pen.  Detmers clearly seems like the best option for the rotation right now
Steve Adams
1:27
The Angels jumping the market to sign Hendricks to a big league deal was one of the weirder moves from any team this past offseason. His first two starts were fine, but I have a hard time seeing him survive the month if he keeps pitching like he has in his three most recent appearances.

(Which, sadly, seems likely... he's a righty trying to get by with an 86-87 mph "fastball" ... it just doesn't really seem like it's going to work)
Andrew Heaney
1:27
If I keep pitching like I am, will I be traded at the deadline to a team like the Cubs?
Steve Adams
1:28
I don't think he even needs to continue what he's doing. If he's pitching like a league-average starter this summer, yeah, he'll be traded.
John
1:28
Re: Ian Anderson -  Do teams tell the players before hand, so that they aren't surprised by the immediate DFA?
Steve Adams
1:29
Usually, yeah. And in Anderson's case, this is his second DFA as an out-of-options guy. He knows he's on thin ice if he's claimed anywhere.
Giants
1:29
Do the Giants swap Hicks and Birdsong? Hicks numbers don’t look great and he’s been iffy, Birdsong’s stuff seems to be built for a starter with a lot of upside in a rotation
Steve Adams
1:30
They should. Anthony wrote about it last week for our Front Office subscribers:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/04/the-giants-should-consider-a-ro...

I agree with pretty much everything there. Never loved the "Hicks as a starter" gambit, personally. Just put him in the 'pen and let him throw a zillion miles per hour.
Brian Cashgod
1:31
Which under .500 team is more likely to miss the playoffs? Orioles or Braves
Steve Adams
1:31
Which sub-.500, expected contender, is likelier to miss the postseason?
Orioles (69.8% | 309 votes)
 
Braves (30.2% | 134 votes)
 
Total Votes: 443
1:32
Blue Jays announce that they've reinstated Daulton Varsho and optioned Will Wagner.
Lieutenant Dan
1:32
Dansby Swanson has struggled so much early on. Craig Counsell is still batting him 5th. Do you think it's another undisclosed injury and he's not speaking up?
Steve Adams
1:35
Swanson runs too well to keep hitting .100 on grounders. The average big leaguer is hitting .244 on grounders this year. He's at .100, despite a career average of .251 on ground-balls.

The jump in K% is a concern, but I think Swanson's rate stats will trend up before all that long
Fwiw, I've definitely got the Orioles in that prior poll.
1:36
I didn't pick them to make the playoffs before the season, and they're six under .500 with a -38 run differential. The pitching always looked suspect, at best, and it's been worse than could've been realistically envisioned so far.
Marlins guy
1:37
This team get a ton of hate, but I really like what they are building. Solid young core of hitters and if healthy, the pitching with Meyers, Perez, and Weathers looks formidable.
Steve Adams
1:40
When you do nothing to try to improve over the course of two full offseasons, you're going to catch some flak, I suppose.

I like Max Meyer, Eury Perez and Ryan Weathers to varying extents. Early returns on Agustin Ramirez are good. Rest of the the roster, the lineup in particular, does little to excite me unfortunately. Stowers/Norby contact issues are glaring. Edwards is regressing hard from last year's BABIP spike.

I think they're still a good ways off from contending in earnest.
Rock Dog
1:41
Any chance the Rockies trade Brenton Doyle? If yes, what would a package for him look like?
Steve Adams
1:43
Trying to remember the last time the Rockies traded ANY even reasonably established homegrown player with multiple seasons of club control left (let alone 4 seasons). Probably Corey Dickerson in 2015? I suppose Arenado, but that was obviously under very different and unique circumstances.

General point: I would put the chances at under 5%. Probably closer to 1-2%.

But 4+ seasons of a plus-plus CF defender with 20-homer power and 30-steal speed ... it'd have to be a substantial return. Multiple 50 FV prospects headlining.
Nolan A
1:44
Steve, I would agree with you on Helsley but I think they need Feede only because three of their top minor leaguers are on the IL . I wouldn’t have said that two weeks ago.
Steve Adams
1:45
They could've traded Fedde in the offseason and signed Gibson or Heaney or any number of late-lingering free agents to backfill the innings if they were concerned about the depth.

Now, sure, they need Fedde. But hanging onto him in the offseason just feels unnecessarily risky.
The Worst
1:45
Can the Rockies beat the White Sox for worst all time iyo?
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