JotCast | Trade Rumors Front Office Chat: 8/6/20

Trade Rumors Front Office Chat: 8/6/20

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Steve Adams

11:59

Hey everyone -- welcome to another Front Office chat! I'll get rolling shortly but feel free to start dropping questions.

12:02

Alright! Having some slight connectivity issues on my end, so hopefully that'll clear up and won't hobble us. Fingers crossed. Let's go!

Frank

12:02

Are you concerned about the increasing number of injuries (non-Covid) occurring to players? Did they try to get ready too quickly?

Steve Adams

12:05

I haven't looked at actual data on the number of injuries, so I don't know the extent of the increase, but it definitely seems as though there's been more. I think it was inevitable with the shortened ramp-up period -- particularly with some guys having even less time to prepare if they tested positive at intake and missed a week or two of Summer Camp. It's a concern, but that's also the reason they're not going to further shrink rosters beyond 28 players.

All that said, we also go through some iteration of this every year. There's always a glut of pitchers who go down with serious arm injuries early in the season as they build up, and our memories tend to be a bit selective and subject to recency bias. For probably each of the past five years, I've had readers ask in Spring Training or early April: "Why are there so many more Tommy Johns this year than last?"

12:06

In reality, it's just easier to forget some of the major injuries that happened a year or more ago. This year is an obvious exception, but I don't know that there's anything to be done about it. Managers will have to rest their stars and be as cautious as possible while still pushing to win each day. It's a fine line to walk.

Flergin

12:06

Okay so Antopoulos says it's near impossible to make a trade, speculating is dumb, but like...there's gotta be a way. Right? Just some hope to cling to!

Steve Adams

12:08

I think he's wise to downplay things, but the reality is that there will be some moves. Based on his history and the position the Braves are in, I think he'll be aggressive -- at least relative to other general managers. The Braves cannot realistically expect that a rotation of Fried, Newcomb, Touki and Wright is going to hold up through the East -- let alone in the postseason. Even if they bring up Ian Anderson and he hits the ground running, they need more than what they have.

Especially with the aforementioned injury risk seeming to be legitimately enhanced this year.

I'll be pretty stunned if the Braves don't add a starter of note in the next three-plus weeks, and I think they should do so sooner than later.

12:10

As a side note -- one of the new features we'll be rolling out weekly for subscribers is a column from me on deals that I think *should* happen. We try to stay away from being TOO opinionated and hot take-y on the site itself, but we'll delve into some of that world for our Front Office members. Look for something like that tomorrow or this weekend!

(The Braves may or may not play prominently into this week's piece, ha)

Marc

12:11

Enjoying these chats! So.. We’ll know more after the next week or so, but do you think the Cubs are for real?

Steve Adams

12:13

Thanks! Me too!

I just don't see a bullpen anchored by Rowan Wick and Jeremy Jeffress holding up over a larger period. Wick has been legitimately intriguing in his first 37 IP dating back to last year -- better than a K per frame, big GB% -- but it's still a limited sample and his swinging-strike rates are more good than great. Jeffress is obviously immensely talented but inconsistent as hell.

12:14

I expect the Cubs to be active in the bullpen market -- probably on pre-arb guys or free agents who inked low-cost deals with other clubs.

I'm also curious if they'll be one of the teams to take the plunge and tap into their 2020 draft class

12:15

Their second pick, Burl Carraway, is a pure bullpen prospect with control issues but a triple-digit fastball from the left side. He's in their player pool, and pure relievers from the college ranks move fastest of all draft prospects.

Mr. Bean

12:15

How many people have signed up so far? How many do you expect?

Steve Adams

12:18

I'm actually not sure on the total number of subscribers. Tim handles all of that and a lot of the site's business facets (with input from us when needed), whereas Jeff/Connor/I manage the day-to-day of the site and the content itself.

I know in these chats we've been ranging from between 8 to 25 people at a given moment, and many subscribers submit questions ahead of time and read them after the fact. It's nice... I find the quality of the questions in the more intimate setting to be superior. And the limited attendees help me to make sure I can try to get to questions from everyone. (On that note, don't change your submission name constantly, ha -- I do try to get to questions from as many people as possible)

Frank

12:18

Is there any information coming out on the players who are in the "alternate sites" - they must be playing games. I haven't even seen a list of players on the so-called 5 man "taxi squads" - which were increased today.

Steve Adams

12:20

I spoke to an industry source after the concept of 60-player pools was announced to get clarity on what they were and how they worked, and they plainly said that teams aren't required or even encouraged to announce their taxi squads. They can, but that's decided on a team-by-team basis.

As for alternate site activity -- yeah, they're training, playing simulated games, etc. My understanding is that it functions similarly to Summer Camp with intrasquad games to keep players sharp and ready for a call to the Majors (or just to get prospects some semblance of developmental reps)

Bluejays4life

12:21

Is it likely the jays look to address their outfield weakness in the offseason? They need a true center fielder.

Steve Adams

12:23

The Jays have needed a better crop of outfielders in general for the past three years. I'm a little puzzled that they continue to acquire these post-hype OF prospects -- Teoscar, Fisher, McKinney -- and hope they're able to strike gold. They have so many similar players in that group.

It seems possible that either Austin Martin or Cavan Biggio ends up in the OF, which would address one spot, but I agree that they need outfield help -- specifically a center fielder.

12:24

The Jays spent big on Ryu last winter and added some other pieces of note. Their young core is bubbling to the surface of the big leagues. George Springer is out there, and there'll be other trade options on the market. It seems like they're ready to make an earnest effort to return to prominence in the East

Josh

12:25

Where do you place the odds on the expanded playoff format being here to stay (or if not next season, then in the new CBA for 2022)

Steve Adams

12:27

I don't know about the 16-team format, but I do think there'll be some lasting impact of this. Even if it's not worked in for 2021, there's so much money at stake for the owners that the MLBPA can easily use it as a leverage piece in CBA talks next year. I expect some permanent expansion of the field, which won't sit well with many fans -- but most changes to the game don't, it seems.

Illini Bill

12:27

Are there any good starting pitchers that might be available as a salary dump for my hungry and hurting White Sox?

Steve Adams

12:31

I think they'll wait to see what happens with Rodon before exploring that -- they made his injury sound relatively minor -- but yeah, there are plenty of options. As you'd expect, most of them aren't too exciting... but off the top of my head, for salary dump options:

Alex Cobb (Orioles)
Jeff Samardzija/Johnny Cueto (Giants)
Jordan Zimmermann (Tigers ... if he heals up)

Depending on how things go, we might see some other clubs look to move salary in the not too distant future

12:32

Mets and Porcello, for instance. Tigers and old friend Ivan Nova. Red Sox and Martin Perez

Angels, Julio Teheran

Flergin

12:33

If you're the Rangers, do you try and sell super high on Lance Lynn now, or wait til the deadline?

Steve Adams

12:33

Disclaimer: I think what I would personally do and what the Rangers will do is different.

12:35

But if it were me -- absolutely. There's not going to be much pitching available, and teams aren't going to want to part with much for rentals. Lynn is on a reasonable contract, he's 33, and Texas is 3-7. It's hard to imagine Lynn's value being higher than it is right now. He has more than a year of more or less elite pitching under his belt, which no one expected when he signed there.

12:36

The Rangers aren't a team that's going to seriously contend this year -- not with the injuries that have already hit them. Lynn is the type of guy that the Braves, White Sox, Phillies, and so many others would covet. Even some unexpected teams would probably be involved. No one thought the Mets were going to get Stroman last year

Same with Reds and Bauer

12:37

I think Texas is committed to trying to win with the new park opening, but you could move Lynn for some near-term MLB assets, reallocate his 2021 salary to offseason additions and come out in as good or better position as they'd be in with him.

Yankees roster crunch

12:38

I know the Yankees value their depth (and it certainly was a huge part of their success last year), but do you see Miguel Andujar's demotion leading to a trade?

Steve Adams

12:40

It just hasn't been how Cashman & Co. operate. We see it with Andujar and Frazier alike. We saw it with Chance Adams, whom they hung onto until they had to DFA him when he was out of options. They'd rather have the high-end depth in the event of injuries. I also think it speaks a little bit to the fact that some of those guys might not be as highly valued within the industry as fans would think. Andujar's glove has long been a pretty glaring concern that fans are more willing to overlook than teams are.

Matt Klentak

12:40

If I actually cared about putting together a decent bullpen, what arms are out there that I could target on the trade market?

Steve Adams

12:40

I think Klentak has shown that he badly does want to put together a good 'pen -- the moves just haven't panned out for the Phillies.

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