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Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat with Steve Adams: 2/3/25
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Steve Adams
12:58
Good afternoon, all! Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. I'll get this going in a couple hours, but feel free to shoot some questions my way ahead of time if you prefer!
2:59
Greetings! Let's get underway
Thank you for the chat!
2:59
Is Correa more attractive now in light of current contracts? Can he play 2B/3B? If so, what would a trade to the Yanks look like?
Steve Adams
3:01
I think he'd have value given the relatively short-term nature of the deal -- four guaranteed years remaining -- and the production he's posted when healthy since returning to the Twins. But he has a full no-trade clause and the Twins have been pretty vocal about wanting to keep him/Buxton/Lopez. I don't really see him as a realistic trade candidate (though yes, he'd be a very good 3B if MN ever actually considered moving him)
Ethan
3:01
Adolis Garcia a good fit to play RF for the Pirates? Rangers could get Kyle Nicolas/Mike Burrows to be a long-term, intriguing bullpen piece, then sign Randal Grichuk to spell Taveras/Carter. Pirates badly need an actual bat in the middle of the order
Steve Adams
3:04
In a vacuum, sure, but Burrow/Nicolas doesn't really move the needle for me for Adolis, even with last year's down season. You're still talking two years of Garcia, and he's not far removed from a legitimately excellent season. Moving him for a reliever with minimal experience (and, in Nicolas' case, poor command) doesn't really seem all that appealing.
Neon Cactus
3:04
When Ohtani returns to pitchiing and the Dodgers have to clear a starting rotation spot, who's the odd man out?  Do May and Gonsolin have any options left?
Steve Adams
3:05
Gonsolin technically has an option left, but 20 days into the season he'll hit five years of MLB service and at that point can't be optioned without his consent. May is already at that point.
I don't think you need to fret about who the odd man out will be. Injuries will probably open a spot organically.
Feury
3:06
Could the Brewers be the surprise mystery team with Bregman? A 1 yr with an opt put would be perfect for what their system has coming, he would replace Adames bat in the middle of the order, and he plays the spot in the IF they need, they have an extra draft pick.... they've done basically nothing all offseason.... I can only recall them doing it once before (Yasmani Grandal), but wouldnt now be a perfect time, while they still are on top of the division?
Steve Adams
3:07
I'd be stunned for a number of reasons -- not sure if it'd be more surprising because the Brewers have basically no money to spend or because Bregman is intent on finding a long-term deal. If he were open to a short-term deal that put him back on the market next winter, he'd have already signed by now in all likelihood.
Baseballisthebest
3:07
Are the Red Sox done adding to the pitching staff or could we see either a reunion with Pivetta or a 2nd blockbuster trade? For Cease?
Steve Adams
3:07
I think a Pivetta reunion or Cease acquisition are both perfectly plausible. Writing up something on Cease right now and outlining the Sox as one of the teams that line up nicely with the Padres
Evil GM
3:08
Strictly as a point of curiosity, is it possible for a team to pick up the option of a player no longer on the 40 man roster? For example, could a team like the Marlins exercise Avisail Garcia's player option for '26 next offseason? Can't imagine they would as they couldn't place in the lottery 3 years in a row, but just kicking ideas around for the next rebuild.
Steve Adams
3:09
He's been released from that contract so they wouldn't be able to, no. (Though as you said -- not sure why they'd want to anyhow, ha)
ATL fan
3:09
Sale, Lopez have durability concerns. Strider is coming back from injury. With Flaherty off the board and SD wanting a Soto-like haul for 1 year of Cease, who do you see AA targeting?
Steve Adams
3:11
Cease. I don't think they're going to make any sort of middling addition to the staff. I like Andrew Heaney and Kyle Gibson well enough, for instance, but Atlanta has so many in-house options. If they're adding a starter, seems like it'll be a high-end upgrade and not someone who might just be a back-end innings eater.
Posey fan
3:12
You gave an assessment of my team last week. I want to say I agree to some extent. Regarding Luciano I'm more inclined to play him in the outfield and give him reps with Sacramento. His infield defense plus his reactions and range aren't the best. When he was younger before signing with us he played the outfield.  Matos could very well break camp with us. We have some quality young pitchers which reminds me of my younger years.
Steve Adams
3:16
I'm just not that high on Luciano or Matos. Luciano is down to his last option year, has been below-average in two AAA seasons and his "improved" contact skills last year still had him K'ing at about 27% in Sacramento.

Matos has better contact skills -- very good, in fact -- but doesn't really hit the ball hard and didn't hit all that well in AAA last year. I'm more bullish on him just because he lacks the contact concerns and has more defensive floor.

Neither strikes me as a critical piece of the Giants' future at this point, but hopefully for SF fans I'm wrong!
Michael B
3:16
So, the standoff between the Mets and Pete Alonso is closing in on “the ridiculous”.  Maybe not today, but in the next week or so.  Why wouldn’t the team cut bait and pivot to an alternate solution now, so everyone has a settled?  Also, do you really believe that it might be Vientos at 1B and Baty at 3B, or do the Mets try to bring in Bregman, or make a trade for a 1B or 3B?
Steve Adams
3:19
I don't think the Mets will sign Bregman regardless of the Alonso outcome. The trade market doesn't have a ton of compelling 1B/3B options, though if they want to leave Vientos at 3B they could go after LaMonte Wade Jr. or Spencer Torkelson or something. (Tork more of a project/depth guy... Wade as a plug-and-play platoon option at 1B)

I don't find the standoff all that ridiculous. I think a lot of fans get weary of protracted free agency sagas, but I dunno ... there's tens of millions of dollars at stake for players, and the front office people who make these calls are hired/fired on the merits of their ability to build a roster. It's not nuts to me that there's trepidation both ways and that sometimes things just take awhile.

But, I get being sick of seeing Alonso headlines and just wanting some kind of resolution.
3:20
I've always enjoyed that aspect of free agency and trades, even before I ever was working here full-time. It's part of what attracted me to write here, ha. I love that the baseball offseason runs from November through March and has activity the whole time. Makes baseball a year-round hobby/passion/source of entertainment
Dylan Cease
3:20
What kind of package would the NY Mets have to give to the Padres to trade for me?
Steve Adams
3:24
I imagine the Padres would want immediate rotation help (Peterson, Megill, Sproat) and at least one instant option to plug into the lineup (Brett Baty with an eye toward putting him in LF?) Not saying all three of those pitchers plus Baty, to be clear, and the strength of the secondary/tertiary pieces is dependent on which arm(s) you include.

But generally, an MLB-ready SP and bat with some additional pieces depending on the strength of the two two names. Sproat+Baty on its own feels compelling to me, but the Mets might well consider that an overpay.
Youkilyptus
3:24
You’re gonna love this idea.  Nick Pivetta signs with the Red Sox for the QO amount.  Then with his CONSENT, the Sox trade him to a prearranged team for a minor prospect return.  Win, win, win.
Steve Adams
3:26
I don't think that really works for either party. The concept inherently suggests that the prospect package is worth less than the pick(s) the eventual acquiring team would give up to just sign Pivetta outright. That doesn't make it seem like it'd be all that compelling for the Red Sox, so why bother from their end? If the acquiring team is actually going to give up a better package, then just sign Pivetta outright and punt the picks.
BILL G.
3:26
How do the Pirates avoid the lack of spending pitfalls that have plagued the A's & Marlins?
Steve Adams
3:28
Well, they've been threatened by the MLBPA for a potential revenue-sharing grievance in the past, but it was dropped as part of the latest CBA talks. (Rays, Marlins were in the same boat). The Bucs also had a $122MM CBT number last year and $96MM the year prior. The A's were living in the $60-80MM range for four straight years after already having their revenue-sharing status revoked once.
baseball gods laugh and laugh
3:29
Do you think the Flaherty template of front loading before an opt out will become a common thing? I feel like Alonso could get something similar with a slightly higher 1st year and an extra year with a 2nd opt out ($30m/23m/20m).
Steve Adams
3:29
I don't think it's really unique to Flaherty. Bellinger's deal, for instance, is structurally similar and was heavily frontloaded. He'll make $60MM of his possible $80MM in the first two years if he opts out following the 2025 season
Chris H
3:30
How much of a difference do you think an Eovaldi signing or a Cease trade would make to the Angels playoff chances?  Also, in a 5-man rotation, who would be the odd man out, Detmers?
Steve Adams
3:31
Eovaldi signed with Texas in December. I don't think the Angels could formulate as compelling a package for Cease as other suitors (e.g. Orioles, Red Sox, Braves, Cubs, etc)
Cricket sound
3:31
Would you agree this weekend was surprisingly quiet? Flaherty finally got signed, but with less than 2 weeks till pitchers report in I figured at least one of Bregman or Alonso would've come off the board.
Steve Adams
3:33
I think the past week in general has been pretty active. Flaherty, Polanco, Scherzer, Kahnle, Estevez, Kim, Stanek, Hays, Elias Diaz, Yates' deal finalized... Taylor Rogers trade. Ryan Pressly not long before that.
LetsPlayTwo
3:33
Is MLBTR doing fantasy baseball specific chats again this year?
Steve Adams
3:33
Yeah Nicklaus Gaut will be starting them back up this month
Cat Herder
3:34
Does yesterday's addition of Flarhety impact Detroit's chances on Bregman?  Seen conflict that it could be bait to get him, or a back up plan if they don't.  What say you Steve?
Steve Adams
3:34
Plenty of payroll space for both, and the Tigers' long-term books are pretty clean. No reason for me to think they can't still go after him
Lefty
3:35
What could a Yoshida trade/contract dump from Bosox to SF look like? Giants need a LH DH/OF and Boston could use salary relief to pursue FA
Steve Adams
3:37
In general, Red Sox fans seem to think Yoshida is far more tradeable than I do. If the Sox paid, I don't know, $40MM of the $54MM left on his contract, maybe you find a taker, but I just don't see how they dump the deal. You're talking like 15-HR power, below-average speed/defense, a bad walk rate ... if Yoshida were a free agent would he get more than a cheap one-year deal? I tend to think no.
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