Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
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3:14 & 3:29. I see the Tigers spending this off season like KC did last off season.
That blowtorch to the Angels fan’s optimism got me
Yeah, but truthful. He was a “trade Trout’ guy who ignores Trout’s NTC.
Right before the start of this season, there was a White Sox fan in one of these chats that contended that they would surprise people and could finish with a record at or over .500. This Angels fan is similarly optimistic.
Reasonable optimism for an Angels fan is “hey, I don’t think they’ll finish last in the AL West this year.”
Any Angels fan that thinks they’re going to be good in this decade is smoking some pretty good crack. I haven’t watched a team this bad since Charlie Finley gave away all his players in the late 70s.
Steve – You’re one of my favorite writers and you nailed it on the O’Neill QO response, but trades contingent on extensions happen more often than practically never.
Last offseason Glasnow: cbssports.com/mlb/news/tyler-glasnow-contract-exte…
And Sale, who talked to AA before the trade and signed an extension just 5 days after the trade: nytimes.com/athletic/5179077/2024/01/04/chris-sale…
Sonny Gray to the Yanks in 2019: espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25818687/reds-complete-tra…
There’s others, it just makes sense as a way to satisfy all three parties – the player who wants the security of an extension, the receiving team that wants more than a short term rental for the prospects it’s sending, and the sending team that would like to receive more compensation in a trade.
Actually, the Cubs are not “hoping Bellinger opts out”.
Sure, Bellingers over all numbers were not all that impressive but look a little deeper, he missed time due to a broken Rib and a broken finger, those clearly effected his power coming back. June and July are typical power peaks for all players, especially in Wrigley, Belly only hit two home runs combined in those months. Aside from those months, Bellinger hit well and drove in quite a few runs.
In addition to that, Suzuki is not a strong defender in right where Bellinger is a fantastic defender in right field. Having Bellinger primarily playing right with Suzuki DH stregthens the team quite a bit and also gives the Cubs insurance at CF and first base Cubs would love to have Bellinger back on a one year 27.5 million dollar deal.
Cubs are in a win/win situation with Belly right now, if he opts in, great! The offseason is really easy. If he opts out, also great! We have more financial flexibility.
I agree that Belli makes the Cubs better. But I also agree with Steve. They hope he opts out, but don’t expect he will. They could make better use of that 25 mil. I also agree with Tim, going over the luxury tax limit by a little is bad management. If they did indeed go over the tax limit in ’24, they probably want to stay under in ’25. The Cubs do not operate like other big market teams. “Cost be damned” is not their motto. They prefer to pretend like they are in the same market as their divisional mates.
Try to keep Belli in the fold. Cubs are so close to being post reason relevant. Having players with playoff experience in the fold is a must. And of course it goes with out saying, but Belli has been there a ton and with relevancy.
Although the Cubs didn’t make the playoffs, they are in great position for next year.
At the end of 23, the Cubs had question marks at third, center, first base and holes in the rotation.
Flash forward to the end of 24, long term solutions for first, third and center, the rotation looks very solid, a pitcher emerged as a potential closer for many years to come and a fat farm system.
The Cubs are going into the offseason with zero heavy lifting that is required. The Cubs need to fix their bench, it was awful. I’d love to see them land a TOR starter and a solid bullpen arm. Of course, priority number one is getting guys their flintstones vitamins with extra calcium
I thought that was a very well done chat, Steve. Concise, yet substantive answers and you covered a lot of ground. Pretty cool, pretty cool.
3:08 Could you see SF pursuing Gleyber?
Steve Adams:
3:09 … there’s no real reason to think Torres doesn’t fit there.
Assuming Posey also wants to improve the IF defense, I can think of a big reason why he doesn’t.