On the heels of yesterday’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on today:
1. Cy Young Award winners announced:
At 5PM CT, the winners of the Cy Young Award in each league are scheduled to be announced. In the American League, Tarik Skubal is considered the overwhelming favorite after the Tigers lefty led the majors with 228 strikeouts while posting a sterling 2.39 ERA in 192 innings of work. The other finalists in the AL are Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, who delivered a historic season out of the bullpen where he pitched to a microscopic 0.61 ERA while racking up 47 saves in 74 1/3 innings of work, and Royals right-hander Seth Lugo, who led the majors with 33 starts and posted a 3.00 ERA in 206 1/3 innings of work.
Meanwhile, the National League favorite is Braves southpaw Chris Sale. The veteran entered the year with seven career trips to the All-Star game under his belt but had fallen off the radar over the past half decade due to injuries. His first season in Atlanta may be the very best of his illustrious career, however, as he won the NL Triple Crown with an MLB-leading 2.38 ERA (2.09 FIP) in 177 2/3 innings of work while going 18-3 and striking out 225 batters (32.1 K%). Alongside Sale are Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler, who posted a 2.57 ERA in 200 innings of work with a 3.13 FIP, and Pirates youngster Paul Skenes, who already captured the NL Rookie of the Year Award following a dominant season where he pitched to a 1.96 ERA with a 33.1% strikeout rate but was limited to just 133 innings of work.
2. Will recent DFAs receive trade interest?
A number of interesting players were squeezed off their clubs’ 40-man roster by yesterday’s deadline, and teams will have five days to survey the league for trade interest before they’re forced to place those players on waivers and risk losing them for nothing. Among the notable players of interest to clubs could be former top outfield prospects Brennen Davis of the Cubs and George Valera of the Guardians, both of whom have looked impressive at Triple-A in the past but have dealt with a number of injuries that have thrown them off course. Jordyn Adams, who was the Angels’ first-round pick in 2018, is also available as a youngster who has a bit less prospect pedigree but has already gotten a taste of big league action.
Meanwhile, interesting relief options such as Adbert Alzolay, Richard Lovelady, and Bryan Mata all lost their spots, though each comes with his own warts. Lovelady found some success with the Rays this year but has generally struggled to produce at the big league level throughout his career. Mata has yet to make his big league debut due to a long stretch of injury woes. Alzolay underwent Tommy John surgery late in the season and figures to miss most of the 2025 campaign, but he was excellent for the Cubs in 2023 (2.67 ERA, 22 saves, 26.5 K%, 5.1 BB% in 64 innings).
3. MLBTR Chat today:
A busy day full of deadlines and transactions shook loose a pair of trades yesterday, and the even more significant non-tender deadline is due up later this week. Yesterday’s whirlwind delayed our usual weekday chat somewhat, but anyone with questions regarding Friday’s deadline or their favorite club’s plans for the offseason is in luck nonetheless as MLBTR’s Steve Adams will be hosting a live chat with readers today at 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join the chat when it begins, or read the transcript afterwards.
I don’t get why the Angels would give Jordyn Adams, a first-round pick with 40 SB speed fewer than 80 MLB ABs before cutting him loose. It’s not like he was being blocked by all-star caliber players. Maybe he can’t hit big league pitching but why not give him a few hundred at-bats to be sure?
Well, if you look at his career stats in MiLB
he had a slash line of .252/.333/.710
He just simply isn’t a good player, maybe he can steal 40 bags..but will that really help the angels?
He barely has power, and doesn’t Barrel up the ball, or make good contact.
Huge whiff for the angels on this draft pick,
MLB.com states the following:
“Even though his attention has been divided between two sports, he’s not extremely raw at the plate and has the upside of a .275 hitter with 15-20 home runs per season.”
But what we’ve seen from him in the minor and major leagues, he hasnt lived up to that potential at all, he could get a chance with another team, but it may be his last if he doesn’t preform.
It also doesn’t help the fact that there were way better players they could have drafted.
Now that they have Soler, and ward, and trout..well I guess not trout…but you get what I’m saying.
THey don’t need Adams, and since he didn do anything in the minor leagues or majors, why keep him? this gives them the chance to maybe trade or pick up someone else better.
If you look closer, he’s always been very young for the level he was on. He never made strides because the Angels did what they always do. They push you up even before you have mastered a level. He was rushed through the minors and the Covid year was at a very bad time for his development.
It’s entirely possible that he could figure it out, but someone needs to stick him in AA to build his confidence back up, and work with him on the issues in his swing.
He might never make it, he might never hit. But he’s got some pop, and wheels for days, and his glove is solid. He’s worth a little more effort. The Angels probably ruined him, but hopefully someone gives him a shot.
Reminds me a little of when they gave up on Bobby Jenks. That worked out pretty well.
Always a bad idea to give up when you still have time, but all the Angels ever do is rush their kids
@Steve
I somewhat agree…
I mean look what they did with Jo adell…oof…
Adams played 4 1/2 years of Rookie, A and A+ ball before he even sniffed AA. That doesn’t feel like the Angels moved him up too quickly. Sometimes the player just isnt as good as anticipated when drafted.
The Angels hardly have any qualified coaches in the minor league. Too many of prospects are wasted. That is why Minasian drafts high floor prospects and bring them up quickly.
Arte only spends on Major league roster and his billboard buddies.
All true but my point is that they gave Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell a combined 850+ ABs last season for a big .210 BA and .280 OBP in a year in which the team was going nowhere. They couldn’t find a couple hundred plate appearances for Adams on a historically bad team? Just another example of the ineptitude of the franchise from top to bottom.
@draker
Well, if I’m really gonna be honest, both adell and Moniak have higher upside than Adams.
Moniak has been dealing with a lot of injuries hence his low playing time..
Lets looks at moniaks stats last time he played more than 80 games:
a slash line of .280/.307/..495/.802 and 14 homers.
that’s good for a 2.2 WAR and 114 OPS+ pretty damn good I would say.
Now Adell….Also deals with injuries, and honestly had a OK season…albeit he hit 20 homers, his numbers were meh at best.
91 OPS+ he’s an OK fielder and has great bat speed.
Jordyn Adams is obviously a blazer on the base paths, and on the field.
Maybe Jordyn does better, but not with the angels, and I think and hope adell and Moniak live up, the potential is still there.
Adell and Moniak combined have over 1900 MLB plate appearances with a sub-.650 OPS. These are demonstrably putrid numbers not indicative of any “upside” at all. Running out these scrubs while cutting a good outfield defender with 90th percentile speed after just 78 ABs amounts to professional malpractice in my opinion.
Femboy: Are you sure .710 slugging is right? He must be getting long hits somewhere.
@avenger
My bad, I made a small mistake and put OPS for slugging.
That is not a bad slash line.
my guess without looking at any stats is that his bat lacks power or contact, even in the minors
Something is wrong with the website version since last night.
Stuff has been wonky for me for about a week… no notifications coming through, my bell doesn’t light up for incoming responses and thumbs up, Old Yorkie has been talking sense… nothing seems to be working right!
>.<
@Gwynning
Hmm…. I tried to reply to you and it automatically refreshed the page and it seems to be back to looking like a normal page again. Strange…
York – I was WONDERING why it’s been a few days since you’ve disagreed with me on something!
Now I know why, you haven’t been able to reply :’O(
@Gwynnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing
Same here :3 I click on the noti symbol and it doesn’t show up sometimes, super weird…and it makes it so I cant argue with people. :[
I fixed it… for one of you!
@.@
Haha cheers gents, happy humpday!
@Gwynning
Only when I click reply does it go back to normal. If I reload this page, it looks all messed up again.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Gwynning, Old York: I’ve been having trouble just getting the site to load up. I get the black square with MLB trade rumors, but it doesn’t always drop down even when I try to refresh it several times. Frustrating.
Gwynn – I was wondering why you never responded to my offer of Trevor Hoffman’s 500th save bobblehead.
Oh well …..
FPG- my address is… lol
Chris Sale had a tremendous year until we really needed him. He still deserves the Cy Young, but that was a lousy way to end such a strong campaign. Good thing my flooded and I was living out of a suitcase all October, so it wasn’t my biggest concern.
The way the Braves were hitting vs the Padres it wouldn’t have mattered if Sale, Strider, Maddux, Smoltz, & Glavine had been our playoff rotation.
Sadly, that’s probably accurate.
Touché
slow – what flooded?
Oops. My house… Helene. I’m in Western NC. Not sure how I skipped an entire word.
Sale had a tremendous year, but I hope Wheeler gets it. The greater inning total matters imho. Plus, Wheeler finished stronger. I will understand – and even expect – Sale to win though.
Wagner: I hope Sale wins it too. As a White Sox fan, cheering for all of the talent they gave away is all I’ve got.
avenger – I hafta agree with Nick, I think this year was Sale’s best ….. just slightly better than 2014.
What you think?
In the playoff era with so many teams trying to compete it is not likely dfa’d players will stick.
I really like adbert alzolay, if he can stay healthy like he did in 2020,2022, and 2023…he will be a threat in the closer role.
Someone will pick him up, pay him dirt cheap for 2025 and hope for a comeback in 2026.
Not much a Braves fan but do want Sale to win, would be such a great come back and a great mistake for Boston.
You really can’t blame Boston for trading him. He was coming off a few injured years and not too good when he did pitch. It was a gamble, but who’s to say he would have pitched that way in Boston?
He doesn’t need to win the Cy Young for everyone to know the trade was “a great mistake for Boston.” Unless Grissom morphs into Pedroia, that debate is settled
Skubal and Sale are pretty much the winners. They both had phenomenal seasons.
Another player worth a look who was squeezed out of a roster spot yesterday is JT Chargois. He doesn’t do anything special or unique in his bullpen role, but he is quietly effective and consistent. He isn’t a bullpen workhorse but he rarely blows the game as evidenced by his 3.35 ERA across the last 6-7 seasons.
are lefties more predisposed to winning cy young awards or am i just really stupid
There are distinct advantages to being a left-handed pitcher with above-average abilities.
Was curious myself. Only went back to 1990 due to time restraints.
4 in the 90s
8 00-10
6 10-20
2 20-23
Methinks Isaiah Campbell will be the gem from this DFA group.
Great stories for Skubal and Sale if they both win.
First time Cy Young winner at age 35 would be crazy.