Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

Steve Adams

• Good afternoon! Hope you're all enjoying some spring and/or WBC games today. (I've got Panama/Cuba on at the moment!)We'll get started around 2pm CT, but feel free to start asking questions ahead of time, as always.
• Let's get underway!

Giolito

• Why isn't Giolito signed? Surely there's a place in the Athletics, Braves, Phillies, Padres or Astros rotations.

Stevie M

• Does Minnesota have a plan at all? The team doesn't strike fear in me. With Pablo out, should they sign Giolito? He's familiar with the Central. I don't know how effective he is anymore, but it's a thought.

Steve Adams

• I imagine Giolito went into the offseason looking for the kind of multi-year deal he might've been in line for were it not for that season-ending elbow scare, and it just wasn't there. Most clubs are probably looking at him as a one-year guy now, since the majority of offseason budgets have been spent.Especially with Profar's money being freed up, I'm surprised Atlanta hasn't signed him. He's a clear upgrade over the guys duking it out for the fifth spot (Joey Wentz, Bryce Elder, Jose Suarez), and the rest of the Braves' rotation is wrought with injury risk.
• All of that applies to Zack Littell, too.
• (Well, not the part about the elbow scare)
• Twins, too, make an easy and obvious fit for either Giolito or Littell. They've lost Lopez. Festa's shoulder is flaring up. Ryan already had a minor back thing. And the Pohlad du jour there, Tom, has spoken openly about wanting to be aggressive since stepping into the executive chair position
• With the other teams listed for Gio... he probably doesn't want a short-term deal to pitch in a hitter-friendly minor league park (A's), and he'd cost the Phillies more than double because of the luxury tax. Padres don't seem to have any money left (hence the cheap nature of all their late signings).Astros, I just disagree that they need him. Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Tatsuya Imai, Mike Burrows ... that's a pretty decent top four, and they have Ryan Weiss, Lance McCullers, Spencer Arrighetti, AJ Blubaugh, Colton Gordon and Miguel Ullola as options at the back of the rotation. Their owner, Jim Crane, also doesn't want to pay the luxury tax -- and they're about $10MM shy of it right now.

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