Headlines

MLBTR Chat Transcript

By | at April 21, 2026 12:53pm CDT

Steve Adams

  • Good morning! We’ll get going at 1pm CT, but as always, feel free to ask questions ahead of time.
  • Good afternoon! Let’s get started a little arly.
  • Early, even.

Green Monster

  • Any chance someone other than Tanner Scott will pick up all the Dodgers’ saves with Diaz going on the IL?

Steve Adams

squinky

Steve Adams

  • Lots of early closer questions. I can tell fantasy season is in full swing! Ha
  • Hoffman has struck out 45% of the opponents he’s faced. I know he had the one really bad outing and another two-run hiccup, but yeah, he’s going to hold onto it as long as he’s missing bats anywhere close to this level. He faced four hitters last night and fanned three of them in a scoreless frame.

Spencer Arrighetti

Steve Adams

  • They don’t even need him to be an ace — they just need someone (multiple someones) to be passable, credible starters.I don’t think Arrighetti has the command to consistently perform like a mid-rotation arm, and it’s a little worrying that his velo’s down a bit. He’s a fourth/fifth starter at best for me, but even consistent fouth starter production would be big for Houston right now

David

  • Cade Horton will be out for about 16 months following Tommy John surgery. Will this affect his timeline for becoming arbitration eligible and then a free agent?

Steve Adams

  • No, he’ll accrue service time on the major league injured list that whole time.

Boys in Blue

Steve Adams

  • Sheehan and Roki. I know the latter has struggled, but we saw the bullpen upside last October and the raw stuff/talent is the highest of the bunch.You can take your pick of the others … I like Wrobleski well enough but he lacks the ceiling of a Sasaki or Sheehan. I have minimal faith in Stone staying healthy. I don’t think you’re getting much/anything for Miller at this point.

ZacharyA

  • What’s a small-ticket item you’d personally like to see in the next CBA?

Steve Adams

  • All draft picks eligible to be traded
  • Does that count as small-ticket? I suppose relative to the salary cap/floor or an international draft, it feels “small”-ish? Maybe that’s too large, but it’s so silly to me that it’s not allowed.

Dunk

  • I understand the importance of the Cardinals rebuild, but if they remain in contention through the summer I’d be extremely disappointed if the team continues to dump players like Riley O’Brien at the deadline. As a fan, to watch a club fight for the playoffs all summer long, only for the front office to tank those chances for a couple of lottery ticket prospects would feel like a waste of my time. Especially with a lockout looming. I doubt I’m the only one that would find it hard to return as a fan if I spend a summer rooting for a club only to have the FO ruin my fall.

Steve Adams

  • I just don’t think the Cardinals have anywhere near the pitching for this to be a consideration in a few months. The rotation’s strikeout rate is around 14.5%, which feels almost impossibly low in today’s game.I feel like if they somehow managed to hang around in contention, the likelier play would be to shop impending free agents but hang onto potentially longer-term pieces like O’Brien (although he’s already 31, so if they sold high, eh … I’d get it)

Braden Shewmake

  • Why did the Astros trade for me?

Steve Adams

  • They have two shortstops on the injured list and just need a placeholder. I wouldn’t read much into it beyond that.

Angels fan

  • Are we really considering trading Soriano

Steve Adams

  • They should be open to it this summer, but they almost certainly won’t be. Arte Moreno has never green-lit that sort of future-looking move (hence the near-perennially bottom-of-the-league farm system).

CBA-Braves

  • what are the chances we get a salary floor? Chances we get a salary cap? (percentages) – If the owners are fully on board with not moving off salary cap demands then how long with the lockout last? your best guess at least

Steve Adams

  • I have consistently said in these, and still firmly believe, there won’t be any games missed, nor will a cap/floor system be implemented.I don’t think ownership would shoot itself in the collective foot with business booming, national streaming/broadcast rights deals up in 2028 and expansion possibly on the horizon now that the A’s stadium situation seems resolved (and perhaps with TB trending in that direction, though I remain skeptical there).

Giants fan

  • If you can count out the Cards despite having a winning record in April, can you count out the Giants in April with their losing record?

Steve Adams

  • I didn’t pick the Giants to make the playoffs and do not have regrets about doing so
  • Poorly worded — haha … no regrets on choosing them to miss the postseason

Guardians of the Galaxy

  • Juan Brito has been struggling and his defense has been substandard. Do you see Cleveland bring up Bazzana for a cup of coffee before Arias returns or will they keep him in Columbus until he hits so much that he cannot be held back anymore?

Steve Adams

  • I don’t understand why Bazzana isn’t already up. Neither Arias nor Rocchio has ever hit an ounce. (Well, Arias finally did in his 80 PA or so before getting hurt this year, but I’m not buying it as sustainable, given his 59% contact rate)My only assumption is that Cleveland is content to keep him down, make sure they get the seventh year of control, and are willing to punt any possible PPI benefits in pursuit of that goal. That didn’t stop them from carrying DeLauter, but it’s still the only logical explanation I can really see.

Mickey Scales

  • Dana Brown was in Atlanta’s front office when they drafted Shewmake, FWIW.

Steve Adams

  • I’m aware. Might have played a small role in it, but probably not a major one. He didn’t rush to claim Jared Shuster or anything when the Cards DFA’ed him, haha.

Next CBA

  • Can they please remove the DH from both leagues and let the pitchers hit for themselves again? I’d love a return to old school baseball.

Steve Adams

  • Won’t happen, and I personally wouldn’t want it to. I have no desire to watch a bunch of dudes hit .140 and probably break their fingers trying to bunt the 98-102mph filth that permeates today’s game.

Brealow

  • I should bring back Lucas G huh?

Steve Adams

  • I don’t think it’s all that necessary, and I think the ship has to an extent sailed anyhow.Red Sox have Crochet, Suarez, Early and Bello locked into spots right now. Obviously Bello/Crochet have struggled (really just the one start for Crochet), but I don’t have major long-term concerns in either direction. Sonny Gray‘s hamstring thing doesn’t sound all that serious. Payton Tolle, Jake Bennett and Tyler Uberstine are on the 40 in AAA.

    Signing Giolito pushes the Sox more than halfway toward to the third luxury tax tier, and he’d need several weeks to ramp up in the minors anyhow. Gray might be back by that point.

    There are other teams with more concrete needs.

FanBoy

  • Much has been made about Lucas Giolito still being available, but are you surprised that Tyler Anderson is still available & hasn’t signed a contract of any kind?

Steve Adams

  • 36 years old, averages 89ish on his fastball, doesn’t miss bats. It’s not a profile teams care for these days. He’s also coming off a three-year, $40MM deal and has earned more than $55MM in his career overall. He might not want to sign for $2-3MM when he has a family and already has more money than he’ll probably ever spend.

Aaron

  • With all the pitchers the Yankees currently have (high end: Cole, Fried, Rodon – potential: Schlittler, Gil, Weathers, Schmidt, Warren – top prospects: Lagrange, Rodriguez) will the Yankees use it as an excuse not to pursue Tarik Skubal?

Steve Adams

  • I’d be surprised if they’re not in on him. They have around $60MM in salary coming off the books just in free agents, before considering any possible non-tenders or eventual trades. Could easily turn and try to condense some of that younger pitching into help elsewhere on the roster, or just preserve all the depth since they know they’ll need a lot of it anyway. I’d expect pretty much every big-market, high-payroll club to be on Skubal to an extent next winter.

Timo

  • What do you think happens when dylan crews returns? Does James wood dh full time?

Steve Adams

  • They’ll just rotate Wood/Crews/Lile through the corners and DH. If anything, I’d give Daylen Lile more time at DH. He was so, so bad in the outfield last year. Can hit though!

Omaha

  • There is no way the Twins can stay a .500 team with the poor defense and bullpen.  Tom Pohlad seems like lip service.  Who all do you see traded between now and the deadline to beef up our up and coming farm system prior to the sale of the Twins (which will happen after the 2027 lock out), and what kind of return do you envision?

Steve Adams

Frankie7

  • I just saw a report that the dodgers want to trade Dalton Rushing and James Tibbs for mason miller because of the edwin diaz injury. As a padres fan I am torn because dalton rushing is good but campusano has been doing good and also Mason miller is a beast. Doubt this trade will happen though. inter division trade. Thoughts?

Steve Adams

  • That “report” is from a parody account on Twitter.

Randy Potemkin

  • Are the Padres proving a great bullpen is more valuable than a great rotation?

Steve Adams

  • Any team can win in a monthlong sample, and there are lots of paths to doing it. There are countless examples of teams with great bullpens who haven’t contended. In general, absolute statements along those lines tend to lack nuance and ignore context.I’d prefer a dominant rotation to a dominant bullpen, but stacking one while ignoring the other isn’t a recipe for long-term success regardless.

FM

  • What’s your take on the Ohtani rule?

Steve Adams

  • I find the fact that Craig Counsell whined to the media about the rule far more “bizarre” than the rule itself.

Mets reset

  • Is Juan Soto part of the solution to righting the ship or could the Mets deal him before the deadline this year?  What would you do?

Steve Adams

  • I would put the chances of a Juan Soto trade somewhere around 0.003%.

Speaking of Giolito

  • Speaking of Giolito, doesn’t Houston make sense? They have a million injured guys and need innings badly.

Steve Adams

  • Absolutely, but their owner, Jim Crane, tends to be pretty averse to paying the luxury tax and they’re only about $10MM shy of it right now

Everyfan

  • Do you think a much more severe luxury tax coupled with a floor gets things done instead of a cap to avoid a lost 2027 season

Steve Adams

  • I think they should just enforce the de facto floor they have. Teams are supposedly required to spend a certain portion of their revenue sharing dollars, and yet you’ve got Cleveland running a $60MM payroll, which to me is more of a joke than the Mets/Dodgers trotting out $300MM+ payrolls.

Ron Blomberg

  • I agree with “Next CBA.”  Get rid of the DH.  But ehy won’t consider it becuase they think we just want more big musclebound sluggers to hit 40 homers and strike out 400 times.And no amount of evicence witll convince them otherwise.But then, the game’s marketing people insist that you can’t market the game.

Steve Adams

  • Ratings are up. Attendance at its highest rate in years. Money coming in hand over first from streaming deals with Netflix, Apple, NBC, etc.You may prefer the no-DH era, but there’s a good bit of evidence to suggest there’s a pretty substantial portion of the fan base that either feels otherwise or doesn’t feel strongly enough about it to turn away.

    I grew up watching AL ball, so I’m admittedly biased to an extent, but pitchers hitting was always boring to me, and I don’t buy the fact that there was “more strategy” in that version of the game. The strategic components are just different now (and better, IMO).

Nico Hoerner

  • I seem to be good for 6-7 WAR per year.  That puts me comfortably over 70 WAR for a career (25 war already).  Am I on a sneaky hall of fame career trajectory?

Steve Adams

  • He has exactly one six-WAR season in his career and has never reached 7 WAR (per either B-Ref or FanGraphs). He’s only 28, so hey, maybe he stays healthy, piles up 2500+ hits and wins a bunch of Gold Gloves, but I would take “no” side of a Hoerner HOF bet here.

Reds Fan

  • Can we keep it up? can’t see the offense being this bad all year and could you imagine louder and burns out of the bullpen when lodolo and green come back

Steve Adams

  • I think the offense will improve. Stephenson’s not going to keep running a sub-.200 BABIP. Steer’s chasing more right now, but given where his contact levels are at, I don’t think he’s going to keep punching out at a 30-31% clip. McLain’s a weird one, but I remain semi optimistic. He’s taking tons of walks, not striking out much. He’s not hitting the ball hard whatsoever, but during spring training he averaged 93 mph off the bat with a 57% hard-hit rate in a sample not all that much smaller than his current regular-season one. Hector Rodriguez looking good in AAA.

TxDude

  • Do you think any hitters from the old years of baseball (Ruth, etc) could hit today’s pitchers? Velocity and movement is just insane now

Steve Adams

  • Depends. Are you magically teleporting peak Babe Ruth to modern day ball? Like he just wakes up in 2026, still playing for the Yankees, and has to go try to hit Tarik Skubal or Mason Miller or Paul Skenes? No chance, in my mind.But if you bring 1920s Babe Ruth to 2026 and give him time to work with trainers, buy into the whole host of new … everything …. about the game, etc., I’m sure there’s innate talent that could be coaxed out and developed.

    But in general, I think the physicality and superior optimism of modern players would bowl over players lifted directly out of a prior era. Even today’s hitters can’t touch Mason Miller!

Victor Scott III

  • Will I breakout of my slump or continue my downward spiral

Steve Adams

  • I just don’t think Victor Scott is going to hit major league pitching. Fine bench player in a classic speed/defense reserve outfielder, but his bat is just so light.

Carter Stewart

  • Am I a 2027 Major Leaguer?

Steve Adams

  • Man, that’s a name I haven’t contemplated in a bit.
  • Stewart was the 8th overall pick by Atlanta several years ago, didn’t sign, and went to Japan instead
  • He’ll be 27 this offseason, doesn’t miss tons of bats or have great command. I could still see someone signing him with a good showing, sure, but he probably hoped the NPB gambit would work out better for him than it has.

MC Kitties

  • I really struggle with this. Do you keep Skubal all year for a playoff win or two and just let him walk getting nothing in return or do you trade one of the best starting pitcher for a nice haul and go for it all next year?

Steve Adams

  • Keep Skubal. What are the Tigers even doing if they trade him? “We want to win a World Series, but we’d rather have a ‘sustainable’ contention window where we hope we can stumble into having multiple Skubal-esque talents under control for more years?”Go for it now. And then just pay the guy to stay. Everyone acts like it’s a foregone conclusion that he’ll just walk, but my gosh, the Tigers’ only players signed beyond 2027 are Framber Valdez (who’s signed through ’28 but can opt out after ’27), Kevin McGonigle and Colt Keith.
  • Even if you subscribe to the belief that the Tigers can’t consistently run a $200MM+ payroll — I do not, but that’s a separate discussion — they have nothing on the long-term books. They can pay Skubal $45MM per year — more than that! — and still build a good team around him.I often think the “Yeah, but the end of that contract will be so bad” argument is justifiable, but Skubal is a Detroit legend already who’s one of the clear best pitchers in baseball (THE best, for me), and you’re buying beginning at age 30. I get it, the final few years will suck, but when you’re talking about the literal best in the business squarely in his prime, and with SO many cheap/good young players to put around him (McGonigle, Clark, Dingler, eventually Rainer and Briceno) … just pay the man.
  • But even if you know he’s going to walk, I still keep him and try to win now. Your best chance to win a World Series is the one with Skubal+Framber leading the staff.

AcesLow

  • What does SEA do if LCastillio has a 5.00 ERA at the break?  they now have several viable replacements looming but he’s been such a fixture it’s hard to see him getting bumped from rotation this year if healthy…

Steve Adams

  • I wouldn’t be too concerned about that. He’s made four starts: one very good, two clunkers, and one fine. Velo’s right in line with last year (sinker’s actually up a bit). Command is still good. Swinging-strike rate down a bit… I doubt he’s getting back to peak strikeout levels, but if Castillo keeps running a 20 K%, 8 BB% and 40 BB% in that park, he’s going to be fine. Maybe he’s more of a 4.00 to 4.25 ERA guy now than the mid-3.00s we’re used to, but that’s fine.

Card fan since 85

  • So far so good! Still “rebuilding?!”

Steve Adams

  • They have a bottom-five rotation in MLB for me, so yeah, I’m not buying it. Fun start though, and some exciting steps from Walker, Wetherholt, Burleson and others.
  • Well maybe not huge steps forward for Burleson, but just doing what he did last year is good!

Johnny U

  • Any thoughts on the Reds acquiring an upgrade to their OF….as of now their currently rostered players are combined hitting is abysmal

Steve Adams

  • They need a better outfield and needed one in the offseason. They signed JJ Bleday. Which … I mean, fine as a low-cost roll of the dice in a vacuum. But when that’s the only upgrade to the outfield, woof. It’s hard for the front office with ownership not really supporting much in the way of spending, but I’d much rather have spent that Emilio Pagan money on a Ryan O’Hearn or worked out some kind of trade to meaningfully address the group.

Ghost

  • Give me some positivity about the White Sox.

Steve Adams

Jungian

  • Can Jung be a 120 wRc+ hitter this year? early signs look promising

Steve Adams

  • Contact gains are super encouraging, and I say that as someone who was pretty much just out on Josh Jung before the season started. Obviously would like to see it over a larger sample, but it’s pretty hard to luck your way into significant contact/swing decision gains.I am curious to see how he reacts the first time he runs into a slump. Even his own organization has kind of called him out in the past for pressing too much when things aren’t going well.

    If he’s still making good swing decisions, getting hard contact, etc. but runs into a 3-for-29 due primarily to some crappy luck, is he going to get impatient and start chasing everything and trying to force his way out of it? That sort of thing is unpredictable, but I do think there’s some legitimacy to the early uptick at the plate. Swinging less, making more contact — especially in the zone — etc.

CHISOX FAN

Steve Adams

  • Another fun thing for the Sox! Any 6’10” pitcher, sign me up.

Breakouts

  • Which breakouts (pitcher or hitter/fielder) are you buying and which ones are you suspect of?

Steve Adams

  • https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/6-potential-breakout-arms-to-wa…
  • Alright, I’ve got to wrap up for the week. I’m on X @Adams_Steve and Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social.If you want more opinions and analysis from the MLBTR team, plus fantasy baseball advice, weekly subscriber-only chats/mailbags, ad-free viewing, access to our constantly growing suite of tools and databases (contract tracker, agency database, GM tracker, some fun payroll stuff coming down the pipeline), you can check out our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription.

    Thanks for chatting, and have a great week!

Share Repost Send via email
MLBTR Chats
Main
View Comments (1)
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors