MLBTR Is Seeking A Podcast Producer
As you may recall, MLBTR had a podcast that launched in October 2014 and ran for about a year and a half. It was hosted by the esteemed Jeff Todd, and we had a lot of fun.
We have decided to relaunch the MLB Trade Rumors podcast! This time, it will be hosted by Simon Hampton. In this 30-minute weekly show, Simon will bring on members of the MLBTR writing staff to analyze MLB transactions and to dig in on the sorts of topics we cover regularly on this site. We’ll be featuring some outside guests as well.
The show is not ready yet, because we need a producer. We’re seeking someone with experience as a podcast producer. This person will help us record the show, edit it, and put it on the various platforms. If you’re interested, please email us at mlbtrhelp@gmail.com and include your qualifications.
If you’re a podcast listener, we’d love your thoughts in the comments about what you’d like to hear (or not hear) in this show.
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former Yankees Pitcher Humberto Sanchez
If you were a diehard Yankees fan or prospect watcher about 15 years ago, you likely know the name Humberto Sanchez. A native of the Bronx, Sanchez was a 31st round pick by the Tigers in 2001, signing for $1MM as a draft-and-follow. Sanchez started for the World Team in the Futures Game in 2006, and in November he became the key piece in the trade that saw the Yankees send Gary Sheffield to the Tigers.
Before the 2007 season, Baseball America ranked Sanchez the 57th-best prospect in baseball, calling him “the young power arm New York lacked in Triple-A.” However, by April of 2007, Sanchez needed Tommy John surgery. Yankees GM Brian Cashman said, “I knew there was a chance [his elbow] needed to be fixed. But we looked at it long term and in 12 months we will have him back.” As it turned out, Sanchez would need a second procedure six months later, extending his recovery timeline.
17 months after the initial Tommy John surgery, Sanchez made it to The Show. He told Sean Brennan of the New York Daily News, “When you have surgery, it feels like your dream has died. After surgery you’re thinking your career is pretty much in jeopardy and (getting the call) seems out of reach. You don’t know if you’re going to come back.” Sanchez made his MLB debut at Yankee Stadium, entering in the top of the eighth with his team ahead by eight runs. He pitched a scoreless inning, striking out Paul Phillips and getting Jerry Owens and Jim Thome to ground out.
Sanchez entered another game out of the Yankees’ bullpen a week later. Though no one knew it at the time, Sanchez had thrown his last Major League pitch at the age of 25. He battled forearm tightness the following year, and the Yankees released him in April ’09. He re-signed on a minor league deal and picked up 35 2/3 innings across various minor league affiliates. Sanchez went on to pitch in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, later pitching in the Mexican and independent leagues. Facing eight batters was not the MLB career Sanchez or anyone else envisioned, but it can be a brutal game and at least he can say he pitched in the Majors.
For the past four years, Sanchez worked as a pitching coach for the Dominican Summer League Red Sox. At present, he’s preparing to start a logistics venture with his brother. You can find him on Instagram @Humbe528. Humberto chatted with MLBTR readers today, talking about his experience playing alongside Yankees legends, what his MLB debut felt like, what it was like being traded, and much more. Read the full transcript here.
If you’re a current or former MLB player and you’d like to chat with MLBTR readers, contact us here. It’s fun and easy, and you get to choose which questions you publish and answer.
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By MLB Outfielder Brent Rooker
After being drafted by the Twins in the 38th round out of Mississippi State, Brent Rooker went back to college for another year. That move paid off, as the Twins took him again in the first round in 2017. At the time, Baseball America ranked the outfielder/first baseman as a top 100 prospect in the game, writing, “He projects as a middle-of-the-order weapon with power as a strong carrying tool.”
Rooker reached Triple-A in 2019. The minor league season was cancelled in 2020, but Rooker was able to make his MLB debut in September of that year. In his sixth game in the Majors, he went deep off the Cardinals’ Daniel Ponce de Leon. Unfortunately, Rooker’s forearm was fractured on a hit-by-pitch not long after that.
The surgery for that injury went well, and Rooker was back in the bigs in April of ’21. The left fielder showed promise that year, popping nine home runs in 213 plate appearances for the Twins. One highlight: a four-hit effort against the Rays, including a home run off Evan Phillips.
The Padres were drawn to Rooker, as they acquired him along with Taylor Rogers in the April 2022 trade that sent Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan to Minnesota. After a few brief big league looks for San Diego, the Padres traded Rooker to the Royals in August of ’22 for Cam Gallagher. Finally, in November of last year, the A’s claimed Rooker off waivers from the Royals.
A whirlwind 2022 season saw Rooker as a member of four different organizations. He still managed to hit 28 home runs in 365 plate appearances at Triple-A. Rooker joins an A’s team that currently projects to have Ramon Laureano and Seth Brown at the outfield corners and Aledmys Diaz at DH. The 28-year-old Rooker appears to have little left to prove at Triple-A and is in a good place to compete for playing time as a right-handed power bat.
As Brent notes, he’s at least above replacement level at Twitter, and you should follow him @Brent_Rooker12. Brent volunteered to chat with MLBTR readers today, and we’re happy to have him! Click here to read the transcript of the chat, where Brent talks about everything from the mental weight of a serious injury, the biggest gaps between Triple-A and the Majors, his favorite teammates/toughest opponents, clubhouse food spreads and more!
Trade Rumors Front Office: Q&A
In past polling about our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription service, it became clear a lot of MLBTR readers don’t know what it is or what the benefits are. In the reliable format of asking myself questions and then answering them, here we go!
What is Trade Rumors Front Office?
Trade Rumors Front Office is our paid subscription service, which we launched in July 2020. Click here to subscribe.
What are the specific benefits as compared to the free site?
- The removal of ads when you’re browsing this website and using our Trade Rumors app
- Exclusive weekly articles from Steve Adams and Anthony Franco. These articles feature analysis from Steve and Anthony. Recent examples include “It’s Time For The Reds To Explore Long-Term Deals With Their Young Core” and “The small-market team that rebuilt without going into an actual rebuild.” Steve and Anthony also analyze recent major transactions, such as the Rafael Devers extension.
- Exclusive live chats with Anthony every Friday
- During fantasy baseball season (starting this month), weekly articles from fantasy expert Brad Johnson. Brad also holds fantasy baseball chats for subscribers every other week during this time.
- Early access to our chats with MLB players. Subscribers are first to know about these chats and have the chance to submit questions early.
How are the chats different if you’re a subscriber?
In a typical chat open to everyone on MLB Trade Rumors, the host is able to answer about 5% of the questions that come in, due to the high volume. In Anthony’s subscriber chats, since there are fewer participants, he’s able to answer about 70-90% of the questions asked. If that number consistently drops below 70%, we plan to add a second weekly subscriber chat.
How much does it cost?
$29.89 per year or $2.99 per month.
How do I access it?
To remove the ads, subscribers just need to be logged in when they’re on the site or app. All the other benefits are sent via email.
What if I sign up, try it for a while, and decide it’s not worth my money?
I’ll refund 100% of your money!
What if I get everything I need from the free site?
That’s perfectly fine. We’re glad to have you here.
What if I don’t like paying for baseball news?
We’re not offering additional news with this service. We are offering analysis from our writers beyond what free MLBTR has, plus live chats with a much higher likelihood of getting your questions answered.
What if this subscription doesn’t fit into my budget?
We respect that and we’re happy we’ve been able to offer a free, ad-supported website for 17 years and counting.
Are you going to make the free website worse or paywall it in some way?
No, and we’ve actually got all sorts of plans to make the free website even better. It can be a tough needle to thread, but Trade Rumors Front Office is for those who have the means, would like to support us directly, and want to go even deeper with our writers in terms of analysis and interaction.
Don’t you make money off the ads on the free site?
Yes, ads represent the vast majority of our revenue. In that sense, the website isn’t completely free, as you’re letting us show you ads (assuming you’re not using an ad blocker).
We don’t have an ad sales team going out and negotiating deals with advertisers. Instead, we plug in code from the major online ad middlemen (like Google), and they take a cut. So, we don’t control the specific ads that appear on the site. We also don’t control the rates at which those ads pay. 2022 was our worst year for ad rates in a decade, with the exception of 2020. There are a few levers I can try to pull, but I also think it’s good for the company long-term to grow the subscription service.
Is there a way I can support MLBTR without getting a paid subscription?
Yes! Tell your MLB fan friends to visit mlbtraderumors.com or download the free Trade Rumors app, and share our stuff on social media like Twitter and Facebook.
If you do want a Trade Rumors Front Office subscription, click here!
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher Brandon Beachy
Over 1,500 players were taken in the 2008 MLB draft, and Indiana Wesleyan University third baseman and closer Brandon Beachy was not one of them. Braves scout Gene Kerns signed him as an undrafted free agent for $20,000, and later remarked, “He’s just a young man with a lot of talent that no one discovered.”
After Beachy led the minors with a 1.73 ERA as a starting pitcher in 2010, he could no longer be ignored. He got the call at age 24, and in his second big league start Beachy struck out nine in an outing against the Nationals. He made the Braves’ NLDS roster against the Giants, but didn’t get into a game in that series.
Beachy broke camp in the Braves’ rotation in 2011 and had an excellent season. He put up a 3.68 ERA in 25 starts, leading all of MLB in strikeout rate among those with at least 140 innings. Beachy’s 169 punchouts set a Braves rookie record, until Julio Teheran topped it by one two years later and Spencer Strider flew past both of them last year. And keep in mind, 2011 was a time when the average MLB starter had a 17.6 K%, as opposed to 21.6% in 2022. Beachy put up a 28.6 K% that year, in his first full season.
Beachy was still riding high on June 16th, 2012, leading the Majors with a 2.00 ERA after 13 starts. Unfortunately, at that point Beachy wound up needing Tommy John surgery. Only 13 months later, Beachy was back on a Major League mound with Atlanta. His ascent was again derailed when it was discovered he’d need a second Tommy John procedure the following spring.
Non-tendered by the Braves after 2014, Beachy signed a deal with the Dodgers in February 2015. He made it back for a couple starts in July of 2015, but sadly, those would be the last of Beachy’s MLB career. He made one appearance for the Arizona League Dodgers in 2016, and didn’t resurface again until signing with the independent league New Britain Bees in August 2018. Beachy parlayed that into a minor league deal with the Giants in 2019. He made one appearance for the Sugar Land Skeeters in 2020 before calling it quits at age 34. As Beachy puts it in an email to MLBTR, “Fear of what was next led to a few comeback attempts (some indy ball and minors) I probably shouldn’t have made.”
Unfortunately, the realization around MLB that pitchers need more than 13 months to recover from Tommy John surgery came after Beachy first received the procedure. His story serves as a reminder that a return to form is far from guaranteed after this serious surgery.
It was surprising that Beachy made it to the Majors in the first place, and then after he established himself it was surprising that he only made 48 career starts. However, he can still say that at some point 11 or 12 years ago, he was one of the very best pitchers in MLB. In 2011, Beachy punched out 10+ batters on three separate occasions. And in 2012 against the Marlins, he authored a complete game, 122-pitch shutout.
Once one of the faces of the Braves franchise, Brandon is now into franchising in a different sense. In explaining his post-playing career, Beachy says, “Franchising was for me. I could use the skills that I developed through a life in sports (hard work, self-motivation, resilience, teamwork and leadership) and apply them to a proven system to be successful.” That led Brandon to a company called FranChoice, where he offers “a free service of educating other former players, and people of all walks of life too about franchising and then after getting to know them, match them with businesses that would be fits for them and their goals, guiding them through that process.” You can check out Brandon’s LinkedIn page here.
Brandon chatted with MLBTR readers for nearly two hours today, regaling us with some fantastic baseball stories. The one about his hijinks at Wrigley Field is a classic. Brandon also discussed his former Braves teammates, his Tommy John experience, pitching against former stars of the game, and much more. Read the transcript here.
If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to have you on for a chat! It’s quite easy to do, and you get to pick which questions to publish and answer. Reach out if you’re interested!
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher And Current Scout Tim Fortugno
Tim Fortugno‘s path to a Major League life was an unlikely one. He’d played in high school, but didn’t seem to have much shot at the Majors. But as Danny Knobler told it in a Bleacher Report article, Tim threw around a tennis ball during his lunch hour on a construction job as a 20-year-old, which led to him joining the baseball team at Southern California College.
He was drafted multiple times, but didn’t end up signing due to shoulder pain. After a bout of acupuncture seemed to heal Tim’s shoulder, he landed with the Mariners on a $500 signing bonus.
Fortugno was eventually traded to the Phillies, who went on to sell his contract to the Brewers for $2,500 and 12 dozen baseballs. The Angels snagged the lefty in the Rule 5 draft, and in 1992 Fortugno made his MLB debut at the age of 30.
In his second big league appearance, Tim pitched the game of his life: a complete game, 12 strikeout, 129 pitch masterpiece against a vaunted Tigers lineup featuring Tony Phillips, Travis Fryman, Cecil Fielder, and Mickey Tettleton. Toward the end of that season, Tim gave up George Brett’s 3,000th hit – only to pick him off first base.
Tim bounced around after that, eventually finishing his career in Taiwan. Despite pitching only 110 1/3 innings over three seasons with the Angels, Reds, and White Sox, Fortugno can list Brett, Roberto Alomar, Don Mattingly, and Edgar Martinez among his strikeout victims.
After his pitching career, Fortugno moved into scouting. He spent seven years with the Rangers and 14 with the Mets, and has worked for the Rays since October 2019.
Tim chatted with MLBTR readers today, providing many interesting answers about a life in scouting. Click here to read the transcript.
If you’re a current or former MLB player, join us for a one-hour live chat! It’s easy and fun and you get to choose which questions you publish and answer. Click here to contact us.
Read The Transcript Of Today’s Chat With Former MLB Pitcher Scott Feldman
Scott Feldman was drafted in 2002 in the 41st round by the Astros out of a junior college: College of San Mateo in California. He was a draft-and-follow and didn’t end up signing with the Astros. Because of the Astros’ claim on Feldman’s rights, he wasn’t scouted heavily after they drafted him. So in 2003, Feldman wound up being drafted by the Rangers in the 30th round “as a favor to my agent,” as he later put it. Shortly thereafter, his elbow started hurting, and he ended up needing Tommy John surgery.
That progression did not put Feldman on the radar of prospect gurus, and he worked out of the bullpen in the minor leagues. He cracked the Majors in late 2005 with a brief look out of the Rangers’ bullpen. Feldman spent the ’06 and ’07 seasons bouncing between Triple-A and long relief work in the bigs.
The Rangers decided to try Feldman as a starter in 2008, and he kept getting looks in the rotation as needs arose. Feldman made 25 starts that year, but still didn’t have a rotation spot locked up. By late April of ’09, however, he took over for an injured incumbent and didn’t look back. Feldman put up a 4.08 ERA in 31 starts that year, his 17 wins ranking fifth in MLB. Feldman’s breakout 2009 season, which included an 11-strikeout effort and six different scoreless outings, led to the Rangers’ Opening Day nod in 2010. He also landed a three-year contract with a club option for a fourth.
Feldman dealt with knee surgery and the recovery process in 2010 and ’11, and he moved in and out of the Rangers’ rotation. The Rangers declined their club option for 2013, and Feldman reached free agency for the first time. He found a rotation spot on a one-year deal with the rebuilding Cubs.
After a fine start to the 2013 season, the Cubs famously traded Feldman to the Orioles in the deal that brought back Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop. Returning to free agency after that season, Feldman inked a three-year, $30MM deal to join another rebuilding club, the Astros. He garnered the club’s Opening Day start in 2014.
Feldman did solid work for the Astros outside of some injuries. In the final year of his contract, he was dealt to the Blue Jays at the trade deadline. He landed a one-year deal with the Reds for 2017 and snagged their Opening Day start — his third such honor with a third different club. Feldman underwent season-ending knee surgery in August of that year.
Scott tried to rehab his knee to play in 2018 or ’19, but as he puts it, “it wasn’t meant to be.” He notes, “In April of 2019 I decided I was done. I’ve reflected a lot on how lucky I was to get to play professional baseball from 2003-2017. All the great people I got to be around on a daily basis for 15 years. Teammates, coaches, clubhouse guys, front office, ownership.”
Feldman wound up having a very nice MLB career, especially for a guy who didn’t have those aspirations in high school. He won 78 games and made 204 starts, tallying nearly 1,400 innings. He got to pitch in the 2011 postseason for the Rangers, including five outings in the World Series against the Cardinals. Feldman provided a lot of value to teams by gobbling up innings, and he always displayed excellent control. Born in Kailua, Hawaii, Feldman was one of the game’s best pitchers to come out of that state.
As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted in a free-agent profile of Feldman back in 2013, his father was an FBI agent and army veteran. Feldman discussed his close relationship with his father in a 2014 interview with MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, shortly after his father passed away after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. As McTaggart noted, Feldman pitched just two days later and fired seven shutout innings.
For those wondering what Scott is up to now, he writes, “I’ve been staying busy with a couple real estate projects here and there, spending time with family, traveling, golfing, a little bit of coaching at my alma mater, taking some classes, hiring the right people to work with, re-establishing community in Northern California after being away for such a long time, trying to give back, and planning for what might be next.” Scott is involved with Stop Soldier Suicide, as well as a mental health and wellness company called Most Days.
We were thrilled to have Scott join us to chat with MLBTR readers about a variety of topics including his experience pitching in the World Series, navigating free agency three different times, being traded midseason and more. Click here to read the transcript!
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Outfielder Chad Hermansen
Chad Hermansen was drafted tenth overall by the Pirates out of Nevada’s Green Valley High School back in 1995, setting a club record with a $1.15MM bonus. Hermansen started his pro career as a 17-year-old in the Gulf Coast League. For the next five years as he worked his way through the Pirates’ minor league affiliates, he was considered a top-50 prospect by Baseball America, peaking at #13 before the ’98 season.
Hermansen made his MLB debut with the 1999 Pirates as a September call-up. At the 2002 trade deadline, he was dealt to the Cubs, joining an interesting but bad roster.
After that season, Hermansen was traded with Todd Hundley to the Dodgers, bringing Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros to the Cubs. Hermansen got a final taste of the Majors in 2004 with the Blue Jays. Chad spent some additional time at Triple-A beyond that, playing in the Marlins and Mets organizations.
In the end, Hermansen tallied 541 plate appearances in the Majors from 1999-2004. He popped 13 home runs in that span, including shots off Zambrano and Al Leiter.
After his playing career, Chad spent eight years scouting for the Angels. He’s now focused on being a life coach for former athletes. You can check out Chad’s website here and follow him on Twitter here. He also has a podcast and YouTube Channel called Mental Edge Training Coach where he interviews current and former players, coaches, scouts, and parents on their baseball story and the mental game.
Chad held a very informative and interesting chat with MLBTR readers today, talking about dealing with high expectations, the mental side of baseball, how scouting has changed, getting traded twice in one year, how he spent his signing bonus, and much more. Read the transcript here!
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Diamondbacks Shortstop Nick Ahmed
Nick Ahmed was drafted by the Braves in the second round of the 2011 draft out of the University of Connecticut after playing alongside George Springer and Matt Barnes. After his first season of minor league ball, evaluators started recognizing his excellent shortstop defense, but Nick had the misfortune of being in an organization that employed Andrelton Simmons at the big league level.
In January 2013, the Braves traded Ahmed to the Diamondbacks as part of the seven-player Justin Upton deal. The D’Backs used Didi Gregorius at shortstop primarily in 2013 and ’14, but then traded him in another big three-team deal in December of 2014. Finally, the path was clear for the defensively-gifted Ahmed to compete for the club’s starting shortstop job.
Ahmed took hold of the Diamondbacks’ shortstop position in 2015, but endured hip surgery in 2016 and then suffered a fracture in his hand and wrist separately in 2017.
Known for his defense and leadership, Ahmed once again took hold of Arizona’s starting shortstop job in 2018, and he hasn’t let go since. Ahmed broke out with 3.7 WAR in 2018, winning the Gold Glove award. He nearly replicated the performance in ’19, picking up another Gold Glove while hitting a career-high 19 home runs.
In February 2020, Ahmed signed a four-year extension with the Diamondbacks, which runs through the upcoming season.
In each individual season from 2018 to 2021, Nick led the Diamondbacks in innings at the shortstop position. That string was broken in 2022, as a nagging shoulder injury led to June surgery. Last Friday, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reported that Ahmed is at Salt River Fields, getting ready for the start of spring training. Ahmed will celebrate his 33rd birthday in March. According to Piecoro, “He does not expect to be limited when spring training begins.”
Ahmed’s defense remained the best in the game at shortstop in his most recent healthy season. In the 2021 season, Ahmed ranked fifth among shortstops in the Statcast Outs Above Average metric. And while defense is his calling card, Nick has 68 career home runs, including bombs off Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, and Stephen Strasburg.
Nick recently launched a new platform called 7 Pillar Health and Performance. He explains, “Within this new platform I will be sharing everything I’ve learned about optimal health and peak performance on and off the field.” You can check that out here, and follow him on Instagram and Twitter @NickAhmed13.
Nick took questions from MLBTR readers for over an hour today, talking about his faith, handling trade rumors, training to play defense, the elimination of the shift, and much more. Read the transcript here!
If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to host you for a live chat! It’s fun and easy and you get to choose which questions to publish and answer. Click here to contact us.
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher Collin Balester
Righty Collin Balester was part of the last-ever Montreal Expos draft in 2004, as the club took him in the fourth round out of Huntington Beach High School. Though he came from a surfing family, according to Baseball America, Balester moved quickly through the lower minors. By 2007, he was considered the Nationals’ best prospect and a future number one or two starter.
During the summer of ’08, Balester was deemed ready to join the rotation of the tanking Nationals club. He made a career-high 15 starts as a 22-year-old rookie, putting up three quality starts in the process.
Balester eventually moved into a relief role for the Nats, but was traded to the Tigers in December 2011. His career also included stops in the Rangers, Pirates, Reds, and Giants organizations, as well as a stint with KBO’s Samsung Lions. Along the way, Balester underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2013, battling to get back to the Majors with the Reds in after a gap of more than three years.
Ultimately, Collin topped 200 total innings in the Majors in parts of six different seasons. Along the way he managed to strike out Ken Griffey Jr., Buster Posey, Freddie Freeman, and Chipper Jones, among many others. Now 36, Collin owns a juice shop with his wife called Local Roots, and also does logistics for an expedited shipping truck company. Give him a follow @Ballystar99 on Twitter.
Collin took questions from MLBTR readers today, covering a wide range of topics including being traded, pitching in Korea, being on the 2012 Tigers, and his juice and smoothie recommendations. Click here to read the transcript!
If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to host you for a future chat! It only takes one hour, and you get to choose which questions to publish and answer. Contact us here!