MLBTR Chats News & Rumors

• Good afternoon! I'll get this started at 2:30pm CT, but feel free to send in some questions ahead of time if you prefer!
• Greetings all! Let's get underway a bit early

Mrs Murphy

• Is it time to wave the white flag in Atlanta? This offense is just a lost used to be.What’s next for them?

Steve Adams

• Quite a few questions like this from Braves fans, and understandably so, given the poor performance of late, but I generally don't think it's too late for almost any team in MLB, with the obvious exceptions (Rox, Marlins, White Sox, probably the O's and A's).

  Atlanta is 5.5 back in the Wild Card chase and "only" four games under .500, which is pretty remarkable when you consider the early struggles and all the time they've had without Strider and Acuña.

  Heck, the 2021 Braves were three under .500 at the deadline, and they went on to win the World Series. The Mets and Astros were 10 under .500 this time last year. The 2019 Nats and 2022 Phils were buried even further.

• I was underwhelmed by the Braves' offseason, and losing Profar to a PED suspension is brutal, but it's still a talented core with plenty of winnable series on the near horizon. They get the Rockies, A's, Angels, Orioles, Marlins and a currently struggling D-backs club all before the All-Star break.

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• Hi Anthony, have there been way more transactions than usual for late May? Seems so to me.

Anthony Franco

• All minor stuff but yeah, I think so. This week in particular has been really busy with a bunch of small moves
• Granted, Casey Lawrence and Cooper Hummel account for 80% of them

baseball gods laugh and laugh

• What would it take for the Mets to get Brent Suter from the Reds?

Anthony Franco

• Reds are still hanging around so this won't happen in the next couple weeks but yeah, he seems like a perfectly viable Mets target who'd only require a fringe top 30-35 guy in the system

Belli bombs for life

• Yesterday in your Yankees outfielders article, you said Bellinger is virtually guaranteed to opt out after this year. Why? His production is right around where it was for his last season in Chicago. His defensive ratings have gone up, to be fair. But do you think he'll match/exceed the $28.5M he's making next year on a multi-year deal? Why not risk staying in the ballpark made for his swing and enjoy the high AAV for one more year?

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS

• Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
• Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
• Remove ads and support our writers.
• Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker