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MLBTR Chat Transcript

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Steve Adams

  • Good morning! I need to get the chat wrapped up a bit before 2pm today, so moving the start time up ever so slightly, from the usual 1pm CT to 12:45pm. As always, feel free to ask questions in advance if you prefer.
  • Greetings! Let’s get rolling

Cincinnati kid.

  • If the reds fail to make the playoffs I see McLain and Stephenson as trade bait. Would you consider dealing DeLaCruz to someone like the Yankees or dodgers since management will never give him the contract he’s expecting to get

Steve Adams

  • Stephenson for sure, if not a non-tender candidate. The Reds extended Trevino and have Alfredo Duno climbing the minor league ladder. Stephenson is controlled only one more year and due a raise that’ll take him north of $6MM in a season where he’s taken huge steps back at the plate and spent significant time on the IL. I don’t think there’d be a ton of surplus value, but I do think he’s a viable change-of-scenery candidate.As for McLain, it’s hard for me to imagine them selling so low on him, but I suppose if they could move him for a genuine upgrade in the outfield (with much lesser team control), maybe you entertain that thought.I generally don’t think it’s wise to just staunchly say any individual player is off limits — always listen — but it’d be hard to move Elly, who’s still controlled four more years.

Guest

  • Is Kyle Tucker still the biggest Free Agent this winter ?

Steve Adams

  • Yeah. If anything, I think the previously hush-hush fracture in his finger kind of quells some concern about why he’d struggled so much. Of course his numbers are going to take a hit. But he’s still a 29-year-old with plus power who at his best walks more than he strikes out and plays a fine right field. No one on the market can match his earning power.

FP

  • Will we see Jonah Tong in MLB this season?

Steve Adams

  • I think there’s enough smoke there that we should expect it, yeah.

Tigers

  • Tigers should trade skubal this offseason #1 to get as much value as possible and #2 because a 10 yr+ deal could kill you in the later years

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Francisco Alvarez To Begin Rehab Assignment

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Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has resumed swinging a bat and is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment this week, writes MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. It’d be a remarkably quick return for the 23-year-old, who suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb earlier this month. Manager Carlos Mendoza expressed shock when he was sent video of Alvarez already swinging a bat this past Sunday. “When I was looking at it, I was like, ’There’s no way this guy is swinging the bat,'” said Mendoza.

Alvarez will require surgery after the season, but he’ll gut out the injury to the extent that he’s able to tolerate the pain it causes. DiComo notes that the Mets would prefer to use him behind the plate rather than at designated hitter, where Starling Marte has been swinging a blistering hot bat for the past few weeks, but the team won’t rule out the possibility of Alvarez mixing in at DH.

The mere notion of Alvarez returning in short order seemed outlandish at the time of his IL placement and the revelation that he’d require eventual surgery. However, given the production he’d turned in prior to suffering that injury on a slide into second base, it’s not a surprise that the Mets are looking at an aggressive timetable. Alvarez struggled enough early this season to find himself demoted to Triple-A in late June, but he returned a month later and exploded with a .323/.408/.645 batting line in 71 plate appearances before incurring his ill-timed injury.

Certainly, it’d be a lot to expect Alvarez to replicate or even approximate that level of play. That said, there’s a fairly low bar to clear behind the plate — at least from an offensive standpoint. Luis Torrens is hitting just .221/.282/.324 in 241 plate appearances this season, while rookie Hayden Senger has slashed .172/.210/.190 in his first 63 big league plate appearances.

A quick turnaround for Alvarez isn’t the only aggressive move being pondered by the Mets, who are also reportedly mulling a promotion for touted pitching prospect Jonah Tong. The 2022 seventh-rounder could feasibly join fellow rookie and top pitching prospect Nolan McLean in the rotation down the stretch. The Mets have sustained multiple rotation injuries to their starting staff (Frankie Montas, Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill) and are scrambling to hold onto a Wild Card spot in the National League. New York is 15-19 since the All-Star break and just 8-14 in August.

The Mets entered the All-Star break in possession of the second Wild Card spot and just a half game behind the Phillies in the NL East. They’re now six games behind Philadelphia in the division and 3.5 games behind San Diego for the second Wild Card spot. The Mets are still 2.5 games up on the Reds for that final spot, but New York has the slightly tougher schedule the rest of the way — including a pivotal three-game set in Cincinnati from Sept. 5-7. The Mets have just a .431 winning percentage on the road, whereas the Reds have won at a .554 clip at home.

Poll: AL MVP Race Check-In

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Back in June, MLBTR conducted a pair of polls checking the temperature on the two MVP races, and both polls saw the league’s reigning MVP earn a dominating majority. Aaron Judge pulled in 55% of the vote in the American League poll, while Shohei Ohtani did even better as he commanded 57% of the vote in the National League’s poll. Since then, Ohtani has broken away from the pack in the NL as he’s more fully resumed two-way duties. While other players like Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Pete Crow-Armstrong have put together excellent seasons of their own in the NL, it’s hard to see that race as anything other than Ohtani’s to lose headed into the final month of the season.

By contrast, the AL MVP race has tightened considerably over the past two months. A big part of that is the fact that  Judge hasn’t looked like his usual superhuman self lately. The 33-year-old is still slashing an absurd .323/.439/.667 (193 wRC+), a figure that leads the majors by a substantial margin. However, Judge’s numbers have come down quite a bit in the past two months. Since the day our last AL MVP poll was published, Judge has hit “just” .240/.385/.540 with 12 homers and a 26% strikeout rate in 192 trips to the plate.

That lack of volume is thanks to a flexor strain in Judge’s elbow that sent him to the injured list for a minimum stint a few weeks ago, and his .210/.380/.403 slash line since returning from the injured list only underscores that he’s not playing at full strength. He’s also been relegated to a DH-only role for the month of August and has no timetable for his return to the outfield, though he’s already begun making throws to the infield in pregame workouts.

Of course, Judge looking mortal for a month or so wouldn’t be terribly noteworthy without someone mounting a substantial challenge for his league’s MVP award. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is doing exactly that. Raleigh’s phenomenal season has earned him plenty of attention all year, but he’s only garnered more attention as an MVP candidate in the weeks since Judge’s injury. Interestingly, Raleigh’s offensive numbers have slumped a bit right alongside Judge. While he was slashing .278/.383/.665 at the time of our last AL MVP poll, he’s hit a less robust .204/.311/.498 in 235 plate appearances since then. That includes a .202/.302/.524 slash line in August that isn’t all that far ahead of Judge’s numbers.

Even with the pair both cooling at the plate, Raleigh has still been playing catcher regularly and hasn’t missed time on the IL like Judge has. Raleigh, who secured just 37% of the vote in our last poll, now has eight more games played and 31 more plate appearances than Judge. It’s a small gap, but in a close race, an increased defensive workload and slight lead in terms of overall volume could be key differentiators.

There’s also the factor of history to be considered. Judge managed to surpass Ohtani in the 2022 AL MVP race in part because he set the AL home run record that season. Raleigh would need to hit 13 homers before the end of the season in order to take the title of AL home run king away from Judge, but his prodigious power has already secured him one piece of history that Judge has no hope of taking away: last night, he became the first catcher in MLB history to slug 50 homers in a season. All of that comes together to make Raleigh a legitimate contender for the award alongside Judge, and the fact that the pair are tied at the top of the MLB leaderboard with 7.3 fWAR a piece only further speaks to the viability of both candidates.

Few players in the AL have a realistic shot of challenging these two titans, but one player who could make an interesting case for himself with a strong September would be Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who finished second for the award behind Judge last year. Witt only received token consideration for the award in our last poll, garnering just 2.3% of the vote two months ago. Since then, however, he’s outperformed both Judge and Raleigh with a .313/.370/.524 slash line, a 13-for-14 record on the bases, and defense at shortstop that should make him a lock for his second consecutive Gold Glove award at the position. Witt’s 6.5 fWAR and 130 wRC+ both substantially trail Judge and Raleigh at this point, but if those two continue trending downward while Witt continues trending up, it’s at least possible that we could be in for a three-horse race.

Who do MLBTR readers think will ultimately win this year’s AL MVP award? Will Judge hold onto the title for the second year in a row? Will Raleigh’s historic season behind the plate be enough? Could Witt’s second-half surge be enough to overcome both of them? Have your say in the poll below:

The Opener: Bradish, Kikuchi, MLBTR Chat

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Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day today:

1. Bradish to return:

Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish is set to make his first MLB start in more than a year today when Baltimore activates him from the 60-day injured list. The club will need to make a corresponding move to create space for Bradish on the 40-man roster before tonight’s game against Lucas Giolito (3.72 ERA in 20 starts) and the Red Sox. Bradish hasn’t impressed in six rehab starts this year in the minor leagues, but he looked electric in eight starts last year when he posted a 2.75 ERA (2.50 FIP) and a 32.5% strikeout rate before requiring Tommy John surgery. If he can log anything close to those numbers down the stretch this year, it would go a long way toward stabilizing the Orioles’ rotation ahead of the 2026 campaign.

2. Kikuchi goes for 1000 strikeouts:

Angels southpaw Yusei Kikuchi is in his first year with Anaheim, and the two-time All-Star is having a solid season. In 27 starts, he’s pitched to a 3.42 ERA with a 23.6% strikeout rate in 150 innings of work. He’s set to make his 28th start today against the Rangers and veteran lefty Patrick Corbin. Notably, Kikuchi is just 10 strikeouts shy of becoming only the fourth Japanese-born pitcher to reach 1000 career strikeouts in MLB, joining Yu Darvish, Hideo Nomo, and Kenta Maeda. While punching out ten hitters in a game is a tall order, it’s hardly impossible; Kikuchi has two ten-strikeout games this year, and nine total across his MLB career. The Rangers, meanwhile, have MLB’s tenth-highest strikeout rate against southpaws (23.6%).

3. MLBTR Chat today:

The trade deadline is in the rearview mirror, and the stretch run has officially begun. There’s no shortage of close postseason races, and it’s never too early to look ahead to the offseason and what free agency and the winter trade market might bring. MLBTR’s Steve Adams will be hosting a live chat this afternoon at 12:45pm CT to discuss it all. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

Poll: Is Geographic Realignment A Good Idea?

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Commissioner Rob Manfred created quite a bit of buzz around the baseball world last week when he made comments on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball last weekend that suggested the league’s desired expansion to 32 teams could be coupled with a dramatic realignment of MLB’s current structure.

“I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” Manfred said on the broadcast. “I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN, because you’d be playing out of the east and out of the west.”

The possibility of MLB following in the footsteps of other American sports, like the NBA and NFL, by adopting an eastern/western conference layout as opposed to the current AL vs NL structure is certainly an interesting one. Fans of teams on the east coast and even in the midwest have long bemoaned the late night games associated with west coast road trips, and Manfred’s suggestion that a geographic realignment could lessen the burden of travel on players throughout baseball’s marathon schedule is difficult to argue with. Fans have little reason to care about the desirability of postseason games for broadcasters like ESPN and FOX, but both Manfred’s comments and simple common sense would indicate that possibility will be highly appealing to the league, as well.

Of course, the downsides to a potential geographic realignment are obvious. Baseball is a sport steeped in history, and the loss of the AL/NL structure would necessarily complicate our view of that history. Had the league moved away from the AL/NL structure previously, would Aaron Judge’s chase for 62 home runs in 2022 have been nearly as noteworthy? Without a division between the two leagues, Judge would simply be seventh on the single-season home run leaderboard, rather than the AL record holder. And that’s before considering the possibility of lost rivalries. There’s several ways that MLB could look to realign geographically, but many proposals (including one from Mike Axisa of CBA Sports) would split up historic rivalries like Cubs/Cardinals and Dodgers/Giants. That would be a tough pill to swallow for those teams, who view their longtime rivalries as a key part of their team’s culture and history.

On the other hand, the distinction between baseball’s two leagues has been eroding for years now. The NL has adopted the designated hitter rule, the All Star game no longer determines home field advantage in the World Series, and the schedule has been altered so that every team plays every other team in at least one series per season regardless of league. That amount of inter-league play would guarantee that even rivalries split by this geographic realignment, like the Cubs and Cardinals in Axisa’s proposal, would still play each other on occasion. It’s also worth noting that many interleague rivalries, such as Mets/Yankees and Cubs/White Sox, would benefit from more games on the schedule each year if they were to be pushed into the same conference by geographic realignment.

Realignment on some level is inevitable, as with 32 teams it would be impossible to create six even divisions. Still, that doesn’t mean the AL/NL structure must be lost entirely. Stephen J. Nesbitt of The Athletic was among those to propose a realignment structure that would preserve the status quo for the most part, with only a handful of changes to the current structure as both leagues would move from three divisions of five teams to four divisions of four teams. Under Nesbitt’s plan, the Rockies and Rays would swap to the AL and NL respectively, but all other teams would remain in their current league and no historic rivals would be divided. Of course, maintaining what fans appreciate about the current structure would also mean maintaining many of its frustrations; late night games for fans on the east coast whenever their club takes a road trip out west, and a more much more extreme travel schedule for the players.

How do MLBTR readers feel about the possibility of geographic realignment coming to the majors? Would changing the league’s current structure so drastically detract from the sport’s history for little benefit, or with the leagues already more similar than ever is a major shakeup worth if it improves travel- and timezone-related experience for fans and players alike? Have your say in the poll below:

Diamondbacks Outright Jose Herrera

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D-Backs catcher José Herrera went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Reno, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Arizona designated him for assignment when Gabriel Moreno returned from the injured list last week.

Herrera has played parts of four seasons as a light-hitting backup. He’s worked behind Moreno for the past three of those. The switch-hitting Herrera has tallied 204 plate appearances this season. He has slashed .187/.285/.259 with a pair of home runs. He has hit a trio of homers among his 562 career trips to the dish.

The Diamondbacks valued Herrera’s glove and clubhouse presence enough to stick with him as a backup despite his lifetime .200/.280/.259 batting line. Veteran James McCann, signed when Moreno went on the IL in late June, has hit three homers with a .326 on-base percentage in 30 games. McCann figures to pair with Moreno for the final month of the season. Herrera will become a minor league free agent at the end of the regular season unless the D-Backs add him back to the MLB roster in the next few weeks.

A’s To Place Jacob Lopez On Injured List With Flexor Strain

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A’s starter Jacob Lopez has been shut down after sustaining a Grade 1 flexor strain, manager Mark Kotsay tells reporters (including Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). He’ll go on the 15-day injured list tomorrow. Kotsay said the A’s still hope Lopez can make it back this season, likely as a reliever in the final few days.

Lopez has quietly been one of the American League’s best rookie pitchers. Acquired from the Rays alongside Jeffrey Springs in a deal sending Joe Boyle to Tampa Bay, Lopez was on and off the active roster early in the season. The 6’4″ southpaw has grabbed a firm hold on a big league roster spot since late May. He fired seven innings of one-run ball against the Phillies in his first start after being recalled and has occupied a rotation spot since then. Lopez has had a few blow-up outings but has shown glimpses of dominance, including five scoreless starts over the course of the year.

Four of those came consecutively between July 26 and August 12. He had the two best performances by an A’s pitcher all season in back-to-back outings earlier in the month. Lopez punched out 10 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings in Washington on August 7, then blanked the Rays on nine strikeouts over seven frames five days later. He tossed another quality start — six innings of three-run ball with eight strikeouts in Minnesota — last Tuesday.

Lopez had by far his worst outing of the season yesterday. He walked six and gave up nine runs in two innings in Seattle. The A’s revealed postgame that he’d been dealing with forearm tightness that initially cropped up during his start against the Twins. Yesterday’s appearance pushed his season earned run average to 4.08, but he’d entered the game with a 3.28 mark while striking out 29% of batters faced. That’s excellent production anywhere and especially impressive considering the A’s temporary home field in Sacramento has been the most difficult park for pitchers outside of Coors Field.

The 27-year-old Lopez is arguably the A’s most promising pitcher going into next season. Highly-touted prospect Luis Morales is in the big league rotation now as well. Morales has erratic command but power stuff headlined by a 97 MPH heater. J.T. Ginn has posted better than average strikeout and ground-ball numbers over 60 MLB frames, though it hasn’t translated to great results. Springs and Luis Severino are each signed for next year and will probably be in trade rumors in the offseason.

Osvaldo Bido is listed as the probable starter for tomorrow night’s game against the Tigers. It’ll be his first start since mid-May. Bido has been working 3-4 inning stints out of the bullpen and could take a few turns through the rotation in Lopez’s absence. He owns a 5.37 ERA in 65 1/3 frames over 19 appearances.

Ron Washington Recovering From Quadruple Bypass, Hopes To Manage Angels In 2026

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In late June, the Angels announced that manager Ron Washington would remain on medical leave for the rest of the season. The team respected his privacy and didn’t provide any more specifics at the time. The 73-year-old skipper updated the media on his health this afternoon.

Washington revealed to the Halos beat that he underwent quadruple bypass surgery to remove blockages from his heart valves roughly two months ago (via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com and Sam Blum of The Athletic). The situation came together quickly, as Washington revealed he first sought medical attention after noticing swelling around his ankles while the Angels were playing in the Bronx from June 16-19. Washington said the scary situation has spurred him to quit smoking and improve his diet and sleeping habits.

The baseball lifer said he expects to be fully cleared medically in December. He was unequivocal about his desire to return to managing in 2026. Washington said it’s his goal “to finish what we started” with the Angels (relayed by Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register). It stands to reason the Angels will welcome him back, but the team has not said anything his contract. Washington signed a two-year deal when he was hired going into the 2024 season. The club holds an option on his services for 2026.

Bench coach Ray Montgomery will remain the interim manager for the rest of this year. The Angels have dropped a season-high eight games below .500 entering tonight’s series in Texas. MLBTR sends our continued well wishes to Wash as he completes his recovery.

Boone: Yankees Still Consider Volpe Starting Shortstop

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Anthony Volpe is out of the lineup as the Yankees open their series against the Nationals. It’s the second straight game in which José Caballero gets the start at shortstop. New York is giving the scuffling Volpe what amounts to a two-day mental reset. However, manager Aaron Boone made clear this evening that the Yankees aren’t moving the third-year infielder to the bench.

“I view Anthony as our shortstop,” Boone told reporters (including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic). The skipper confirmed that Volpe would be back in the lineup tomorrow and continue playing regularly from that point. He added that the Yanks consider Caballero their “10th man” and will keep bouncing him around the diamond in a utility role (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com).

Volpe is hitting .208/.274/.400 across 509 plate appearances. He had a productive April but carries a .198/.255/.382 batting line in 96 games since the beginning of May. Volpe has never hit for a high average or reached base at a strong clip. He’s tied with Dansby Swanson for eighth among shortstops with 18 home runs, but he hasn’t been a productive overall hitter. The struggles have magnified over the past six weeks, as he’s batting .171 with a .203 on-base percentage going back to July 1. Among 253 hitters with at least 100 plate appearances in that stretch, only Miami’s Dane Myers has a lower batting average. No one has a worse on-base mark.

The offensive drought is magnified by his uncharacteristic issues on the other side of the ball. Volpe won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023; he was a finalist for that honor last year. He trailed only Swanson and Ezequiel Tovar in combined Defensive Runs Saved among shortstops over those two seasons. Statcast’s Outs Above Average had him tied for seventh. Even with the OBP deficiencies, Volpe’s power and plus defense made him a valuable all-around player. The Yankees presumably felt he was on a similar trajectory as Swanson, an eventual everyday shortstop on a World Series team who received a $177MM free agent contract.

Volpe’s defensive grades have tanked this year as well. DRS has him right around average. Statcast has him five runs below par, tying him for fourth worst at the position. Volpe has committed 17 errors, matching his career high with another month to play. Only Elly De La Cruz (19) has been charged with more this season.

Caballero, acquired from the Rays at the deadline, has gotten out to a fantastic start to his Yankee tenure. He’s hitting .286 with more walks than strikeouts in 15 games. Caballero has stolen six bases in seven tries and is up to an MLB-high 40 steals between Tampa Bay and New York. He led the American League with 44 steals last year, though he was also caught a league leading 16 times. Caballero is a plus runner and versatile defender but is unlikely to remain an above-average hitter over a large sample. He owns a .227/.313/.337 batting line in more than 1000 career plate appearances.

There’s no argument that Caballero hasn’t been the more productive player of late. Still, the 24-year-old Volpe entered the season as New York’s expected franchise shortstop. Caballero is soon to turn 29 and is established as a high-end utility player. The Yankees can still find playing time for him on most days. He’s a right-handed complement to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon at second and third base, respectively. They’re tolerating Giancarlo Stanton in right field for as long as Aaron Judge is unable to throw at game speed, but they’ll frequently kick Caballero into the outfield later in games for defensive purposes.

Dodgers Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment

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The Dodgers designated infielder Buddy Kennedy for assignment. That makes room on the roster for Kiké Hernández, who is back from the 10-day injured list. Kennedy is out of options, so the Dodgers need to expose him to waivers to take him off the big league roster. The team’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Los Angeles claimed Kennedy off waivers from Toronto ten days ago. That coincided with an IL placement for Max Muncy. He joined Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Hernández on the shelf. Kennedy provided an extra infielder alongside Miguel Rojas and rookie Alex Freeland between second and third base. He went 1-17 over seven games.

A former fifth-round pick of the Diamondbacks, Kennedy has played sporadically in parts of four big league seasons. He’s a .178/.271/.274 hitter in 181 career plate appearances. The 26-year-old has split time in Triple-A this year between the Philadelphia and Toronto systems. He has turned in a solid .268/.372/.408 showing in 77 combined games.

The Dodgers will place Kennedy on outright waivers this week. He has cleared waivers a few times in his career and has the right to elect free agency if he goes unclaimed.

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