Steve Adams's NL Central comments

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mikechamp
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Steve Adams's NL Central comments

Post by mikechamp »

These comments came from a chat with MLB Trade Rumors' Steve Adams that occurred on January 12. (If you like him, you can find him on Twitter @Adams_Steve.)

He excoriates the NL Central. I included a bonus Q&A about trades in general. Happy new year, everyone!

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.jotcast.com/chat/chat-with- ... -9657.html

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Will the Cardinals ever do anything? One of these days their minor league sleepers luck is going to run out.

Steve Adams
I'd imagine they'll sign some combo of Yadi, Wainwright and (if not Wainwright) a marginal fourth/fifth veteran SP. Someone in the J.A. Happ mold.
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What do you see Brewers doing?

Steve Adams
Making a whole bunch of low-cost, one-year dice rolls and hoping they keep them afloat in a division that no one seems to want to win.

The NL Central is the most boring division in baseball. Any one of the Cubs, Brewers, Reds or Cardinals could step up and absolutely seize it, and instead the Cubs are shedding payroll, the Cards are hemming and hawing about whether they can afford to pay two franchise icons, the Reds are salary dumping their bullpen and the Brewers are just sitting in idle.

That division is a microcosm of the competitive issue that is really hurting the game more than anything else, in my view.
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Contreras to the Marlins seems like a deal the Fish need to make, no?

Steve Adams
I wouldn't say Contreras specifically so much as generally upgrading behind the plate. There are multiple ways to go about that; a Contreras deal certainly seems viable.
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What do you see the shortstop free agent class of 2021 shaping up like? What kind of contracts do Seager, Story, and others land?

Steve Adams
I don't think it's worth speculating on until we see how the 2021 season plays out -- both in terms of those players' performances and in terms of fan attendance/team revenues. If you're asking right now, I'd rank their earning power:

Lindor, Seager, Baez, Correa, Story

Seager really helped his stock with a monster rebound in '20. But all of that can change with injuries, poor performance, etc.
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Am I crazy for thinking this but I would trade Pete Alonso to CIN for Luis Castillo and Votto. Make starting pitcher much stronger with a cost control SP and have CIN throw a few mill for taking on the contract of Votto.

Steve Adams
Votto has a full no-trade clause and has said numerous times that he has no desire to ever leave Cincinnati.
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Odorizzi or Kluber to the Cardinals?

Steve Adams
Kluber would be likelier just because he's very likely signing a one-year deal, but I don't expect St. Louis to spend much at all outside of possible reunions with Molina and Wainwright. If they miss on Waino, again, sure they might take a flier on a veteran guy. But I think Kluber will command more than most one-year gambles late in the winter.
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What kind of return can 1 year of Bryant coming off of a down year really get? I’d be careful to give up too much.

Steve Adams
He won't command much of a return, which is part of the problem of trading him. The optics of moving a former top pick, top prospect, rookie of the year and MVP in exchange for primarily salary relief are poor. But then again, the Cubs didn't care about the awful optics in that Darvish dump.
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Just last offseason, the Reds were everyone's favorite team for spending up and "trying to compete" and now they've indicated they're going completely the opposite direction. Was it a mirage or just a total about-face? Castellini is certainly not poor.

Steve Adams
Every owner is going to react to the revenue losses differently. I'm sure Castellini didn't love that the time he opted for a clear franchise-record payroll happened to coincide with a zero-attendance season.

I'm remaining somewhat hopeful that the Reds are cutting payroll in the 'pen because they expect right-handed relievers to be flooding the market shortly prior to Spring Training, making it sensible to spend that money on a shortstop instead. We'll see if that plays out, though. It could very well just be that they're cutting payroll after revenue losses, which would be an absolute kick in the gut to fans who sat through a rebuild that didn't actually produce much benefit on the farm. (The Reds' success wasn't due to the rebuild but more due to buying low on Sonny, stealing Castillo from Miami and getting Bauer at a reasonable rate because Cleveland keeps cutting payroll itself)
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Do you think the Brewers stand a chance in 2021?

Steve Adams
Sure. No one else in the Central seems to be trying to win. They'll add several one-year guys over the next month, and the roster will look better come Opening Day than it does now.
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Is it realistic that the Mets could trade for Bryant and sign Springer? A line up of Springer, Lindor, Bryant, Conforto, and Alonso could do some damage in the NL.

Steve Adams
I don't consider that especially realistic, no. Could add either Bryant or Springer to round out the offseason in terms of major additions, but even though it's technically possible, adding both seems far-fetched.
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Are trades as haphazard and simple as Senor Pitt made them look in the movie?

Steve Adams
Ha, no. Although I do remember Jerry Dipoto once saying in an ESPN interview that a trade he made with the Pirates -- Ernesto Frieri to Pittsburgh, Jason Grilli to Anaheim, I believe -- took about seven minutes to come together. I laughed at that. Dipoto's candor in interviews is always fun.
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heyzeus
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Re: Steve Adams's NL Central comments

Post by heyzeus »

What else is there to say other than "nobody in this division is trying." It's infuriating. There have been plenty of offseasons where I disagreed with the moves made, or at least there was something to debate. That's not the case. Nobody (including the Cardinals) is even trying to improve their team.

Michael
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Re: Steve Adams's NL Central comments

Post by Michael »

Here's a summary:
mikechamp wrote:
January 12 21, 6:29 pm
The NL Central is the most boring division in baseball.

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mikechamp
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Re: Steve Adams's NL Central comments

Post by mikechamp »

Hey! I didn't write that. I just shared his sentiments.












(It's probably true.)

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