Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

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mikechamp
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Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

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These comments came from a chat with MLB Trade Rumors' Mark Polishuk that occurred on February 12.

This was a NL Central-rich chat, but did not feature any questions about the Cardinals. I included 2 bonus Q&As about the CBA and another about... the multiverse.

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-live-chat-12418.html

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Ke-bryan Hays due for a breakout year?

Mark Polishuk
With better health, it wouldn't at all be surprising to see Hayes have a big year.
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Blackmon for Heyward in a swap of bad contracts? Blackmon has more offensive upside but has more remaining on his contract. Heyward could be a good defender in spacious Coors Field. Thoughts?

Mark Polishuk
Heyward has full no-trade protection, Blackmon can block deals to 15 teams. So even if a trade makes some sense from a baseball perspective, it's probably a non-starter.
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Sonny Gray and Kyle Farmer to the Angels for Walsh. Who says no? Reds need OF’s and Angels need SS and pitching.

Mark Polishuk
Reds say no. Walsh is more of a 1B than an outfielder.
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What does a Kim and Paddack trade cost the Cubs?

Mark Polishuk
This would be an interesting move by the Padres, as while Kim doesn't have the price tag of a Hosmer or a Myers, moving him would still get a prominent salary off of SD's books.

The risk for the Padres, of course, is that they'd be selling low on both Kim and Paddack. And the Cubs or other teams might balk at SD asking for a strong return in a trade, given how both players did much in 2021.
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RIP, Dr. Johnny Fever. If the Reds are out of playoff contention, do you see them dealing all of their tradeable assets and starting over?

Mark Polishuk
WKRP was a terrific show. It was a little before my time but I caught plenty of syndicated reruns growing up.

A total fire sale is possible, since the Reds have already been indicating that they've stretched their budget too far. But, unless they completely crater to 100-loss levels or something, I think they'd still try to regroup for 2023 given how much of their core is still under contract for that year.
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Are there a small group of owners who dominate the league’s negotiations or are all basically on the same page?

Mark Polishuk
Some owners certainly have more influence than others, and there are also certainly owners whose interests in the CBA vary greatly. A CBA will impact the Dodgers much differently than it will the Pirates, for instance.
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Better chance for a rebound: Yelich or Lindor

Mark Polishuk
Better chance for a rebound year
Lindor (58.4% | 261 votes)

Yelich (41.6% | 186 votes)

Total Votes: 447
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Why does everyone think the Pirates are going to trade Brian Reynolds?

Mark Polishuk
Because rival fans love to speculate about their teams taking a star away from a rebuilding club.

And also because, simply, it isn't out of the question that the Pirates would deal Reynolds.
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If the Blue Jays trade Grichuk for Gray and agree to eat Moose's contract, what else would they have to toss in to the Reds to say yes?

Mark Polishuk
Grichuk is a bit of a salary dump himself from the Jays' perspective, so I would think Toronto would have to add a decent prospect (and maybe another minor leaguer thrown in) to get Cincy's attention.
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If the season is canceled, how much would it effect the competitive window for the Brewers or Mariners?

Mark Polishuk
The Mariners not so much, since much of their core is still young. It would be a huge blow to the Brewers, since their window might not be open much longer given how many of their top players are nearing free agency (and are getting more expensive in arbitration).

Though, it should be noted, if things get bad enough that we reach the "canceled season" phase, who knows what the next CBA will look like.
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Would Marsh plus Suarez get the Angels Castillo from the Reds?

Mark Polishuk
The Reds would probably want a little more, but Marsh/Suarez is a good start.
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Will Votto ever play in Toronto..his home crowd? Could Cincy do a salary dump with prospects?

Mark Polishuk
Votto has been pretty adamant over the years about never leaving Cincinnati, and he has the no-trade protection to control his fate.

Plus, there have been rumblings over the years that Votto would prefer to not play in his hometown, to keep his professional life and personal life more separate. This is hardly uncommon among players, by the way.
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I think Ben Cherrington is doing a very good job rebuilding the Pirates, but does the industry yet recognize the job that he is doing, or am I being biased?

Mark Polishuk
The Pirates have rated quite highly on prospect lists and organizational rankings, so the industry as a whole knows what's up. However, Cherington won't get full credit until (or unless) those prospects start turning into productive big leaguers and the Bucs start winning.
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How long before the Brewers trade Huira for a different change of scenery guy?

Mark Polishuk
As rough as Hiura has looked over the last two seasons, the Brewers aren't giving up on him this soon. A trade might become a more realistic possibility next winter if he can't get things together in 2022... or, maybe even by the deadline. If the Brewers are in contention and can add a needed roster piece for an underachieving Hiura, they'd have to think hard about that move.
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Why would players want to limit how many times they can be optioned in a season? If it’s 4 times, a player just stays in the minors and can’t be called up after? How is that a good thing? Even a MLB paycheck for a few days is substantial.

Mark Polishuk
The union would certainly have concerns about what happens to a player after that fourth option, whether a player is just kept in the minors or maybe DFA'ed.

But the idea here is to actually stop the service-time games. Plenty of these shuttled relievers back and forth are clearly seen by their teams as "big league-caliber players," considering how often those relievers are immediately put into high-leverage situations. But, the quick trips down to Triple-A keep those deserving players off a roster, and not accumulating service time or a big league paycheck.
Bigger picture, fewer relievers also means less reliance on a bullpen, and thus more reliance on starting pitchers (and an increase in salaries given to starters).

Beyond that, there's also the simple human element of how much it has to wear on a player going up and down, up and down, so many times in a season.
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I’m often confused about the objectives the MLBPA brings into labor bargaining. If player reps are mostly veterans (often stars) what is their incentive to fight for MiLBers and rookies?

Mark Polishuk
Minor leaguers aren't members of the MLBPA, and can't join until they're actually major leaguers. I'm far from an expert on labor laws, so I may be wrong about this, but I believe there are limits about how much a union can advocate for affiliated peoples outside of its own membership.

Frankly, I think the league used this to its advantage in the last two CBAs. By focusing on ways to financially limit non-union players (via draft and international signing pools), that limited player expenditures for players the union couldn't advocate for.
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Is there a universe in the multiverse where the CBA has been agreed to already? Doesn't seem possible.

Mark Polishuk
I'll have MLBTR consultant Stephen Strange do a quick check on 14 million alternate realities and get back to you.
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