The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The upcoming World Series (0:30)
- White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf reportedly talking about selling the team (4:35)
- The hurricane damage to Tropicana Field and the complicated situation the Rays are in (18:10)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Should the Guardians trade Josh Naylor and what would the return look like? (27:05)
- What would a Masyn Winn or Alec Burleson extension look like? Could the Cardinals still hammer out a deal even with the current budget constraints? (35:00)
- What do you think the Red Sox will do this winter? (42:05)
Check out our past episodes!
- Changes In Minnesota, Cubs’ Prospect Depth, And Possibilities For The O’s – listen here
- Previewing FA Starting Pitchers, TV Deals, And Potential Spending Teams – listen here
- Buster Posey Takes Over In SF And The Cardinals’ Succession Plan – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
I don’t understand why a team would trade a guy who had over 100 RBI this season. Even if Naylor has some deficiencies on defense (which I don’t know if that’s the case), his offense surely outweighs any short comings.
Because it’s Cleveland
Over the last 3 seasons, Naylor has put up 118, 127, and 118 wRC+.
He put up +1, 0, and -4 DRS over the last 3 seasons at first.
He is a solid package for a first baseman. Not a star, perhaps, but very solid.
Because he’s a free agent after next season and the Dolans aren’t gonna cough up to extend or re-sign him. Plus, they have Kyle Manzardo waiting in the wings.
Is Manzardo really going to instantly replace Naylor’s current bat, as they’re close to WS? Sure, there may be someone losing out on the Alonso sweeps needing a 1B, but I can’t imagine a whole lot for a guy with 1 season and should be a DH.
Teams know they can acquire someone like DH Soler for next to nothing (in prospects) and paying not that much of his 32M owed (16M AAV).
It’s all about the $$$$, Naylor is going to reap a boatload of money and Dolan always looks to go cheaper. When Dolan walks he squeaks!
Exactly. It’s all about the $, not the player.
This is what Cleveland does, they seldom resign player heading into FA. They have their next first basemen in Manzardo. I hope they trade Naylor and Thomas for an arm and then take the money they save and put it toward another pitcher.
@avenger65
It helps when you have someone like Ramirez hitting in front of you. Of course, you still need skill, so I’m not trying to take anything away from Naylor but if you have a guy getting on base 34% of the time, you’re going to drive in runs. It would be interesting if he went elsewhere if we would see the same production.
Ya sell high on guys to get max value in smaller markets. He’s gonna be a free agent after next year and Cleveland doesn’t want to pay him the 15 million AAV it’s gonna take to keep him when Kyle Manzardo is waiting and could bring similar production.
Naylor would make sense for the yankees astros tigers and mariners who could use another lefty and a good first baseman
I don’t think the Yankees should be included in that list
Then who’s going to be the opening day 2025 first baseman in the Bronx?
Most likely an internal candidate. It definitely won’t be Naylor. He’s not very well liked amongst the Yankees’ roster
I get it after them facing each other in the playoffs but stranger things have happened
Johnny Damon, Jacoby ellsbury, etc…
The comment at 24:59 regarding Tropicana Field’s roof is misinformed. The Rays are not the landlord; the City of St. Petersburg is and are the ones solely responsible for the maintenance of the roof and building.
Adee – Yeah I don’t understand why they keep referring to the Rays as owners of the Trop, they are just the tenants. It’s the local gov that had the responsibility of replacing the roof when it’s useful life was up a decade ago.
There is a clause in their lease that states the Rays ARE responsible for “repairing, replacing and maintaining all components of the dome”, but the roof doesn’t fall into that category.
And here’s what really irks me ….. HOA fees in Florida have skyrocketed in large part because insurance companies are demanding that roofs be replaced prior to their useful life ending, otherwise there will be no insurance policy issued. So why the heck didn’t they demand the same thing for The Trop’s roof?
So residential buildings can’t get insurance on old roofs, but a huge gov-owned stadium can? Talk about corruption.
The corruption is taxpayers being on the hook for the insurance rates required to even cover the stadium or on the hook for paying out of pocket if insurance is denied or unavailable.
Actually, no. St Pete owns the stadium but the Rays are responsible for the maintenance of The Trop according to their lease. Whether or not that includes replacing the roof when it was due not sure but it probably is in the lease.
I knew CWS would start the sale process. You gut the team and lower liability of future payroll. You have a stadium deal that seems could be rejected by a corrupt city. Apathy amongst the fan base, no TV contract. All of these are a recipe for a multi-billionaire to move a historic franchise to the new hottest market city and make it their own. Reinsdorf playing chess and the fans are the checkers.
The White Sox should be sold AND moved to another market.
I tried to talk a friend of mine who had a few million, but not enough to buy a team, to put some investors together to buy the White Sox and move them to Charlotte. Three of their farm clubs are already in NC, so it makes sense, and that city just keeps growing and growing.
The ChiSox do have a new TV contract, it’s with a start-up channel for which you need to rig an antenna cos you can’t get it with Xfinity.
“White Sox For Sale”
Im glad to see the White Sox support their former player in his bid for a Cy Young.
Jerry is not selling the white Sox. He is using the media and sites like this, who are ill informed on how he does business, (not that I would expect anyone to know about this organization operates because it’s so irrelevant, and that’s Jerry’s own doing) to try to negotiate through the media with the city of Chicago/ state of Illinois to get public funding for the new stadium he wants to build.
In fact, he counts on sites like this to connect the dots that he lays out there to draw conclusions that aren’t actually happening – he used this same play 30+ years ago to threaten to move to Tampa and in return he got the state of IL his rent at Guaranteed rate field for the entire lease.
Hes not going to sell, he will lose too much in capital gains. He will pass it to his son who will sell with a much lower tax hit. He’s trying one last shot to blackmail the city into paying to build his new stadium, but thankfully no one is stupid enough to agree to that.
Check out podcasts by SoxMachine or Sox in the Basement, they explain it much better than I do. But he is NOT selling – just trying to take the spotlight on his team from the Ghirolli report and try to spin something good out of it.
When we say “Sell the Team, Jerry” we are no longer referring to a financial transaction (nudge nudge wink wink)
Totally agree that Jerry will not sell the team, it’s all a leverage bluff. He SHOULD sell the team however.
@carausda: you are correct. I heard today from a friend – he was very recently told by an extremely knowledgeable, close source – Reinsdorf will not sell the Chisox.
This won’t make avenger happy, but it’s apparently just another Reinsdorf power play. The ‘power play’ is my observation – not anything the source said of Reinsdorf.
Josh Naylor is a good player now but, his conditioning doesn’t promise longevity.
If you take the slider that’s thrown much different now since 2017 away from every MLB pitcher they become very ordinary.
Charlie Morton would have been gone 7 years ago.
Glasnow would have pitched himself out of MLB like he was heading with just a FB CU and no Roger Beshens Football SL.
Gerrit Cole would still be under 10K’s per game and no huge contract.
There is no Blake Treinan slider to watch. Which is the RB Football SL.
Imagine this Yankees Dodgers World Series with no Roger Beshens Football Slider? First those 2 teams wouldn’t be there, there wouldn’t be a Matt Blake as pitching coach. Most the pitchers in this series wouldn’t even be in ML baseball. Rodon was nothing without the RB Football Slider. Same for Holmes, Schmidt…
Sox should move to Indianapolis so they can have their own market.
Einsdorf and Reinhorn trying to squeeze the city again.
Einsdorf has been dead for awhile. Too bad because he seemed to be the owner that actually cared about the team and the city.
I went to game at the White Sox stadium when it was just a couple of seasons old. There was little remarkable about it except some bronze statues of Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. I was disappointed as I’d been to a few of the newer stadiums, and they all were better and more memorable in my opinion. The stadium is lackluster. The team and its history are lackluster, Even Fox and Aparicio, as Hall of Famers and your teams’ iconic players, are lackluster.
Had to laugh regarding your discussion on the White Sox. They will never spend like the Cubs because they don’t have the Cubs revenue. Per Forbes they had over $200M LESS revenue last season than the Cubs. Chicago is a Cubs town. The White Sox are a small fish in a big town.
Tropicana field is owned by St Pete but leased to the Rays, who are responsible for the maintenance of the stadium. That should include the roof but I don’t have the lease in front of me. In any event the stadium and the roof are insured so right now it boils down to what the inspections show and what the policy covers.
That said, MLB needs to step and ensure that we do not have another nomadic team. It was bad enough they let the A’s situation unfold as it did. There is no way it should have let them play in a MiLB stadium for 2-3 years. It should not allow a repeat of that. Regardless of the cost of the roof, the insurance, etc, there is enough money in the Rays pockets to fix that roof until their new stadium is built.
I think it would be best for them to play in the 11,000 plus seating at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Why spend probably millions of dollars for a roof that will be torn down in a few years? Of course, the Yankees would have to agree to that.
I don’t know why Cities keep building these teams Stadiums,as soon as they do they don’t put a decent team together and cry poor! It’s criminal to rebuild it again to watch them leave.