MLB trade deadline, expansion and the Mets: Yahoo Sports' Hannah Keyser answers fans' questions
Yahoo! Sports baseball writer Hannah Keyser hosted a Reddit AMA on Monday talking about the MLB trade deadline. You can view the full AMA here.
Here are highlights from Hannah’s AMA, edited for clarity:
Q: Is there a player you think is really flying under the radar? Someone who could have a big impact on whatever team they go to, but people really aren't talking about them?
Keyser: Essentially all the trade speculation has centered on pitching, which makes some sense, but at this point any trade featuring a position player that moves the needle would seem like it came a little out of left field. With the STRONG disclaimer that I don't have any insider knowledge to indicate that these guys will get moved but just kinda spitballing here:
Maybe [Yasiel] Puig if the Reds decide to sell? Could be a cheap rental for a team that wants to add a little power.
Maybe Starling Marte from the Pirates? His contract has team options for next year and 2021. Might be too soon for him to be dealt, but he's a pretty impactful player if someone needs an outfielder.
Maybe Shin-Soo Choo from the Rangers? One of the best hitters for a decade, an on-base machine who is nearing the end of his contract making it movable.
Q: Are there any teams you bandwagoned already that you wish to re-bandwagon now that we're further into the season?
Keyser: I mentioned this on Twitter actually but the team that has stuck with me the most since we Bandwagoned them was the Reds. I had, admittedly, never paid attention to the Reds prior to becoming a national baseball writer and was surprised at how fun they were when I started watching and since then, I've kinda kept watching and feel like more of a legit Reds "fan" now.
Also fun (?) behind-the-scenes: We did the Phillies in the pilot episode that we never published and since then I have been waiting for them to have a hot streak so I can Bandwagon my hometown team again since I know that city/fanbase best and that ... has not happened.
Q: If MLB were to add two expansion teams, which cities do you think would receive those teams?
Keyser: Montreal and Portland ...
... but if you're listening MLB, consider Brooklyn: the least sympathetic option, but consider that if it were its own city it would be the fourth-largest by population in the country and also that it would make my commute to the stadium much more manageable.
Q: Does anyone understand what Brodie is up to in New York or is everyone confused?
Keyser: It’s possible that someone in New York knows what [Mets GM] Brodie [Van Wagenen] is up to but I am not that person — and everyone I know seems to fall somewhere on the continuum between total confusion and cynicism that this is, in fact, completely in keeping with the Mets. As with all things that franchise, the explanation is probably a combination of meddling by incompetent owners and an inability to win the eyes of the local media. The Marcus Stroman move doesn’t make a ton of sense to me, and it’ll make even less if they trade [Noah] Syndergaard (except that maybe they should trade him to a team with the kind of player development and, uh, training staff that will keep him healthy and help him reach his full potential). That said, maybe we shouldn’t cast aspersions on a team that acquired a good player and a key piece, which is more than can be said for … basically every other team right now.
Q: Where is Noah Syndergaard going to be traded and when?
Keyser: I am going to take this opportunity to release my extremely and self-admittedly bad take that I find all trade-deadline speculation boring and useless. They'll definitely let you know which baseball players play for which baseball teams before the baseball team plays any baseball games. I promise! They're not trying to keep this information from you. Transactions are so highly valued from a reporting standpoint and frankly I don't really get it because it's often a matter of just knowing soon-to-be-public information a matter of minutes ahead of time. (Which, truly no disrespect to the people who have built hugely successful careers on being way better at breaking that news than I ever could be, even if I tried.)
But I think the Astros, and at the very last minute.
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