Steve Adams' NL Central comments

[mikechamp]

These comments came from a chat with MLB Trade Rumors' writer Steve Adams that occurred on April 28. (If you like him, you can find him on Twitter @Adams_Steve and Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social.)

Not as many questions this week and no bonus Q&As. Sorry. Enjoy the read anyway?

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/ ... t-124.html
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As of right now who’s your pick for ROY in National League?

Steve Adams
Coinflip between Nolan McLean and Sal Stewart.
Probably slight lean toward Stewart, but it’s pretty early and I doubt things will be so close (one way or another) by season’s end.
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Will Cora get another managing job somewhere? Would the Cardinals make sense given his connection to Chaim Bloom?

Steve Adams
Based on reporting surrounding Bloom’s exit from Boston, I think Cora returning to Boston might be likelier than Cora going to St. Louis, haha.
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Bazzana, Wetherholt, and McGonigle all profile very similarly. How would you rank them in order of who you’d rather have on your team?

Steve Adams
They’ll all be good but I’m taking McGonigle pretty comfortably.
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Juan Brito trade to the Brewers for Luis Matos: who says no?

Steve Adams
Matos might clear waivers. No one’s giving up anything other than cash for him. Certainly not Brito.
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Is Michael Busch okay? He’s looked awful so far this season. Will we start seeing Matt Shaw play more first base even against righties if this continues?

Steve Adams
I’m not super concerned about Busch. He’s hitting .281/.349/.421 over his past 2+ weeks (63 PAs). The batted-ball quality is shockingly low, but I wonder if some of that is just attributable to chasing more balls out of frustration. His contact numbers, walk rate, strikeout rate, etc. are all right in line with last year.
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Injuries aside, will the Cubs ever pay for a real Bullpen?

Steve Adams
Seems pretty clear they don’t like the idea of paying multiple years for relievers in most cases — Maton deal notwithstanding.
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I am not seeing much hope for the Red Sox to come back and compete. If they have a poor May, do you think it’s possible they move Chapman and/or Duran and, if so, how can the Pirates get one or both of them (I’m much more interested in Chapman but Duran would be a great add, too)?

Steve Adams
Chapman yeah. Duran would be hard to sell low on, unless he turns things around. Kiner-Falefa, Coulombe, Sonny Gray would all be names to watch, too.
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