AA had a great interview in the Athletic today:
https://theathletic.com/5152620/202...medium=social&utm_campaign=mlbtw&source=mlbtw.
Some interesting tidbits:
Some starting pitchers have changed teams this offseason. Dylan Cease hasn’t been traded, yet. How hard have you pursued a starter and what’s the consideration in trading a core player to land one in trade?
We pursued Aaron Nola (who re-signed with the Phillies). Beyond that, we’ve engaged clubs and inquired on trades.
The starters who have been moved, and one specifically, we didn’t need to trade core players off our roster. It would’ve been a prospect-based deal and we had the prospects to do it and we elected not to. Obviously, we’ll find out three, four, five years from now if that was the right call. It’s similar to when guys like Spencer Strider and Michael Harris were prospects and we elected to hold those guys as well, and we’re glad that we did. It’s tough to judge because you’re trying to project out what guys will be. So far, I’ve elected to say no.
Should we expect a major trade between now and spring training?
I have no idea. We’re sitting here in the middle of December. It’s still pretty active. There’s still a lot of conversations. There’s also dominoes that get impacted — somebody gets signed and another player shakes loose in a trade. We still have at least another six weeks, and even then, you’re two weeks from reporting. So there’s still time.
