Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

[mikechamp]

These comments came from a chat with MLB Trade Rumors' Mark Polishuk that occurred on June 14.

More questions than last time, but no bonus questions. Enjoy the read!!

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/06/ ... t-132.html
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How hot is Krall's seat becoming? Is he out by the end of the month?

Mark Polishuk
An in-season firing is almost certainly not happening, and a firing at all probably isn’t in the cards. It’s been a tough stretch here for the Reds but wholesale changes don’t seem to be in store.
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You are Brewers GM. Since you have Pratt, Williams, and Pena, you decide you could realistically part with Made to make a big move. Who you targeting if you are trading the #1 prospect?

Mark Polishuk
Made is the last guy I’d trade within that group. Given how the Brewers usually operate, there’s logic in just going forward with all four youngsters and seeing how things play out.
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If St Louis is still hanging around the wild card race come mid July, Joe Ryan from Minnesota to the Cardinals for Crooks, Hence & Nootbar. Who says no? Ryan has 2 years of control plus they’re not giving up any of their three “untouchable” projects.

Mark Polishuk
Like the Nationals, the Cards are another team who is unexpectedly still competitive. They’d also likely be in the “sorta buying but open to sorta selling” mode come the deadline if they’re still in the race. Now, if the Twins were somehow willing to take this particular offer, the Cardinals do it in a heartbeat. But Minnesota can get way more for Ryan.
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With Pratt promoted and Rengifo being DFA’d on Tuesday, any chance somebody trades for Rengifo or will the Brewers eat the couple million left on his contract?

Mark Polishuk
One of my biggest hot takes from the offseason was that Rengifo was a great dark horse signing, and I figured he’d have a terrific bounce-back year in Milwaukee. All I can say is…oops. Rengifo is owed a little over a $1MM left in 2026 salary, plus there’s a $1.5MM buyout of his mutual option for 2027. It’s not big money by any means, but unless there’s another team with someone in their front office that shares my Rengifo optimism, he’ll likely clear waivers if DFA’ed.
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What is the point of fringe contenders that do light adding at the deadline? You’re already on the fringe— the one reliever or league average bat you might add isn’t gonna get you over the hump. This only makes sense for teams anticipating a big prospect promotion or injury return.

Mark Polishuk
The idea is that the Nationals, Cardinals, etc. aren’t going to be actual World Series contenders, and could very easily fall apart over the last two months of the season. For two franchises clearly pointed in the rebuild direction, therefore, they aren’t going to go nuts on big deadline additions for a club that ultimately isn’t really in position to contend.
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Sanchez or Mis for CY young?

Mark Polishuk
Who is your vote as NL Cy Young?

Jacob Misiorowski (76.2% | 424 votes)

Cristopher Sanchez (23.7% | 132 votes)

Total Votes: 556
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Ohtani for Cy Young!!!

Mark Polishuk
He’ll get his share of votes, but Miz/Sanchez/other contenders will have an edge in innings pitched. Even if Ohtani continues incredible numbers, IP will be the tiebreaker if Miz and Sanchez are also doing similarly incredible things but with 40 or so more frames.
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Thoughts on the Pratt call up?

Mark Polishuk
Felt like just a matter of time after the extension was signed, but Pratt hasn’t exactly been tearing it up at Triple-A. He can help the Brewers on defense and speed alone, and it would be hard for Pratt to produce less offense than Ortiz.
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Kyle Harrison all star?

Mark Polishuk
Harrison is having a fantastic year, but he might miss out on an All-Star nod just because the NL is so absurdly deep in quality starting pitching this year.
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How much longer for Ozuna in Pitt? He’s brutal. O’Hearn can move to the primary DH with others rotating in to get some time off their feet. When? When? When????

Mark Polishuk
The Ozuna signing didn’t make sense at the time, and it has played out as an objective disaster. One has to think the Pirates are going to cut the cord on him at some point, since their chances of contending aren’t being helped by having such a drag in their lineup.

Obviously Cutch didn’t hit anything in Texas, but one has to wonder how things would’ve played out if Pittsburgh had just re-signed McCutchen for like $5MM and then had $7MM more to address other needs.
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Take a wild guess as to where you think Skenes will be pitching in 2030.

Mark Polishuk
Chavez Ravine
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Will the Pirates consider a Scenes trade if the offer contains some true all star prospects from a 2026 pennant contender?

Mark Polishuk
I misread this question before I posted it, as the obvious answer is that Skenes is absolutely not being dealt this year.
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