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Front Office Chat: 1/10
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Sonja Chen
4:02
Do you see someone giving up a prospect between 20-30 organizational ranking for Miguel Rojas?
Anthony Franco
4:05
Yeah I think they could pull a mid-level prospect for him. He's affordable, still a really good defender, coming off a solid offensive season. Not sure the Dodgers would find it worthwhile since Rojas provides defensive stability in case Mookie's return to SS doesn't work out though
Questions from sally
4:05
Why are baseball fans so resistant to change? I see many comments against the teams who have successfully converted relievers to starters. MLB starting pitcher is tough to do and it helps teams by keeping arb salaries low until you know the players are ready for starting.
Anthony Franco
4:06
If this is in response to the Holmes question, I didn't read that one as being dismissive
4:08
But yeah, I'm with you that teams should be willing to give this kind of thing a try. We've seen a handful of really successful moves -- Seth Lugo went from solid middle reliever to Cy Young runner-up in two years, which is absurd -- and there's a decent chance that if it busts, the pitcher can head back to the 'pen without being too much worse for wear
Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice...
4:08
What are we to make of the Giants? The rotation is pretty good, top half of the league definitely. But the rest of the team? I don't see how they move past AZ, SD, and LA.
Anthony Franco
4:10
Rotation's probably top half of the league. There's a lot of variance behind Webb but it could be a really good group. I think the lineup remains in the opposite spot -- generally solid but lacking the ceiling to hang with the top teams in what is probably MLB's toughest division
4:11
I think they're a pretty good team who'll need stuff to break right to get a Wild Card, which is basically what they've been for the past four years
Wing
4:11
I feel like there's a ton of question marks with this Braves team right now, where they could compete for a championship if things go right, but they could also collapse and miss the playoffs if things go wrong. How do you see the club's chances?
Anthony Franco
4:12
Hard for me to see them missing the playoffs. They had a ton go wrong on the position player side last year, especially with injuries, and still got in. Obviously they needed success stories in the rotation (i.e. Sale, López, Schwellenbach) to make that happen, but I can't see the offense being as bad as it was last year
4:13
There's still a realistic path to them being one of the two best teams in the National League and I think they'd need a lot to go wrong to end up outside the top six
RAGBRAI
4:14
With ST starting in a month who is the biggest name you see being traded by then? Do Alonso, Bergman and Flaherty sign before then?
Anthony Franco
4:16
I'd guess Cease for best player traded. Seems like the Padres are going to have a hard time accomplishing anything otherwise
4:17
Complete shot in the dark on the free agents but I guess I'd go Bregman, Flaherty, Alonso in order of likelihood to still be unsigned in a month
Steve
4:17
What team has had the most baffling off-season so far? Mariners, Cardinals, or other?
Anthony Franco
4:18
I think the Cardinals are closest to baffling. Seattle's offseason makes sense in that ownership doesn't wanna spend any money. It sucks for the fans but it's not really confusing
4:19
I cannot tell what St. Louis is trying to accomplish. They also don't want to spend but signaling that they don't want to move Helsley or Fedde is weird if they're not going to try to upgrade an average team like lost Goldy, Gibson, Lynn and Kittredge
4:21
I get that Mozeliak probably assumed they'd do more and was taken aback that Gray and Contreras wanted to stay and Arenado was at least willing to leverage the NTC in certain instances, but if anything, you would think that would make them more anxious to deal some of their veterans who have positive trade value and don't have no-trader rights
Mid Relief Starter
4:21
Thanks for having my back Anthony!  Definitely not being dismissive.  I can’t wait to see what Holmes brings to a starting role!
Questions from sally
4:21
Not in response, no
Anthony Franco
4:21
Haha well, seems it was coincidental anyways
What a relief
4:21
What is going on with the relief market??  Is the league reconsidering the value of relief pitchers after last year’s playoffs?
Anthony Franco
4:22
It's moving slowly but the guys who have signed have gotten paid close to or above expectations. Seems like Tanner Scott's going to beat what we expected
4:24
Beyond Scott, the best relievers either had some performance questions or were relatively old (especially if Hoffman and Holmes prioritized rotation opportunities). Possible that teams just felt they could wait it out because they didn't see huge differences between most of them
Slow offseason
4:25
Teams are waiting longer and longer to clear 40 man spots. Signings will pick up when the 60 day IL opens up
Anthony Franco
4:26
That's still a month away and there a decent number of teams that still have an open 40-man spot. I don't think that's a significant factor yet
Save the first basemen
4:26
WAR and its defensive value for 1B are killing the HOF. Can we do something to help Garvey, Mattingly, Hernandez, etc?
Anthony Franco
4:30
The BBWAA dropped those guys off the ballot well before most writers were taking WAR metrics into account. It probably hurts Garvey's chances a little bit on the era committee, but the committees tend to take more of an old school approach than the writers do anyways
4:31
Hernandez has over 60 career WAR at Baseball Reference. Between that and his presence in a beloved broadcast booth (which shouldn't matter but probably does by keeping him front of mind), I think he will get in at some point
Billy
4:32
Can we get all year long 60 day DL? 40 man spots shouldn’t be taken by injured players just because it’s cold out
Anthony Franco
4:33
I guess the fear is that teams will use phantom injuries to stash guys on the offseason IL? Agree that pitchers rehabbing TJ or something should be able to stay off the 40 over the winter
4:34
Could just implement a rule that says if a player goes on the offseason injured list, he's required to miss the first two months of the regular season
4:35
Alright, we're past 90 minutes so I've gotta wrap this one up
As always, feel free to throw stuff at me on X @affranco10 if I didn't get to yours here
4:36
Thanks for continuing to support the site and for all the questions every week! Hope you all have a great weekend! We'll do this again next Friday
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