You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Front Office Chat: 1/17/25
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Guest
3:29
Will the Cubs be able to land Kirby Yates on a one year deal or will he require  going 2 years ?
Anthony Franco
3:30
He's right on the border. I'd still lean one year at like $12-15MM but Blake Treinen got two, so I'm guessing Yates has been shooting for the same
Benjamin, J
3:30
Does the Straw trade seem like Cleveland opening up salary space for another acquisition, or does this seem like them being opportunistic just to get rid of a bad extension?
Anthony Franco
3:31
I assume they're just happy to get rid of the dead money. No reason to believe he was ever going to hit enough to be the player they thought they were extending
Anthony
3:32
Hi-Just curious if a team trying to recruit an International player can say as part of the recruitment, “Hey we can only offer you 5 million now of our International pool of money but if you sign with us we will offer you 25 million a year with a new contract after year one”
Anthony Franco
3:33
Cannot do this. There's no official cutoff for when a team can extend a player, but if MLB found out there was some sort of verbal agreement in place on day one to circumvent the bonus pool, my guess is that the executives involved would be permanently banned
Luc
3:34
Could Boras could pivot to the Giants with Alonso again this year?
Anthony Franco
3:35
I could see this, yeah. Giants have kind of downplayed the desire to sign multiple qualified free agents again but they want to upgrade the offense and he'd clearly bring much needed power
3:36
If he's looking at three years and they expect him to opt out after the first season, they could talk themselves into him not really blocking Eldridge. That's a much tougher sell if he's signing for five or six years
Angels fan
3:37
will we sign Santander. Also why not sign flahrety
Anthony Franco
3:38
Doing both would push them past the $241MM luxury line, which I imagine Moreno wouldn't be thrilled about, but either one and then a lesser addition makes sense
MoTork City
3:38
What could a short term deal for Flaherty look like?
Anthony Franco
3:40
Something like four years in the $70-80MM range that allows him to opt out after the first season?
Gavin
3:40
should the padres trade a prospect or two from Stroman and have the yankees cover most of his salary?
Anthony Franco
3:41
Guess it depends on the prospect but I think the Yankees could find someone willing to take more of the Stroman money off their hands than SD will be
Miami Trade
3:41
Inspired by Steve's Miami article from yesterday, would Montgomery and Pavin Smith to the Marlins for a nominal nobody be acceptable for both sides? AZ saving $22.5M but losing a potential breakout candidate with several years of control would be interesting while Miami gets two guys who could potentially be trade fodder in a few months. And then if this were to happen, would Arizona reinvest that saved money into a bat/bullpen arm or just be happy to not be setting another payroll record by $20M?
Anthony Franco
3:43
While I agree with Steve that the Marlins should be willing to make that kind of trade, I don't think they will be. Nothing in their last two offseasons suggests that Bruce Sherman is the type of owner who's willing to take on $15-20MM for a couple mid-tier prospects and a Pavin Smith dice roll
3:44
I could see them eating half the money from the Twins on Vázquez or something. He's better than Fortes, would only cost a few million and could probably net them a mid-level prospect at the deadline. Don't see it with the Haniger, Monty, Stroman types who are making $15MM+ though
HMM
3:44
Do you think Ha-Seong Kim will get a multi year deal?I would think the shoulder surgery would Make teams wary of committing to multiple years.
Anthony Franco
3:45
Agree, I'd stick with one on him. Maybe build in some kind of conditional player option for '26 if he gets to a certain plate appearance threshold (400 or whatever)
3:47
If he really makes it back by April or May, there's a path to the extra security for him. If he's out for two or three months to begin the year, the team isn't really taking on much downside. Ideal outcome for everyone is that he'd play well enough to unlock the option and opt out anyways in search of four or five years
Sean M.
3:47
Who do you think are good bets to be this year's Seth Lugo and Tim Anderson- aka possibly the best and worst free agent scrap heap/value signings of the offseason?
Anthony Franco
3:48
Wouldn't say Lugo was a scrap heap pickup. He got $15MM with an opt-out and a rotation opportunity from San Diego
3:50
But to your question, I like Jakob Junis for one year or a cheap two-year contract. Most of the one-year guys will not play well, so there'll be a lot of Anderson types. Not really holding out for Brendan Rodgers or a Moncada rebound, I guess
Bruce S.
3:51
Any chance I'll free up the cash for the Miami Marlins to pursue Spencer Turnbull, and if not, just for kicks, where do you expect that young fellow to land and with what kind of deal?
Anthony Franco
3:52
Sure, I think this makes sense for Miami. I'd guess one year at like $8MM
Gerard Malibu in the fire
3:52
Aside from the Dodgers going after Tanner Scott, is there any weakness in the Roster that the Dodgers might address
Anthony Franco
3:54
Wouldn't even consider the bullpen a weakness, but Scott would obviously help. I've got small quibbles with the infield depth -- shoehorning Chris Taylor onto the roster, giving Hyeseong Kim regular playing time at second base -- but nothing major. Deepest roster in MLB
Brad
3:54
Rays seem set though they could be in market for OF bat. What do you see as fits here?
Anthony Franco
3:56
Yeah I agree with that. An Austin Hays or Randal Grichuk could work there. Potential platoon option with Josh Lowe and Aranda, somewhat mitigates the risk they took with Morel
baseball gods laugh and laugh
3:56
While everyone focuses on Mets corner IF situation, what about CF? Please rank the following by  projected PA as CF: Siri, Taylor, Acuña, Gilbert, Williams, and Nimmo.
Anthony Franco
3:57
I expect Taylor and Siri to get the majority of the work, in that order
Kevin C
3:57
Does Jacob Young have a realistic chance to grow into a solid Major League starter for the Nationals, or is his realistic ceiling that of a 4th outfielder for a contender?
Anthony Franco
4:00
Ideally a fourth outfielder when the Nats are really ready to break out of the rebuild. It's kind of a nebulous distinction between high-end fourth outfielder and low-end regular in center field though. Don't think you're getting more out of Young than what he did last year, but that was low-end starter production
Donny Baseball
4:01
Thanks as always for these chats.  Do you expect that Tucker will get a higher AAV than Vlad in free agency but since Vlad is two years younger he will get the larger total contract?  Thanks
Anthony Franco
4:03
That feels right. Tucker has the clear defensive edge so there's a real possibility that he ends up getting the largest overall guarantee, but he'd probably need a slight down year from Vlad to make that up. Vlad's deal should be at least one year longer than Tucker's if they both perform at their typical level
Braves Fan
4:03
What % likelihood do you see ATL rolling into this Spring Training with Grant Holmes and Ian Anderson/AJSS as the #4&5 Staters?
Anthony Franco
4:04
20%? I'd be surprised if they didn't add a starter
4:05
I know Strider's coming back at some point, but they can't expect Sale to stay as healthy as he did last year and López battled injuries in the second half. They need more stability that allows the group you mentioned to battle for the fifth and sixth spots on the depth chart
Sasaki
4:06
Can teams bake in some type of performance incentives to their agreements to avoid the cap on signing him? Obviously most players in this category aren't expected to go straight to the MLB.
Connecting…