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Front Office Chat: 1/3/25
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Big in Japan
4:01
Have you noticed more teams running unofficial 6 man rotations? It seems like everyone is stacking more pitching than spots available in preparation for inevitable injuries
Anthony Franco
4:01
Yeah I haven't seen any data on this but it definitely seems like it's more common anecdotally, especially early in the season
Josh Elliott
4:02
Is there a max number of minor league contracts a team can agree?
Anthony Franco
4:05
I don't believe there's any limit on how many NRIs you can sign but they're capped at 165 overall minor leaguers during the season and 175 during the offseason
4:07
So I think a team could sign 50 veterans to NRIs if they wanted to but they'd eventually have to start cutting players from the low minors to meet the roster limits
Would you...
4:07
As Ross Atkins -- sign Alonso to a 3 year deal at a high AAV (with opt outs) if it meant Vladdy having to play like 80 games at third base?
Anthony Franco
4:09
I would not. I'd rather have Bregman, but if it's Alonso or the internal options, I'd stick with the younger guys at third and hope one of them breaks out
4:10
There's a chance Alonso follows the Bellinger path and doesn't opt out. Then you're stuck deciding whether you want to make a real push to keep Vlad as a FA even it means playing him at third for another season or two
Manfredo
4:11
Verlander, Morton, Scherzer, seems like there’s a lot of risky pitching available, which aging star has the most upside?
Anthony Franco
4:11
I'd take the shot on Max of that trio
4:12
Have to wrap this up soon to take over news coverage but I'll try to hit a few more quickly
Impatient Reds fan
4:12
Do you still see Profar getting a 3 for $45 mil deal?  I haven't heard much about his market.
Anthony Franco
4:12
Quiet enough that I'd take the under on that but not by too much. Still think he gets three years in the high-30s
Joey
4:13
Is Lux trade bait or is Kim ticketed for a bench role?
Anthony Franco
4:14
Kim's probably just a utility guy. Didn't seem like most scouts bought him as a regular before the posting and he certainly didn't get paid like one
Kim chi monster
4:14
Do you think NPB has surpassed AAA for minor leaguers looking for opportunities? The pay seems better
Anthony Franco
4:15
Player to player -- some guys would just rather stay in the U.S. for cultural or family reasons -- but yeah, I think NPB or the KBO are generally better career choices for the Quad-A types
Stockholm Archipelago
4:16
Hey there! In a post the other day you called MacKenzie Gore the de facto ace of the Nationals. When I out of curiosity checked his stats on BR and Fangraphs I noticed the big difference in his WAR in 23-24 between the two sites. How come they’re so different? BR thinks he was less valuable this past season, whereas Fangraphs says the opposite, and not by a little. Not having watched him pitch, and only reading the numbers, I would say he looks to have been more valuable in 24. More IP, lower ERA, way better FIP, a lot HR/9, only marginally lower K/9 etc. Please explain.
Anthony Franco
4:18
Hadn't noticed that the bWAR dropped so much. That's kind of weird. Haven't looked into it so this is just a guess, but I wonder if their team defense metric for the Nationals was a lot better in 2024 than it had been in '23
4:20
B-Ref uses runs allowed and makes an overarching team defense adjustment for pitcher WAR. FanGraphs ignores runs allowed and bases its WAR metric off fielding independent numbers (strikeouts, walks, homers)
4:21
I don't think WAR for pitchers really works in either case. I don't put much stock in it personally
retake on the lake
4:21
is there a trade market for Cleveland OF Will Brennan? .270 hitter with little power. bats lefty. SD? Seattle?Houston?
Anthony Franco
4:22
Eh, I've been waiting for Brennan to take a step forward and it just hasn't happened. The defense went backwards this year and there's just not enough juice for a corner OF spot
4:23
They could find somebody who'd be willing to trade for him but he's a 4th/5th outfielder. Don't think they'd get a noteworthy return
4:24
Alright I've gotta wrap up here and move to stuff for the main site
Thanks as always for all the questions and continuing to support the site! I'm on X @affranco10 and happy to take your question there if I didn't get to it today
4:25
Have a great weekend! We'll do this again next week
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