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Front Office Chat: 1/5/24
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Anthony Franco
2:58
Hey everyone, hope you're all having a good afternoon!
Looking forward to the chat, let's get started
Cubs
2:58
Cubs don’t seem to be in on Snell, Monty, Imanaga, or Stroman. They might not be a match for trading for Cease or Burnes. Is it Bieber or bust in their hopes to add above average pitcher this off-season? (Not counting back-of-the-rotation starters or reclamation projects like Manaea, Lorezen, etc.)
Paging Jed Hoyer
2:58
So am I going to do anything? Do I think the market is going to come to me? What’s my plan?
Anthony Franco
3:01
I don’t know that I would go as far as Bieber or bust. There are unconventional trade candidates at each deadline or offseason. If the Marlins trade one of their starters or something, the Cubs could be in the mix.
But their seeming lack of urgency attacking the rotation to this point is strange. Not wanting to splurge on Snell or Monty is fine, but to your general point, they have to come away with something.
John B
3:01
Hi Anthony. Which reporters among the national media do you find most credible?
Anthony Franco
3:03
I can’t recall a time that Jeff Passan has ever missed. Ken Rosenthal is great.

Joel Sherman, Jon Heyman (Arson Judge tweet aside), Mark Feinsand basically don't whiff if they say a deal is done. Same with Robert Murray. It's the people we reference on the site for the vast majority of significant scoops, but Passan and Rosenthal are probably in their own tier
Bill
3:03
The Braves seem to have put together a very busy and complicated offseason  that netted relief help? an iffy left fielder and a starting pitcher made of glass.How much did it cost to yield this questionable product? What do you think of their efforts?
AA
3:04
What the heck are the braves doing? I think AA may be over thinking so many of the mnoves this year. He's becoming JerryD but with a better foundation to build from.
Chriss
3:04
Did the Braves make a mistake extending Sale without even having him play a game for them?
Anthony Franco
3:04
Yeah I think we've generally found the offseason trajectory pretty strange at MLBTR. Darragh was more of a fan than I was of the Chris Sale trade, though
3:05
I really liked the Bummer deal. Re-signing Johnson and Jiménez was good. I wasn't wild about the López price point but he's a good pitcher
3:06
My reaction to basically everything they've done from the first two weeks on has ranged from "wow that's risky" to "this is getting too cute"
3:08
I feel that way about the Sale extension in general, although they were kind of incentivized to do it by the CBT structure. They're clearly more comfortable with his health outlook than I am, but guaranteeing him $22MM for 2025 for the ability to tack on a '26 club option (they already had an option for '25) only really makes sense because they're lowering the tax hit in year one
Eric
3:08
Are the Brewers going to address the whole at 1b/3b?
Anthony Franco
3:09
Yeah I can't imagine they go into the season with a corner infield tandem of Andruw Monasterio and Jake Bauers
3:10
First base is easier to fix -- they'll probably bring Carlos Santana back -- but I expect they'll add a player at both spots
Nick Krall
3:10
I think I got a good deal on Candelario when evaluated on his own, but I guess I forgot that I already had a bevy of young and versatile infielders. Did I screw up? Should I have spent that money on an outfielder or pitcher instead? Or am I a genius for getting this guy and the way his presence will support the development of all these other guys?
Anthony Franco
3:12
Somewhere in between but I'm closer to the latter take on the Candelario deal. I think it's good value for this player, it allows them to rotate Steer more often through the outfield (where they needed to mix in a right-handed bat) and they still have the infield depth to leverage in trades at the deadline
Ilikepolarbears
3:12
Why is there ANY talk about the Mets trading Alonso?  This perplexes me.  Face of the franchise, devastating power, improving bat to ball, solid defense, and he loves playing here.  I don't get why it's even being discussed.
Anthony Franco
3:12
Seems like it's basically just wishcasting by other front offices and fanbases
3:14
The argument would be that the Mets aren't fully all-in for next season and Alonso could leave as a free agent next winter, but basically every report from anyone with connections to the team downplays the chances they'll trade him and suggests they're hopeful of getting a long-term deal done still
Crash
3:14
Is it just me or is this bluejay offseason shaping up to be a failure?
Anthony Franco
3:14
Darragh and I discussed this on the podcast this week. He's nominally a Blue Jay fan and, as you might expect, similarly underwhelmed
3:15
They're not done. They'll probably come away with a middle-of-the-order bat to plug in at DH
3:16
But Darragh made the point (correctly, in my view) that it's basically just replacements for guys they're losing. A new DH is in for Belt, IKF for Merrifield, Kiermaier back. They're mostly lateral moves, and that's before the possibility that they lose Chapman
3:17
Even outside the lofty early expectations of the Jays being in on Soto and thinking they could get Ohtani, that's pretty rough
Curtis
3:17
Is Grissom caplable of playing 3rd, when Devers is inevitably moved to 1st/DH? Does his bat carry?
Anthony Franco
3:18
Yeah, I think Grissom will hit enough to play anywhere on the infield other than first base. If he doesn't have the glove for shortstop, I'd be fine with him at either second or third
Lefty
3:18
Giants beat writers are MIA. Is there any truth to the Snell or Imanaga and Chapman signing rumors?
WHOA!
3:18
robbie Ray gets traded??!!
Anthony Franco
3:19
Lefty's question was submitted before the Ray trade, but yeah, that one came out of nowhere. Seems like it points to the Giants focusing mostly on position players in free agency at this point.
ArthurDent1961
3:19
Do you expect the Rays to stand pat at this point or will they will be looking to lower payroll?
Anthony Franco
3:20
They never fully stand pat. Even something like the Raley/Caballero deal under discussion isn't about payroll so much as them just tinkering with the roster
But I think the Glasnow/Margot trade was the big cost-cutting move, yeah
Metsiac
3:20
Is David Stearns just being patient, or is the strategy to cut payroll and luxury tax?
Anthony Franco
3:21
Cohen has been pretty clear that he doesn't want to run $350MM luxury tax payrolls every year. So over the long haul, I expect they will cut things back a little bit
3:23
But I read this offseason more about patience than specifically about finances. They tried to build a contender through free agency with a lot of older players. They got one very good season out of it but still didn't win the division and got bumped from the playoffs early. Then everything fell apart
3:24
It clearly didn't work as they intended, but I think the general point was to revitalize fan interest and make the team competitive in the short term while buying time to invest in scouting/player development that eventually allowed them to back down the MLB payroll
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