Front Office Chat: 10/16/26
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Anthony Franco
3:35
They win 90-95 games every year. I understand the frustration with their playoff performances and can see the argument for a managerial change just to shake things up, but it's not like they're trotting out joke rosters
Jurickson
3:35
If the Braves release me, should the Padres pick me up?  That seems to be the only place I play well at.
Anthony Franco
3:36
I would but I also don't see the point for Atlanta in releasing him unless the players basically demand it. You're paying him anyway, why not see if he can still hit?
Mets
3:36
Will Bischett opt out? Will they make a legitimate play for Skubal? Who's on first? Who closes? Do they keep Alverez? etc, etc, and sp forth.
SandyG
3:37
Thanks for the chat! Would the Mets be better off signing Clay Holmes and an innings-eater than shopping at the top of the market and bidding on Skubal?
Anthony Franco
3:38
Can't talk myself into a Bo opt out. Maybe if he didn't have the post-'27 out as well but this year just wasn't good enough. Play better and test the market next offseason
Mr. Met
3:38
What would it take to get Andrew Vaughn from Milwaukee? Be a great fit in New York.
Anthony Franco
3:39
Agree on Vaughn as the best fit for 1B there. Don't think he'd cost more than a mid-level prospect given the arbitration price. Royals probably should move Pasquantino and play Caglianone at first base, Torkelson's a possibility as well
3:41
If they can't find a taker on Williams, I assume he gets first opportunity to close over Senga. To Sandy's rotation question, feels like overthinking it. If Cohen's willing to do it, just get Skubal. He's the cleanest FA pitcher we've seen since Cole
3:42
Most of the mid-level guys are like tossing darts. We're like two months removed from Casey Mize being maybe the third or fourth best starter available and Mahle looking terrible
Natitude Dude
3:43
How soon into the year can we expect Jarlin Susana and Travis Sykora to hit the majors?
Anthony Franco
3:45
They're both going on the 40 this offseason, going to have be on tight innings limits anyway. I'd have them both up mid-summer in relief roles as long as they're vaguely around the strike zone in Triple-A
3:46
Still hoping for a long term starting role but break them in midseason with more of the Didier Fuentes approach to gradually build the workload
Walterj23
3:46
Best logical fits for the Cubs to fix their starting rotation ?
Anthony Franco
3:48
Trevor Rogers, Foster Griffin and David Peterson reunion?
Concerned Citizen
3:48
With regard to the upcoming lockout, are minor league free agents who played in the majors this year still considered part of the union? If so, are they allowed to sign minor league contracts before the lockout begins? One would think that these fringe players would want to lock something up for themselves before the whirlwind starts.
Anthony Franco
3:49
Everyone can sign any deal they want before the lockout. Players can still sign minor league deals during the lockout
Josh
3:49
Will the Reds ever sign a legitimate everyday outfielder. It seems like it’s been a decade that they have needed one..or two…or three!
Anthony Franco
3:50
How do you feel about Luis Robert Jr. or Cedric Mullins?
3:51
Obviously have to do something about the outfield but they've also got needs on the pitching staff and at second/third base so I doubt they're approaching nine figures for Arozarena or Suzuki
Lockout Craziness
3:51
Arizona sends Marte (some money) and a mid-20s ranked prospect to SF for Devers. AZ absorbs the full Devers contract. Aside from division deal nonsense, who says no?
Anthony Franco
3:52
I assume Arizona doesn't want to take on that much extra money but there's some logic to this framework
Would be shocked if it actually happens, of course
TheGhostofChristmasPast
3:53
This probably has been asked before but with a possible lockout incoming will there be a FA prediction contest this yr?
Anthony Franco
3:54
Haven't confirmed anything with Tim but I assume so. We did one last time there was a lockout and I haven't heard any indication that's changing. It'll just go on pause for a while but it's easy enough to restart in March or whatever
Drake
3:54
Loyal A’s fan here. I was really bummed Sam Fuld turned them down for POBO. That’s who I was hoping they’d hire. Is it because he thinks he’ll be running the Phillies soon if Dombrowski retires or simply didn’t want the uncertainty of the A’s?
Anthony Franco
3:56
Obviously can't speak for Fuld's logic, either thing you suggested seems plausible. He also stepped away from the Phillies' #2 baseball ops job to complete his MBA and take a role on the business side with the Phils. It's possible he's just not sold on the idea of running a baseball operations department at all
Inquiring Minds
3:56
How much would the Braves have to eat of Murphy's contract to deal him this winter?  Keep in mind, there is a dearth of decent hitting catchers.
Anthony Franco
3:58
Well Murphy doesn't really qualify as a decent hitting catcher anymore either. He's owed 2/30 and would probably be looking at $8-12M as a free agent. You're hoping for solid backup or low-end #1 at this point -- and even that requires a pretty big leap of faith in the health
Youkilyptus
3:59
Where can the Red Sox reasonably upgrade the lineup?   If Mead can actually play second base, then there aren’t really any holes unless you want to clog up the DH spot.  Maybe squeeze in Sato?
Anthony Franco
4:00
Yeah it's basically left field (splitting DH/LF time with Anthony) or second base. Having Mead as an overqualified bench bat isn't the worst thing in the world
4:01
Agree they're pretty well positioned on paper but they couldn't score down the stretch so I'd want to squeeze one more bat in there somewhere and figure out the positional alignments as they go. Need to move on from Duran, obviously
Chief
4:01
I just checked out the MLBTR Payroll Tracker. It is awesome. Question: I know it doesn't rise to the level of Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio, but has there been a more lopsided trade that Chris Sale for Vaughn Grissom in recent memory?
Anthony Franco
4:02
Certainly up there. That one and Caminero are the biggest recent examples that jump to mind
4:03
Caminero's a much different situation than the Sale one obviously. He was 17 years old and Cleveland just had no idea how talented he was
Ditto for the Dodgers giving up Yordan Alvarez for Josh Fields like a month after they signed him
Ludwig’sPitch Count
4:04
Is there an actual mindset wherein owners and executives are simply fine with their team being a perennial early exit from playoffs? Is that why some teams never make big trades to get them into the WS?
Anthony Franco
4:06
No one is pulling to get bounced in the Division Series but every move you make has a cost-benefit analysis where you're weighing the immediate vs. the future and teams have different levels of risk tolerance in that regard
4:07
Playoff series results are pretty volatile and especially the lower-payroll teams need to decide whether they want to push in to maximize small windows and risk a full rebuild or never really "go for it" and hope that having enough kicks at the can eventually gets you there
4:09
Ironically Milwaukee, Cleveland and Tampa Bay tend to be in the latter group. It's going to work for one of them this year but a lot of people (myself included) felt the Brewers or Rays, to a lesser extent, should've been more aggressive on Skubal this summer
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