Front Office Chat: 10/23/26
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Anthony Franco
3:25
Best package of talent I can find. Sounds like a copout answer but it's true, just collect as much upside in the system as you can get and sort it out in two or three years when you're closer to contention
3:26
All things being equal, it would be ideal to find a young catcher in either a Detmers or Neto deal though
I like the Ballesteros flier well enough but am skeptical he's a long-term catcher
Moose Skowron
3:26
Where does Jazz Chisholm wind up next season?
Sandy at 90
3:26
What do you think of Jazz Chisom for 2nd base for Dodgers?
Anthony Franco
3:27
I'd rather stick with Edman/Freeland honestly. Did like Jazz quite a bit for the Tigers though
3:28
They love that short-term opt-out deal, he can bounce between 2B/3B and bring a baserunning and overall athleticism that they're lacking as an offense
Guest
3:28
Is Arizona Fall League a useful predictor of a player's career?
Anthony Franco
3:28
No I wouldn't put any stock in AFL stats. A lot of it is getting a few extra reps for players coming off injuries that cost them most of the season
3:29
Or a final chance for a team's scouts to self-evaluate fringe prospects whom they're on the fence about adding to the 40-man to protect from the Rule 5 draft
3:30
I think actual on the ground scouts can glean some useful info but the stats are skewed by varying competition levels, player fatigue, injury rust etc.
Breaker
3:30
Who says no? Texas Rangers get: George Lombard Jr., Carlos Lagrange, Ben Hess, and Dax Kilby.
New York Yankees get: Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom, and $15–20 million in salary compensation.
Anthony Franco
3:31
Yankees pass even if deGrom's willing to waive the NTC. Just taking on way too much money to give up that volume of young talent
Matt
3:31
Is there a realistic chance tye Mariners actually pony up to get either Suzuki or Happ in free agency?
Anthony Franco
3:32
Happ certainly should be on the table. Suzuki could be closer to Naylor money and I could see them balking at doing that twice in a row
Cardinals
3:32
I’m wondering whether there’s a trade to be worked in the Cardinals acquiring Jarren Duran. The Cardinals don’t have much brewing in CF so Duran could get a good amount of playing time alongside Church while they see if Duran could recapture his form. Plus with the volume of trades recently the two orgs know each other well. Not sure what the Red Sox would really want for him. Thoughts?
Anthony Franco
3:33
Yeah I think this would be a decent flier for them. Again don't expect it cost much in terms of prospect value and they've got nothing on the books so they can afford to toss him $10M and see if he gets back on track
Sandy at 90
3:34
Anthony — Jim Bowden has proposed a trade between the Nationals and Dodgers. Woods and Abrams to LA and DePaula, Serota, Sheehan, Wrobleski, and Rushing to Nats.  Any chance of this deal happening? Thanks
Anthony Franco
3:34
Haha I do not see this happening, no
Jagger
3:34
Does Jackson Flora make his MLB debut next season?
Anthony Franco
3:36
Wouldn't rule it out. If he dominates Double-A like Kade Anderson did this year, then sure it'll be on the table
Most of the top college pitchers usually get one full minor league season though, so I'd say 2028 is more likely
Mr. Met
3:36
Is there anyway anybody is willing to take Jorge Polanco off our hands? I'd give up a prospect and eat some contract in exchange for a bag of batting practice balls and a low level prospect. Or, a straight bad contract for bad contract trade.
Anthony Franco
3:39
Man, I'm not convinced he'd get a major league deal if he were a free agent this offseason. Maybe if a team like Arizona has struck out on all its bigger 1B/DH attempts and the Mets pay him down to like $2M a couple weeks before Spring Training?
He's not going to be anyone's Plan A, B, or C though. I do think it's far more likely he's back with the Mets next year and they hope for better health
Al
3:40
How likely is it that Didier Fuentes will be essentially a full-time starter in 2027?
Anthony Franco
3:41
He should start more than one game next year but I'd expect a swing role with the goal of getting him to 100-120 innings
3:43
He's still really fastball-reliant -- understandably because it's a damn good one but he's going to need a little more touch and feel too once they start having turn lineups over a second time
Cecil
3:44
Anthony. Would a trade of George Kirby to Cardinals for Masyn Winn make sense? With Colt Emerson moving to third. Mariners defense was terrible last year. They need an upgrade.
Anthony Franco
3:45
Wouldn't do it for two years of Kirby coming off the worst season of his career but a Winn for Hancock or Bryce Miller framework makes sense to me, yeah
3:46
With you on Seattle's need for an infield defense upgrade and think STL 1) needs upside swings for the rotation and 2) would be fine if they needed to move Wetherholt back to SS
Greg
3:46
FG has Angels CBT at $114 M. They’re payroll was at $206 M as recently as 2025. What combination of free agents/trades could they hypothetically add for $92 M to be competitive in a middling AL West and match the 2025 payroll?
Anthony Franco
3:48
The FG number doesn't include arbitration estimates. We've got them closer to $130M once you factor those in
I don't expect them to match last year's payroll but for the sake of this question, let's assume they'll spend $70M of AAV and don't trade Detmers or Neto
3:52
I guess give me Gleyber Torres (12), Steven Kwan trade (11), Carson Kelly (10), Michael Soroka (13), Evan Phillips (12), and Kris Bubic (12)
Obviously just using estimated AAVs that are in the range where we have those guys as we sketch out the top 50
3:53
Still not convinced that team's particularly good -- really need Joyce, Bachman, etc. to carry the bullpen and Ureña/Detmers to stay healthy -- but could they hang around in an 85-win AL West? Maybe
Rule 5
3:53
If rule 5 draft is expected to be canceled due to lockout to teams just ignore the late November protection deadline then
Anthony Franco
3:54
They could but the protection deadline is in mid-November and if you try to outsmart them by not protecting anyone on November 18 and they move the Rule 5 up on November 20, you're in a lot of trouble
3:55
If you're trying to steal an extra 40-man spot or two on a prospect you were borderline on carrying anyway, I could see this tipping you to leave them off
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