Front Office Chat: 10/23/26
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Adam and Eve
4:24
Do you agree that baseball is the sport that needs a salary cap the least because of how large the rosters are and that a superstar MLB player has less impact on a game than their NFL / NBA counterparts?  Even the best MLB hitter still only comes up once every 9 times unlike an NFL QB who touches the ball every offensive possession.
Anthony Franco
4:25
Not sure, could argue that works in reverse too. With the salary cap comes either a de facto or absolute maximum contract value for individual players
4:26
So in the NFL, teams never let their star quarterback get to free agency and it becomes really hard for a team that doesn't have one to get out of purgatory unless they hit on one at the top of the draft
4:28
I feel like there's more movement of star players in the NBA (I don't really follow basketball), but it seems like a lot of it is spurred by players demanding to get out and then trying to construct superteams because the cap prevents teams from differentiating themselves with the contract offer
So if you have a bunch of teams offering the max deal, why not play on one with other stars that gives you the best chance at a championship?
4:29
I share some of that concern with a potential cap in MLB but do think that baseball being more of a "weak link" sport that rewards roster depth in comparison to basketball or football works in its advantage to counteract that possibility even if we get a cap
Jaysfan
4:29
Is Vlads contract the most underwater and untradeable contract in MLB at this point?
Anthony Franco
4:30
Oh man
I don't think so after just one bad year
4:31
But I'm having a hard time thinking of another one that's potentially this bad and just started
Phillio
4:33
Having read the Orioles outlook piece, I am wondering if they have any chance to get back over .500 next year.  There’s a good amount of pitching prospects, but no aces.  There’s hitting was meh, and the defense deplorable.  As GM/POBO, how
Anthony Franco
4:35
Yeah it's not great. Too much talent on this roster to say they can't get back above .500 -- healthy season from Gunnar and a step forward from Basallo probably gets you there -- but they've locked themselves in with a bunch of corner guys and most of the top prospects have stalled or started to go backwards
4:37
I'd try to move Mayo for starting pitching, turn 3B back to Westburg and bring in a Ha-Seong Kim type as a fallback to raise the defensive floor. The outfield defense improves once they break Enrique Bradfield into CF, push Cowser back to a corner where they'd then have two pluses
4:38
Even Beavers shouldn't be this bad out there. He's way too good an athlete to rate as one of the worst corner outfield defenders in the game
Jays outfield
4:38
The Jays have to operate as if only one of Anthony Santander and Addison Barger exists right? They cant be Sharpie-ing them into the corner outfield spots?
Anthony Franco
4:38
I'd bank on Barger and assume absolutely nothing from Santander, so I guess I'm with you haha
Guest
4:38
Bogaerts is still the worst contract in MLB.
Anthony Franco
4:39
Could be but he's at least aging much better than I expected defensively
JeffyM82
4:39
Which off injured high upside starter would you rather sign Dustin May or Michael Soroka? Who do you think gets more in FA?
Anthony Franco
4:39
I'd rather have Soroka, expect May's velocity to get him paid a little higher
Hits Like Rays
4:39
Please tell me the Rays will move away from those fugly "Devil Rays" uniforms for the World Series.  It's an embarrassment and I don't want to have to see it years from now in the hi-lights...
Anthony Franco
4:41
Ha, I actually like them. Is this a minority opinion? I'm not plugged into the uniform discourse
I can see your point about teams using an alternate uniform with an old nickname in the World Series though
The Knuder
4:42
Do you think the league will change anything about ABS? Personally, I think the rule where you only get an additional challenge come extras if you already lost your two challenges is a little silly. Feels like that penalizes a team for being good at it.
Anthony Franco
4:42
Agreed, just give everyone the extra challenge. Don't think it's ultimately a big deal though because your odds of losing two challenges and then getting burned on a bad call all in one inning are pretty slim
Guest
4:43
Do you agree: Every team needs more starting pitchers....making FA demand about twice the supply of even mediocre FA  pitchers?
Anthony Franco
4:43
Yeah average starting pitchers get paid way more than average position players do for this reason
4:46
Guys like Bassitt and Merrill Kelly were getting $20M annually as 2-3 WAR types. Adrian Houser got $11M per season for two years on the strength of like six good weeks
Joel Narva
4:47
Where do you think Arozarena ends up? Any chance the Mariners keep him
Anthony Franco
4:47
Would be pretty surprised. I'll put him in Philly
4:48
Alright, coming up on two hours so going to wrap here
Thanks as always for all the questions! Still had a handful in the queue so feel free to throw those at me on X @affranco10 and I'll get back to you on there over the weekend
4:49
Really appreciate you all continuing to support the site and hanging out every week! Hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy the start of what should be a great series!
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