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Front Office Chat: 10/3/25
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Anthony Franco
3:00
Good afternoon everyone, hope you're doing well!
3:01
Going to stay around an hour on this one to buy some time for free agent/outlook work. Let's get rolling
Lance
3:01
Do you expect the Padres to be super active for any big moves?
Anthony Franco
3:03
They should be in on the top rotation trade candidates (Gore, Ryan, etc.). Not as easy to do now that they've traded De Vries but they've consistently found a way to make those kinds of trades work
3:05
Guessing the free agent approach will be more of what we've seen the last two years. Quiet early in the offseason and try to find ways to creatively structure deals for guys who fall through. Rotation is the priority -- though I could see there being enough uncertainty on King that he kind of falls back into their laps on some sort of opt-out deal -- but they could also be in for another bat
If it's February and Alonso still hasn't signed, could they jump in?
Drake
3:06
If Roki Sasaki continues to look as good as he does out of the pen do the Dodgers consider making the move permanent?
Anthony Franco
3:06
Nah. Maybe he struggles again as a starter next year and they think about it, but they need to give him another chance to start going into '26
David
3:06
Now that the Mets have moved on from most of their coaches, do you have thoughts in targets for pitching and hit?  Hefner was well regarded but my word, so many walks and full counts!  Thank you!
Anthony Franco
3:09
Feels to me like Hefner fell on the sword for the front office getting too cute with the pitching moves over the offseason, but that's life as a coach. The upcoming rotation class isn't great but I have to imagine they'll be more engaged at the top than they were last winter after things fell apart the way they did
3:10
You can put Tatsuya Imai with every big-market team but he's a potential mid-rotation guy who's uncommonly young for a free agent starter. Shane Bieber's only 30, rock solid, and at least won't come with draft compensation
607179
3:10
Have you any sense of why Oneil Cruz had the year he had? Is he fixable?
Anthony Franco
3:12
Some of it is batted ball stuff that'll normalize. He hits the ball so hard that I can't see him having a .262 average on balls in play again
3:14
Always going to be a ton of strikeouts but I still feel alright about him as an above-average hitter moving forward. Don't think he's long for center field, though, and the whole package adds up to a pretty good player who's super frustrating because you feel he should be more given how freakishly talented he is
ml25ad
3:14
Lots of different directions that the Cards can go in the offseason.  But if they do look to balance out their position player side of bats with so many LH's, what kind of return do you think each of Donovan, Burleson, Nootbaar, and Gorman could net?
Anthony Franco
3:16
They'd all have value, probably in the order you mentioned them. Donovan would bring back a lot, probably a little better than the return Miami got from the Yankees for Jazz
3:18
That was a weird one because Agustin Ramirez was a Top 100 caliber prospect for teams that thought he could catch and not especially valuable for those that didn't. But we can assume Miami was in the former camp (doesn't look promising), and the Cardinals should be able to get someone they value as a top 50-75 overall prospect for two years of Donovan as well
Hopeless Reds Fan
3:18
Am I wrong to think that this would be a perfect offseason for the Reds to trade Hunter Greene for a haul that could bring them back a mlb bat and a couple of really nice prospects?  With Abbott, Lodolo, Singer, Burns, Lowder, Williamson, Petty, etc... this may be the time?
Anthony Franco
3:20
Man that's bold. I wouldn't do it and would be really surprised if the Reds did. I get where you're coming from but it's a lot more palatable to me to trade Abbott or Lodolo for a controllable bat instead
3:21
Greene's playoff start was abysmal but he's the one guy on that staff that I'd be happy to roll out there in Game 1 of future playoff series. The rest feel like mid-rotation types to me
3:22
Abbott pitched above that this year but I don't really buy this season's level of homer suppression as a soft-tossing lefty in that home park. Still think he's a 3.75-4.00 ERA guy moving forward
Dan S.
3:22
Dylan Cease ends his walk year with a 4.55 ERA but ERA estimators in the mid-3s. It's the third time in two years that his ERA has underperformed his FIP by around a run. He's averaged 3.9 fWAR but just 2.5 bWAR over the last three seasons. He'll be 30 next year and has been extremely durable, very good stuff numbers, mediocre command/control. Makes every start but doesn't go particularly deep into games. What kind of contract is he getting?
Anthony Franco
3:23
I don't know!
3:25
We're split camp on him for all the reasons you mentioned. Steve and I think he's going short-term with opt-outs. I'm at three years with outs after both one and two, Steve was two years with an out after one. Darragh and Tim felt enough teams would look past the command and ERA and buy in to the durability, stuff and whiffs that someone goes 6-7 years and approaches $200M
3:27
While it'd be pretty rare for someone with an ERA around 4.50 in two of three seasons to get that kind of contract, the Phils did it for Nola. That was their own guy and I feel like Nola had more of a big-game pitcher reputation than Cease does now, but he also threw four MPH softer
I still have a hard time seeing it -- just doesn't feel like a $200M pitcher to me -- but it only takes two or three teams to think this year was mostly bad luck
#1Natsfan
3:27
Do you think the Nats will sign a pitcher to a multi year deal this year? Or will they trade gore, wait for sykora and Susana, and punt next year?
Anthony Franco
3:28
I'm in the latter camp at this point. I don't doubt that they went into the season expecting this to be the offseason where they really made a push, but this year was so bad
3:29
Even the big positives (seeming steps forward from Gore, Wood and Abrams) went the wrong way in the second half
3:30
Toboni's operating with a multi-year leash and ownership hasn't spent much in recent offseasons. With Gore down to two years of arb control, I think they have to move him by next deadline at the latest
3:31
If they sign a multi-year starter, it's probably an Adrian Houser two-year type rather than a play for Imai, Framber, Cease, etc.
Astros fan
3:31
You are the Astros GM. What trades do you pursue? Which free agents do you try to sign?
Anthony Franco
3:34
Try to offload part of the Walker deal, never liked that signing in the first place. Cut Jesús Sánchez  an at least bring in a Mike Yastrzemski or Max Kepler. Then the big splash needs to be on a starter, preferably one of the guys coming off a mid-tier season who go short term
3:36
Could be Cease, King or Gallen. Maybe it's Giolito at the low end. But I can't imagine Framber's back and even with Blubaugh and Javier in next year's rotation, there's not enough behind Brown
Alex Anthopoulus
3:36
What king of contract gets Ha-Seong Kim in the open market if/when he opts out of his 16 MM player option?
Anthony Franco
3:37
I'm circling back toward him just taking the option. Last week of the season was bad enough to bring him back to .253/.316/.368 with Atlanta and .234/.304/.345 overall
3:39
Maybe he finds something similar to the Rays deal again, but I have a tough time seeing anyone giving him multiple years with a opt-out while paying him more than $16M in the first season
JL
3:39
Which young hitter will the Os trade this offseason?
Anthony Franco
3:40
Kjerstad probably doesn't even qualify anymore but them moving him and/or Mayo wouldn't surprise me
3:41
Guess it's possible they soured enough on Cowser to consider that as well, but I don't really know what they'd do in CF to open the year. Beavers is pretty athletic but it seems like they prefer him in a corner. Enrique Bradfield can defend but probably needs to start the season back in Triple-A if they want to get anything offensively
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