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Front Office Chat: 10/31/25
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Anthony Franco
2:59
Good afternoon everyone, hope you've had a good week! Another one that I'll keep around an hour as we put the finishing touches on offseason prep, let's get rolling
Guest
2:59
The Yankees need both rotation and bullpen help but I believe the offense is their biggest need.  I would love to see them sign Tucker but find that unlikely. So, if not Tucker then who?  Thanks as always for the chats!
Anthony Franco
3:01
I don't see why Tucker wouldn't be in play unless you're assuming they re-sign Bellinger before Tucker comes off the board. I wouldn't rule them out on any free agent hitters really
3:02
First base might be tough because they've got Rice internally and can't use the DH spot. Beyond that, any outfielder seems viable. They could make a run at Bichette and trade Jazz, or just roll with a Bo/Jazz middle infield tandem for a year and make Volpe play his way back into an everyday role
Snelling
3:03
Snell said the Jays got lucky. Was he just making excuses for a unsuccessful performance?
Anthony Franco
3:04
I mean, it obviously wasn't a great performance. He gave up homers on two of the first three pitches and issued four walks. It's also true that he would've had 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts if Edgardo Henriquez had done his job behind him, which doesn't look nearly as bad as five earned runs do
Yes. Savage.
3:05
12Ks. No walks. Still a rookie next year. How amazing was that outting? Also, does make Trey the default prediction for rookie of the year next year?
Anthony Franco
3:05
Of course it would not have mattered because this was happening on the other side of the ball
3:06
I don't know that I'd pick Yesavage to win ROY over Kevin McGonigle or something, but yeah, incredible performance. Insane that the dude was in A-ball a few months ago
DJ Clutch
3:06
How would you resolve the weird roster jam the Astros are facing for position players?  Is it ridiculous to think Correa could handle 2nd if Paredes can't?
Anthony Franco
3:07
I don't see why Correa couldn't play second base.  It'd still be a weird logjam because you need Paredes at third with Yordan/Altuve splitting LF without the fallback of moving Altuve back to second if he's still bad in the outfield
I think they just need to eat part of the Walker deal and move on
Dipoto
3:08
I'm wondering how you see the 1st base market developing in free agency this offseason.  Will I be able to keep Naylor?  If I can't, how will the two Japanese 1B/3B coming over impact the marketplace and what's a reasonable cost estimate for Okamoto?
Anthony Franco
3:09
Yeah I don't think they'd be so openly putting out there that they want to keep Naylor if they weren't serious about making a competitive offer. Payroll's going to be up a little bit from where they opened last season (as it should be) and they could hear teams out on Castillo again
3:11
I can't imagine they'd pay Murakami. I think we're going to end up with Okamoto at four years in the $60M range. Tim seems open to the possibility that he pushes to five years, which I don't see at his age. If Okamoto turns out to be a four-year deal guy, Seattle should probably just pay the few extra million annually to get Naylor done
Michael
3:11
Gleyber Torres to Washington make any sense?
Anthony Franco
3:11
Eh, they need to do better than García but I don't think Gleyber's netting them much at the deadline and they're still rebuilding
3:13
If he takes something similar to this year's 1/15, I'd rather just spend that money on a starter who has a better shot to be an in-demand trade chip. You'll be able to pitch starters to almost every contender in July but there'll only be a couple teams that want a second baseman without defensive flexibility
3:14
And if Gleyber commands three-plus years, I wouldn't be a fan of it for any team
Uncle Vito
3:14
Assuming a team with a 3B need and budget space would agree to take Arenado's entire contract, what kind of trade would we be looking at? Some kind of lower prospect going to back to St. Louis in return, but what would the Cardinals accept also sending out in that trade? Would someone like Jimmy Crooks be available? I'm not familiar with St. Louis, but is that a move that that ownership group would push management to do? (If I'm a Cards fan, obviously I'd want them to eat money from Arenado's contract rather than send out prospect capital)
Anthony Franco
3:17
If another team both needs a short-term third baseman and thinks Crooks is a #1 catcher, you can argue it's worth paying full freight on Arenado at 2/42. They'd really need to believe Crooks is a slam-dunk starting catcher, though
3:18
I don't think St. Louis would or should attach a prospect anyway. It's not like they're reallocating short-term payroll room and they're going to save a good chunk of the Gray contract if/when he's traded
Guarded Indian
3:18
I've seen a couple of articles about Josh Naylor possibly returning to Cleveland and then with the post on Dumpers instagram, do you think there is any truth to the possibility?  Despite his numbers he is very affordable and he may place a premium on getting to play with his brother again?  Possibly or just wishful thinking?
Anthony Franco
3:19
I expect him to make more than $70M so I doubt the Guardians would consider him very affordable. Feels like the ship has sailed
John B
3:19
What do you think the market will be for Imai and who do you think will be the teams most in on him?
Anthony Franco
3:20
Traditional big-market teams. Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Cubs potentially
Slick Ric
3:20
Be honest, did you know who Butera was, before yesterday?  Were you as stunned as the rest of us?
Anthony Franco
3:20
Haha nope
Turmeric
3:20
I know last offseason there was talk that the A's 'had' to raise their payroll. Was that a one-time thing? Would it apply to any teams this offseason (I'm looking at the Marlins and Pirates, in particular), and would that have anything to do with the league looking to implement a cap next year?
Anthony Franco
3:22
I really have no idea what to with this. It clearly impacted the A's decision-making but they're the only team for which I've ever seen that be a factor. This didn't impact the Marlins' offseason activity in any way
3:23
I assume John Fisher was just more concerned than most other owners about facing a revenue sharing grievance because they're early in the stadium process and the A's had just gotten their revenue sharing status back after being phased out of it during the prior CBA
3:24
I'm operating on the assumption that it'll remain relevant for the A's this offseason but not factoring it in for any other teams until we get concrete reporting that they care. The PA files grievances all the time and they tend to sit in limbo for years, so it seems like most teams just don't care about them. The whole revenue sharing setup is kind of a black box
Dan S.
3:24
The Orioles badly need to land at least one starter for the front of their rotation this winter. Who are the best realistic fits in free agency and trade and what would they cost?
Anthony Franco
3:25
I imagine they'll shy away from the long-term deals and look for upside types willing to go shorter at a high AAV with outs
3:26
Never easy to tell which ones those will be until the market opens (we've waffled on Cease, for instance), but it should be the case for Woodruff and could be in play for King or Gallen later in the winter
Guest
3:26
Who says no?  Yankees trade Dominguez to Cleveland for Steven Kwan?  Then they trade Ben Rice to Rays for Yandy Diaz.  Think it solves the Yankees lack of contact and Rays & Guards get a little added pop on the cheap.
Anthony Franco
3:27
Wouldn't trade Kwan for Dominguez if I were the Guards, and would pass on the Rice/Yandy swap if I were the Yanks
3:28
I'm pretty close to out on Dominguez. He's young and has power but he might be a DH by his mid-20s and has a mediocre approach
Nick
3:29
Hey whatever happened to that deal that Tatis signed where he got 1$MM and then he owes 10% of future contracts to them?
Anthony Franco
3:30
Haha he tried to sue to get out of it now that he has gotten the bag. That hasn't gotten off to the greatest start
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