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Front Office Chat: 10/6/23
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Anthony Franco
3:01
Hey everyone, happy Friday!
Looking forward to another chat, let's get going
Question Mark
3:01
No one in baseball thought that the penalty for Eppler was worth resignation.  There has to be more to it.  Unless the other owners just continue to attack Cohen for making them look bad by spending money.
Anthony Franco
3:02
We'll have to see what comes from the investigation but the initial report isn't a particularly compelling reason for a GM resignation, I agree
3:03
Now if Eppler just didn't want to assume the #2 role in a front office that he's been running for two years, that feels reasonable enough. Ben Cherington resigned when Boston hired Dave Dombrowski over him a few years ago
Guards Fan
3:03
Bieber & Tyler Freeman for Anthony Santander: who says no?
Anthony Franco
3:05
Trading Bieber for pre-arbitration talent is more the traditional Guardians move. Taking on Santander at a projected arb salary pushing $13MM is probably rich for them
I actually like it as a swap of needs if Cleveland's not trying to reallocate payroll room though
Lefty
3:05
What will be the price/years on Candelario? Is there a big market for him? Could be an everyday upgrade at 3B for SF
Anthony Franco
3:07
Candy should be a four-year deal guy. That's the typical range for a good everyday player who's not elite at anything (e.g. Moustakas, Chris Taylor). Benintendi got a fifth year but that's probably an age/former top prospect thing
I like Candy in the mid-60s for the guarantee; Tim and Steve had him a little north of $70MM but we were all pretty much in the same ballpark on him
Cory
3:07
I see different media outlets use a variety of timelines to fit their narratives/arguments - whole season performance vs. post all star break vs September. When assessing a team (and their stats) for the postseason, what timeline do you think is most accurate?
Anthony Franco
3:08
Predicting the postseason in general is pretty much a fool's errand but I'd generally start with full-season performance and then adjust for injuries or something that'd change the way the roster is comprised now versus April
Guards Fan
3:09
Still on Shane Bieber: could Cleveland get a Kluber like return for him at this point?
Anthony Franco
3:09
I think Bieber has more value now than Kluber did at the time, but I also wouldn't have expected Emmanuel Clase to become a top 10 closer at the time of that trade
3:10
So I think they should ask for a better return than how Clase was viewed at the time while also expecting that the production they get out of whomever they acquire for Bieber to be less than what they've actually received from Clase, if that makes sense
No Way Jose
3:11
Is pulling Jose Berrios a symptom nerds taking over the game. That was ridiculous. I don't care what the spreadhsheet says, you don't pull a guy who's having the game of his life.
Crash
3:11
As a jays fan, it feels like there needs to be changes after this latest playoff embarassment, am i overreacting, or is this a legitimate concern?
Anthony Franco
3:12
Didn't like the Berríos move either, thought it was well over-the-top. I've never really trusted Yusei Kikuchi, which is part of my hesitancy
3:14
Is it an analytics move? To some extent, sure. I can't imagine this would've happened 10 years ago, and I'm sure Schneider and the Jays had data that informed their decision to stay away from the left-handed hitters that were coming up. Teams are much less likely to trust a pitcher continuing to perform well just because he's "dealing" than they were not that long ago
3:16
At the same time, it's too simplistic to say that the Berríos decision is why analytics are bad for the game or whatever. There are a lot of teams whose coaching staffs use data in decision making that wouldn't have gone this far. The Jays made a call, and it backfired, largely because a) Kikuchi isn't as good as Berríos and b) they didn't seem to seriously consider that the Twins would pinch-hit Solano for Kirilloff
3:17
All that said, the Jays allowed two runs in that game. Much as I disliked that decision, their pitching staff held up well enough overall. They scored one run in two games. Doesn't matter how you handle your pitchers, you can't win if you can't score
Vegas Lee
3:17
are trout and ohtani returning to LA Angels
Anthony Franco
3:18
I expect Trout to be back. I don't consider it a lock that Ohtani walks to the extent that general perception indicates, but I think it's likelier than not that he signs elsewhere
Gyler Tlasnow
3:18
Derrick Goold is reporting that the Cardinals are interested in Tyler Glasnow if the Rays would be willing to trade him. Putting aside the inherent folly in Mozeliak trying to do a trade with Tampa, (a) do you think the Rays would move him? (b) what sort of package would the Cardinals have to send back to Tampa?
Anthony Franco
3:20
I'd be surprised if the Rays trade Glasnow. $25MM feels high for them, but they extended him last August -- when they presumably had a good idea of how their payroll projections for '24 were lined up already. They've subsequently lost Shane McClanahan and Jeffrey Springs to Tommy John. Drew Rasmussen had flexor surgery, Taj Bradley hasn't been good
3:21
I don't think they're really in position to trade Glasnow at this point
3:24
All that said, I don't want to dodge part two of your question. So if we assume the Rays make him available, he's expensive but one of the best rental starters available. He'd be a strong candidate for a qualifying offer. There's solid trade value there. Rays don't have a clear long-term answer behind the plate, so I could see Herrera as a starting point
Berrios
3:24
The tech is called "PitchCom", not "Pick-OffCom". I think that's cheating. Players have no right communicating with pitchers and I'm willing to bet that most fans didn't know that they could do that.
Anthony Franco
3:25
I disagree. Don't see how this is meaningfully different than if Jeffers had used hand signals that Correa could read to call for a pickoff play
Totally fine play in my view, just a bad job by Vlad getting caught flat-footed in one of the most important moments of the game
Madag
3:25
If Michael Brantley is healthy and wants to play next season, should the Astros make resigning him a priority?
Anthony Franco
3:27
I'd be willing to throw cheap one-year deals at Brantley until he retires because he has such absurd bat-to-ball skills, but calling him a priority is probably too much after all the setbacks he had with the shoulder this year
3:28
If it's like $4MM, sure. If he's still going for eight figures, I'd let him walk at this point
Gyler Tlasnow
3:28
Does Yamamoto get the highest AAV of the available SP? The most money overall? The buzz around him seems the buzziest of all the SP buzzes.
Anthony Franco
3:29
It's him or Snell for largest guarantee. I'd lean towards Yamamoto
3:30
That's probably also true on AAV, but I guess Sonny Gray could beat that if a team were determined to keep him at three years because of his age
Billie
3:30
How soon will the Cubs lock up Bellinger?
Anthony Franco
3:31
Would be surprised if the Cubs re-sign Bellinger given the cost and the presence of Pete Crow-Armstrong
Big Bob
3:31
What will be the Dodger's biggest acquisition this off-season?
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