JotCast | Front Office Chat: 10/6/23

Front Office Chat: 10/6/23

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Anthony Franco

3:32

Man, they could go anywhere. There's as good a fit as any for Ohtani. Could see them trading for a Corbin Burnes or Dylan Cease if those guys are available

Dan from Hoboken NJ

3:32

Will the Yankees trade Glauber Torres and use Peresa at second base this year ? Will the Yankees go hard after Bellinger ?

Anthony Franco

3:34

Yeah I expect both these things to happen. Gleyber at a projected salary around $15MM isn't going to have huge trade value, but someone like the White Sox or Mariners could throw a mid-level prospect their way, especially with the horrible free agent middle infield market

Yankees and Giants strike me as the two most obvious fits for Bellinger

A's Fan

3:34

Does Trevor May get two years guaranteed and if so, why not in Oakland with the A's?

Anthony Franco

3:36

One-year deal guy for me. Even when he was getting great results in the second half, the K/BB profile was just ok

A's reunion makes sense

CleGuy

3:36

In hindsight, did Cleveland make a mistake not moving Jose Ramirez given their struggles to build around him?

Anthony Franco

3:37

Not given the deal they got on the extension. He could've made double what he signed for if he didn't love being in Cleveland

At that point, nothing you're getting on the trade market is as valuable as just keeping your franchise superstar

RAYS of Sunshine

3:37

What the heck happened to the Rays??

Anthony Franco

3:38

I know it's not a satisfying answer -- especially since the Rays have done this a couple years in a row -- but nothing happened to them. They faced an awesome team and got shut down by really good starting pitchers in consecutive days

3:40

If Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi had carved Tampa Bay up a couple weeks ago, no one would've given it much thought. Could've just as easily happened to Baltimore if they were in the Rays' position, but the O's played well enough down the stretch to grab the bye and avoid it

Josh

3:41

Jackson Holliday starts opening day, right?

Anthony Franco

3:42

Feels crazy to say for a guy who won't turn 20 until December, but yeah, I think he's so talented he'll be the Opening Day shortstop on a team that won 101 games this year without him

Wayne

3:42

If the Phillies don't re-sign Nola, could you see them going after Gray to replace him? He could reunite with Cotham (both were together in Cincinnati).

Anthony Franco

3:43

Sure. Any of the other free agent starters fit there well enough. Wouldn't be at all surprised if they got one of Snell, Montgomery or Gray if Nola walked. Rotation would be the biggest question on the roster at that point

neil

3:44

Who do you think are realistic rotation trade targets for the Cards?

Anthony Franco

3:45

Shane Bieber, Spencer Turnbull, Braxton Garrett, Bryan Woo, José Quintana again

Tony

3:45

Thanks for the chats. Do you think the injuries to degrom, Rodon and scherzer (although he pitched last year) are moving the TOR starters to the big market clubs? A lot of risk to lower budget teams. Thanks.

Anthony Franco

3:49

I think they were already there, at least partially because of the injury risk. Each of deGrom, Rodón and Scherzer signed with high-payroll teams. Other nine-figure deals for pitchers (Guasman, Strasburg, Price, Cole, Bauer, Wheeler, Darvish, Corbin, Scherzer, Jordan Zimmermann) have typically gone to teams that were spending big at the time

General Soreness

3:49

True or False: Either the Dodgers or Rays will sign Jack Flaherty and then he will finish top 5 for Cy Young in 2024?

Anthony Franco

3:50

Ha yeah, I think Flaherty's the top pitching reclamation target this winter

Mike

3:50

Does MLB Trade Rumors ever put together Rule 5 eligible lists?

Anthony Franco

3:51

No, that's not really our speciality. A ton of players are Rule 5 eligible every offseason but stand no chance of being selected because they're not prospects. Someone like Baseball America or FanGraphs is better positioned than we are to separate the handful of guys who could be interesting Rule 5 targets from the hundreds who are career organizational types

A's Fan

3:52

Is Aledmys Diaz worth a roster spot in '24 or should the A's release him and eat the $8 MM?

Anthony Franco

3:53

A lot of teams would have cut him loose by now but it's not like the A's have many infield options who have shown anything at the major league level

Buff

3:54

Clearly the Brewers need help on offense. How much can be expected from guys like Jackson Chourio and Tyler Black next season?

Anthony Franco

3:58

I expect they'll both be up early in the year. Black's bat already seems MLB ready but he's kind of positionless. Chourio feels like a guy who'll be volatile early on based on the youth, aggressiveness and the grounder-heavy approach

3:59

Not down on him as a prospect or anything. He's immensely talented. But I'm wary of saying he'll be an above-average big leaguer within the first couple months of 2024

A's Fan

3:59

Do you believe the A's screwed up by playing Soderstrom and Butler through their rookie eligibility?

Anthony Franco

4:00

I wouldn't have called Soderstrom up at all given his age and the strikeout/walk profile in Triple-A. Giving Butler a look seemed fine

MLP

4:01

Seen a bunch of crazy proposals for a Pete Alonso trade. What would be a likely compensation package for him?

Anthony Franco

4:03

David Stearns indicated this week the Mets don't expect to trade Alonso. There's value but probably not to the extent most people would assume. No defensive value, one season of expensive arbitration control. It'd look a little better than the Teoscar Hernández package (three years of a good reliever and a mid-level pitching prospect), I imagine

Dewey

4:03

is Hunter Brown a starter? How important was just getting a full season under his belt?

Anthony Franco

4:05

Yeah he should be a really good starter. Second half was bad but he was working on a career-high workload in his first full season in the majors. I agree that just getting through this year is a pivotal learning experience as he tries to navigate the grind of future seasons

4:06

I'm taking over the feed from Leo now, so I have to get going. I'll close on this:

Cory

4:06

Give us your division series predictions!

Anthony Franco

4:06

Give me Texas, Minnesota, L.A., Atlanta

4:07

Feel free to mock me next week when I go 1-3

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