Front Office Chat: 10/9/26
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ScottHarris
5:27
Burning Questions:  Should I trade Colt Keith?  He's young, affordable and plays 1/2/3B, but he hasn't hit enough to nail down a job. Tork likely gets 1B back after finishing 2nd in HR/RBI/PA, Lee gets the Keystone and McGonigle should nbe at the Hot Corner. Would he fetch Kirby from Seattle or someone similar?
Anthony Franco
5:29
Don't think Keith has that kind of juice in trade, no. I like the player but he hasn't quite taken off and doesn't really have the standout skill that'd make you think there's a huge untapped ceiling
5:30
Seems more likely to me they'd move on from Tork despite the RH power. No defensive flexibility, hasn't fixed the strikeout concerns, getting increasingly expensive
Matt
5:30
What's the more likely Mariners/Orioles trade? George Kirby for Jordan Westburg or Coby Mayo?
Anthony Franco
5:33
Still have more faith in Westburg to be a true regular. Mayo's not a true 3B and was so platoon heavy -- obliterated LHP, horrible against righties. I'd be surprised if Seattle did Kirby/Westburg straight up with the latter coming off a lost season, but I can kind of see it as a starting point
Sharky
5:33
Why did the Yankees look like a completely different team playing the rays vs the Red Sox? Obviously the Rays are a better team but not to that extent. Nearly every AB looked completely non-competitive. What will it take for the Yankees to have playoff success again against teams not in the AL Central/Boston?
Anthony Franco
5:35
Just happens like that in short series sometimes. Rays pitching (especially Rasmussen) was great and deserve a lot of credit, but it's not like the Red Sox were running out a bunch of fifth starters.

Yankees did manage to get to Boston early enough to take Chapman out of the series, though. They spent a lot of time trailing against the Rays and facing their best relievers
5:38
Tampa Bay also matches up pretty well with the Yankees in terms of putting balls in play and taking advantage of New York's defense. Thought their pitchers did a great job exploiting the Yankees' hitters with a lot of secondary stuff
Hit the Gaus
5:38
2/40 enough to bring Kevin Gausman back to the Blue Jays as a 4th starter behind Cease, Soriano and Yesavage and ahead of Cody Ponce in the rotation?
Anthony Franco
5:39
Pretty much where we have him, yeah. I wonder if he likes Toronto enough to settle for one year there if they're skeptical about two
Supreme Court Justice Cashman
5:39
What is Ketel Marte's trade value right now?  Will teams be scared by his behavior in Boston this summer?
Anthony Franco
5:40
That's such a tough one. I think there's still surplus value (i.e. if the Diamondbacks put him on waivers on Nov. 6, that someone would claim the contract)
5:41
But I could see some clubs being completely out on his antics while others just try to price it into a discount on trade offers to see if the D-Backs themselves are fed up with it
That's all on top of the fact that he's got 10-and-5 rights and can decide where (or if) he goes
$$
5:41
It frustrates me that's Cashman DD ,AJ Preller etc are lauded when they have such room for error to have high salaried players on rosters as non contributors and yet they still done go deep into play offs. I so enjoy the lower payroll teams doing fundamentals. Your thoughts?
Anthony Franco
5:43
Salary or not, Cashman's run of never building a truly bad team is pretty remarkable.  Top five spending raises the overall floor for sure but it's not like it prevents seasons like the 2026 Mets. That's still a testament to the front office
5:44
More mixed on Preller's track record but find him endlessly fascinating to follow from a transaction perspective
5:45
To your latter point, yeah I enjoy watching a Rays or Brewers style playoff run but I think some of the narrative paradoxically does a disservice to how good those teams are (Milwaukee especially)
5:46
Chourio, Contreras, Caminero, Misiorowski, etc. are superstar talents
Chief
5:46
The Royals seem to think they will contend in 2027. Big holes in the starting staff and outfield, enormous hole in bullpen, no one in the upper minors to help. The only thing they have going for them is a very weak division. Disagree?
Anthony Franco
5:47
They have an MVP caliber shortstop and a young franchise catcher which is a hell of a starting point, but yeah, it's a tough roster otherwise
5:48
They and the Reds have like just enough star talent that they can't really justify a rebuild but so little depth that it's tough to see how it's all coming together in the short term. Not where you want to be
The Knuder
5:48
The last lockout was 99 days. That's your over/under for the length of this next one. Which one do you take?
Anthony Franco
5:48
Over but only by a couple days
Greg
5:48
Mets sign King and Rogers or Holmes instead of going big on Skubal? Is 5/115 (Kevin Gausman money) enough for King?
Anthony Franco
5:50
I love King but I think that's high. Five years for a 32-year-old FA starter has basically been reserved for true aces
5:51
Greinke got six, deGrom got five at age 35 when he was arguably the best pitcher in MLB, Snell got five a year removed from winning the Cy Young
Cardinals
5:51
In the Offseason Outlook for the Cardinals there a brief mention of the potential for the Cardinals to take an unwanted contract to buy a prospect. Any good candidates that you could think of?
Anthony Franco
5:52
Hmm, I'm a little more skeptical than Mark that they'd do it since they've pulled spending back so hard lately
5:54
Maybe Cristian Javier? Due $21M for final season of his extension with Houston. Pretty good down the stretch but not a $21M guy, maybe Houston pays half and a prospect to open some money for a run at one of the top left fielders
5:55
Philadelphia's paying Brad Keller $11M next year and he's probably going to miss the entire season. Clearly in win-now mode, maybe they trade a prospect to get some of that off the books for a run at Sato or an outfielder
Gene Michael should be in the HOF
5:55
I just read on your site that Corey Seager had elbow surgery.  How much would Texas eat to get out of his term, and is he a realistic 2B for the Yankees when they left Jazz leave?  (I cannot see tossing Garcia at 2B when defense is a big issue for the team).
Anthony Franco
5:58
Agree that Jazz is gone and García at 2B is a no. Seager's owed 5/155 for ages 33-37. It's high, especially coming off this season, but the offensive track record and batted ball data are great
5:59
We've seen Bregman and Matt Chapman land around there in their mid-30s. Maybe some of Seager's injury concerns are eased if you move him to 2B
6:00
I don't think anyone's taking the whole deal but if they pay him into the 100-130 range so it becomes $20-25M annually, I can see it
6:01
Would basically require the Rangers to commit to a full rebuild that involves Seager waiving his no-trade though. I doubt the Texas front office wants to go there unless ownership mandates it
Roberto Alo
6:01
Who's playing 2B for the Jays next season?
Anthony Franco
6:02
Robbie Alomar could probably match what Clement did in the second half
They make a lot of sense for Lowe. Clement/Giménez split SS and utility, add some power to a lineup that badly needs it
Bernie
6:03
What’s your World Series pick? I’m rooting for Brewers over Rays, but I basically want a World Series where no matter what, the winner is somebody completely brand new.
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