Front Office Chat: 11/13/26
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Anthony Franco
3:02
Good afternoon, hope all is well!
Busy week for us so I'm going to keep this one close to an hour, let's get it going
MarlinsMan
3:02
I have a feeling the Marlins may reel someone in… what other dark horse FA could land there? Seems as if the Marlins are interested in a lot of people.
Anthony Franco
3:03
They do seem to be in on LH relievers so I could see Vesia or Soto there, think there's an argument for Ty France to push Stowers back to LF
Carlton
3:03
Only three clubs have made significant signings with the GM meetings behind us.  It doesn't seem like the Skubal mega overpay sweepstakes should have any effect on the vast majority of the remaining clubs, so what's the hold up?  I thought the looming lockout would cause most teams to make preemptive moves.
Anthony Franco
3:04
It's just early. The biggest move in the last lockout year before the QO decision date was Andrew Heaney signing for $8.5M. We've already had three signings more significant than that with a much weaker FA class
Please
3:04
Give me one good reason why I should think the lockout will end before the start of spring training
Anthony Franco
3:04
Before Spring Training would usually start in mid-February? I've got nothing, don't think it's happening
3:05
They'll need some kind of warm-up period and eventually you get to a point where you can no longer dither while still leaving a three week window for camp and the rest of the offseason while still playing 162
3:06
And if you don't get a deal done by then, everyone loses money and negotiations get more difficult because you also need to divide that lost revenue
HitsLikeRays
3:06
What are the chances of Drew Rasmussen even staying healthy for a third straight year?  They should trade him to acquire the pitchers, 2B, or etc that will help them for the next five years....
Anthony Franco
3:07
I'm with you. I'd be looking to move him for a controllable starter and then use that money to sign Sonny Gray or bring Nick Martinez back
3:08
Obviously those guys are not as good as Rasmussen but part of the Rays' ability to outperform their payrolls over the years is a willingness to repeatedly make that kind of move even if it'll piss off the clubhouse and 80% of the fanbase
3:09
I get Neander's point that they were three wins away from a World Series and don't want to subtract from that, but I have some skepticism about the health track record as you mentioned and think this is probably the fourth-best team in the AL East going into 2027
Sad Lexicon
3:10
You have to pick one. Of the MLBTR top 10 FA, which one burns the team that signs them the most?
Anthony Franco
3:11
Probably Freddy, wouldn't want to go anywhere near what I think he'll get. Honestly wouldn't be super excited about paying market value for any of the guys we have between 2-7
Sharky
3:12
chances Bauers repeats last year’s performance with the Red Sox?
Green Monster
3:12
Is the Bauers signing an indication that Contreras's days in Boston are done when his contract runs out?  I also assume that this is the official end of Duran, Casas and Yoshida in Boston?  What do you think?
Tristan Cassas
3:12
With the Jake Bauers signing, am I getting traded or playing in Worcester in 2027?
Anthony Franco
3:13
I'm a little more of a Bauers skeptic given the track record. I don't think it's an egregious deal or anything but if I were going to spend somewhere in this range and punt the draft capital, I'd rather have Jeffers
3:14
Part of that is the defensive flexibility. Contreras has played well enough that I'd lean toward them exercising the option for '28 (obviously his performance next year is the biggest factor in that). I don't think Bauers should play more than 200-300 innings in the outfield, even at Fenway, so he's mostly locked into DH
3:15
And yeah, Duran's gone and I don't see how they make Yoshida work anymore. That was going to be true either way though, they had to add a bat somewhere along the way and those guys were the easiest players to push out
3:16
I'd trade Casas if I could get a prospect who'd slot in the 30-40 range in the organization. Can hold and option him otherwise but he's clearly done there and at some point, it's better for all involved to just move on
Walterj23
3:16
Which late inning relievers do you expect the Cubs to go after ? Morjon is probably  wishful thinking right ?
Anthony Franco
3:17
It shouldn't be. They have so much short-term spending capacity, were willing to spend on Tanner Scott, and need to add ceiling to the pitching staff
3:19
I know it's not the usual Hoyer approach but as a front office, you can't just work in absolutes and say you're never going to invest in a free agent reliever. As long as their medical team is fine with the shoulder, this should be the player they go against precedent for
Orioles
3:19
Gunnar Henderson for Max Meyer. Who says no?
Anthony Franco
3:20
Can't see Baltimore doing that. Meyer's uber talented but he's never topped 20 MLB starts in a season and only comes with one extra season of club control
Dodgers
3:20
I can’t be the only Dodgers fan with a blank wish list this year.  Seriously it’s time to play the kids and see what this developed farm can do.  Very top heavy Top 30
Anthony Franco
3:21
Would push back on the bullpen a little bit given all the free agent departures they have there but otherwise basically with you
Hang around on Skubal, but they don't need to play in the middle tiers of the rotation market or do anything on the position player side other than trading Teoscar
3:22
I know they've downplayed that because they won't be able to keep in touch with De Paula to see how he's developing defensively over the lockout, but whatever. Dude rakes and they've seen a lot of Teoscar Hernández playing the outfield and that's not pretty either
Oh Atlanta
3:22
Alec Bohm can't be worth all the attention he's getting, can he?
Anthony Franco
3:23
I don't see the appeal but teams have been really desperate for RH bats dating back to the deadline. He can hit lefties
Brady
3:23
Just saw the post about Brandon Valenzuela. Trade him for marsh?
Anthony Franco
3:24
Hmm yeah I could see this
BinDiesel
3:24
Relief market is quite hot! Do you think the salary cap will hurt relievers the most and is that why we are seeing relievers signing so early?
Anthony Franco
3:24
Unrelated IMO. For whatever reason, the reliever market has moved earliest in each of the last few years
3:25
Guessing it's just easier to align on prices because the contractual window is tighter for those guys
Evan Phillips is awesome but he was never going to have a path to much more money than the Braves put out there. As soon as one team goes to three years, sign the deal
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