Front Office Chat: 11/13/26
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Anthony Franco
3:54
Jonathan Santucci has the kind of swing-and-miss ability the Cardinals have been looking for in the upper minors. Don't know that the Mets would do it when they already have Young as a viable LH platoon bat but if they're skeptical about Santucci getting to starter's command, that could work
3:55
Burger should be available for basically nothing. Power-only 1B/DH with a $7M arb projection isn't super appealing to most of today's front offices
Sad Lexicon
3:55
Which of the three FA signings so far do you like the most?
Anthony Franco
3:56
Probably Phillips for both team and player
TigerFan
3:56
Is Eduardo Valencia an option for 1B next year? He hit very well and is blocked at C by Dingler and Briceno
Anthony Franco
3:57
A little early to have Briceño penciled in there but if all three are playing well midseason, then yeah they're going to need a lot of Valencia at 1B/DH
Bohmbastic Jazz Style
3:58
Odds that Aidan Miller starts the year at 3B for Philly? Odds that Stott ends the year there with Miller at short?
Anthony Franco
3:59
Hmm, 55% chance of him starting there Opening Day and 20% chance of him ending at SS?
4:00
Moving him back up the defensive spectrum midseason to rearrange the entire infield for a second straight season isn't ideal
Brewer Fan
4:00
Think the Brewers are more likely to find a cheap FA to platoon with Vaughn or call up Burke or Fischer and play the kids?
Anthony Franco
4:01
Latter route seems fine. I'd just give Vaughn the everyday 1B job to start and see where Burke and Fischer are at in AAA 6-8 weeks into the season
4:02
Don't think Vaughn needs to be platooned. Bauers just played so well that unless they were going to bench Yelich (difficult to do for obvious reasons), they didn't have the ABs for Vaughn against RHP
cmac1973
4:02
Do you get media credentials for events such as the GM Meetings and Winter Meetings? Or do you watch all the action from the sidelines and report on all the happenings from afar?
Anthony Franco
4:03
I've never been to either. Tim and Steve have gone to the Winter Meetings a few times over the years, mostly to build in-person relationships with some of the beat reporters and a few agents
4:04
I don't think either of them find it an especially productive use of their time more than every couple years or so. We'll occasionally break news but we're not reporters and most of the things we do get are pretty small (NRI, cheap big league deal, occasional staffing update)
4:06
There's some background stuff they'll pick up just from being around -- info we'll hear on certain players that we can't put out publicly but might color what we think their market might be -- but it's infrequent enough that it's usually more efficient to just have as many MLBTR staffers as possible to churn out posts for those few days
Early Takeaways
4:06
Any takeaways from the three significant FA signings so far? Pagan took 1 year instead of the 2-year projection; Phillips the other way and got 3 years instead of the 2-year projection; Bauers declined QO and got a 4-year deal. Not trying to call out the predictions (they're just predictions after all), just wondering if the early results have led to any takeaways so far
Anthony Franco
4:07
Not really. We got them all wrong but they were all on the 50/50 border for us
Steve was convinced Bauers was rejecting the QO and getting around $60M, though he thought it'd be over three years. Steve also drove the bus on three years for Phillips and Darragh and I overruled him
4:08
They were both at two years on Pagán and I thought he was getting one
All played out in ways we thought were reasonable but landed just on the wrong side of the line during the top 50
GinaNcRaysfan
4:08
The Rays seem set at every position but 2nd and CF. Do you see them trading pitching to upgrade one of those spots? There are lots of starting pitchers in free agency to backfill.
Anthony Franco
4:11
Yeah could see this with any of Rasmussen (despite Neander's comments), McClanahan or Jax. Window of club control is ticking on all of them, would need to backfill with a mid-level FA starter as you mentioned
4:12
Also think they need to add one more leverage piece in the bullpen. Baker and Wells are great and I like Booser, Hopkins, Kelly and Cleavinger to varying degrees but the depth was an issue for most of the season and you felt it in the World Series
Thurman Munson's Attitude
4:12
So who plays third base for the Yankees, best guess?
Anthony Franco
4:13
Zack Gelof
Though if anyone's going to trade for Seager, this feels like the fit
Early Takeaways
4:13
Go Steve and his predictions! Make sure that man buys a lotto ticket
Anthony Franco
4:14
Ha yeah, he's got the early bragging rights. He and I went back and forth the entire time on which of Phillips or Alex Vesia was likelier to get three years
Couldn't agree and compromised on two for both
So I need the Vesia market to show up and balance this out
MoTork City
4:14
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tigers ended up bringing Gleyber back. Team likes his plate discipline and he liked playing there.
Anthony Franco
4:15
Yeah I could see it if other things fall through, should be like half the price pretty late in the lockout though. Would rather have someone with a little more positional flexibility to find ways to move Lee, Anderson and Keith around
4:16
Alright, have to wrap this one up unfortunately. Sorry I couldn't hang around for an extra 15-20
As always, feel free to send anything on X @affranco10 and I'll get back to you there over the weekend
4:17
Steve's working on the mailbag, which we're bringing back now that the Offseason Outlook series is finished
4:18
Not sure if he'll get through that today or push to early next week but there'll be one of those relatively soon in addition to the two chats next week
Thanks as always for your continued support of the site and for all the questions! Have a great weekend!
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