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Front Office Chat: 11/21/25
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Anthony Franco
2:47
They couldn't have been that surprised. Always felt like a coin flip to me, don't really understand why they made it
Mr KLC
2:48
Looks like the Astros are shedding payroll.  Do you think they might sign a couple of mid-tier starters with some of the savings?
Anthony Franco
2:48
Mid-tier as in Littell or Mahle plus a reclamation project, sure
2:49
Mid-tier like Gallen or King, probably not
The Willies of SF
2:49
Stephen Kwan & Erik Sabrowski (or Hunter Gaddis) for Heliot Ramos and Casey Schmitt. Who says no?
Anthony Franco
2:49
Guards can do better than that
Bo knows baseball
2:49
Do you think the Mets might make Clay Holmes their closer and go after a more reliable starter to take his place in the rotation?
Anthony Franco
2:50
Doesn't even need to be the closer. Sign a closer and add a mid-rotation starter (FA or trade) and use Holmes in a leverage role
2:51
The right-handers that RosterResource currently projects in their bullpen are Adbert Alzolay, Huascar Brazoban and Austin Warren. They're going to need a few arms back there
For the Love of the game
2:52
Texas is stating then want to stay at $200 million, that leaves very little to spend . What bat can the get that hits for power and yet gets on base. What move would you make
Anthony Franco
2:53
It doesn't leave much right now but that bakes in all the arb projections. If they NT García and Burger and trade at least one of Heim or Jung, they'll have some room
2:54
Bellinger or Bregman are the ideal fits but probably price themselves out. If that's the case, I assume they're looking at Arraez and some mid-level trade targets
JD
2:54
More likely to get dealt - Kwan or Duran?
Anthony Franco
2:54
Duran for me
Brewer Fan
2:54
An article on ESPN mentioned that Chourio didn't really "breakout" and his OPS was worse in year two. The conclusion was basically he will still obviously be good but odds of him being great are starting to go down. You agree with that?
Anthony Franco
2:56
I haven't seen the article you're referencing so I don't want to directly respond to that without reading the points they were making
2:59
But on Chourio generally, I have no doubt that he's still on a superstar track. The approach backed up a little bit, especially early on, and he had a bad September after missing a month with a hamstring strain. I think we'll look back at 2025 as one of his weaker seasons but not in a way that concerns me about him as a franchise cornerstone
Mariners
3:00
What's next for the Mariners? There's a lot more room in the budget than expected, could they be going for Tucker or Bregman?
how likely do you think the mariners acquire Brendan Donovan? They seem to have the young pitching St Louis craves
Glenn inSeattle
3:00
Where do you envision the two Japanese corner infielders who have been posted winding up? What are the Mariners' chances to sign one of them?
Anthony Franco
3:02
I can't see them in on Tucker. Bregman's a reach but not because they couldn't do it, more so that it feels like they're just better off trying to bring Polanco back or making a run at Okamoto when they have Emerson lurking
3:03
And yeah, Donovan's definitely viable, especially if they get the sense that Polanco's going to linger too long and they need to move on something else to raise the floor at second base over Young/Bliss
Glenn
3:03
Do you think the Jays would experiment with Ricky T as a closer? He has been unable to ramp up as a starter. He has the stuff to be a 9th weapon.
Anthony Franco
3:04
Yep surprised this hasn't happened already
3:05
They're not going to throw him into the ninth inning right away and probably going to sign a better closer than Hoffman anyway, but a move to the bullpen with the possibility of working his way into leverage spots by the All-Star Break seems like the way to go
HUNTR/X
3:06
Sonny Gray to the Braves makes too much sense not to happen. They're (theoretical) contenders and close to his home in TN, so he'll approve the trade. They need top-mid rotation stability and were interested in him in the past. How much money do the Cards have to chip in to get a mid-level prosect back?
Guest
3:06
Cease to the Braves? Percentage
Anthony Franco
3:07
Gray seems likelier to me than Cease, at least if the latter finds enough demand to drum up six or seven years. Braves feel more viable on three with opt-outs there
3:08
If the Cards paid Gray down to $25M, they should be able to get something moderately interesting back
3:09
Eat $10M of next year's salary and agree to cover the $5M option buyout if the team declines. If Gray voids his end, the option buyout goes away and the Cards are off the hook (and everyone's happy because it meant he had a good enough year that the team would've wanted him back at $30M in 2027)
3:11
Alright I'm going to wrap up here to prepare for the NT stuff. Seems like every team is going to wait until 4:58 to make their moves, fun stuff
Thanks as always for all the questions! Feel free to throw anything else at me on X @affranco10 and I'll try to get back to you there over the weekend
3:13
I'm off next Friday to take a four-day weekend, so Darragh's covering the chat. Hope everyone has a great weekend and a happy Thanksgiving to those of you for whom the 27th isn't a regular Thursday
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