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Front Office Chat: 12/19/25
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Anthony Franco
2:55
Hmm. I do think I'd take the Cubs as the best overall defensive team, though it's tough enough to project that I wouldn't put them in a tier of their own. Milwaukee's up there. The current version of the Cardinals are as well, though we'll see who's still around in a few months
2:56
Cubs were third in defensive efficiency last year behind San Diego and Texas. Trailed only the Rangers in Defensive Runs Saved and just Toronto in Statcast's version of fielding value
Texas was up there largely because of Adolis García, who's not single handedly putting Philly anywhere close. I'd take the Cubs' defense pretty easily over those of Toronto and San Diego
Lefty
2:57
Back against the wall, who signs Imai? NYY? Mets? Giants? Other?
Anthony Franco
2:57
I'll go Cubs
I'm awful at team predictions so preemptive apologies to Cubs fans for cursing it
Mets Fan
2:58
Lots of rumors about the Mets interest in Nick Pivetta (Padres) or that David Stearns loses out on free agents because of his “cheapness”.  Any truth to either and is Pivetta an upgrade for the Mets?
Anthony Franco
2:59
Got a few questions in here about the Pivetta + Laureano/Mets rumors. I don't doubt that they've had those conversations but the Padres kick around all kinds of ideas and I have a hard time seeing them aligning on something that actually makes sense for San Diego
Andy
2:59
Do you see the Reds doing anything that gives the line-up a serious power boost or adding a solid contact bat?
Anthony Franco
3:01
Nothing that'd be comparable to pulling off Schwarber. Maybe Arraez paired with a Steer trade?
3:02
Does seem like a lot of the heavy lifting offensively is going to need to come from a full season of Sal Stewart and more consistency from Noelvi
Ricky Tiedemann
3:02
Am I the Blue Jays best option both internally or externally for an upgraded southpaw arm in the bullpen?
Anthony Franco
3:03
Highest ceiling, yes. No guarantee he stays healthy even in a relief role but I'd be fine with them seeing how it works for a few months and reevaluating at the deadline if they need more stability
Mr Red Leg
3:03
So you think the Yankees would be interested in a Brady Singer fur Jaz
Anthony Franco
3:05
They're comparably priced for one year and the Yankees need a starter, so I get where you're coming from, but Singer's longstanding issue is that he doesn't have anything to stay off barrels against left-handed hitters. That's not a great fit for Yankee Stadium
Motown
3:06
Can you see the Tigers adding at least one major league hitter this offseason?
Anthony Franco
3:09
Sure, maybe a corner outfielder who can push Perez/Vierling. I'm alright with them mostly standing pat on the offense while waiting for McGonigle (though they limited their flexibility by overpaying Torres on the QO within the first week of the winter)
If all they're doing for the rotation is Drew Anderson, though, that's a letdown
TedS
3:09
Going on year 10 of no central teams in the WS from either league and doesn’t seem like that streak is ending anytime soon. Anything to make of this? As a Chicago resident it’s sad to see a top 5 franchise in baseball consistently act poor because there’s no one pushing them
Anthony Franco
3:11
Yeah the Centrals are routinely below-average divisions. A lot of the mid-market teams are there, so it's defensible to an extent, but they've generally been content to hope that small sample volatility allows them to make a playoff run if they win the division and it hasn't worked
3:12
AL Central might be going on the like Year 10 of being the worst division in MLB. NL Central is probably better than the AL West, at least
Little Texas
3:12
Do you believe that a work stoppage is going to do greater harm to the game than what’s being mentioned.
Anthony Franco
3:13
Another lengthy offseason lockout, no. If it costs half a season or more, yeah, that'd take a long time to come back from
Mike
3:13
When teams trade players for cash considerations: how does that impact the luxury tax? Does it count as an expenditure for the purchasing team and a debit for the other?
Anthony Franco
3:13
Have to differentiate between two types of cash considerations
3:14
If a player (usually a fringe roster type) gets traded for cash, it has no impact on the CBT. That's a marginal amount anyways, could be as little as $1. I think they're usually around a few thousand
3:16
If a player gets traded with cash considerations to pay down a guaranteed contract (e.g. the Sonny Gray trade), then the amount of money that the trading team is including remains on their CBT ledger. So Gray counts for $21M against the Red Sox's tax ledger despite being on a one-year, $41MM deal because the Cardinals sent $20M
Mr Red Leg
3:16
Lodolo for Jazz?
Anthony Franco
3:17
I imagine the Yankees would do that but easy pass for me from Cincinnati's perspective
Mel Harder
3:17
Refsnyer to Cle 2/19 assuming their ownership is willing to spend money and not take as large a profit?  I still think a Donovan deal could be reached with them too.  They are a team that doesn't leak much and their moves come suddenly.  I also like their bullpen additions, especially Armstrong
Anthony Franco
3:18
If Refsnyder gets $19M, major props to his agency. I could see a two-year deal but more like $4-5M annually
3:19
Alright, I do need to wrap up and see where we're at on news
Little Texas
3:19
Merry Christmas from Texas
David
3:19
Hi there!  I just wanted to wish everyone at MLBTR a happy and healthy holiday and wonderful New Year!  Thanks for the excellent content!
Anthony Franco
3:20
Thanks to you both! We'll have limited coverage around Christmas so the plan is to stick next Friday's chat. Steve will run his usual Front Office one on the next two Mondays, and I'll be back on January 2
3:22
Hope you all have a great weekend and holiday season! Thanks as always for supporting the site and for all the questions every week
Feel free to throw stuff at me on X if I didn't get to your questions. We'll do this again in a couple weeks. Have a good one!
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