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Front Office Chat: 12/5/25
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Jack
3:32
OK Anthony, tell me if I'm crazy, but there is all this talk that the Brewers are payroll constrained (and vice versa), which is, of course, always their situation to some extent. This is a team that made a Championship Series mere weeks ago. I think we saw that Ortiz, Monasterio, and Siegler is not a group of infield depth that will be able to make it past the Dodgers. I am well aware of the existence of Pratt, Made, and Pena, but none of them may be in the majors in 2026 or most of 2027. The Brewer's front office has said that they think Ortiz has some great offensive tools, but a 66 OPS+ from your starting SS is not a recipe for a World Series, which should be their goal in '26. Doesn't it make sense to bring in an infielder to, at the very least, give Ortiz some competition at SS and make him earn his spot? Maybe I'm overstating the importance of 1/9th of the lineup, but this team's window is wide open right now. Does it seem like the Brewers are placing less emphasis on '26/'27 than they should be?
Anthony Franco
3:32
Long question but basically asking whether the Brewers should upgrade over Joey Ortiz
3:34
I'd be open to it but it depends on what's out there, right? The shortstop market is terrible. Turang can slide over, but unless they're trading for Ketel Marte, I don't know that any second baseman they're bringing in is enough of an upgrade
Ah I see Jack followed up suggesting Lowe or Marte
3:36
Well I agree with Marte but remain skeptical that Arizona's doing that. Lowe as a stopgap, sure, but that goes against their general love for infield defense (as does Marte but the bat is so good that it doesn't matter) and that's probably the biggest move they'd have in the budget
Cashman
3:36
Why am I tied so much to Imai? I know, you can never have enough pitching, but our rotation is pretty set if 2 of the 3 (Cole, Rodon, Schmidt) come back healthy... Fried, Gil, Schlitter, Warren, Elmer Rod all seem like a solid top 7. Seems like $25+MM might be better spent elsewhere on hitting.  If I do sign Imai, do we trade from this surplus?
Anthony Franco
3:37
Gil looked like a shell of his 2024 self post-lat injury. Rodón/Cole likely to begin the season on the IL. Warren's pretty good but has the home run questions, and he could be a trade chip for an outfielder if they focus their free agent resources on a starter
SchwarBurgh
3:38
Is Jordan Lawler actually available? Would the Pirates match up with the D-Backs to get him? What might that look like?
Anthony Franco
3:38
Burrows feels like the match there but I'm lower on Lawlar than most, I imagine
3:39
Wouldn't do Ashcraft for him
Mr Red Leg
3:39
If the Reds are unable to sign Shwarber, Alonso, or Suarez, who would be the best power bat available on the trade market?
Anthony Franco
3:40
Teoscar could work there. Angels are less likely to trade Adell after the Ward move but it's not like they're overloaded with starting pitching, so there could still be a match there
3:41
Ironically still think the Orioles would be better off with Brady Singer than Taylor Ward (though I highly doubt Ward's getting moved twice)
Tigersfan
3:41
Are the tigers seriously try to convert brad Keller rather than sign an actual starter
Anthony Franco
3:42
I'm probably the most optimistic on Keller as a starter out of anyone at MLBTR and still think that'd be pretty weak as Detroit's only rotation move
3:43
If they sign Keller and King, now we're talking
JD
3:43
Forecasts for Ranger Suarez are through the roof.  Saw one this morning with guarantee exceeding $160MM, which is hard for me to believe given that he's never eclipsed 160 innings. Does it make the MLBTR staff want to revisit its prediction for Ranger?
Anthony Franco
3:44
Can't see anyone going to that level on a pitcher who throws 91 and hasn't had a 10% swinging strike rate in any of the last four years
Bruce T
3:45
Alex Anthopoulos and Perry Minasian in Orlando:  Braves aquire SS Zach Neto, an East Coaster with 4 years of arb to finallly fill their hole up the middle, by trading to the rebuilding Halos the following:  Caminiti, Ritchie, and Nacho Alvarez (or Dubon) and another prospect.    Tough decision on both sides but who says no?
Anthony Franco
3:45
Angels
Bleacher bum
3:45
The Cubs seem to have the money to make 1 big move.  Early reporting had them after pitching, but they've lately been getting hits on Alex Bregman.  Obviously this doesn't preclude a trade, but if you were Jed Hoyer, would you be after a pitcher, or a bat?
Anthony Franco
3:46
Pitching but no harm in kicking the tires on Bregman and at least being open to dangling Shaw for a controllable starter
3:47
It's a below-average free agent rotation class, at least at the top of the market, so if there's a Shaw/Edward Cabrera match or something, I think it's defensible to prioritize Bregman over Framber, Imai, Ranger, etc.
John C
3:48
Now that the Twins say they are not going to trade away Ryan, Lopez, and Buxton, in hopes of returning to contention in 2026, what do you think is a reasonable path to improvement for them? Mid level 1B slugger?
Anthony Franco
3:48
I don't see one, to be perfectly honest
3:49
If you want to put them on Ryan O'Hearn, sure. They'd make sense to take a flier on Casas if the Red Sox sign a top first baseman
3:50
But the bottom half of the lineup is in rough shape. The rotation has upside but not a ton of certainty beyond the top two. The bullpen is dreadful
3:52
I don't think that's fixable within one offseason. They basically have to hit on the Rangers' bullpen strategy of last offseason just to get back to the level of the 2024-25 teams that already weren't good enough and traded away Correa
Rangers13
3:52
Jung and Osuna work for acquiring Burrows and/or Bart?
Anthony Franco
3:53
Yeah I could see something like this
3:55
Bart was pretty good down the stretch, so I imagine Pittsburgh would want a little more to package him alongside Burrows. Feels like they want Rafael Flores to be the long-term answer there, though, so I don't doubt that Bart would be available
Ludwig’s Bunt
3:55
Braves WILL do something this offseason. Winter meetings deal or no? What’s your prediction of what they do and when?
Anthony Franco
3:56
Sign one of Gallen or Ranger Suárez
Outside their usual m.o. to not do anything in free agency, but they've got a decent gap below the CBT line and they need some kind of stability in the rotation
Lefty
3:57
The Giants seem to be inexplicably concerned with payroll (despite supposedly being 4th in franchise value and way be below the tax for now).   Could trading Robbie Ray bring back a 2B and cheap pitching? And then they could continue to build staff with short term “bargains” and unproven youngsters.
Anthony Franco
3:58
I don't think Ray has much surplus value at $25M but I'd be happy to move him if it means expanding their free agent options
3:59
This would be more of a typical Braves move. Seems like they've soured on Nacho Alvarez, maybe there's something workable there to compete with Schmitt at 2B?
Unclemike1526
3:59
If Hoyer believed the Cubs needed a LH power bat to make the difference in the line up last year why aren't they pursuing Schwarber? He'd cost less years and less money than Tucker and is a better bat. If they did that then I would be on board with them trading Caissie and Ballesteros for pitching because Schwarber would cover what their bats could do until Conrad and Kepley or even Hartshorn show up. It makes too much sense to happen so it probably won't. Your thoughts? Thanks
Anthony Franco
4:01
Don't disagree with your logic, but I think the Phillies and Reds have more motivation to splurge on Schwarber than a Cubs team that could justify using Ballesteros there
4:02
Optics of this would also be pretty bad for the front office. It shouldn't matter -- the non-tender decision is a different one from whether to sign him back five years later -- but I can't think of any precedent for a team paying this much to bring back a player they cut
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