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Front Office Chat: 2/10/23
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Anthony Franco
4:28
Koufax led his league in ERA in each of his last five seasons and led the majors in innings both of his final two years. deGrom has never led the league in innings and has one ERA title
4:29
Koufax was a clearer Hall of Famer than deGrom is now but the latter's not too far off. One more Cy Young definitely gets him in, and I think two more seasons of top-ten level production would do it too
4:30
I expect deGrom will eventually get in -- he's got at least five years left presumably -- but I wouldn't have him in if he just retired right now
Las Vegas A's
4:30
Will Brent Rooker (yesterday's featured interview on Trade Rumors) be a regular with the A's, or will he be a platoon outfielder & DH?
Anthony Franco
4:32
Probably more the latter. Not sure he's athletic enough to play left field everyday, particularly in Oakland. He'd have to outplay Aguilar to take the first base job if he's going to be a regular probably
Naterz
4:32
What are the chances that Will Benson develops into an everyday CF??
Anthony Franco
4:33
He's a pretty big guy to play CF every day. Feels more like an above-average defensive right fielder who can make some spot starts in center than one teams would want there regularly
4:35
Whether he'll hit enough for that, I'm skeptical since last year's contact rate in Triple-A was such an outlier compared to the rest of his career. But he's continually performed better in his second crack at a level after struggling during his initial look, and prospect evaluators have raved about his athleticism and work ethic since draft day. I don't think he'll be a regular, but he's exactly the kind of guy the Reds should give a chance to prove that wrong during a rebuilding season
Old No. 7
4:35
Do platoon crazy Giants give Haniger more than 400 plate appearances?
Anthony Franco
4:36
He'll beat that if you're assuming he stays healthy all year. He's going to play pretty much every day
Josh Allen
4:36
Cole Winn have any impact this year on the rnagers?
Anthony Franco
4:37
I'm still kind of intrigued but he'll have to pitch better at Round Rock than he did last year to get a look
4:38
I'm surprised by how many walks he's issued throughout his minor league career. He's a good athlete, would've assumed that'd translate to more strikes by now
RAGBRAI
4:39
With Spring Training and the WBC coming up its a great time to be alive! Looking back over the Hot Stove League though, what would you say were the biggest shockers in terms of contracts beyond what was expected and those that might have been far below what was expected?
Anthony Franco
4:40
Bogaerts getting 11/280 is the biggest surprise of the winter for me (aside from the Correa stuff obviously). Mid-tier starting pitcher market pushed a lot higher than I would've thought, particularly for Taijuan Walker. We were bullish on Robert Suarez but certainly didn't see five years with an opt-out coming
4:42
Most players beat our expectations. The guys who generally came in under were ones we knew there was a real chance we were too high on (Josh Bell, Sean Manaea, Andrew Heaney).
J.D. Martinez only getting 1/$10M was a real surprise for me, though it seems like he might've just taken a discount because he wanted to be a Dodger
STL Stan
4:43
How much worse will STL's pitching be without Yadi?
Anthony Franco
4:44
I doubt we're talking more than a tenth of a run in ERA -- ultimately, the pitchers' talent and execution is a lot more important than game-calling -- but I do think they'll be a little worse going from Molina to Contreras, yeah
4:45
I wish there were a way to quantify game-calling better than we can, at least publicly. Generally think catcher defense is the on-field aspect of the sport that public metrics are worst at evaluating
Kryptonite
4:45
What is the best team in both of the Centrals? STL? Cleveland?
Anthony Franco
4:45
St. Louis for me
RAGBRAI
4:45
How far back at the trade deadline would the Brewers have to be to consider trading Woodruff or Burnes? Though considering the Hader trade last year nothing would surprise me, though that also makes me think they might be more hesitant to trade another big name if they are even close to competing for a WC spot.
Anthony Franco
4:46
If they're 3+ games out, feels like they have to at least consider it. Five games or more and it'd be a surprise if one of those guys weren't moved
Will
4:46
With the rule changes on shifts, can you see a more shift to small ball? Teams that can put the ball in play, get on base, play good defense and limit their opponents walks. And with some of the players the redsox signed is that their plan ?
Anthony Franco
4:48
I could see there being more emphasis on infield defense but I think the offensive profiles teams target will skew even heavier towards power (explained that theory in more detail in response to an earlier question if you missed it)
Esteury Ruiz
4:48
A's made me the centerpiece of the Murphy deal. Does that mean they think I'll benefit from the new shift rules or bigger bases for steals?
Anthony Franco
4:49
Probably a small part of it but the bigger thing is they must buy his offensive breakout in Triple-A last year while thinking he can play center field
Brewers fans
4:49
Should we be worried that both Burnes and Adames have said that neither has had contract negotiations?
Anthony Franco
4:50
Certainly don't expect they'll extend all three of Adames, Burnes and Woodruff but I'd bet on them getting something done with one of them (probably Willy)
Brad
4:51
Most likely to be a starter long term: Levi Stoudt, Michael Burrows, Drew Rucinski?
Anthony Franco
4:52
I'd take Burrows over Stoudt. Rucinski's going to be a starter immediately but he's probably just a stopgap
4:53
Steve and Tim were more interested in Rucinski than I was at the start of the offseason though. They might feel differently about him sticking at the back of a rotation for a couple years
Keith
4:53
Do you believe Reggie Jackson's career strikeout record will ever be broken?
Anthony Franco
4:54
Yeah feels inevitable with how often hitters strike out now
No one's coming close to Nolan Ryan on the pitching side though obviously
larryj917
4:55
Barring a major series of injuries, what sort of future do you see for Nick Madrigal?
Anthony Franco
4:56
Probably traded midseason. He's not a great fit for third base. They upgraded over him in the middle infield in a major way, feels like they're just going to sell low eventually
4:57
This was always kind of the risk with Madrigal. The second base only guys are tough roster fits because they're not providing a ton of value off the bench without positional flexibility. Basically have to play every day or you're on the roster bubble
Bring em on
4:57
Will Forrest Whitley get a taste of the majors this year or has he been relegated to “trade bait”?  I would like to see him get a spot start or long relief to see if he belongs.
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