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Front Office Chat: 2/16/26
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Phillies fan since '64
3:38
If the Phillies fail to make the playoffs this year or even get bounced in the first round again, is Thomson a goner? How about Dombrowski? And, in a related question as to whether they make the playoffs, will Crawford and Painter and Miller later in the season make meaningful contributions to the team this year?
Anthony Franco
3:40
I could see it if they miss the playoffs. If they win 95 games and get bounced in the Division Series, that's a lot tougher. Obviously for the fanbase it'll get to a point where it feels like running into a wall but we've seen this core get to the World Series and they've been a top five team in MLB over the three seasons since even as the playoff results have backed up
3:41
I expect Painter and Crawford to break camp. More faith in Crawford to find success early but Painter's probably the more significant of the two given the questions about the rotation depth. Miller debuting midseason makes sense
Who says no?
3:42
I'm still someone who can't believe the Brewers and Giants can't work out a deal. Giants send Gold Glove quality third baseman with pop Casey Schmitt to Brewers for Logan Henderson (or Chad Patrick), OR for Aaron Ashby (or Trevor Megill). If one of those doesn't work, why and how can it be equalized?
Anthony Franco
3:42
I'm not giving up any of those pitchers (especially Henderson) for Schmitt
3:44
Decent player but he's worse than Durbin, who they just traded mostly for Kyle Harrison, whose stock has tumbled over the past year-plus. Harrison vs. Patrick is close, I guess, but how much of an upgrade is Schmitt over just playing Rengifo at 3B?
Rays 2026
3:44
How much better, if at all, have the Rays' various moves made them compared to last year?
Anthony Franco
3:47
Pretty similar to last year for me. Took a step back in the bullpen by cutting Fairbanks, lowered the rotation upside a little with the Baz trade. Probably lost a win or two dropping from Lowe to Lux, though they should gain that back by adding Mullins over the Pereira/Mangum combo they were trotting out in CF for a good chunk of last year
3:49
Worst team in the AL East on paper, would have them in 77-79 win range. All that said, the Baz/Lowe trades set them up better organizationally moving forward and they pulled those off without making the '26 team worse overall IMO
Who Gets What Deal
3:49
Let’s play big league contract, minor league contract, no contract. Your candidates are Walker Buehler, Tyler Anderson, and Marcus Stroman. Who gets what deals?
Anthony Franco
3:50
Very cheap big league deal with incentives for Buehler. Anderson/Stro get NRIs
Mike
3:50
Very unlike Kendrick to continue to spend money in AZ where it is going to still be an uphill battle to get into the playoffs, does this surprise you?
Anthony Franco
3:52
Disagree with the premise a little bit. Kendrick signed off on Monty just before Opening Day two years ago and Burnes last year when it became clear that was the pitcher's preferred destination. They've had a slightly above median payroll in consecutive seasons, which isn't bad given where they'd been for most of the organizational history
3:53
The price on Gallen just became a no-brainer for them. Would they have done a straight $18M (matching the NPV) on a one-year deal at this stage of the offseason? Probably not, but when he's deferring two-thirds of the money to try to save face by "matching" the QO price, get it done
The Seaward
3:53
Which team has the most drastic difference between the ceiling and floor of their starting rotation in 2026?
Anthony Franco
3:54
Ooh good question. Probably would've been Atlanta before Schwellenbach went down. They're still up there though
3:57
I think it's Miami. If all of Pérez, Sandy and Garrett look great that has the chance to pitch them to the playoffs despite the offense -- before even factoring Thomas White and Robby Snelling as midseason callups -- but they're also opening the season with Chris Paddack and probably Garrett/Meyer coming off serious injuries in the rotation
Sean M.
3:57
Wishful Marlins fan here wondering what the market looks like for Astros corner infielders? Curious for your thoughts on what Paredes is worth right now, how much of Walker's contract Astros would have to eat, and the like.
Anthony Franco
3:59
If they paid Walker to 2/16, I assume someone would bite. That just partially salary dumps a player who's still a good power threat and a reasonable enough rebound candidate though
4:01
Paredes basically set for $23M over the next two seasons to free agency (club option covering the second arb year). If he were signing a two-year deal in free agency, I think he'd command in the $40-45M range, so I'd have him around $20M in surplus value. Would be higher if he weren't coming off the injury that raised questions about how much he'll be able to offer defensively
HOF
4:01
If DeGrom has another season line last year, could he be back in the talk for the Hall of Fame.  How many seasons like this would he need?  Would a 3rd Cub Young more or less cement it (provided Skubal signs with an NL team next year)
Anthony Franco
4:03
There'd be legitimate conversation about it if he retired right now. Don't think he'd get in but he'd absolutely have enough support to stay on the ballot for 10 years. A third Cy Young makes it a lock
Royal
4:03
Suwinski seems a little too good to be a DFA casualty to me. Feels like Kansas City or someone similar should be all over rolling the dice on him this year. Thoughts?
Anthony Franco
4:04
Fine roll of the dice for them but tough to say I'm surprised by the DFA when he's hitting .169/.271/.297 over his last 455 plate appearances
ml25ad
4:05
Jayson Stark from The Athletic suggested that Lars Nootbaar or Alec Burleson could be traded this spring.  How likely do you see either of those players being traded?
Anthony Franco
4:05
I expect them both to open the season in St. Louis but Nootbaar as a Spring Training trade candidate wouldn't be super surprising
Next Gen Nats?
4:05
The perennial question: how would you fix the Nats' defense? It seems to me that they have people on their roster who are + fielders but can't hit (Young; Nunez; House) and people on the roster who can hit but can't field (Wood; Abrams; Garcia, Jr.; Lile). And a catcher (Ruiz) who can't do either. Help me, Mister Franco, you're my only hope!
Anthony Franco
4:09
Well the broader point to this is that the Nationals just don't have enough good players, which is obviously true but not something that's getting fixed in the short term. Ford should be an upgrade over Keibert on both ends. Probably should play Nuñez a little more over García to improve the infield defense  but I agree that he's not going to hit
4:11
They're eventually just going to need to trade Abrams and bring in more position player talent. In the short-term, the biggest development would be a step forward from Crews, who has the physical aptitude to be a plus contributor on both sides of the ball but swung and missed far too often last year
DK
4:11
Closing time in Milwaukee. Is Uribe the answer?
Anthony Franco
4:12
Don't see why they wouldn't run it back with Megill for one more season
baseball gods are tricksters
4:12
Would it make sense to switch Nuñez (to SS) and Abrams (to 2B) with Garcia at 1B to improve the Nat's defense?
Anthony Franco
4:14
That's probably a better infield in the short term but they're rebuilding anyway and the bigger consideration is what they can do to make Abrams the most valuable trade chip by the deadline
4:15
Might mix in some second base just so other teams have an idea what that looks likely but wouldn't take him off primary shortstop yet. Nuñez isn't a foundational piece of the rebuild or anyone who's going to net them anything significant in trade
Diamond Dan
4:15
Who would the A’s have to trade to get a Ryan or Bello type arm (not saying bellos at ryans level)
Anthony Franco
4:18
Anything on Ryan probably has to start with Jump or Arnold. Don't think the A's are in position to make that kind of push right now but if they're playing well above expectations at the deadline, maybe. Bello might be the same even if he doesn't have the same kind of value in isolation because the Red Sox just don't have much motivation to trade him
RoxTalks
4:18
Got two internship offers this morning from independent league team front offices. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone here for all the insightful baseball talk and interesting questions!
Anthony Franco
4:18
Congratulations! Hope all goes well!
4:19
I need to wrap up here but as always, feel free to throw anything else at me on X throughout the week at @affranco10
4:20
Steve will be back tomorrow with a free chat and he's taking the Friday subscriber one. Thanks to all of you for continuing to support the site and hanging out each week!
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