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Front Office Chat: 2/21/25
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Anthony Franco
3:01
Hey everyone, hope you've all had a good week!
3:02
Looking forward to another of these, let's get rolling
Artie moreno
3:02
what would it take to get Vlad jr
Anthony Franco
3:03
Don't think there's any chance he moves before Opening Day. Could be the top deadline trade chip if the Jays fall out of it (though I think they're likelier to stick in contention than the Angels are)
Even a half-season should net a package built around a prospect in the 50-75 overall range, assuming Vlad's having a great year
Reggie Deal
3:04
With ESPN and MLB ending their deal, what are your thoughts on the long term approach by baseball.  I don't know what kind of rights MLB could command, but I think many fans would agree with the league statement that the coverage of baseball had shrunk much in the last several years.  I for one found ESPN coverage to be way too New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco for my taste, the other markets and Toronto be damned.  It was interesting to read articles about how ratings were up in 2024 from 2023, but the 2023 declines were due to bad years by the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox, ratings for games with all other teams were actually up on cable in '23. ESPN coverage fell off badly from it's 1990-April 2017 standard and I walked away after a May 2022 SportsCenter Sunday night program that didn't mention five of the MLB games that day, while spending two segments on Kevin Durant and Kyree Irving Brooklyn Nets drama.
Anthony Franco
3:06
Yeah I mostly agree with that. I don't watch much of ESPN's general sports coverage because I prioritize the games anyways and can find more specialized analysis on the sports that I care about elsewhere than they have the time to offer on SportsCenter or whatever
3:07
But the much bigger thing from the league's perspective is that ESPN wanted to cut the rights fees (presumably by a large amount) and Manfred believes he can find a better offer elsewhere. I'm sure he's legitimately frustrated by baseball's coverage (or lack thereof) on ESPN's general programming, but I don't know that it's much different than it was in 2021 when they negotiated this deal to begin with
Rangers13
3:08
Would Duran/Ornelas/or Foscue + Mahle bring back Torkelson as I think he would provide good depth for Burger at 1B and he likely needs a change of scenery. I presume another piece could be taken back by TX in deal?
Anthony Franco
3:10
The $16.5M base for Mahle isn't ideal for Detroit, especially after they dropped $15M on Alex Cobb, who has his own injury questions. I'm still kind of intrigued by Foscue but I doubt the Tigers would give up Tork for him
Holliday
3:10
Most projections that I've seen of Jackson Holliday say he's going to hit in the .210s or .220s this year, presumably based on his two years at AAA hitting in the .260s. But this was the guy who's supposed to have a 70 (MLB Pipeline) or 55 (FanGraphs) hit tool.

As a comparison, A-Rod hit .204 as an 18-year-old major leaguer, .232 at age 19, and then .358 as age 20. No one is saying Holliday is A-Rod, but shouldn't Holliday, at age 21 this year, be due for a more significant bump up? Or is he just overrated?
Anthony Franco
3:12
I wouldn't put a ton of stock in the projections for guys who are that young with such little MLB experience. The error bars are huge when there's such little MLB data
3:14
Holliday's MLB production last year was terrible. He swung and missed a lot and put almost everything on the ground when he did put the ball in play. But most players his age are in High-A or their sophomore years of college. Not at all concerned
Rangers13
3:14
One final question, who would your SP rotation be for Rangers this year providing everyone is healthy and that is a big ask? I believe it should be deGrom, Eovaldi, Bradford, Gray/Mahle unless one is traded which I would prefer and Rocker. Lieter to BP hopefully paired with Turnbull in a swing or long relief role?
Anthony Franco
3:14
Turnbull probably costs more than they'll pay because he'd likely push them into luxury tax territory. He's not the kind of player that teams do that for
3:16
Agree that Leiter should be in the bullpen and Rocker needs to be in the MLB rotation. I'd kick Bradford into a long relief role if the other five are healthy to start the season
Junebug
3:16
Will Brenton Doyle have a 30/30 season?
Anthony Franco
3:17
I could see it. Needs to continue building on the improved plate discipline but he should steal 30+ a few times and I think there's enough power in there for him to get to 30 homers once or twice in that park
CardinalRed
3:17
At this point, would it make sense to bring Tink Hence up to be an opener or middle relief for a few innings? He has 60 starts out of 67 MiLB appearances and is at 236 innings total, less than 4 innings a start. No way he can turn in a 30 start 200+ innings year, right?
Anthony Franco
3:19
Eh, not seeing the reason to jump him past Memphis for that. Could break him into the majors late in the season in a relief role to watch the innings, but I'd let him work out of the Triple-A rotation for most of the season
Wheeler Deeler
3:20
How much will it take to extend Kyle Schwarber?  What would his free agent contract look like?
Anthony Franco
3:23
You're buying out age 33 and beyond on a really good hitter who's essentially a full-time DH. I imagine he'd try to get something like the Teoscar deal (3/66) but I think he ends up at two years in the $45-50MM range. Kind of Joc+ territory
Jimmy Racer
3:23
Since the Cardinals were unable to trade Arenado and Contreras was moved to first base there appears to be somewhat of a infield log jam. Would it be a good idea to sell high on Donovan and try to bring back a much needed cost controlled starting pitcher?
Anthony Franco
3:26
No harm in trying but I'm skeptical Donovan would bring back a mid-rotation arm with multiple years of control. Teams rarely trade those guys unless they're rebuilding. Guess the Pablo López/Arraez deal is a counterexample, though that didn't really work out for Miami
3:27
If the best offers STL is getting are guys who project more as #4/5 types, I'd rather hold Donovan. Don't think Arenado changes the calculus there much because they're going to try to move him again at the deadline
Hotlanta
3:27
Who is the most important player the Braves need to return Strider,Acuna or Murphy?
Anthony Franco
3:28
That lineup is terrifying when they have MVP-level Acuna
Justin Verlander
3:28
Am I the last guy ever who will credibly be mentioned in a sentence with "300 wins" in it?
Anthony Franco
3:31
The last one for a while certainly. I'm reluctant to say ever though. Starting pitching is declining generally but there are still true aces who make 32 starts and go 200+ innings. I think eventually we'll see someone string together 12-15 years of health again and make a real push for it
Ethan
3:31
Does the Pirates' addition of Andrew Heaney set up another trade of a pitcher for a bat? Feels like Falter (plus a prospect perhaps) for Ryan Mountcastle makes sense
Anthony Franco
3:32
I think it's more just backfilling the innings they lost when they dealt Ortiz. Baltimore has a bunch of guys like Falter already. Wouldn't be a big fan of them adding another, especially with the left field wall coming back in
John B
3:33
Seems like teams are more reluctant this off season to agree to the opt-out contracts. Is this true?
Anthony Franco
3:35
Just pulled this up on the Contract Tracker. There have been 15 free agent deals with opt-outs this winter after 13 last offseason and 16 the year before
Mike Trout
3:35
Over/Under on 30 home runs for me?
Anthony Franco
3:37
Probably need like 120 games for this. I think I'd take the under
It’s Time 4 Dodger Baseball
3:37
Muncy is on the last guaranteed year of his deal. Do you think it’s more likely the Dodgers go after Bregman, Murakami or fill 3B in house?
Anthony Franco
3:39
I'm sure they'll make a run at Murakami. If they don't get him, then I'm guessing it comes down to how well Alex Freeland plays this year and whether they feel he can step in as the everyday third baseman in '26
In Rizzo We Trust
3:39
News indicated that Mark Lerner blamed light spending for the Nats this offseason on GM Mike RIzzo. If these shenanigans are going on, might we Nats fans have reason to fear that Rizzo might finally take another, richer team up on a chance to leave Washington?
Anthony Franco
3:40
I assume these are the comments you're referring to:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/lerner-nationals-not-ready-for-...
3:41
I don't know that I'd call that "blame," but Lerner's implying that Rizzo feels they're still a year away from being real contenders and that this winter would've been an inopportune to go big in free agency. I agree to an extent
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