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Front Office Chat: 2/21/25
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Pirate Scott
4:17
For Pirates to acquire Colton Cowser from Orioles, what would be fair value to give up?
Anthony Franco
4:21
Don't see what's in this for the Orioles. If the Pirates offered Bubba Chandler, maybe Baltimore would think the value's too good to pass up, but I doubt Pittsburgh would do that
Storm Chaser
4:21
Are the Royals going to be able to find a decent bat to help their lineup?  It seems like the dust has settled and nothing has happened.
Anthony Franco
4:23
Yeah I think they're going into the season pretty much as is. Seems like they were hoping to find the big bat on the trade front and aside from Kyle Tucker (which was kind of a perfect storm with the Cubs), those guys didn't really move
Barney Rubble
4:24
Do you view Adam Mazur as a legitimate MLB starter?
Anthony Franco
4:25
I think the secondaries and command are good enough that he can be a mostly unexciting fifth starter
JP
4:25
Will the Mariners finish third in the AL West this year, or could either the Angels or A's finish ahead of them? The Seattle rotation is great, but the lineup is basically the same as last year, and it wasn't very good. I know they're pointing to their September offensive surge as being the "real" team, but was that just a temporary blip?
Anthony Franco
4:27
Likelier to finish in the top two than below the A's or Angels for me. Would probably have them third but any of Houston, Seattle or Texas winning the West wouldn't surprise me
Bill S
4:27
Have you ever watched Tena play third base for the Nats? I have, which seems to be why they went after Dejong even though he has only played a little at third himself.
Anthony Franco
4:30
Ha yeah, the glove is bad. I don't think Tena's a long-term answer either but I'm kind of intrigued by the bat and think this is still mostly a development year for Washington. If Tena can become a Luis Rengifo type who hits enough that you live with bad defense while moving him around the infield, that's a nice role player
4:31
You know what you're getting out of DeJong. Hopefully 20 homers with average defense and a very poor OBP
Hal's Hearing Aid
4:31
The Yankees got rid of the facial hair rule because Tony Gonsolin (in theory) is one of the more available quality pitchers available. You heard it here first
Turner's Beard
4:31
Did the Yankees finally change their facial hair policy because I (and the family of small shorebirds living in my beard) signed with the Cubs?
Anthony Franco
4:31
Justin Turner and Tony Gonsolin were the tipping point on this 50 year old rule, no question
Dave
4:31
Chances that Dodgers land Louis Robert by the trade deadline?
Anthony Franco
4:32
Sure, they'd be one of the clearest fits if he has a bounce back first half
elneco27
4:33
Who makes more sense as infield backup player for the NY Mets between Luisangel Acuña, Brett Baty and Nick Madrigal? Additionally, who should be the regular center fielder, José Sirí or Tyrone Taylor?
Anthony Franco
4:34
Not going to be much playing time available on the infield so it'll probably be Madrigal with Baty and Acuna playing regularly in Syracuse. If someone gets hurt, they can recall one of those two rather than plugging Madrigal into the starting lineup
Taylor and Siri should each get a decent amount of playing time but I'd take Taylor to get more at-bats
Reds fan Ryan
4:34
2 questions: Who do you think will be the Reds starting 3rd basemen on opening day?             Do you think Austin Hays will be the everyday left fielder or just hit mainly against lefties?
Anthony Franco
4:35
Candelario. I think Hays will play most days to start the year
Cat Herder
4:36
Let's say it's late April.  Who is the 5th starter for the Tigers? We assume Skubal, Flarehty, Olsen are all healthy.  Jobe looks decent out Spring Training.  That leaves Mize, Maeda, Manning, Maddon, and Brant Hurder.  Thoughts?
Anthony Franco
4:36
Probably Mize
infospace whisperer
4:36
You guys are missing the story about the mariners lack of spending. They don't have a lack of money, I think they have actually been the most profitable mlb team over the last several years - more than the Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox, etc.. The mariners have money to spend, but the ownership has decided to put it in their pockets instead of in the team. It seems like you guys are very afraid to call out ownership. `Why are owners treated so cautiously by the baseball pundits?
Anthony Franco
4:37
"I'm sure the front office would've loved to have added another bat. They had next to no financial support from ownership. It's easy to say they should've traded for a bat, but there weren't many prominent bats that changed hands this offseason (and the most prominent one, Kyle Tucker, was never going to a division rival).

Most teams looking at trading MLB-ready infielders this winter were looking for MLB-ready SP help. Heck, even getting Spencer Horwitz cost the Pirates Luis Ortiz. The frustration for M's fans is plenty justified, but I'd be angrier at ownership than baseball operations."
4:38
That's from Steve's chat on Tuesday
Grump
4:38
With strike out rates getting higher each year, when are hitting coaches going to go back to the idea that line drives score more runs than pop-ups?
Anthony Franco
4:39
The escalating strikeout rates make it harder to string together hits, which incentivizes hitters to lean more heavily into trying to hit for power
4:41
I think the pendulum is swinging back ever so slightly with the rule changes, but hitters aren't going to be able to claw back the rapid strikeout rise of the past 20 years unless MLB finds some way to curtail the continued rise of velocity (on both fastballs and breaking stuff)
4:43
They're probably not going to change the field dimensions (i.e. move the mound back), so they'd need to lean harder into disincentivizing bullpen usage through a combination of tighter pitcher roster limits and maybe tying the starting pitcher to the DH
Go Guardians!!!!
4:43
If you could look into a crystal ball and tell the future, would Cleveland be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline?
Anthony Franco
4:45
I think they'll be god enough to add MLB help. Not sure they'll thing rigidly enough to be true buyers. I could see them trading Sewald for future value even if they're competitive because of the bullpen depth, for instance. Maybe DeLauter comes up and pushes them to trade Thomas
4:46
But even if they make moves like that, I expect it'd be paired with additions in the rotation that help them for 2025
Doug E. Fresh
4:46
I would really appreciate an update on Joe Kelly.  I don’t believe he as signed with anyone, is he still recovering from an injury?  Thank you.
Anthony Franco
4:47
Haven't seen anything. He'll probably get an NRI
Far from Fenway
4:47
Masa Yoshida and Wilyer Abreu for Castillo and Garver. Redsox get a top of the rotation arm and a back up catcher; Mariners get two guys that can actually hit and their payroll actually goes down a touch. Who says no?
Anthony Franco
4:49
Seattle turned down Casas and Yoshida a couple months ago when there were more options to reallocate the money. Don't see why they'd do this for Abreu even if Boston took the Garver money off their hands
Chisox fan
4:49
What are the main reasons why the White Sox are whe
Anthony Franco
4:49
This was kind of a jumbled question but basically asked how the White Sox got so bad
4:53
But it's kind of ... everything? Ownership is reluctant to spend in free agency, and when they did, they invested in Benintendi. Their in-house position player talent (Robert, Anderson, Moncada, Vaughn, Eloy) stagnated or regressed. Some of that was due to injury but it's hard to put it all on that. They made consecutive poor managerial hires in La Russa and Grifol (though the latter was defensible at the time)
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