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Front Office Chat: 2/27/26
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Anthony Franco
3:00
Good afternoon everyone, hope all is well!
3:01
Kind of a boring week in terms of baseball news but hey, we're closing in on meaningful games! Let's discuss
donaldmac3@comcast.net
3:01
What is the first thing the Chisox should do to get back to their winning ways, and I know better pitching is essential. I was born in Chicago nearly 80 years ago, and I have followed the Sox my entire life. Baseball is the best game.
Anthony Franco
3:03
Agreed, pitching's the big hangup here. I still think this is a below-average position player group in 2026 but you can see it coming together with Teel, Montgomery, Quero, the upside play on Murakami, potential solid role players in Meidroth/Acuña
3:05
Pitching's still pretty far behind. I like the Newcomb/Kay fliers well enough to raise the floor, buy Shane Smith as a league average starter. It's a low-upside pitching staff for now, though
3:07
Biggest factor long term is whether one of Schultz and Smith dials in the strikes enough to be a top-of-the-rotation arm. They're eventually going to need to add a stable #2/3 type via free agency or trade, but it's not the time yet to push in for that
LFGM
3:07
Last season the MLBTR team was on point about the Mets biggest issue being SP, as that ended up being their downfall, even if the first two months of the year it looked like a miss, what do you guys think this year’s team biggest weakness is?
Anthony Franco
3:10
I think they're pretty well balanced this year, nothing concerns me quite as much as the lack of high-end starting pitching did at this time last season.

If there is some kind of fatal flaw that tanks the season, it'd probably be the bullpen? It's a solid group but the late innings are heavily reliant on rebounds from Williams/Weaver and if those don't happen, they'd be in some trouble
3:11
Right there with the Phillies as the top teams in the NL East for me though. Not sure if others on the MLBTR staff are a little lower on them
Brewers Fan
3:11
Is there a rhyme or reason to when each teams off-season review comes out? To you wait on ones that you think may still make moves? Or is it just random draw?
Anthony Franco
3:12
Mostly random. We do try to start with the teams that we feel are less likely to make a significant move between when we publish it and Opening Day
3:13
We're basically down to Giolito and Littell as the remaining free agents who'd get more than a cursory mention in an OiR anyway, so it's not as big a deal this year. Was more of a consideration during the "Boras Four" year or certainly the lockout one when we had to drag the series well into the regular season
3:16
There's also just a logistical thing where Mark Polishuk takes around six of these every year and Tim Dierkes usually does the Chicago teams. Neither of them are full-time MLBTR employees -- the site is obviously Tim's focus but he's often tied up with behind the scenes stuff with the developers, web features, etc. -- so the teams that they claim are subject to their other scheduling stuff in a way that mine, Darragh's and Steve's are not
Steve
3:16
If Endy Rodriguez keeps up a good pace this spring, do you see the Pirates keeping him on the roster as a DH/Backup C&1B, or is the roster constructed in a way that blocks him completely?
Anthony Franco
3:17
Certainly don't think he's blocked. Bart's out of options but Davis and Rafael Flores can both be sent down, so they could roll with Endy as the backup catcher and keep the latter two in Triple-A
3:18
Given how little Endy has played the last two years, my guess is they roll with Davis/Bart and start Rodríguez in Indy, but it's not like Davis has done enough at the major league level that he needs to be on the active roster
Connor with a K
3:19
Given Bob Nutting's historical aversion to giving up control/arn years of young talented players (e.g. Skenes, Chandler), do you think it's realistic that Konnor Griffin actually makes the Opening Day roster even if he has a monster spring?
Bounty
3:19
What do you think the over/under on Konnor Griffin breaking camp with the big club? I really need him to go to the minors so I can select him with the first overall pick in our taxi portion of the roto auction league I'm in.
Anthony Franco
3:21
I'd still lean towards him starting in Indy but don't think it's out of the question he breaks camp. He's too good to keep down in August to preserve the PPI eligibility for '27 and if they call him up in May, he could follow the Skenes path and earn the service year anyway without netting them the pick
I'd arbitrarily say a 35% chance he breaks camp? Greater than 50% that he's in the big leagues by May 15
Chris
3:21
How much do you think spring stats matter for a guy like Dylan Crews? Obviously it's early, but he's already K'd 3 times in only six AB. It's only going to be his 2nd full season in MLB, but given how much he strikes out, is this season a key one for Crews in terms of whether the Nats will want to keep him around until they're competitive in 2028-29?
Anthony Franco
3:22
I basically put no stock in Spring Training stats at all, certainly none in the first three games worth
3:24
Big season for Crews and obviously share your overall concern about the contact given how up and down he's been to this point in his MLB career but don't sweat the first week of Spring Training. These guys are just trying to build back into a routine right now
Jay
3:24
Phillies question - If Sott or Bohm has a strong first half, do you see either getting moved to make way for Miller, or does Dombrowski just stand pat knowing he has guys performing at the major league level?
Anthony Franco
3:26
The latter, assuming the team is competitive. They can let Bohm walk in free agency next offseason. If Miller forces his way up and the entire infield is playing well, no real harm in having him around as a bench piece for the playoff run to get some experience without needing him to a play a huge role
Curious
3:26
Is it me or do more and more teams willingly go into the start of the season with holes, and hope to plug at the deadline? Is it an analytics mindset?
Anthony Franco
3:28
Agree that it's a little more common on the position player side, a little less demand for the veteran role player types who might've been locks for a major league deal a decade ago
3:29
Guess you could call it an "analytics mindset" in the sense that if teams feel you're a 1 WAR free agent, they can get most of that production from their in-house players making league minimum
3:31
There's also a roster flexibility element that teams care more about than they used to. Most free agents have the five-plus service years to refuse a minor league assignment, so if you're looking around at someone who might upgrade your third bench spot in a vacuum, you could prefer to have a slightly lesser player in-house who has options and cycle guys up and down based on matchups, day-to-day injuries, etc.
Lloyd
3:31
Do DeLauter and Waldschmidt break camp with the big league clubs?
Anthony Franco
3:33
I'd be very surprised if DeLauter didn't. Cleveland's complete lack of urgency to address the outfield means he basically has to be an everyday player in center or right
3:34
Wadlschmidt's borderline, and Nick Piecoro wrote this week that the D-Backs would rather have him open the season in the minors, but if the at-bat quality is great this spring, he should probably win the left field job
3:35
You know you're getting nothing offensively out of an Alek Thomas/Jorge Barrosa pairing out there
A for effort
3:35
How would you rank the various extensions the A's have put to paper in the past few years (Rooker, Butler, Soderstrom, Wilson)? To me they have one of if not the strongest offense in the AL West. Not as top-heavy as the Mariners, but there are very few weak links.
Anthony Franco
3:37
I'd order them Wilson, Soderstrom, Rooker, Butler but I like them all to varying degrees. Butler's the one where I might've preferred to wait another year because they were buying high on two excellent months, but I still like the player a lot and understand why they jumped to get it done when they did
3:39
I'd take Seattle's offense personally but I don't have a huge pushback on your preference for the A's lineup. A's have one big hole at third base, probably not getting any offense out of center field but Clarke's such a good defender that it might not matter
3:40
Seattle definitely has the higher-end talent with Raleighn and Julio but three or four spots that you can quibble with. Mariners clearly the much better overall team when you factor in the pitching
Leo
3:40
Is there any chance Leo Jimenez breaks camp, even with a monster spring? Not seeing who could realistically be bumped off, even if he has a monster spring
Anthony Franco
3:41
Wrote about him in the Out of Options post this week. He's probably the most interesting of that group for me
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