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Front Office Chat: 3/1/24
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Anthony Franco
3:37
He finished the year on the active roster, says he feels good now. I don't have any reason to doubt that's the case, but there's certainly elevated risk as they try to build his workload back one season removed from that
Orioles Forever
3:37
Where does Jordan Westburg play this year?
Anthony Franco
3:38
Should get the bulk of the second base time. That's his best spot anyway and they obviously have a ton of talent on the left side of the infield
Guest
3:38
Goo afternoon, Is there any chance that MLB goes back and restores all or some of the minor league teams they contracted ? In my opinion it was a bad move that didn’t help MLB increase its interest.
Anthony Franco
3:40
Can't see this happening. While it sucks for some of the places that lost an affiliated team, it was pretty important for ownership to cut the costs of running some of those low-level teams. If anything, I think they'll try to go further in that direction in future CBA negotiations
Craig
3:41
Is Matt Chapman the new Mike Moustakas? Overplayed his hand terribly or just not a big market for an up and down 3B?
Anthony Franco
3:43
Probably some amount of both. The overall hitting market beyond Ohtani was a lot weaker than we (and presumably Boras) thought it would be. So much of the value with Chapman is tied in his defense, which is concerning for teams weighing a long-term investment in a player who's about to turn 31
3:46
Darragh's a big Chapman fan but none of Steve, Tim or myself would've wanted to go near the 6/150 that we predicted at the start of the offseason.

We thought someone would do it, since teams went to that range for Dansby/Story/Báez when none of us would have, but I guess the league saw the age/positional advantage of that group as putting them clearly above Chapman
Sandy G
3:46
Michael Lorenzen at around 10 million seems like too good a deal for the Mets to turn down. Your thoughts? Thanks!
Anthony Franco
3:48
It wouldn't be for me, especially since the CBT would push the cost to $21MM for the Mets, but I'm probably lower on Lorenzen than anyone else on the MLBTR staff
3:49
I guess it depends on whether you think his last six weeks in Philadelphia was more about him a) wearing down with a career-high workload and the high pitch count in the no-hitter or b) falling victim to the lack of missed bats that he was able to overcome in the first half
3:50
I think it's more the latter and wouldn't consider him that much of an upgrade on Lucchesi or Butto
Sully
3:50
How does Cron fit in the Sox lineup?  Is he platooning with Casas at 1B?  Feels like they already had a bunch of candidates for DH.
Anthony Franco
3:51
Not even a lock that he makes the team. I certainly wouldn't push Casas into a strict platoon for him
3:52
Cotillo's report from last night basically implied that the Sox don't believe in Dalbec (understandably given the strikeouts) and want other options who could offer some kind of righty power off the bench
Giants Fan
3:52
The strange thing about the Chapman free agency is very good defenders come cheap. Josh Donaldson is maybe 10% worse on defense and 30% worse on offense but is a minimum guy.
Anthony Franco
3:55
Age and personality matter a lot in that comparison. I think it's broadly true that teams aren't wild about paying for defense, particularly for a player at Chapman's age, but a lot of the value with the Dansby/Báez/Story group was the ability to play a plus shortstop and offer something with the bat, even if they're all inconsistent hitters
Robert
3:55
The Rangers lost 94 games in 2022 before turning it around.  Any chance for something similar this year:  a 90-loss team (or close) from 2023 going deep in the 2024 playoffs?
Anthony Franco
3:57
I don't see a great analogue to the '22 Rangers. Could see the Cardinals or Mets bouncing back, but they were dramatic underachievers as opposed to a team accelerating out of a rebuild
Rockies, Pirates, Nats, A's, Guardians, Angels, White Sox, Royals were the other teams with 85+ losses last year
3:58
Outside of maybe Cleveland, I don't see it with that group
Official Gary Gaetti Fan Club
3:58
Imanaga replaced Stroman. Belli, er, replaces Belli. And there's a MLB ready prospect from the Dodgers who is (another) position-less 25 HR hitter. PCA is waiting in the wings, but most of his value is in his defense, and Belli is already a very good defensive CFer, so that's not a huge upgrade. How is this team any better than last year?
Anthony Franco
4:00
Yeah I don't think it's much better. Guess you could argue that Wicks/Assad have a little more upside than the back-end starters they had a year ago, probably get a better year from Taillon
4:01
But generally, the strategy is basically that they were close to winning the Central last year and they're not any worse than they had been
Philly A's
4:01
What is the first big name trade this year?
Anthony Franco
4:03
Could see the Guardians moving Bieber relatively early if they fall out of it and have any concern about his durability
Giants Fan
4:03
Is Casey Schmitt an everyday regular?
Anthony Franco
4:04
The approach makes him more of a quality utility guy for me
Edd G
4:04
I was watching a spring training game where obstruction was called. It looked like the runner could get back to the bag without any problem, and he did. Does the rule state that the fielder can't even stand in front of the bag?
Anthony Franco
4:06
Can't impede the runner, which is admittedly a vague standard. MLB is trying to be more vigilant about so they're probably overcorrecting this spring
4:07
There'll be some kinks early but the goal is mostly to stop middle infielders from using their knee to block the path to the base
Paul K
4:07
Do Blue Jays fans have anything to look forward to? Two questions; (1) over/under on 90 wins, i.e,. the standard is improving on last year. I have the Under; (2) WC yes/no? I have the "no". You?
Anthony Franco
4:08
Slight under but I do think they grab a Wild Card
Alan B
4:08
Subscription question. Is it possible to give a gift subscription? I'm sorry if I missed "how to" on the home page. Thx for all you and the rest of the team do!
Anthony Franco
4:11
I don't know if we have a setup for this but I'll ask Tim about it and get back to you either in next week's chat or if you want to reach out on Twitter or via the email address that's on the chat email
Alright I have to wrap things up here. Sorry if I didn't get to your question
4:13
As always, feel free to throw anything at me on Twitter throughout the week. Thank you all for continuing to support the site, it's really appreciated. Have a great weekend!
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