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Front Office Chat: 3/13/26
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Anthony Franco
3:00
Good afternoon, hope you've all enjoyed your week!
3:01
Less than two weeks from Opening Day! Let's get rolling
Fake Jim Bouton
3:01
Seem to me the Yankees should start the season with Carlos Lagrange in the bullpen - why waste those bullets in the minors?  Any reason not to?
Anthony Franco
3:04
I assume they'll start him in Triple-A to try to keep open the long-term possibility that he can start but given how far the control would need to come, I'd be pretty tempted to just throw him in the MLB bullpen as well
3:05
Some of it comes down to how you feel about Cade Winquest, I guess. Tough to carry both of those guys in lower-leverage roles, at least to start the season. Obviously Winquest would need to be offered back to St. Louis if they don't hold him, whereas Lagrange could open in the minors without occupying a 40-man spot and buy them a little more time on the Rule 5 decision
Lysol
3:05
Do you think Casas will be productive for the sox in 2026? Or with Contreras do you think they will trade him?
Anthony Franco
3:07
I feel like a deadline trade is ideal for everyone, needs to get healthy first before that's really an option. Nationals fit is easy with the Toboni connection but also the most sensible one since they've got nothing at first base and plenty of runway
Ben Cherrington
3:07
Glad Tim was able to exonerate me in my inability to decision not to trade for a 3B in this week’s mailbag!
Anthony Franco
3:08
Haha here's Tim's much lengthier breakdown on Pittsburgh's third base situation that this question is referencing
3:09
I don't entirely agree with him -- would consider Abrams a pretty clear upgrade over Triolo, for instance -- but I'm also generally alright with them using Triolo as a low-end regular for a while given how many other moves they made offensively
3:10
Will say that if the cost on Donovan was something like Barco, Termarr and Triolo (which Tim loosely floated as a comp to the package they got back from Seattle, not saying St. Louis definitely would've done it), I'd have easily jumped on that if I were the Bucs
Black and Gold
3:11
With the Pirates starting 4 pretty much set in clay. (Skenes, Kellar, Chandler, Ashcraft) Who is the front runner for the 5th spot?
Anthony Franco
3:12
Urquidy needs to be on the MLB roster so I imagine he's pretty well locked in there, at least for a few starts
If he's carrying a 7.00 ERA with a bunch of homers in the middle of May, they can pull the plug and go to Barco or Harrington
Idiotic Failson
3:12
Any chance we see a breakout from Masyn Wynn this year? He's gotten some games under his belt and used to have a 60 hit tool projection
Anthony Franco
3:15
He's not far off being a 60 bat if you view the hit tool as putting the ball in play and hitting for average. Bigger issue is that it's not all that valuable (at least offensively) when it comes with minimal walks or power
3:18
I do think there's a little more in there than he's shown though. He should be getting to double digit home run totals with 30 doubles annually. Approach is good enough that I'll take the over on his career 6.5% walk rate moving forward. Could see his 2024 numbers being the baseline into his mid-late 20s, which is a really good player when you're a top three defensive shortstop
3:20
Also think some of the slugging can play up just from him being more aggressive when he's fully past the knee issue. He didn't hit any triples last year, which I have to imagine is driven largely by playing through a meniscus injury given the athlete he is. Turning a handful of doubles into triples over the course of the season can juice the slug by a few points without any change in the batter's box
Guest
3:20
Is it my imagination or is Detroit stashing shortstops? 6 of their top 30 players are  shortstops starting with McGonigle. I understand that if you play short you’re probably athletic enough to play elsewhere. Can’t play them all at short so do they trade some for pitching?
Still an A
3:21
Does Kevin McGonigle make the Tigers opening day roster?
Anthony Franco
3:22
Most teams' top prospects are guys who can play up the middle, but it's true that Detroit has a farm system that skews particularly heavy to up-the-middle position players (and bats in general)
3:24
At some point it probably results in a trade but early enough now that it's not really an issue aside from maybe squeezing Hao-Yu Lee (a second baseman who is fine but not super exciting) out. Long-term you're hopefully looking at a McGonigle/Rainer pairing and anyone else who works out just bounces around them
3:26
Went into Spring Training assuming McGonigle would start in Triple-A given how deliberately they move their prospects but his spring has been so loud that at this point, I do think they'll just decide he's clearly better than Javy and carry him from Day 1
Nationals 1B Situation
3:26
Even though the Nationals are in a rebuild, 1B has some intrigue to it. Abimelec Ortiz, who they received in the Gore trade, looks like the starting 1B to begin the season. He doesn't grade out as some impressive prospect or anything, but he has consistently hit for power and gotten on base in the minors.

Are you closer to boom or bust for him this season?
Anthony Franco
3:28
Feels very Quad-A to me. I'd rather give him a look than play Luis Garcia or Andres Chaparro there but would be more optimistic in a Casas flier than Ortiz
Rays
3:28
Are we going with a closer-by-committee approach, or has someone clearly taken over the closer role by the end of spring training?
Anthony Franco
3:30
Seemed like they were pretty excited to go back to a committee after Fairbanks priced himself out of there. I'd take Jax to lead them in saves but expect them to bounce him around in leverage situations
Joe from Milwaukee
3:30
This Quinn Priester injury just feels like one of those that will linger around for a long time. It just seems like so many of these attempted rehabs end up with surgery anyway. What do you think?
Anthony Franco
3:31
Never super encouraging when they mention the nerve issues but I'm not a doctor and they still haven't fully shut him down from throwing, so obviously understandable that he's going to try to rehab without surgery and see how it goes
Braiden Wood
3:31
Is there a roster spot for me on the Red Sox?
Anthony Franco
3:32
Don't think so, at least not on Opening Day, but he's been a cool story so I hope he gets a look as a depth guy at some point
3:34
He's a fifth outfielder but obviously a hell of a baserunner. Could be one of those guys who kicks around teams in September when they have the extra active roster spot
Loofa Man
3:34
What do you enjoy more: a scrappy team with a low payroll who wins through shrewd decision making and roster building? Or a high payroll juggernaut full of stars? I think they're both fun in their own way
Anthony Franco
3:36
Need a mix of both, yeah. I almost always prefer the former to the extent that I have rooting interests (latter is usually just a better team). Some of that is the tendency most people have to pull for underdogs
3:37
But a very specific part of the appeal for me with baseball that isn't really a thing in other sports is that the fixed batting order means you don't have much power in deciding which player takes the most meaningful at-bat
3:38
And there's a similar appeal in needing depth pieces with the less star-studded roster
BJ
3:38
How close are the White Sox to contending? With Smith and Schultz being maybe upper rotation arms and hopefully Thorpe also how many position players other than Teel, Both Montgomerys and Cholowsky will be here?
Anthony Franco
3:39
If either of Smith or Schultz become high-end starters, that's a win. It's likelier that neither of them are than both given their respective present command
3:40
Lineup is kind of coming into place but I don't think the pitching is anywhere close yet, tough for me to see them being a legitimate playoff threat before 2028
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