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Front Office Chat: 3/13/26
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Josh E
4:11
A guy gets hurt, a pitcher in this example.  While he is under contract the team pays for surgery and rehab, correct?  Is it on the player to pay for the second opinions?  The guy that gets hurt working out as a free agent, he has to foot the bill for the surgery, correct?  Thank you!
Anthony Franco
4:13
Not sure how this all interacts with insurance but teams have relationships with specific surgeons, so I imagine the team foots the bill for basically everything when one of their roster players gets hurt and the player is responsible for treatment as a free agent, yeah
Payton Tolle
4:13
I've been awesome this spring. But aside from Oviedo faceplanting, there wasn't a way for me to win the 5th start job, was there?
Anthony Franco
4:15
Part of the appeal with Oviedo is that he's still got an option remaining, but I agree that it was basically his job to lose entering camp and he hasn't lost it
4:16
They clearly liked him quite a bit to make that trade. Even if they considered Garcia basically blocked, they could've used him as part of a different trade package. Not learning much on Oviedo from sending him back down
Hits Like Rays
4:17
How much pressure is the league putting on the new Rays owners to get a stadium deal (in whatever city) as soon as possible?  The league already forced Sternberg to sell, they badly want two more expansion teams, and they keep saying the lack of a Rays stadium is the only thing holding up expansion....
Anthony Franco
4:19
Manfred's been diplomatic about it publicly but they must be leaning on them behind the scenes. The Trop lease ends in three years so something has to get done soon. Still time if the Hillsborough College site progresses but if that falls through, the clock really starts ticking
Cal Dreaming
4:19
What type of year do you seeing Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor having for the Mariners?  Is Cal a lock for 40 HR?  Can his batting average stay above .250?  Is Josh's 30 SB legit?  What type of BA and HR totals can we expect?
Anthony Franco
4:21
I'll go .245 with 45 homers for Cal. Can't see Naylor coming close to 30 steals again but hey, I might've taken the under on three steals for him last year
4:22
I'd set the O/U on his average at .280. Slight step back from last year but he's good
USA Baseball
4:22
What do you make of some of the drama around the WBC this tournament? Mainly Raleigh-Arozarena and DeRosa's gaffe that almost cost the USA a chance to move on? I love the WBC so much.
TheBeatlesShow
4:22
Hey, Anthony.  Thanks.  (Thawing at all where you are?  Buffalo native.)  I heard Francisco Cervelli praised for how he's managing Team Italy.  Any chance the WBC is an audition stage...not only for players but for potential managers, too.  (I mean, I don't expect to see Mark DeRosa in the dugout anytime soon.)
Anthony Franco
4:23
It's been interesting! The whole Mariners controversy was so ridiculous that I assumed Randy was joking until Mariners PR made Raleigh address it the next day
4:26
The DeRo one, yeesh. Not that big a deal to me that he didn't know the clinching math earlier in the day when he did the actual TV spot but pretty wild that he didn't verify that before making actual decisions for the game. I do not buy the subsequent explanation that he just misspoke
4:27
To the other question, yeah I could see this being a little boost for Cervelli if he seriously pursues MLB jobs in the future. No one's hiring him based on this directly but international managerial experience is a nice thing to have on the resume
Javy
4:28
If McConigle and I both make the team who gets bounced off
Anthony Franco
4:28
Jones was so good last year that I have a tough time seeing him get bounced. Feels like it'd have to be Vierling since he still has an option
Mets Man
4:29
How worried should I be about Manaea's 89 mph fastball and general velo drop? Love the dude but that just ain't gonna cut it.
Anthony Franco
4:31
Yeah it's not good. A lot of pitchers will be down 1-2 mph in the spring, so I imagine he'll be back above 90 in meaningful games but he was already at the lower bound of where it's viable
4:33
Offspeed stuff is still good enough to miss bats but that velocity combined with the lower arm angle that shows the ball early to right-handed hitters feels like a recipe for a lot of home runs
Wbc
4:34
What team should be most afraid of an injury during the WBC? Like losing Aaron judge to injury would ruin the Yankees, imo, but losing ohtani isn't gonna hurt his team comparatively as much
Anthony Franco
4:35
Agree, I think it's Judge. D-Backs with Ketel Marte are up there
4:36
Guardians are probably most dependent on one superstar but it seems like Ramirez isn't going to play the WBC. Any kind of injury for him would probably tank them
Angels Fan
4:37
Would last-minute singings of Giolito, Cortes, Margot and Urias move the needle at all for the Angels? (Understanding that none of them would be available opening day)
Anthony Franco
4:37
Nestor had flexor surgery last October. He's out until at least the second half, might miss the entire season
4:38
Margot and Urias, nah. Giolito's better than Manoah or Kochanowicz but I can't see them going back to him after that trade blew up on them
Best off-season
4:38
Thanks for the chat today.

Which non-playoff teams from last season would you say had the 'best' off-season, regardless of whether they will be in the playoff hunt or not.
Anthony Franco
4:41
A's didn't improve a whole lot in 2026 -- still think the pitching is too rough to contend -- but I loved the Soderstrom and Wilson extensions for them (latter in particular). Mixed on the Pirates and Orioles actual moves but they were obviously aggressive at a time when they both needed to be
Taking Advantage of the WBC
4:42
With Alejandro Kirk away with team Mexico, Brandon Valenzuela has been looking pretty good in camp for the Jays.  Is there a future here for Valenzuela as a viable back up or perhaps one day more?
Anthony Franco
4:43
I think he'll be a solid backup, too many whiffs to be a #1 catcher
Brewer Fan
4:43
Saw someone make a comment (like random internet comment not a reporter) that the Brewers will for sure not promote Made this year with the 27 season in doubt. Would that actually matter? I assume players don't accrue time if games got canceled
Anthony Franco
4:44
I'd also assume that's the case and, more to the point, don't think it makes any sense to base a '26 prospect promotion on what remains an unlikely possibility that you could lose all of next year
Manny Power Trillo
4:45
is the fact that people are actually excited about the Ryan O'Hearn signing proof that O'Hearn is actually good, or a measure of how low the expectations are in Pittsburgh these days?
Anthony Franco
4:47
Not super enthused about him in left field but he's a .277/.343/.445 hitter over the past three seasons. Pretty clear upgrade to a lineup that ranked last in scoring last year
Best OS
4:47
Best off season has to be THE METS - Peralta, Biscette, Palanco, Williams, Weaver, Roberts, Kimbel. Come on!
Anthony Franco
4:49
Ha, I bucketed them with the playoff teams. Whoops! I mostly liked their offseason, yeah, though they probably also lost the most talent out of any of the non-playoff teams
Stealing Home
4:49
Who is a safer bet in Fantasy do you think?  Drake Baldwin or Francisco Alvarez?  Both are young and have huge upside but Baldwin not a long track record and Alvarez not a good one.  Talking young catchers where does Basallo fit into Orioles plans?  Part time back up or Full time DH?
Anthony Franco
4:50
Baldwin > Alvarez for me but they're both good. Basallo's primary DH and backup catcher for now, decent chance Adley gets traded next offseason and Basallo becomes the #1 guy
Best OS
4:51
But replaced the lost talent, so that's a wash. At worst they lost 10 or so HRs more Alonso would have hit
Anthony Franco
4:53
Yeah no real objection, they should be very good. I just glanced right past them in eyeballing the standings. They don't feel like a non-playoff team!
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