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Front Office Chat: 3/20/26
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Anthony Franco
3:35
Cutch will make the team, yeah. I have no explanation for why Joc has fallen as hard as he has, still think he almost has to bounce back to at least slightly above-average against RHP
3:37
A hand fracture can linger for players but the bat speed and exit velocities were still at pre-injury levels so I don't think he's just cooked now. His year in Arizona was always over his head but he should be a 115-120 wRC+ bat with the platoon advantage
huh?
3:37
How do you have the yanks ahead of Jays? Grisham falls back, Volpe's hurt, GCole (TommyJohn), Schmidt (UCL), lost Weaver + Williams. Stanton's always hurt, Goldie's a year older... I don't see it. Position by position Jays have them beat everywhere but 2B, LF, RF.
Anthony Franco
3:40
They won the same amount of games last year with nothing out of Cole. I buy most of what Grisham did last season, like the Weathers pickup. Agree that the Jays are better at more positions if you just do a binary comparison but the gap between Judge/Bellinger vs. Sánchez, Barger, Lukes in the corner outfield is massive
Conrad
3:41
Heyman reporting the Pirates are offering Griffin a record extension for a player with no service time… what do you think gets it done?
Anthony Franco
3:42
Man, it's tough to predict when it obviously has to be a record because you're immediately out of precedent territory. Should be well above Chourio's $82M
3:44
I assume he's already looking to beat Roman Anthony money. Not sure the Pirates would go there when Anthony had almost 200 plate appearances as proof of concept against big league pitching, but Griffin has the clear defensive edge and it seems like the prospect expert consensus is that he's in a different tier than Anthony was as a minor leaguer
3:45
He could be a $200M player if he rakes over six weeks in the big leagues
Brewers Fan
3:46
When deciding if prospects make the OD roster, do you think they consider other prospects that are likely to make other teams? For instance, Jett Williams wont make the roster, would the fact that Weatherholt and Griffin likely will and therefore make it way harder for Jett to get any hardware remove the PPI insensitive and they'd rather mess with service time and get the extra year?
Anthony Franco
3:47
Don't know that it's as specific as seeing what happens with Griffin/Wetherholt but yeah, I think it's a factor. When you have a very good but not top-tier prospect like Jett, he's obviously a longer shot to win Rookie of the Year and earn you the PPI pick
3:49
It's more an ancillary piece of the puzzle though. If the Brewers felt like Williams was an immediate 3-4 WAR guy (which is the kind of season he'd probably need to win ROY), he'd be on the MLB roster regardless of what happens with Wetherholt or Griffin
Guest
3:49
How many draftable pitchers do the Marlins have? I’m thinking Perez and Alcantara, for sure. Is Max Meyer worth a dart?
Anthony Franco
3:49
Depends on how deep the league is obviously. Still intrigued by the pitcher with very little confidence he's going to stay healthy
3:50
Obviously Eury and Sandy are getting drafted in all but the shallowest of leagues
clarkeincuenca
3:50
What do you think of the Spring Breakout games? Shouldn’t I be more excited than I am?
Anthony Franco
3:52
I like them, will be more excited when it's a mini tournament next year but an enjoyable showcase either way
I don't care about the outcome of the Futures Game but always on board for pitting top prospects against each other
Dennis Eckersley
3:52
You can make what you will about rosters, etc.  Almost seems as if the teams with the best bullpens are the teams that win.  Yes, the Dodgers were an exception.  Starters only go 5-6 innings and don't impact the outcome of the game as much.  Scratch a few runs across and let the pens do the rest.
Anthony Franco
3:54
It's a bigger advantage in the playoffs than the regular season given the number of off days and teams' willingness to push their top arms. But yeah, there's a reason every manager now has basically an immediate hook for their starters in October
Mr KLC
3:55
Lamonte Wade a possible fit on the Astros?  Left handed bat that is cheap and walks a lot.
Anthony Franco
3:56
Makes sense on a minor league deal but he's not easy to squeeze him on the MLB roster. I'd rather have Loperfido and Smith breaking camp
3:57
Could option Cole if they're fine with Smith or Matthews as a backup center fielder
Grilled Cheese
3:57
Marcelo Mayer in the opening day lineup for Boston?
Anthony Franco
3:57
Yeah I expect him to be the starting second baseman, at least against RHP
3:58
IKF and Monasterio are utility guys
Cat_Herder
3:58
There is no way that Kevin McGonigle doesn't break camp with the big club, right?  If that happens, who spends April in scenic Toledo?  Perez, Meadows, Vierling?
Anthony Franco
4:00
Yeah he has to be up. Pretty sure I answered Vierling as the odd man out a couple weeks ago but I've come around on it being Wenceel. Meadows has had a terrible spring but I think the glove is still too good
Arthur Dent
4:00
Based on what you’ve seen so far in the spring (including WBC play) are the M’s still the favorite to take the AL West going into opening day?
Anthony Franco
4:01
Pretty comfortably have Seattle as the best team in the division on paper, yeah
Rick
4:01
Some experts say Manzardo will hit 35-40 homeruns and some say he doesn't have enough bat speed and is not a long-term starting first baseman? What do you think?
Anthony Franco
4:03
Answer's basically always "somewhere in the middle" on a questions like this but I'm pretty much at the exact midpoint between these outcomes
4:04
Feels like a league average first baseman, 25-30 homer bat whose OBP is weighed down by the strikeouts and a fly-ball approach that really depresses the batting average on balls in play
Spleefhog
4:04
While I realize that spring training stats are virtually meaningless, are there any players that seem to have put it all together this spring?
Anthony Franco
4:05
Steve and Darragh took this question in more detail on the podcast this week, so I encourage you to check that out if you haven't had a chance
4:06
Matt McLain's the big one. Absolutely destroying the ball after a bad '25 season that followed a major shoulder surgery
4:07
Reluctant to move off priors based on Spring Training stats for the reason you mentioned, but this is a clearly talented player who just looks much healthier than he has been in two years
4:08
Alright, have to wrap up here and see how things are looking on news
4:09
Sorry about the shorter than usual chat. Happy to take questions on X @affranco10 over the weekend if I didn't get to yours
4:10
Thanks as always for the continued support of the site and for hanging out every week! We'll do this again next Friday when most teams will have a regular season game in the books. It's a good time of year
Have a great weekend!
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