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Front Office Chat: 3/24/23
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Anthony Franco
3:58
Hey everyone, hope you're all having a good week!
3:59
I'm also on shift coverage right now so I have to hold this one exactly to an hour. Decent amount of questions today so I apologize in advance if I don't get to yours this week
4:00
Going to move quickly, let's get started
TBJ
4:00
is THIS the real Yusei Kikuchi???
Anthony Franco
4:00
I don't buy it, no. Think the real Kikuchi is the one who has pitched in MLB for four years now
Tony Larussa's hair
4:00
Otto Lopez should be in the majors, shouldn't he?
Anthony Franco
4:01
Still has an option left. I imagine he'll be up and down throughout the year in a depth capacity
4:02
I've never viewed him as a likely regular. Not someone I think they have to find a way into the lineup but he could be a decent bench piece given the athleticism and contact skills
Vegas Lee
4:02
will the LA Angels be a contender this season.......
Anthony Franco
4:02
Right on the Wild Card border for me, yeah
Eddie
4:02
I am surprised at the lack of love that Oakland SP Luis Morales gets in Dynasty lists.  He seems to be a legitimate front of the rotation started with a great array of pitches...and a killer fastball.  He went high in the international draft as well and is 22.  Has he fallen from grace?
Anthony Franco
4:04
Couldn't tell you anything about him but Baseball America has him 29th in a not very good Oakland farm system
4:05
Their write-up is pretty typical for an interesting 20-year-old pitcher who has no minor league experience. Throws hard, good breaking ball, solid athlete. Questions about his third pitch and obvious extreme risk with any pitcher who's four years away from the majors. Seems like an interesting lottery ticket but there are a few guys in every farm system with a profile pretty much like this. Most of them don't pan out
Astros fan
4:06
Should the Astros bring Chad Pinder in for evaluation? Looks like he would be a big offensive upgrade to Dubon.
Anthony Franco
4:07
I'd rather have Hensley and Dubón. I agree Pinder's a better hitter than Dubón -- although a wouldn't call him a big upgrade really -- but he's not the caliber of defender Dubón is
Bringing in Pinder means they probably lose Dubón on waivers, and I'd rather have the defense and athleticism he brings
World Series Perdiction
4:07
Brewers over Seattle in six games
World Series Prediction
4:07
I spelled prediction wrong
Anthony Franco
4:08
Noted!
It's bold but not completely crazy. I get the appeal with both teams
Dodger Dave
4:08
How would you rank the Dodger’s 4 pitching prospects (Stone, Miller, Pepiot, Grove) from least to most likely to be deals? I have it least to most
Anthony Franco
4:09
I wouldn't say any of them are likely to be traded necessarily. Guess I'd order it Pepiot, Grove, Stone, Miller from most to least
Hard for me to see them parting with the latter two, in particular. Could see a situation where Pepiot's just ok this year and gets packaged to a non-contender for a more stable short-term rotation upgrade
Jason
4:10
What do you think a hypothetical Ohtani package would look like at the deadline
Anthony Franco
4:11
Biggest rental trade return in a while but way less than what SD gave up for Soto. Think it'd be three to four guys, one of whom is a top 30 prospect and two of whom are kind of borderline 100 types
I guess a slightly lesser version of what the Nats got for Trea/Scherzer
john
4:12
What are your expectations for Masataka Yoshida this season?
Anthony Franco
4:13
All the projections love him. His plate discipline numbers in Japan were off the charts. I think he's like a .285/.375/.415 type. 10-15 homers, a bunch of doubles
4:14
Sort of like late-career Michael Brantley, I guess? Hopefully with better health obviously
Perry Minasian
4:14
What is Patrick Sandoval's ceiling as a pitcher? And if you haven't seen him and Ohtani on twitter, it's great.
Anthony Franco
4:14
I haven't seen the video you're referring to. I'll have to check it out later
4:15
Sandoval's really good. #2/3 starter for me
Dewey
4:15
Any prediction on where Noah Song ends up this year?
Anthony Franco
4:15
Hard for me to see a win-now Philadelphia team carrying him in the MLB bullpen when he's healthy, which they'd need to do as a Rule 5 pick. I hope he sticks but my guess is he ends up being offered back to Boston at some point
Rick
4:15
Some good reviews on Keller this spring. Do you think he has actually turned a corner?
Anthony Franco
4:16
The spring numbers are huge but we've done this before with Keller. I have to see it in a real game before I buy back in
4:17
I don't think he's a bad pitcher or anything but I'm no longer betting on him to take the jump to upper mid-rotation starter. Just hasn't found a way to handle left-handed hitters consistently enough
Ricky
4:18
I feel like the potential rise of stolen bases isn't getting enough attention from analysts AND GMs. Shouldn't bag swipers be an important part of roster construction?
Anthony Franco
4:19
I just think it's too hard to project how the rule change will have an effect. Everyone agree stolen bases are going up, sure. But to what extent? And more importantly, which players will see that benefit the most? Is it the Trea Turner style burner who just becomes impossible to throw out? Or is the guys who have slightly above-average speed who wouldn't have run much before but can go from 8-10 steals to 20-25?
4:20
I'd guess it's the latter but we can't really now until we see it in the regular season. I think most teams are just waiting a year out to gather data before they start markedly changing their evaluations of players
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