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Front Office Chat: 3/24/23
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Ryan
4:21
Does Brett Baty make the opening day roster?
Chris
4:21
Hi Anthony, Do you believe Showalter will opt for six-man rotation to start the season, allowing both Peterson and Megill to make the opening day roster for the Mets?  Also, do you think Baty will make the team?  Thank you very much.
Anthony Franco
4:23
I think Peterson gets the final rotation spot and Megill heads back to Syracuse to start the year. Baty's such a tough call but I'd lean towards Triple-A. Escobar's a safer bet as the starting third baseman and carrying Baty as a left-handed utility bat probably does him a disservice developmentally, particularly on defense
He'll be in the majors at some point obviously, but I'd be moderately surprised if it's on Opening Day
Alek
4:24
The Jays made Manoah the opening day starter. Should he have deferred to Kevin Gausman? Shouldn't they have picked KG? He's a veteran who has earned the right to lead the staff, hasn't he?
Anthony Franco
4:26
I'd have probably pegged Gausman myself but don't think it's a huge deal
GBS42
4:27
Anthony, I believe NPB SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and KBO
CF Jung-hoo Lee are the two best players from Asia likely to be posted next offseason.  Any other prominent players likely to come stateside?
Anthony Franco
4:27
Not that I know of. We usually hear more about guys in Asia as the offseason gets closer. There'll be a couple more who draw interest but Yamamoto and Lee definitely seem like the big gets next winter
Bronski Beat
4:27
What team has the best beat reporting?
Anthony Franco
4:29
Derrick Goold and Katie Woo in St. Louis is probably the best 1-2 combination out there. Seattle's is really good, Philly has a couple good reporters
4:30
Arizona and Tampa Bay are smaller beats but Nick Piecoro and Marc Topkin are both awesome
Big's io
4:30
Should the Astros enage the Jays for Biggio, Espinal, or Lopez?
Anthony Franco
4:31
No harm in checking in -- think Espinal would be a decent fit, in particular -- but it's probably hard to line up considering they're two of the top teams in the American League
Not much incentive for the Jays to help the Astros out and Houston's not going to overwhelm Toronto with an offer for any of those guys
Blue Jays at 2nd
4:31
How do you think the plate appearances break down among the 2B contenders/pretenders in Toronto? (Biggio, Merrifield, Espinal) - Are these really the names for a team with WS aspirations?
Anthony Franco
4:31
Speaking of which...
4:32
Merrifield should be the starter and yeah, I think he's a fine option towards the bottom of a lineup on a playoff team. He's a good player
O'neil Cruises
4:32
Does he become a superstar are a forever free-swinger?
Anthony Franco
4:33
I'm more in the latter camp on Cruz. Can still be a good player with strikeout rates like his but he'd need a pretty big jump to get to superstar territory
4:34
That's particularly true since I think he's ultimately going to end up in the corner outfield
Ryan
4:35
You see teams backload contracts. Why don't teams seem to frontload them more? We have seen those 10+ year contracts never seem to workout in the end. Example Seattle has an average total salary and has moves to make. With a favorable salary you go heavy at the start then leave more flexibility in the back.
Anthony Franco
4:35
I agree this should happen a lot more than it does, particularly with that new rule about a CBT hit being recalculated when a player is traded
4:36
So if you sign a player to a front loaded deal and try to trade him midway through, the luxury tax number for potential trade partners is lower than it would've been (as is the actual salary obviously)
4:37
In general it just seems like some combination of 1) backloaded deals being the standard and 2) teams wanting nearer-term payroll flexibility. That makes sense for some contenders but feels like a missed opportunity if you're not good in the short term anyways
4:38
The Nationals did really well on the Keibert Ruiz extension IMO, but I'd have liked it even more if they evenly distributed the money (even if that meant not signing Corey Dickerson or whoever)
Rickey's nightmare
4:38
Kyle Muller the A's opening-day starter? Really? What am I missing from his mediocre spring-training stats?
Anthony Franco
4:39
He's gotten hit around this spring but they just don't have many other options. It would've been one of Paul Blackburn or Drew Rucinski but they both got hurt. James Kaprielian's still building up from shoulder surgery so they might want to give him a few extra days
4:40
Shintaro Fujinami hasn't thrown a strike this spring. Ken Waldichuk has gotten blasted
La La Land
4:40
Can you talk about the Angels closing situation? Between Estevez, Herget, Tepera, etc., who's going to end up with the most saves?
Anthony Franco
4:41
I'm big on Estévez, tough spring aside. Think he gets first crack in the ninth and holds it
Cory
4:41
Which opening day pitching matchup are you most excited for to kick off the 2023 season?
Anthony Franco
4:41
Probably Nola - deGrom
Wayne
4:41
I've seen a few players suggested as the right-handed hitting platoon to Darick Hall, but most of them have poor hitting splits against left-handed pitchers.  One that doesn't (if you include on-base %) is Carlos Santana.  Might a reunion make sense if they go outside the internal pool of candidates?
Anthony Franco
4:42
Can't do that right now. Santana just signed with Pittsburgh this winter, can't be traded until June without his consent
4:43
And even if he gave it, Pittsburgh's not going to trade away a guy they just guaranteed almost $7MM before he plays a game
MikeD
4:43
I know Yankee fans want to move onward to the Volpe/Peraza movement, but isn't it also a bit shortsighted to demand the Yankees cut Donaldson to open a spot. Don't they owe it to themselves to make sure there's nothing left in the tank?
Anthony Franco
4:44
Yeah cutting Donaldson would be a reactionary move. The trade was bad and they wish they weren't paying him $27MM. He's also still a viable major league third baseman because of his defense and power. Both things can be true
TCBASICS
4:45
Thanks for taking questions !!!! As We get closer to Opening Day. - a few questions that Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone need to make. 1. who is the Starting SS on Opening Day? 2. What is the Outfield alignment? Health Issues will determine the Outfield. Who do you say fills these rolls? Do you think they will put Giancarlo in right field @ home and LF ..say @ Fenway and Houston?
Anthony Franco
4:46
I would still guess Peraza gets the job, even with mounting chatter that Volpe's getting real consideration. Just feels like the safer play based on the Triple-A experience and defensive reputation
4:47
Outfield has Hicks and Judge regularly with Stanton rotating in the corners sometimes along with Cabrera and probably IKF
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