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Front Office Chat: 3/28/25
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Guest
3:38
Who has a better long term outlook - JJ weatherholt or Jesus Made?
Anthony Franco
3:40
Made's scouting reports seem a little more exciting but I've never seen him play so this is a better question for the prospect guys at BA, FanGraphs, etc.
3:41
They're within 10 spots on BA's top 100 and both ranked among the top 25. Clearly both incredibly talented and I'm sure you could find people who reasonably prefer either one
Hits Like Rays
3:41
Here's an easy way to promote league competitiveness while avoiding a salary cap: re-align the teams into two different leagues.  A "premier league" would have the highest-salaried 50% of teams, and a "cheapskate league" would have the lowest-salaried 50% of teams.  Each league has their own playoffs, just like today, which would allow the rich teams to beat up on each other while the poorer teams still compete.  Each league would send one team to the World Series, just like today, and fans would be guaranteed at least one under-dog team to cheer for.  This would be far fairer than what we have right now, and the "premier league" teams would keep spending insane amounts of money to beat each other in the playoffs.  How would the owners and the MLBPA respond to this idea?
Anthony Franco
3:44
Haha I think they'd hate it, especially the PA. Seems like that 11-15 range is hell for teams so you're strongly incentivizing them to dump what they can to get into the bottom half, which causes teams 16-20 and so on to also push down
Rox
3:44
Nolan Jones trade still makes little sense as Opening Day for Colorado begins in about 30 minutes. I simply don't understand trading your starting LF who's shown offensive upside in the past (albeit with his fair share of red flags) for a UTIL guy who hasn't posted a league average wRC+ in parts of 3 years at the major league level. Doesn't fill the need at 2B and now there's a new hole in LF to fill. This front office/ownership never ceases to amaze me, in a bad way.
Anthony Franco
3:46
Yeah I don't get that one. Freeman's a better athlete and provides more defensive value, but he's a pretty surefire utility piece. I'd rather take the swing on some kind of rebound from Jones even if the '23 production was probably never coming back
3:47
They soured on him super quickly
Joe
3:47
With the Yankees looking for a righty bat, does that say Stanton is out for a long time and DJ is just not to be counted on at all?
Anthony Franco
3:49
It has felt that way for a while, but yeah. They haven't been desperate enough to meet J.D. Martinez's ask, so maybe you can read that as a sign of some hope on Stanton, but the third base situation was terrible even before LeMahieu got hurt again
3:50
If Pablo Reyes is still their top right-handed bench bat in a month, that's an issue
Youkilyptus
3:50
Pretty loaded outfield for the Red Sox.  What is Roman Anthony's path to playing time?  Does he sub in for Cedone Rafaela?
Anthony Franco
3:52
Yeah if everyone stays healthy, he's eventually going to kick Rafaela to a fourth outfield role. It'd be an all left-handed outfield so they can use Rafaela against LHP to shield Anthony/Abreu
3:54
Rafaela's good enough that they'll probably need to make a trade at some point, but it's better to hold the depth for now. Anthony's no lock to hit in his first look at MLB pitching (see: Jackson Holliday) and Rafaela provides some cover for Campbell at second as well
D Hat
3:54
Who gets traded by the Tigers if we're out of contention at the trade deadline?
Anthony Franco
3:56
Putting the cart way before the horse here but it'd probably be Flaherty again, Gleyber, Cobb, etc. The rentals basically. I think they'd need to have a absolutely dreadful first half to feel like it's worth moving Skubal when they've got him for '26
Robert
3:56
What happens when David Fry comes back, assuming Manzardo keeps hitting and no injury to Santana?  Can’t see too many ABs for Fry
Anthony Franco
3:58
Doesn't really work on paper, I agree, but Fry might be down through the All-Star Break and this type of thing tends to work itself out in the interim
3:59
If Manzardo's absolutely mashing, he probably gets more first base reps and Santana becomes a part-time first baseman/modified bench bat, but that also assumes that Fry's immediately back at peak form after an extended layoff rehabbing elbow surgery
Arizona
4:00
Zac Gallen gonna be pretty cheap in free agency?
Anthony Franco
4:03
Haha I don't think so. With a typical platform year, I imagine he's shooting for Fried money. Don't think he'd get there because of the pedestrian velocity and whiffs, but I'd probably have him around 175
Jimmy Racer
4:03
How long do the Cardinals keep both Victor Scott and Michael Siani on the 26 man roster?
Anthony Franco
4:05
Feels redundant, I agree. Guessing Siani gets optioned before long. They're operating with no backup shortstop because Winn's going to play basically every day, but if he gets banged up and needs a few days off, Siani's the obvious guy to send back to Memphis
JeffyM
4:05
I know it’s just one game, but the Blue Jays looked an awful lot like last years Jays yesterday.  Cold bats, serving up homers and a bad bullpen. Is there enough there to be a playoff team?
Anthony Franco
4:07
I'd have them fourth in the East and outside the playoff mix but yesterday has nothing to do with. Just a terrible game against a good team that's easy to overreact to because it's the first one
DJ
4:07
Eguy Rosario a good fit for Houston?  If so who would he replace on the 25 man?
Anthony Franco
4:08
Not seeing it. They'd probably need to squeeze out Rodgers two days after locking in his $2MM salary
CardinalRed
4:08
Cards are paying Nado $27m, $22m, and then $15m to finish out the current contract. With his positive influence on Winn, Noot, and others, plus the additional ~$50m coming off the books after this year, is Mo still going to be Mo and try to trade him at the deadline? Nado is on pace for 162 HR...
Anthony Franco
4:09
Going to take the under on 162 homers
Yeah I think they'll try to move him at the deadline but it's not like it gets any easier to shed big contracts midseason
Dave
4:09
What do you think the White Sox are looking for in return for Robert Jr?  Would Bobby Miller and Nick Frasso work from LAD?
Anthony Franco
4:11
No, I think they're turning that down. Too much downside with Miller coming off a horrible year and Frasso's injury history
4:12
This comes back to why the White Sox held Robert all winter. If he has a great first half, they can look for an Alex Freeland or Josue De Paula type as a headliner. They're certainly not getting that right now but it's better to take that swing than settle for a couple arrow down guys
D Hat
4:12
Just looked at the standings in the AL Central Wow Chicago's in first place. Won't see that for a long time again.
Anthony Franco
4:13
Seems unlikely they're going to hang on
For Love of the Game
4:13
If the Padres DFA'd Eguy, isn't the most they could expect an Fguy?
Scott Harris
4:13
Is Eguy Rosario a better fit than an Ibanez/Mckinstry platoon at 3rd
Anthony Franco
4:15
Was not expecting this many Eguy Rosario questions haha. He's pretty similar to Ibanez, I guess, but the Tigers love Ibanez as a clubhouse guy and are paying him $1.4MM
GWA
4:15
Whose is at 3rd base for Yankees in September
Anthony Franco
4:16
Luis Rengifo? Pretty rough trade market
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