JotCast | Front Office Chat: 4/12/24

Front Office Chat: 4/12/24

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4:21

So here were are again, the Jays can't hit with runners in scoring position. Seems like a problem we knew about going into the offseason. I'm really losing my patience and it's still April. We have Biggio watching 3 strike again and again meanwhile Davis Schneider is watching from the bench. Either John Schneider or Ross Atkins has to go but as an outsider I'm not sure who's making these decisions.

YYZ

4:21

Is Ernie Clement the Jays' starting 2nd or 3rd baseman by the all star break?

Anthony Franco

4:23

Hitting with RISP tends to even itself out over time. I'm not a huge Biggio fan in general and I can see how he'd be frustrating to watch because the approach is so passive, but I'd also have him in the lineup when he's off to a .294/.400/.441 start

4:24

Kind of a similar story with IKF, I guess, but I think Davis Schneider's going to outhit him over time. So I'm sympathetic to that one, but I wouldn't have signed IKF in the first place

Clement's a utility guy for me, wouldn't expect much offensive impact

4:25

" I'm not a huge Biggio fan in general and I can see how he'd be frustrating to watch because the approach is so passive, but I'd also have him in the lineup when he's off to a .294/.400/.441 start"... Perfect time to trade him :-)

Anthony Franco

4:25

Ha, doesn't mean I'd be on the phone with Atkins asking about his availability

Dave

4:25

Marlins Dodgers trade proposal Luzardo/Scott for Cartaya/Stone/Graterol/Vargas

Anthony Franco

4:26

This would've been a really interesting package for Miami 12 months ago, but none of those guys have the value to headline a Luzardo package at this point

4:28

I'm still kind of holding out hope for Vargas and Stone, but the reason you'd be fine giving them all up is why the Marlins wouldn't do this. They're all down arrow from where they'd been a year or two ago

4:30

Outside of Graterol, I guess, but he's on the 60-day IL with a sore shoulder. Three arbitration seasons of a ground-ball reliever -- even a very good one -- isn't the moving needle a ton if the Marlins are trading 2.5 seasons of their best currently healthy starter

Frank

4:31

The injury situation in Boston’s infield (no Trevor Story, no definite SS or 2B), may lead Sox management to go with Rafaela as mainly a he every day SS or 2B. With Devers experiencing shoulder issues, it becomes even more important to have a everyday player present on that side of the diamond.

Anthony Franco

4:32

They seem to really want to keep Rafaela in center. Understandable since scouting reports are putting like a 70 on the defense out there, but I tend to agree that they're pretty much backed into a corner at this point

4:33

David Hamilton and Pablo Reyes at shortstop isn't an answer. I thought they'd give Grissom a shot there after Story went down, but the team downplayed that as a long-term solution and said they prefer him at second

Not sure what the alternative is to playing Rafaela there fairly frequently

mlbfan

4:34

Should I worry about torkelson? He has yet to homer this season

Anthony Franco

4:35

Not worried about it yet. It's 11 games and it's tough to hit for power early in the season

4:36

Not an ideal start obviously, but he should come along. He was pretty bad early in 2023 as well but mostly found his stride in May

TheBeatlesShow

4:36

Hey, Anthony. Welcome back. Hope you enjoyed your time away. You were missed. I know it's early, but any teams you think might lose 110 games (or more this year). (And what do you think will be the worst won-lost record we'll see this year.?)

Anthony Franco

4:37

Thanks! It was a good time, went to Florence for a week to visit my sister who's doing a study abroad program there. First trip to Europe and it didn't disappoint

4:38

110 is just so many losses. I don't think we'll see anyone get there. I'd take the over on 105 for the Rockies though

4:39

Maybe the White Sox as well

Official Gary Gaetti Fan Club

4:39

Is Nolan Arenado finished? I fear he's finished.

Anthony Franco

4:40

Seems like he's finished as an MVP finalist level of player. I still think he's an above-average, borderline All-Star type

4:42

Terrible start but nothing that's overly concerning to me. He's been pull-heavy, hitting a lot of weak grounders. He says he's fine physically and it's mostly a timing issue. I buy that it's just a slump

Arise, Sir Loin of Beef

4:42

How many of the Mets starting pitching prospects will we see by August 1st?

Anthony Franco

4:44

Christian Scott could get there at any time. Wouldn't be surprising if we see Vasil before then, although probably more for a spot start or two as opposed to holding down a permanent rotation spot

I think it's too early for Tidwell

Bravenewworld

4:44

With their high payroll does Atlanta have many option should Strider need TJ? Fried sure not looking like a star either.

Anthony Franco

4:46

Touched on this a bit in the first or second question, but it's moderately concerning. I'd be more worried if I weren't so confident that they'll basically be able to outhit whatever questions they have at the back of the rotation

4:47

Fried should be fine, but López is going to run into some issues throughout the year and Morton's control comes and goes. Sale's durability is always up in the air

4:48

I do think they'll get to a point where they're relying on one of Smith-Shawver or Waldrep to start some important games during the summer. It's also the area of the roster they're most likely to need to address at the deadline, particularly if Strider is ultimately shut down for the year

Northwest BB Fan

4:49

Can you make sense of what the Mariners are doing? It just seems like constant roster churn. They were a serious contender in 2022, but things seemed to have slipped since then.

Anthony Franco

4:50

Ryan Divish has written about how the front office expected payroll to continue to grow and ownership pumped the brakes on it going into last winter because of their TV deal

4:51

So I think some of the roster churn -- which I'd agree with -- is because they were hamstrung more than they expected to be. That's also just generally how Dipoto prefers to build a team, overhauling half the roster through trade

4:52

I still expect they'll be competitive because of the pitching. Mitch Garver will get going eventually, which will help

4:55

But I can't mount a passionate defense of the bottom third of the lineup. It's not great, and while I thought they were right to move on from Suárez and understand why they came up on Kelenic, third base and the corner outfield are still issues

AL West

4:55

Will the Mariners finish higher than the Astros? Did the 'stros just get really old really fast?

Hunter Brown

4:55

Yikes…is it possible that I don’t come back from this?

Anthony Franco

4:56

Man, I don't want to overreact on Houston but they've pretty clearly had the most disappointing start for me

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