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Front Office Chat: 4/13/26
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Anthony Franco
3:01
Good afternoon, hope all is well!
3:02
Let's get another of these rolling
Jimmy Wynn
3:02
What, if anything, can the Astros do pitching-wise to salvage their season?
The Biggest Loser
3:02
Thank you for the chat. Early of course, but which losing streak concerns you the most? Yankees (5), Mets (5), Brewers (5) or Astros (7)
Anthony Franco
3:04
Astros most alarming just because it's paired with the all the pitching injuries. Clearest on-paper fit for Giolito at this point
3:05
It's tight with the CBT, which is the obvious hangup. But we've got them about $7M below the line right now and I have a tough time seeing him get that much at this point
3:06
Limits their flexibility for deadline trades but that doesn't matter much if the pitching in April is so bad that it tanks their season anyway
Mason Miller trade
3:06
The A’s trade of Mason Miller is not looking good.  They thought they were going to be a few years away from Contending but here they are tied for 1st Place.  Factor in Mason was making essentially Minimum Wage and I need to be walked back from the ledge ……
Anthony Franco
3:07
Leo De Vries is one of the top 5-10 prospects in MLB
3:08
Obviously the A's were aware that Miller's unbelievable. They wouldn't have done it if the Padres didn't offer them a potential franchise shortstop
Debuts
3:08
Thoughts on White Sox promoting P Noah Schultz ... is this a one off , replacing Shane Smith's spot in the rotation? Since he isnt being promoted until after the 16th day of the season and that delays his service time by a year
Anthony Franco
3:09
Don't see what the point would be in calling up your top pitching prospect, especially one who wasn't already on the 40-man, for a spot start
3:11
Might need to option him midway through the season for workload management but he should get at least a few turns through the rotation. Jonathan Cannon
Jonathan Cannon's not exactly an obstacle
Josh
3:11
More likely: best record in AL at season’s end is 95 wins or less, or the Dodgers win 105+ games
Anthony Franco
3:12
Hmm I'll say the AL one because the Dodgers tend to take their foot off the gas in the regular season to keep pitchers fresh for October
105 is plausible but I'd be closer to 100
The Doctor
3:13
If Boston is in the playoff hunt at the deadline should they move Duran to address other needs?
Anthony Franco
3:14
I'd be open to it certainly, obviously depends on what kind of offers are available. Not something they need to force to get Yoshida in the lineup though
3:15
Also have to get Anthony's arm thing sorted out if they're trusting him as an everyday LF
Ca$hman
3:16
the biggest issue in mlb is competitive balance and I think a much easier solution than cap/floor is a modified franchise player(s) tag that subsidizes a % of contracts for homegrown superstars for revenue sharing recipients and discounts some % off lux tax for payers. Everyone benefits! What say you?
Anthony Franco
3:16
Subsidized by whom?
3:17
If you're just talking about a discount to the CBT payroll for revenue sharing recipients, it doesn't matter much. Those teams almost never pay the CBT anyway, their focus is on cash payroll
3:18
If the idea is to increase revenue sharing payments and have larger-market teams pay into a fund for small-market teams to sign their own players to extensions, the bigger-market teams aren't going to be thrilled haha
Bingo Long
3:18
If Mookie Betts were to return to Dodgers tomorrow, who do you think would be removed from the 26-man roster? And after that, who goes if Tommy Edman were to return the next day?
Anthony Franco
3:19
Freeland gets optioned back out, I assume they'd DFA Espinal before sending Call down
Halos
3:19
With a weak pitching nucleus (outside of Soriano) and playing well; have they shown signs for immediate pitching additions?
Anthony Franco
3:20
It'd obviously be a deadline priority if they're in the hunt, nothing to trade for right now
3:22
The Rockies, Nationals, White Sox and Cardinals are probably the only teams that'd be content to punt on the season right now and they're not exactly overflowing with starting pitching
Lefty
3:22
I know it's early. But the Giants aren't too good and next year could be a lockout shortened season. Would it behoove them to get what they could for Ray, Webb, Ramos, Lee, Chapman and Arraez and focus on '28 when maybe the up and coming prospects will be ready? ( I'd keep Devers because power like that won't sign with SF and Adames because he's solid and the team heartbeat, whatever that means).
Anthony Franco
3:23
Not in April. You'd have a tough time convincing me to part with two and a half seasons of Webb at the deadline but no harm in listening, I guess
3:24
Ray and Arraez as July trade candidates, yes, but they're not going to get much for those players. Chapman/Lee contracts are tough to move, especially the JHL one
3:26
I think Ramos is just not very good. I'd be fine moving him now if anyone were targeting him. tough time seeing why he'd get much interest
3:27
Some pop but mediocre LF defense with approach concerns who basically hasn't hit since last May, meh
high wire coffee
3:27
How long does Walker need to keep this up to say that he's been fixed? How long for the Cardinals to seriously pursue an extension?
Anthony Franco
3:27
A lot longer than two weeks
3:29
Doubt they'd look into an extension until the second half at the earliest. As encouraging of a start as he could have and I'm optimistic based on how often he's elevating the ball right now
3:30
But no one has ever doubted the raw power. The strikeout rate and flatter swing path, which muted the in-game power impact, have been the big issues
3:32
Whiffs are still there, which is fine if he's destroying the ball like this when he hits it, but need to give pitchers time to make adjustments (throwing him more breaking stuff especially since he's been prone to chase in the past) and see if he has the ability to adapt back
RoxTalks
3:32
Thoughts on the Broncos' ownership group purchasing 40% of the Rockies? This kind of forces the Rockies ownership/front office to be more proactive about the actual team, no? I can't imagine the Broncos' owners invest ~$675 million into the Rockies and then they'd be fine with how the team operates (i.e. poorly), especially over the last decade or so. Could this be a potential precursor to the end of the Monforts' reign of terror on this team?
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