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Front Office Chat: 4/18/25
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Anthony Franco
3:00
Good afternoon! Hope you've all enjoyed your week!
Sandy Alcantara
3:01
Which teams are the favorites to line up on a trade for me, and why?
Birdfan
3:01
Elias has all the ammo he needs to fix the rotation.  Could send Basallo and McDermott to Miami for Sandy.  Could send Mayo and another prospect to Pittsburgh for Chandler.  Or do both deals. Either scenario sound feasible?
Sandy, 4th of July, Yankee Stadium
3:01
Does Ben Rice + get the Marlins attention for Alcantara?
Anthony Franco
3:04
Few questions on Alcantara, not surprisingly. Too early to identify favorites since there are any number of contenders that could use him. Baltimore, Cubs, Yankees, Mets, San Diego, maybe San Francisco all make sense. There are going to be 15+ teams looking for rotation help and he could end up as the best starter on the market
3:07
Despite the monster start, I don't think Rice has that kind of pull. He's probably not a catcher -- and Miami has Agustín Ramírez and Joe Mack as long-term options at the position -- and the overall MLB track record is pretty limited.

Can't see Miami building the Alcantara return around a 26-year-old first baseman who has mashed for a couple weeks. Maybe if Rice is still raking in July it's a different story, though he'd probably be too valuable to the Yankees to move at that point
3:10
I'd be really surprised if the O's gave up Basallo. Very rare to see prospects of that caliber traded. Alcantara's certainly valuable but he's also somewhat expensive. Making $17MM the next two seasons with a $21MM team option for '27. It's below-market but not like when the White Sox were shopping Crochet on arbitration salaries that lined up with middle reliever money
3:11
The Mayo/Chandler thing would be fun but those almost never happen because teams love their own top prospects. I'd rather keep Chandler if I were Pittsburgh
Joe J.
3:11
Will Stroman get enough innings for his option to vest?
Anthony Franco
3:12
I don't think the Yankees would have let that happen even if he were healthy. Now he's on the IL with knee inflammation and no clear timetable for a return
Shawmatt Redemption
3:12
Does Shaw have to rake at AAA to get back to Wrigley or is this just a mental break?
Anthony Franco
3:14
The latter. They pushed him a little aggressively, he struggled, so he goes back to Triple-A where he only has 35 games under his belt. This happens a lot with top prospects. Jackson Holliday was the #1 prospect in baseball and had to go back to Triple-A pretty early last season
3:16
Workman, Berti and Bruján aren't exactly a massive roadblock. Shaw could be back in a few weeks
John B
3:16
Hey Anthony, do you guys have an office pool when the Giants will make a transaction? Betting no one predicted that Wilmer Flores would steal a base before they made a move.
Anthony Franco
3:17
Ha yeah, I noticed this yesterday. Not a single transaction since Opening Day, pretty crazy. Thought it was remarkable that the Mets made it as far as they did before Siri got hurt and the Giants have beaten them by at least four days
Tigers Fan
3:18
Does maeda get cut when Cobb comes back? The rotation is in good shape and none of them deserve to be optioned.
Cat Herder
3:18
How long does Detroit keep Maeda around?  He hasn't pitched in a game this season that has been remotely close and despite some positive glimpses this Spring, it still feels like a risk just see him warming up.  Yes, they own $10M, give or take, but that roster spot has some value too, right?
Anthony Franco
3:21
Agreed. Hard for me to see him sticking around much longer. Hurter can work multiple innings out of the 'pen. Montero could do it too. Hinch understandably has no interest in using Maeda in meaningful situations, and the stuff doesn't look any sharper than it did last year
I thought they got really strong value on that one. Whoops
Nick Kurtz
3:21
What are the A's waiting for? I'm ready to get called up.
Anthony Franco
3:24
Just an opportunity, I imagine. They're not bumping Rooker or Soderstrom out of the lineup. I don't disagree that Kurtz isn't getting much out of destroying PCL pitching but there's still some swing-and-miss there that could give him some trouble in his initial look at big league pitching
3:27
To get him up, they'd need to put a well below-average defender in Rooker in left field. Bleday is playing center field by default but he's not really a center fielder. It'd be a bad defensive outfield (even worse than the one they have with Andujar and Bleday out there), and it's a tough tradeoff if Kurtz doesn't hit the ground running
Stockholm, AZ
3:28
Hey Anthony! This morning the Diamondbacks, 4th in the NL West, would have led every other division in baseball.
Anthony Franco
3:28
Rockies doing their part to make sure this isn't the best division of all time
Ron
3:29
Let's say hypothetically that Luis Robert's numbers do not significantly improve before the trade deadline, and they end up looking something like his 2024 numbers. What does his trade market look like should this come to pass?
Steve DAVIS
3:29
With the Mariners lack of solid hitting, would it be worth it to trade prospects for a hitter even someone like Louis Robert
Mike D
3:29
If you were a team like the reds and the Sox were actively shopping a struggling Robert Jr.  who would you be willing to give up for his services?
Anthony Franco
3:31
Not much. The longer this goes, the more the only real hope becomes that he's just kind of phoning it in because the team is awful, which isn't exactly an encouraging explanation either
3:34
The approach and swing-and-miss has always been a concern and the power is way down. He's in his prime from an age perspective but he's also dealt with a bunch of injuries -- including multiple significant hip issues. It'd be really unfortunate if he just peaked early but he's running out of time to demonstrate that that isn't the case
3:36
If we're trending towards him getting bought out in  lieu of the $20MM club options, then he's a relatively expensive ($15MM) expected rental CF with some power but little else offensively. That's a marginal prospect return
Sustaining
3:37
Padres, Giants, Mets, Tigers, Angels - which of them can keep it up? Which can't? Which way will the Braves go?
Anthony Franco
3:38
I'd order them Padres, Mets, Tigers, Giants, Angels. I think the Giants are probably a slightly better team than Detroit but obviously a much clearer path to a division title for the Tigers
3:39
Angels may already have hit the skid. Neto's going to be a huge upgrade over the zero production they've gotten out of shortstop, but the position player depth just isn't good enough (yet again)
Bill
3:39
Is there any plausible dream where the Braves make the playoffs? Abysmal production with runners on and 19 strikeouts.yikes! Say it ain’t so Joe!
Western skies
3:39
Hi Anthony— The 2025 Braves look just as swing-happy and non selective as last year’s version. Can anything be done with the current roster to change those inclinations?
FOOTS31014
3:40
Am I a bad person for being just before calling this a lost season for the Braves? My hope is that Snit will retire at the end of the year and Ron Washington and crew will come back to the A.
Anthony Franco
3:41
Still not ready to bury them but they're losing ground quickly, especially if you think the NL West is getting three playoff teams
3:44
Way too many strikeouts, as Western skies mentioned. The bottom part of the lineup is getting exposed again, as it did early after the Acuna injury. Swapping in Verdugo for BDLC should help a little bit, but obviously the big difference comes when Acuna pushes Kelenic out of the lineup
3:46
Don't think there's anything to be done about shortstop. Allen supplanting Arcia is a start but neither of those guys is going to hit. They should probably give Alvarez a chance once he comes back from the wrist injury, but it's definitely not ideal to be counting on a guy who has eight career games
The Willies of SF
3:46
Justin Verlander looks cooked. Are there any other examples of a star player like Verlander being moved back in the rotation to the #5 spot, or even asked to relieve (because I doubt the Giants cut him)? And what, based on past examples, is the likelihood that Verlander would accept a relief role?
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