Front Office Chat: 5/1/26
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Anthony Franco
3:01
Good afternoon, hope all is well!
3:02
Looking forward to another of these, let's get it rolling
Goofy
3:03
What should Dana Brown do at this point? Who should he try to extend? Would love to make Yordan an Astro for life.
Anthony Franco
3:05
Yordan's already signed through 2028 (age 31) at $26MM annually. Incredible hitter but will probably be a full-time DH at that point given the health history. Wouldn't be eager to commit Alonso/Schwarber money on top of that right now
3:07
I doubt they'd kick off a rebuild this summer or next offseason but it's an aging roster and if they're not very good again at the '27 deadline, might be time to think about it with a year and a half of club control over Alvarez and Brown
3:08
Short term there's not much to be done. It's just not a very good team right now given all the injuries and the general lack of depth. Have to hope they play well enough to stay within 5-6 games of a playoff spot once they get healthier
M's Fan
3:09
What is Randy Arozerena worth this offseason? I'd love for the M's to give him the QO, but historically I've felt they're really conservative with QO decisions.
Anthony Franco
3:11
Yeah I think he'll get the QO, though to your point, I also assumed that for Teoscar. Kind of a weird start for Randy because the bat speed's way down and the contact quality is pretty bad but the production is way up thanks to a dip in strikeouts
3:12
Not really sure what to do with that. He feels a little less explosive, which isn't a great sign at 31, but it's tough to ding him too much when he's hitting .289/.381/.439
3:13
If he keeps something like that up all year, I think he'd turn down the QO and get three years and something in the $60-70M range. I'd be hesitant to go beyond two personally but would happily have him back if he accepts the QO
Franco's Fans
3:14
I keep seeing people referring to Sal Stewart as being a RoY favorite in the NL, but to my eyes JJ Wetherholt is exceeding the already high expectations set on him. Kid seems like he is going to be really special for the Cardinals.
Anthony Franco
3:15
Yeah they both look great. The idea of a clear-cut favorite 20% of the way through the season doesn't make much sense to me. The margins are super slim, especially for that particular award
3:16
Would rather have Wetherholt long-term given the defensive value but more faith in Stewart to be an all-around masher in year one
Arizona
3:17
What’s the worry meter read right now? They piled wins against the worst teams in MLB throughout April but there isn’t a starting caliber pitcher on the roster on May first!
Anthony Franco
3:19
They've gotten shelled the last couple times through but I don't think Kelly, Gallen, Nelson, E-Rod, Soroka is a disaster of a rotation. Below-average but workable, have more faith in that than in the bullpen
3:20
Broadly speaking, I thought it was a fine April. Their early season is mostly about not getting buried while they wait on Burnes, Martinez and Puk. Never thought this was a great team necessarily, but hanging around .500 seems about right
Duffy
3:20
What should the Red Sox do about Bello? This year has been…yikes
Anthony Franco
3:22
Yeah he has to go down once Gray and Crochet come back. Wouldn't need to see much from Bennett to convince me that he's better than Bello right now, and there's no real case for Bello above Early and Tolle
3:25
Longer term, I don't know. He's throwing the sinker a lot this year, which isn't great because it's always been a hittable pitch (albeit generally on the ground). Now the secondaries are getting pummeled too but I have a little more faith in the cutter/changeup being viable moving forward
3:27
He's actually missing bats at a career-high rate but he's getting fewer chases and throwing fewer first-pitch strikes. Falling behind early in counts and needing to challenge with a mediocre fastball, not ideal
Idiotic Failson
3:27
Is there a better rotation than the Yankees when they get Rodon and Cole back? Warren is arguably their 5th starter in that case, and it seems he'd be a top 2 option for like half the league.
Anthony Franco
3:28
Yeah I think that's the best on-paper 1-5. Could make arguments for the Dodgers or Rangers too, but I'd take the Yankees
3:29
That's conditional on Cole and Rodón looking like themselves coming back from significant injuries, though even the current version with Weathers is among the best in MLB
Basically just needed to push Gil out of there
Guarded Indian
3:30
Bo Naylor is making Austin Hedges look like Carlton Fisk.  Who is a realistic target for trade to get some production from that position?  They can't keep trotting Naylor out there to lose games for us and Hedges (as much fun as he is) cannot maintain the pace he is on.
Anthony Franco
3:31
Braves might need to squeeze Jonah Heim out once Sean Murphy comes back from the injured list next week. That's probably the best bet in the short term
3:32
Ryan Jeffers pretty clearly looks like the top impending FA catcher and, despite the Twins trying to argue otherwise, highly doubt they'll be competitive by the end of July. He should get moved. Cardinals could deal Pedro Pages at some point
3:34
We'll see what happens with the Brewers and Orioles. William Contreras and Adley Rutschman are less than two years from free agency. Neither of those teams is going to trade them anytime soon but if they're 5+ back at the deadline, that becomes an interesting call
Brewer Fan
3:35
Who gets sent down for Chourio and Vaughn? Greg Jones will be one. Think Black has done enough to keep his spot?
Anthony Franco
3:35
I'd rather have Tyler Black up than Blake Perkins
summer of 4-3
3:36
What veteran MLB players end up getting released by the Mets during this season because they have no trade value?
Anthony Franco
3:39
Well the big problem is that aside from David Peterson, basically all of their biggest underperforming players are signed beyond this year. Are they releasing Sean Manaea when he's signed for $25M next season? Luke Weaver a couple months into a two-year deal? Doubtful. Definitely can't see it for Marcus Semien or Devin Williams
3:41
Peterson has enough of a track record that I think someone would take him for a throwaway return at the deadline. Guess I could them getting to a point where they pull the plug on one of Manaea or Kodai Senga but probably not until late in the season
Beyond that, it's the Craig Kimbrel, Tyrone Taylor or Austin Slater types
Bradke Hrbek
3:42
Does Wallner need to go across the river to St Paul to get himself on track? (Can he get himself on track?) Hard to justify giving him PAs over Larnach and Martin rn...
Anthony Franco
3:43
Probably. I think he'd just beat the hell out of Triple-A pitching and you wouldn't learn much but maybe that at least gets some confidence back?
3:45
The strikeouts are always going to be a thing but the grounders are way up this year. His whole profile is built on pulling the ball in the air
3:47
Bat speed is still there, approach has backed up a little bit. Few more chases, not swinging as often at pitches over the heart of the plate. Seems reasonably fixable to me but yeah, probably needs a couple weeks of hitting in St. Paul to get it back on track
John B
3:47
At what point do the Giants live with Eldridge's strikeouts to get his bat in the lineup? And at that point do they trade Schmidt for pitching or hold on to him as insurance knowing that Arraez is likely gone after this year?
Anthony Franco
3:49
I'm still skeptical about Schmitt's approach long term but he's one of the few guys who's actually hitting and the Eldridge strikeout rate is high enough that I'm not convinced he'd be an upgrade to the lineup right now
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