Front Office Chat: 5/1/26
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Anthony Franco
3:50
Not much to be done about Devers. He just needs to hit. Outfield still my bigger concern about the lineup, though they've been a little better lately
3:51
Schmitt's an ok but unexceptional trade chip. They could probably get bullpen help for him but he's not a major piece for a high-end starter and they already have a bunch of back-end rotation types
3:52
I guess that's not entirely fair. Roupp's legitimately very good
But they just signed Mahle and Houser, still have Tidwell/Whisenhunt/McDonald kicking around AAA. Schmitt probably pulls someone in that tier
Harold Holmes
3:53
Two MLB teams that are doing poorly fired their manager in April. But some of that has to be on the performance of the players, so why aren't there also more player trades early in the season?
Anthony Franco
3:54
If the player's underperforming, he's going to be a tough sell to other teams. And aside from a handful of teams (most of which have already stripped the roster down), other clubs are going to be reluctant to trade good players this early in the season
3:55
Manager changes are mostly symbolic in my opinion but it's a much easier to lever to pull because you don't need a second team to cooperate
Dirt
3:55
Thanks for the chat. Who do you think are the likely Braves position players to be moved once Murphy and Kim come back? Farmer, Heim, both? Sounds like the pitching logjam (and ineffectiveness) was resolved with Suarez and Payamps being waived.
Anthony Franco
3:57
Farmer and Heim, yeah. White's not really performing but he's playing a lot as a RHH fourth OF/speed guy, which they wouldn't really have on the bench unless they tried putting Mateo out there
3:58
Kim's return means more LF for Dubón. Maybe a little bit of center but he's pretty slow so semi-regular CF duty is kind of a stretch, especially since Dubón's biggest asset is his glove at multiple other positions
3:59
I think they'll lose Heim, slow start notwithstanding. Farmer signed a split contract which already kind of bakes in that this is probably going to be a short-term stint on the MLB roster. Between that and his ties to the area, I assume he'd accept a minor league assignment
Raise the Cone
4:00
Four in a row we lost do we make a change in the lineup. Ozuna is just not the guy we thought we were gonna get. Thoughts?
Anthony Franco
4:01
Ugly week. Cardinals are pretty good for a retooling team but a four-game sweep to them is rough
4:03
Ozuna signing never made sense to me. Felt like overkill after Lowe/O'Hearn, couldn't believe they gave him $12M
4:04
Don't really see the argument for him being Horwitz in the batting order but that's pretty small. He holds no value to them on the bench so I get why they're leaving him in there for now. It's a better defensive team with O'Hearn at DH and Mangum in the outfield but I don't like Mangum as an everyday player either
4:05
Would probably flip the Joey Bart/Henry Davis playing time but neither of them are hitting (nor is Endy Rodríguez in Triple-A) so it is what it is
Cat_Herder
4:06
Thougths on De Jesus and Jung coming to MoTown?  Detroit's depth suddenly looks shaky, especially if Flarehty continues to struggle.
Anthony Franco
4:07
De Jesus is a fill-in reliever. He or Hanifee will go back down once they need a fifth starter
4:09
Unfortunate injury for Javy. He's obviously a very flawed player but the defense between SS and CF is pretty valuable for them given their roster construction, especially with Parker Meadows and Zach McKinstry also down. Silver lining that it seems like it's not quite as bad as it looked but they're thin on organizational SS depth below McGonigle
Fanthony Aranco
4:09
Ivan Herrera has looked pretty okay behind the plate this year, but is still on the shorter end of the catching tandem, do you think that is just trying to keep him healthy?
Anthony Franco
4:10
No I think they just view him as a bad defensive player but it doesn't matter because he rakes
Foley
4:11
I know the Reds are playing well but how can Marte not be playing everyday? He is torching the minors and he is clearly a better hitter than most of the lineup
Anthony Franco
4:13
Don't care much about the Triple-A numbers. Rece Hinds was also obliterating minor league pitching and as soon as he got back up, confirmed that he still can't make contact. Triple-A pitching is really bad
4:14
But to your broader point, haven't understood their handling of Noelvi Marte. I'd rather have him up over Hinds or Will Benson
Red Wright Hand
4:14
AJ Ewing looking real good in the minors. What's the possibility of him coming up this year?
Anthony Franco
4:14
I'd be surprised if he's not
RoxTalks
4:14
One of the moderators in a chat recently brought up the idea of the Rockies trading Dollander at the deadline. I love and hate that idea. He’s probably one of the best pitchers the Rockies have ever had in terms of pure talent, so he’d be extremely hard to give up. But what would the return have to be to make it worth it for one of the worst farms in baseball?
Anthony Franco
4:19
Man, there's basically no way I'm doing this. Six years of control over the most talented homegrown pitcher they've had in at least a decade. If the Brewers called up and offered Jesús Made (they would not), then alright, they have my attention. But swapping him for a couple prospects in the 40-75 range on a Top 100 list, nah
Brewers Fan
4:19
Oh God don't say AAA pitching is bad Pratt can't hit it haha
Anthony Franco
4:21
Ha, Pratt's 21 and he's still walking more than he's striking out in his first crack at it. Much different spot than a 24-year-old Marte destroying the level in his fourth partial season there
Knowitalllad
4:21
How long do the Pirates continue to play Davis/Bart? They have a small upgrade in Rodriguez if he can stay healthy for more than 10 minutes. I really want to like Davis but if Skenes wasn’t here neither would Henry be
Anthony Franco
4:23
I'm out on Endy too but yeah, long past the point of holding out hope for Davis to work. Rafael Flores is the most interesting of their 40-man catchers to me but not ready yet. Regrettably feels like they're going to need to go outside the org for this, which isn't great when they used the first overall pick on one
Ludwig’s Dinger
4:24
Braves question: do they have any valid options if Riley doesn’t pull out of the funk?
The Life Of Riley
4:24
What the heck is gong  on with Austin Riley?What can Atlanta do?
Anthony Franco
4:27
Still think he'll be fine. I get that he's probably a frustrating player to watch because the 2021-23 version probably isn't coming back and it didn't hit at the usual time for age-related decline. The contract doesn't look good, but the first half version of Riley last year (.274/.324/.441) was a fine everyday 3B
4:29
I don't think they have anyone better. Could move Kim between SS and 3B once he's back on days they use Dubón at short (or play Dubón at 3B, I guess) but still feel the best version of the Braves' lineup has Riley in it
Fortunate that most of the rest of the offense is going so well that they haven't really felt his slow start (or a month of Acuña being just ok)
Safeco Field
4:29
Put on your psychic thinking hat: Will Cole Young make the All Star team this year?
Anthony Franco
4:31
Gleyber Torres was the AL starter at second last year and Daniel Schneeman's #1 there in fWAR so far this season. Young might be in the starting lineup haha
4:32
No shade at him, he's good. Just pointing out that position isn't exactly a gauntlet
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