Front Office Chat: 5/1/26
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Joseph
4:33
If CJ Abrams continues to do what he's doing up until this years trade deadline, could you create what you think might be a fair and realistic trade for him?
Anthony Franco
4:34
Top 40 overall prospect as a headliner with at least one more back-end Top 100 type and a couple mid-level guys. Better than they got for Gore
4:36
Abrams should be a 2B on a contender but clearly a dynamic offensive talent. Past couple second halves haven't been good but I doubt that'll hold teams back much if he's carrying a 130-140 wRC+ at the deadline
If he's still hitting .296/.405/.556 on August 3, then they're probably getting a top 20 overall prospect for him. I doubt he maintains this kind of power for four months though
ABS challenge
4:37
How much does the current iteration give an advantage to players with good strike-zone recognition?  Seems like the Juan Soto types ought to use them all the time, while, say Ozzie Albies... .
Anthony Franco
4:38
A little but not an immense amount. Even the Soto types who have immaculate pitch recognition aren't going to want to challenge balls 0.2 inches off the plate in low-leverage situations. The risk-reward just isn't worth it
4:40
It has shrunk the strike zone overall though. The league walk rate is up from 8.4% last season to 9.6% this year. Hitters are swinging a little bit less in aggregate
4:42
It's probably a bigger deal for pitchers because there's less margin for error if you're struggling to throw strikes. Umpires have tended to be very favorable to pitchers on 3-0 counts, in particular -- there were a lot of times where you'd get a strike call on a ball a full inch or two off the plate but the hitters wouldn't really complain because they're still in a favorable count -- and that's one that be easily overturned now
Bloomer
4:42
im here late Anthony. Cards look good but what about the pitching ?
Anthony Franco
4:43
Yeah still not buying them as a legitimate contender with that rotation. Encouraging start and this lineup's good enough that they're not going to bottom out like a true rebuilder
4:44
They just need more swing-and-miss arms organizationally, which they're aware of. It's not a coincidence that so many of their trade returns have been pitchers with more velocity and better minor league K-rates than the guys they graduated in the early part of the decade. Takes time though
Joe from Milwaukee
4:45
At this point, is Brandon Woodruff going to end up being like late career Jered Weaver? Meaning he can still technically pitch but has such diminished stuff that every outing is a struggle. Watching him fire in 85mph 4 seamers was quite disheartening.
Anthony Franco
4:46
Well 85 mph is non-viable but he was at 93 literally one start earlier
4:47
Seems like they don't even have a clue what happened yesterday. They had to IL him, which they did this afternoon, but he has more or less said that he's not hurt and no one knows why he couldn't find the extra gear. We'll see what he looks like once he comes back
walterj23
4:47
Trying to think of good starting pitchers for the Cubs to pursue  at the deadline , would the Rangers make Degrom available  at the deadline ?
Anthony Franco
4:48
I don't see it
Gavin
4:48
Is Ethan Salas a top 10 overall prospect if he hits anything close to this?
Anthony Franco
4:50
Guessing scouts are still skeptical about the offense between his strikeout and ground-ball numbers but that's a better question for Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs or the writers at Baseball America. They're much more plugged in on scouting feedback than we are
4:51
He's a 20-year-old elite defensive catcher at Double-A, but top 10 overall feels rich given how poorly he hit in '24 and the injury questions last year
Jordan
4:52
Ozzie Albies has had a really good start so far but do you think it'll continue?  His Statcast is pretty blue but after a few down seasons it's nice to see him rolling like this.
Anthony Franco
4:54
Not buying the 30+ homer pace again but 20-25 and an average in the .260 range, sure. Better player than last year's numbers would indicate definitely
4:55
He hit .272/.330/.439 in the second half last season. Feels like a reasonable enough baseline
Red Sox
4:55
Does Tracy last the year?
Anthony Franco
4:55
As the interim? I don't see why not
Guest
4:55
Could George Steinbrenner have had a worse off-season than David Stearns? Is Carlos Mendoza still the manager because Stearns knows it's his own fault?
Anthony Franco
4:58
I still can't believe they're this bad -- more optimistic on them than Tim seemed to be in his mailbag this week -- but they're probably playing for a Wild Card spot and I have a tough time seeing the last NL team get in with 83 wins again
4:59
Alright approaching two hours so I'm going to wrap this one up
5:00
Thanks as always for all the questions and for your continued support! Happy to take questions on X @affranco10 if I didn't get to yours here
We'll do this again next Friday. Have a great weekend!
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