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Front Office Chat: 5/16/25
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Bradke Hrbek
4:20
In the 12 full, 162-game seasons since the postseason expanded to allow at least 5 times from each league to qualify, only 2 out of 126 teams who earned a spot had a negative run differential for the season (2023 Marlins & D-backs). Currently, Cleveland is the only team in line for a 2025 postseason berth with a negative run differential. What are you seeing from the Guardians that would let them become the 3rd team to buck the odds and earn a spot while being outscored, or else turn things around in the last 3/4 of the season to wind up with more runs scored than allowed?
Anthony Franco
4:21
That's only happened twice huh? I would've guessed it happened more frequently than that with teams getting by on variance in one-run games
4:25
I do think Cleveland's a better than average team in close games because of the bullpen, but my confidence in them as a playoff team is that I think they're just better than a true talent -14 run differential.

They've gotten nothing out of David Fry or Shane Bieber yet. Lane Thomas will be back from his own month-long injury and is a better player than he's shown for most of his time in Cleveland. Carlos Santana should be better than he has been so far
4:27
The rotation is the weak point but they've been 20th in ERA and 25th in strikeout/walk rate differential so far and I think there's more talent -- Bibee and Williams especially -- than is reflected in those numbers
4:28
So while they probably shouldn't be 25-18 based on how they've played so far, I think they'll be better than this moving forward and they're in a good spot in the standings despite playing at less than full potential
HMM
4:28
AT THE VERY LEAST, It looks bad when a player is injured on the field and gets DFA while he is still injured.I'm talking about the white Sox DFA of Brandon Drury. If another team picks him up do they have to pay the medical bills or the white Sox?
Anthony Franco
4:30
Drury was on a minor league deal, so they didn't need to DFA him. I'm not sure the specifics on his injury behind Sergio Santos alluding to it being a wrist thing. It's possible he'll be back in a few weeks anyways
4:33
I don't know the specifics on what happens with a player who gets released while on a minor league deal. The loophole you usually see is when a player is on the 40-man, gets hurt in a minor league game, and gets released to open the 40-man spot. That's done so the team doesn't have to pay a full major league salary, which they would otherwise need to do to put the player on the MLB injured list and take him off the roster
Next Gen Natitude
4:33
The "Battle of the Beltways" is really depressing all around this season, with the Nats coming in on a 1-8 run and the O's somehow with a worse overall record coming in on a 2-9 stretch. Of the two teams, which team are you more optimistic for going forward/
Anthony Franco
4:34
This season? Neither. Still lean towards the Orioles beyond that but I feel ok about the long-term outlook for both
Alright, I have to wrap things up here. Thanks as always for all the questions, sorry if I didn't get to yours
4:35
Feel free to throw it at me on X @affranco10 and I'll get back to you on there over the weekend
4:36
Thanks as always for continuing to support the site and participating in the chats every week! Steve will be back on Monday and I'll do this again next Friday
Have a great weekend!
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