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Front Office Chat: 5/2/25
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Anthony Franco
3:01
Hey all, hope you've enjoyed your week!
Looking forward to another of these, let's get rolling
Tony
3:02
Greetings, The Cards wanted to reset but ran into tradeability issues. Still early but one of their goals was to see what they had in Walker and Gorman. Any idea how they feel about it this far into the season? (It is still early but we are moving past the SSS).
Anthony Franco
3:04
Yeah it's not super encouraging. Cards would probably disagree that we're moving beyond SSS this year but the strikeouts remain problematic for both players. Walker's elevating the ball a little bit more, if you want to squint for positives, but that doesn't mean much if he's whiffing on a third of his swings
3:07
Gorman's going to be 25. Mozeliak publicly expressed frustration with his production when they optioned him last year. Saggese is going to warrant a real MLB look at some point. Clock's really ticking on Gorman. Walker's only about to turn 23 so they'll probably give him a full season but these guys have to play better if they want to keep getting opportunities
BlueJaysFan
3:07
Baseball is a lot more fun when you hit home runs! Over/Under 74.5 home runs combined for Vladdy/Santander/Bichette for the year?
Anthony Franco
3:09
They've got eight so far so they'd need 67 combined the rest of the way. Feels like Bichette's looking at 8-10 optimistically, so I'll take the under
3:10
I think Vlad holds up his end and gets to 30 but I wouldn't take Santander to make up the difference needed with Bichette not really hitting for power
Tigers Fan
3:10
Does Manuel Margot have a job when he is reinstated from the injured list or do the tigers just dfa him since vierling will be back soon?
Anthony Franco
3:11
They've had so many outfield injuries that I assume they'll keep Margot around as insurance while optioning Malloy (and maybe Keith eventually)
Sean M.
3:11
What do you think the chances are the Marlins will just hold Sandy Alcantara into next season? They're tens of millions below what they theoretically need to spend to avoid MLB trouble, so money shouldn't be an issue. Plus it might take him that long to regain control and look like an above average pitcher again. Between that and fan good will, seems like a no brainer to me, but that's never stopped Miami in the past.
Anthony Franco
3:13
20%? He'd basically give them no choice if he keeps pitching like this through July but I figured they wouldn't trade Luzardo over the offseason after a back injury shelved him from June onward and they did it anyway
3:15
Probably shouldn't have, as it turns out. Starlyn Caba's a good prospect but if they'd held Luzardo and he were anywhere near as good for them as he's been for Philly, they'd have gotten a massive return for a year and a half of cheap arb salaries
Dave
3:15
How starts will Othani have the regular season and how many in the playoffs?
Anthony Franco
3:17
I'd probably set the O/U at 8.5 regular season starts at this point. They've been pretty cagey in providing actual details on his process but there have been a lot of "threw another bullpen session, no timetable" updates
Brad
3:17
Feel like Rays are caught in the middle as they always try to balance short/long term and have been very successful doing so.  However - I think they are trapped in the 78-85 win area right now and with the prospect help they have in AA or Hi A (outside of Carson Williams and maybe Tre Morgan) - do they sell and sell early like they did last year to plan for 26/27?  Sell BLowe, Yandy, Zach Littell, and discuss selling Taj Bradley or Ryan Pepiot for a big return.  Thoughts?
Anthony Franco
3:20
I agree with that. It's an ok but incomplete roster right now. Never a full teardown but I expect they'll move Lowe, Littell and Fairbanks if they can  and would at least listen on their more controllable  starters as they always do
yo tony
3:20
noelvi marte breakout for real?
Anthony Franco
3:22
Nice few weeks but I'm still skeptical on the plate discipline and think he'll be kind of up-and-down all year (from a performance perspective, not between Cincinnati and Louisville)
MikeyD
3:22
Is there an impact bat even available on the trading block?  Seems like all the horrible teams only have horrible players….
Anthony Franco
3:23
This was why it was so hard for teams to trade for offense over the winter. It required swaps of big leaguers at positions of need -- most notably with the Tucker trade, and (to a much lesser extent) with the India/Singer swap
3:26
Twins or Orioles could move some notable hitters if they don't pull out of things. Nats could put Nate Lowe back out there, we'll probably get a new set of Arenado rumors. It's pretty bleak though
Lightning McQueen
3:26
In similar vein as the article noting the Rockies' missed opportunity in not trading Ryan McMahon last summer, is there anyone from the current roster worth shopping to contenders? Ka-chow!
Anthony Franco
3:27
I actually intended to do that post identifying players the Rockies could trade this summer rather than looking back at McMahon, but I moved off it because I basically don't think they have any interesting trade candidates
3:29
Jake Bird's an alright controllable reliever who they could move (like they did with Nick Mears last year). They'd get some interest in Ryan Feltner, someone probably takes a flier on Márquez for a middling prospect
3:30
But they're almost certainly not going to move the Tovar/Doyle core pieces and the rest of the roster is so bad that there's marginal appeal at best
Josh Naylor
3:30
Free agency hasn’t been kind to 1B, but I’m on the right side of 30 and having a good start to the season.  If I finish the season with mid 800’s OPS, what type of contract can I expect in free agency?
Anthony Franco
3:33
Yeah he's a tough one. Market doesn't like first basemen generally but they rarely hit free agency in advance of age-29. He's a bit of an odd profile because it's less of the standard power/patience first baseman and built much more around the bat-to-ball skills, but he's made it work for multiple seasons
3:35
It could go in a lot of different ways, especially since he'll probably have the QO attached, but I think I'd take him a little above Walker's $60MM guarantee but stretched over four seasons (probably with an opt-out halfway through)
Angel
3:35
Does Ben Rice supplement Austin Wells at catcher of he Rice is still hitting when Stanton comes back of Wells isnt.?
Anthony Franco
3:37
I think that's too much to ask midseason. Rice has never started an MLB game at catcher. The Yankees seem to love Wells as a defender. Too much risk from a game-calling and receiving perspective (to say nothing of the possibility that the increased physical toll deals a hit to Rice's offense)
3:39
Maybe he'd pick up a few starts as a backup catcher, but they'd probably play Stanton pretty infrequently (especially early) and maybe ease off Goldy's workload a little bit to keep getting Rice semi-consistent work against righty pitching
Giantsphan
3:39
Hi Anthony, as the Giants are off to a surprisingly good start (minus the mini skid we’re in right now), what if anything can be done to up our offensive production at 1st Base?  LWJr. is worse than ever!  Other trade deadline moves you think would help keep us trending toward a WC spot in October?  Thanks!!
Anthony Franco
3:43
Eldridge is lurking so they're not going to want to make a long-term add, but they'll probably attack the rental trade market there. Hoskins is hitting pretty well, and I imagine the Brewers would be happy to offload some of the salary and the option buyout even if they're hanging around contention. Ty France, Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O'Hearn are more straightforward options if Minnesota or Baltimore do wind up selling
T$SD
3:43
Xander Bogaerts has had a rough run to start the season...frankly, been mediocre at best since joining the Padres. Are his days of being a 4 WAR player over?
Anthony Franco
3:45
He's probably got another 2024 Marcus Semien season in him, where he gets to roughly 4 WAR through playing every day in the middle infield and not being a complete black hole offensively
3:46
But I think his days of being an annual 4+ win guy who's an instrumental piece of a contender are behind him. The bat fell off much more quickly than I expected
Dave Dombrowski
3:46
Is it time to send Orion Kerkering down to get his act back together? He is one of the few Philly pitchers with an option and would make room for Ranger Suarez.
Anthony Franco
3:48
I get the argument for it but that'd leave them with basically just Romano as late-game righties. Not sure they can afford to let Kerkering try to reset in Triple-A
3:49
I'm guessing they'll DFA Hernández instead
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