Front Office Chat: 5/22/2026
powered byJotCast
View Full Chat Next Page
This chat is available to members only. Please log in to participate.
Anthony Franco
3:01
Good afternoon, hope all is well!
Looking forward to another of these, let's get going
Drew
3:02
If you’re Andrew Friedman, which of the Dodgers outfield prospects are untouchable and which are in the mix in Skubal trade
Sandy at 90
3:02
I know it is early but assuming that Skubal comes back from surgery and the Tigers fall out of the race, opinion on this deal to Dodgers. Skubal to LA for Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Kellon Lynsey. Who says no?
Scott Harris
3:02
Should I worry about my job or Hinch's? With the season slipping away, what is the max value Tarik Skubal would bring in a trade, once he's pitched effectively in a regular-season game?  With Valdez, Mize, Montero, Anderson and some other starters soon to return, pitching isn't the issue - hitting is.  Would a Skubal trade for a controllable OF/3B/1B bat be feasible? Perhaps a three-way for Devers if the Giants turn sellers? That might at lease let us improve offensively to compensate for Skubal's loss. Speaking of offense, Tork has produced very little; Keith has a nice BA but 0HR/6RBI isn't a 1B profile, either.  Should Tork head to Toledo and Anderson get a shot?  Keith to 1B until a trade brings another bat?
Anthony Franco
3:03
Understandably a handful of Skubal questions. Tigers are going to take this to the wire but obviously the odds of a midseason trade keep going up the more they lose. Four-game sweep at the hands of the biggest threat in the division is brutal
3:06
Don't think any of the Dodgers' prospects should be untouchable for Skubal. Assuming he comes back before the deadline, he's the player who'd most single-handedly improve their World Series odds
3:07
De Paula's the one I'd most want to avoid trading, but if the Tigers were insistent on him as the headliner, I'd have a tough time walking away
3:09
Hope + Ryan feels like a reasonable starting point. If Tigers do trade Skubal, it'd be more multiple young players. They're not going to have any interest in Devers
John B
3:09
When Webb comes off the IL does Mahle get waived? I know it's a chunk of money but he's been awful and McDonald has been their best starter so far.
Anthony Franco
3:11
Can't send McDonald down, I agree. Guessing it's Houser to the bullpen given the amount of money they invested in him and Mahle but those guys have both had brutal starts
Houser's results have been a little better lately but still about an equal number of walks and strikeouts. It's rough
3:12
I was fully out on Mahle but thought Houser would be better than this, even if I would not have gone to 2/22
Chad Tracy
3:12
With all due respect to Trevor Story, is his injury an opportunity for the Red Sox to make an improvement to the infield on both sides of the ball?
Anthony Franco
3:14
Their stopgap options at shortstop are also really bad, so I doubt it gets any better in the short term. Just hoping Arias takes the job by the start of 2027
Snek Fan
3:14
With Burnes due back in July, who gets bumped from the rotation? Who do you drop from the roster? Thanks!
Anthony Franco
3:15
Someone else probably gets hurt before then anyway but Gallen's their worst starter in my opinion
3:18
I get that it wouldn't be a fun conversation to have given what he's meant to the org but we're up to a year and a half of him looking kinda shot. The stuff just slowly backed up year after year to the point where he can't miss bats in the zone
Ben Cherrington
3:18
Forget The Dodgers!  I’m getting Skubal! Imagine him and Skenes in one rotation!
Anthony Franco
3:19
Ha, I do not see the Pirates trading multiple high-end prospects for two months of a pitcher making $32M but this would be extremely fun
3:20
Do they really need Skubal when they have Braxton Ashcraft though?
Obviously that's tongue in cheek but man Ashcraft's unreal
Sam
3:20
Anthony, this summer's trade deadline won't be nearly as bad for the Twins as last season, but what approach do you picture the Twins taking for it this summer?
Anthony Franco
3:22
Can't see why they wouldn't trade Ryan, but that was also true over the offseason. I still highly doubt ownership would want to move Buxton even if he were willing to waive the NTC
3:23
They don't have much else to offer at this point, especially if Jeffers is still injured
3:25
Maybe the Wild Card picture will remain bleak enough that they just hold everybody and trade for a middle reliever or two. Would clearly be a mistake in my view, but again, so was their entire offseason. I assume the front office has enough self-awareness not to be super aggressive buyers
Chris
3:25
If Bichette soft rebounds and ends the year with about a 110 - 115 OPS+, do you think he still opts out or stays with the Mets another year hoping for a 2027 rebound, then getting the big deal before 2028?
Anthony Franco
3:26
Yeah I don't think 110-115 is enough to opt out. If it were the only out in the contract, maybe, but he's got another chance at it after '27 as you mentioned
Chris
3:26
Do you think the Nationals trade Abrams if they are still flirting with .500 by the ASB?
Anthony Franco
3:27
Still do, yeah. They need so much more pitching talent in the org and this is the way to get it
3:29
The offense probably isn't this good and even "highest scoring team in MLB" is only enough to get them to .500 with where the pitching is at right now. Just don't know how they could see the path to a contending season in '27 without an influx of young arms
M
3:30
Despite the slow start to the season, the poor start from the rest of the American League means the mariners aren't in a bad position. Do you still think they'll end up getting to and doing well in the playoffs?
Anthony Franco
3:30
Still think they're taking the West
Guest
3:30
I was under the impression the Orioles’ Colin Cowser had a bright future… but, he seems to be the”forgotten man” on the team. Is there any encouraging signs for his future?
Anthony Franco
3:32
Not really, have always been pretty low on him. That level of swing-and-miss and streakiness is too much for me
3:33
He has more power than he's shown this year. Obviously he's better than .186/.276/.244 but I still think he's more toolsy fourth OF than a regular. Even the strong rookie season was almost all concentrated into two great months
RB
3:34
The Astros were interested in Dylan Cease and others, but Crane said no to going over the luxury tax limit again. Am I right in thinking that if the Astros had stayed under the luxury tax last year--they missed by a few bucks, relatively speaking--there would have been a lot less pressure to stay under this year? Seems like a serious miscue.
Anthony Franco
3:36
It's just not efficient to go over the CBT by a couple million dollars because of the escalating penalties. Now with how badly they've played this season, I don't know that it would've mattered if they went a little past $244M
3:37
Jim Crane draws weird lines on spending where he clearly doesn't like paying the tax but makes random exceptions for players he loves. Don't think they were running a $300M CBT payroll either way
3:38
Going over last year dropped their comp pick for Framber back a couple rounds. Again, not a huge deal but something you'd obviously like to avoid if going over by a couple million doesn't get you into the playoffs anyway
Connecting…