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Front Office Chat: 5/31/24
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Anthony Franco
2:59
Hey everyone, hope you're all well!
3:00
Looking forward to another of these, let's get going
TheAstrosAreKillingMe
3:00
With the unknown status of Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javar for the Astros, who could be possible replacements, either internally or trade possibility?
Anthony Franco
3:01
Feels like something they'll need to address via trade. They'll probably bring Lauer up at some point as a stopgap, but they're really light on upper minors starting pitching talent
3:03
Luzardo's the obvious one, but he'd require dealing from the top of an already bad system. Kikuchi as a rental would be interesting if the Jays fall out of it. Rockies probably should trade Quantrill, who knows if they will? Fedde would be a good fit
Donny Baseball
3:03
What do you think the Yankees’ biggest need will be come the trade deadline, given how things look now.  Thanks for the chat!
Anthony Franco
3:05
They don't need much. Another rotation injury after losing Schmidt could lead them to look for starting pitching. If Berti's still out at the deadline, they could probably find a better utility infielder than Jahmai Jones. Ideally they'd get a more reliable lefty reliever than the Ferguson/González tandem
3:06
That's all stuff around the margins though. They look really good right now
RAGBRAI
3:06
Has Carlson’s stock dropped so much in STL that he will most likely be traded by the deadline or during the off season.
Anthony Franco
3:07
Sure feels that way. They've floated his name for the better part of two years, he's not hitting and he'd probably be in line for $3-4MM next year in arbitration
Bob T
3:07
Hey Anthony, Have you ever seen a team as poorly positioned for the future like the 2024 Angels? The Arte Moreno run organization.  They literally have no difference makers in the upper minors. The big club has very little home grown players talent beyond Ward and Neto. They have rushed any player with a pulse to the majors without giving them a chance to learn how to make adjustments in their games. I see a franchise with no chance to compete the rest of this decade and beyond.
After fifty years I have had it with the LAA Morenos. Do you see any hope?
Anthony Franco
3:09
It's bleak. I don't think they're in a worse spot than the Rockies have been for the past few seasons and the Tigers had some pretty dark times in the second half of the last decade, but it's probably the worst five-year outlook for any organization right now
3:11
I generally understood why they did what they did over the past couple years: drafting college guys they could push too aggressively, constantly trading from the top of an already bad system for short-term help. They had a ticking clock with Ohtani and an owner who was stubbornly opposed to trading him
3:12
So if they couldn't rebuild, then trying to take swings was probably the way to go. But it was going to be really painful at the end, made worse by the fact that they always came up short because there was never enough organizational depth to mask the flaws
Then they had one of my least favorite offseasons last winter. Throwing what limited resources they had into the bullpen just felt rudderless
RAGBRAI
3:12
Was AZ over valued preseason? Are they just slumping, others are over performing or this is what we can expect ROS? How do they improve?
Anthony Franco
3:14
It'd look better if Merrill Kelly didn't get hurt. Certainly didn't expect Corbin Carroll to perform this poorly. They're a little worse than I expected (and certainly than they hoped), but the playoff run probably elevated expectations beyond what the roster merited
3:16
They were probably the second-worst playoff team last year (other than Miami). Barely got in on the last weekend, got outscored by 15 runs over the course of the season. That doesn't take anything away from what they did in October, but it was an average team who got hot when they needed to. That's about what they looked like coming into this year
Guest
3:16
Seems Druw Jones has a long way to go.  You think he’ll ever be an impact bat?
Anthony Franco
3:17
Doubtful. He'd need to significantly improve the contact skills. Just hoping for enough contact to run into some 15-20 homer seasons that allows the glove to play
3:18
If he's a bottom of the lineup regular, I'd take it at this point
JGriff
3:18
Any update on Joey Votto?
Anthony Franco
3:19
Haven't seen anything from the past few weeks. He's one of a few guys who can opt out tomorrow, but he still hasn't played in any minor league games
Oriole
3:19
Most people had the Orioles winning the east. Are the Yankees playing over their heads, or are the Orioles being exposed a bit?
Guest
3:19
Not a fan of either nevertheless I am expecting a Yankee vs.Dodgers WS. Lots of baseball left and play offs are crapshoots but I think they are the best teams this year. Your opinion.
Anthony Franco
3:20
I'd probably go with Baltimore and the Dodgers as the top teams in the respective leagues, but I wouldn't argue with you on New York (or Philadelphia in the NL)
3:22
Certainly don't think the O's have been exposed in any way. They've got the fourth-best win percentage in the majors right now, tied with the Yankees in the loss column. New York has just been really good. It's going to be a fun division race
Guest
3:23
Rank ROS Flaherty/Crochet/Gore.
Anthony Franco
3:24
I'd go Flaherty, Gore, Crochet. Like them all obviously, but the Sox are going to back off Crochet's workload down the stretch. I've got a little more faith in Flaherty maintaining his current level of command than I do with Gore
Duffy Scliff
3:24
Emmanuel Clase for AL Cy Young? Dude’s been incredible, but super overlooked.
Anthony Franco
3:26
I don't think we'll get another single-inning reliever who wins the award, but he's got a chance to finish in the top five. Zack Britton finished fourth during his ridiculous 2016 season, Blake Trienen came in sixth in 2018. Clase has that kind of ability
Ron
3:27
Is Butto (NYM) a legitimate prospect in terms of stuff/command?  It was a strange move when they sent him down, unless there was some luck involved with his surface statistics.
Anthony Franco
3:29
The walks were really high, but I think it's mostly just a numbers game. Can't option any of Severino, Manaea or Quintana. Megill was coming back and has looked great in two starts. Christian Scott was pitching well, David Peterson was nearing a return
3:30
I like Buttó as a back-end starter. He should be back this summer once the Mets trade Severino, Manaea and/or Quintana
Jorge78
3:30
If you could gaze into your crystal ball and undo all the trades that AJ Preller made to send prospects away, would the Padres be better off today?
Anthony Franco
3:30
Really good question
3:31
The answer's probably yes, largely because of the Soto trade alone. Gore, Abrams and James Wood all look like franchise building blocks
3:33
But it's not entirely fair because it doesn't account for the production they got in between. Blake Snell doesn't factor into this calculus anymore, but they got three really good years and a Cy Young. The return they got back for Soto wasn't as strong because he played there for a year and a half
3:35
I think Preller has generally done a good job both replenishing the top of the farm system and knowing which guys to trade. Giving up Naylor/Quantrill for Clevinger turned out to a big whiff, and packaging Munoz and Ty France for Austin Nola was a disaster
But that'll happen when you take as many swings as they have. I've had more issues with a lot of his front office decisions than the trades they've made
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