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Front Office Chat: 6/13/25
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Royce Lewis
3:40
If you’re the Twins, once Royce Lewis gets back to normal and assuming his trade value is fair, would you move off from him? Twins have enough oft injured and expensive core pieces that make a mid level payroll team hard to build around.
Anthony Franco
3:43
No I still think he's too talented to give up. I know we're coming up on a full calendar year of pretty weak performance, but he had early-career stretches where he carried the lineup whenever he was healthy. Still feel like it's in there
KC Royals
3:43
If our putrid offense was league average, we’d be among the best teams in the relatively open AL. What type of moves would you make to turn this team into a real October contender?
Anthony Franco
3:45
Not exactly revelatory but they need multiple outfielders. I like the rotation even without Ragans (though that's baking in an assumption that he'll be able to return late in the year, which isn't entirely clear to me until they announce the results of the second opinion on the shoulder).

Just not going to score enough as long as they're running out at least two of Rave, Isbel and Waters every day though
3:49
I don't think Duran's a great fit in Atlanta but man, I would love if Kansas City could find a way to make that happen. If that's not on the table, maybe they can line something up up with the Jays on a pitching/outfield swap involving Lukes or Roden
Chris H
3:49
Rengifo is not the same player as the last two years.  What is his trade value at this point and where is his best position?
Angels Fan
3:49
With the Angels calling up Moore, shouldn't the Angels aggressively try and trade players like Rengifo, Anderson, Kingery, and Soler in order to better compete in the near future (and have a winning record this year!)
Anthony Franco
3:51
Yeah I'm out on Rengifo at this point. He's never had a position (guess I'd be most likely to live with him at second) and now he's not hitting at all. Angels kind of have to keep playing him at third so long as Moncada's hurt but he's closer to DFA candidate than trade asset at this point
3:52
Kingery has no trade value, they'll probably waive him soon enough. He's certainly not standing in the way of everyday second base reps for Moore
They'd need to pay down a good chunk of the money on Soler to offload him. Probably not worthwhile for a modest return, especially if they're still hanging around the Wild Card mix
Luis Robert Jr.
3:52
What can Lou Bob return at this point? Should the Sox hang onto him?
Anthony Franco
3:53
I don't see the point because they're going to decline the $20M option anyways. Move him for a couple lottery ticket prospects in A-ball or whatever
3:54
Still think they were right to hold onto him over the winter and hope he rebuilt his value. He just didn't hold up his end of the bargain
Chris
3:54
Who ends their career with a higher bWAR - Trout (86.1) or Judge (58.1)?
Anthony Franco
3:55
Trout
Too big a gap for Judge to close given how late he got his career started and how incredible Trout was in his early-mid 20s
Sam
3:56
The Twins have outfield depth. Buxton, Wallner, Bader, Larnach, Castro... Do they part with one to acquire a starter while Pablo is on the shelf?
Anthony Franco
3:59
Maybe with Larnach? Castro and Bader are playing well but they're rental role player types. They could probably get a back-end starter but I don't think it's worth it. Wallner and Buxton are too valuable for this kind of move
4:00
Larnach is a good, not great, lefty platoon bat who is down to two years of arb control. Solid player but not one I'd take off the table if another team were willing to offer a #4/5 starter with a similar control window
4:01
I like the Twins' depth enough that I don't think it's an absolute must to trade for a starter, but losing López and Matthews in quick succession at least puts it on the table
Dan S.
4:01
Ryan O’Hearn and Tomo Sugano to Seattle for Logan Evan’s?
Anthony Franco
4:02
Mariners aren't doing that
I like O'Hearn a lot (Sugano to a lesser extent) but Evans is too good to give up for a pair of rentals
Joshua
4:02
Thoughts on the Royals sending their Comp Pick #28 to the Nats for 2B Luis Garcia? They did a similar one last year with Hunter Harvey, and I think this could make some sense for both sides again as well.
Anthony Franco
4:04
India has talked about how he found the early-season utility role more challenging than he anticipated. Royals have used him basically as a full-time second baseman for the past month
4:05
He's not playing especially well but the Royals gave up Singer to get him and García at least isn't markedly better. Unless they try to have García learn LF on the fly, which seems unlikely, I don't think it's a great fit
Catcher Conundrum
4:05
If you were the Nats, what would you do about the catcher position? Before the season there was a reasonable argument that Ruiz could be a cromulent catcher at a reasonable price if he played defense like 2024 but hit like 2023. Instead he's doing the opposite, and it's ... bad. Working in Adams hasn't really helped on either front (wRC+ of -16). Their depth catcher, Drew Millas, has shown some flashes but is currently hitting .230/.289/.345/.634 in AAA. They drafted two catchers (Lomavita #39 and Bazzell #79) in the first three rounds last year, but they're a ways off. I think that they have a chance to compete in 2026, but they've got to solve the WAR sink that they have behind the plate.
Anthony Franco
4:07
Yeah I'm with you on all that. Would've given Ruiz another shot this year, as they did, but it's not working and they need to upgrade next offseason. Maybe Lomavita's a long-term answer but he's not the guy for '26
4:08
Feels like a Victor Caratini or Danny Jansen two-year, $15M free agent deal type of situation
Ron
4:09
Being able to buy and sell at the deadline has got to be an extremely difficult maneuver for GMs. Consistently doing it well is a remarkable feat. I think most credit the rays as the standard bearer and the mariners and padres as doing it pretty well to a lesser extent. with the obvious caveat of the josh hader trade would you put the brewers in the upper echelon of threading the needle for the national league?
Anthony Franco
4:11
Yes and I still think the Hader trade was both correct process and a move that worked out in practice. Would they have made the playoffs that season with Hader? Probably, but Gasser should be a solid long-term rotation piece and Ruiz directly turned into William Contreras a few months later
Josh Elliott
4:11
would anybody take Bogaerts?  is there any other contract near as bad that can be swapped?
Anthony Franco
4:12
Not happening. Way too long a deal to even line up some kind of bad contract swap
Flubs
4:12
Could the Cubbies look to upgrade at 2B over Hoerner? Or does he provide enough OBP and plus defense that they’ll emphasize pitching instead?
Anthony Franco
4:15
Nah, I think Nico's fine. Hoyer seems to love him, he's a really good defender. Not a great hitter but the league average second baseman is hitting .242/.313/.364 this year. It's just not a position where you're likely to get much offense
4:16
Hoyer said on the New York Post podcast last week that he felt good about the lineup, depending on health, and would place more emphasis on pitching. I agree with that
RAGBRAI
4:16
Is Abel just holding Nola’s spot until he returns? Assuming everyone is healthy upon Nola’s return, what happens to Abel?
Anthony Franco
4:18
No real room for him in the rotation once everyone's healthy (obviously an intervening injury in the next few weeks can open that) but the Phils need a right-handed bullpen weapon so there should be opportunity to pitch his way into a leverage role once Nola returns
Let him eat in short stints for the stretch this year and he and Painter can compete for a permanent rotation spot next spring since it seems like they're going to let Suárez walk
Cat_Herder
4:19
Should Scott Harris kick the tires on a Gleyber Torres extension?  Or, let him walk and move on to Colt Keith, or someone else internal, at the keystone?
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