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Front Office Chat: 6/27/25
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Anthony Franco
3:53
Freeman's had the best career and is still the guy I'd most want on my team right now. But I followed the D-Backs pretty closely in the mid-2010s so Goldy's my personal favorite of that group
Guest
3:53
With Misiorowski now firmly entrenched in the Brewers rotation, how likely is it that Logan Henderson gets a meaningful shot this year? Opening day next year?
Anthony Franco
3:54
Feels like he's seventh on the rotation depth chart right now but that can change in a week with injuries
3:55
Paul Blackburn went from the Mets' seventh starter to #3 in literally two weeks
Guest
3:55
Given that Skenes and McCutchen are the only two untouchable Pirates, what would a trade for Oneil Cruz look like?
Anthony Franco
3:57
Still would be really surprised to do that. Drawing the distinction between Cruz and their superstar pitcher and late-career face of the franchise makes sense, but if he's not truly "untouchable," he should be pretty damn close
3:59
The team can't hit. Cruz has been bad for the better part of two months, but he's the only guy they have who has lineup-carrying potential when he's going well
4:01
Even if they think he's always going to be volatile because of the strikeouts and settle in somewhere between 10-15% above average offensively (I'd take the over), that makes him like the best hitter on the team. At some point, you need to pick a couple players to build around and try to win games
Chief
4:01
Has the ship sailed on the Royals’ season. The front office knew all winter that they didn’t have enough bats.
Anthony Franco
4:03
I'm not ready to bury them at 3.5 games out when they have that rotation (even sans Ragans) but it needs to turn quick
4:04
They've scored four runs in five games and have the Dodgers and Mariners coming up. If they go 2-5 over that stretch to drop eight games under .500, then yeah, they're probably cooked
Of mix
4:05
Yankees' OF mix is plenty crowded with Belli/Judge/Grisham/Dominguez, however they Yanks also have Everson Pereira who's been making a good deal of AAA noise for a while now. I guess he's staying there, until one of those four get injured? Should they find a way to get him MLB reps so he doesn't regress?
Anthony Franco
4:06
He's striking out a ton and in his last option year, probably a roster bubble guy next spring. I'd try to trade him this summer
ClarkeInEC
4:07
There seems to be a lot of pitchers on the IL - is this a normal amount at this point in the season or is it unusually high?
Anthony Franco
4:08
Haven't seen any data on it but I get variations on this question every season so my guess is it's around normal for the modern game
Pete
4:08
Help me understand why the owners and the MLBPA don’t at least start discussions on the next CBA? I’m not saying that they have to do it today, but maybe start finding common ground this offseason to identify the issues where there is agreement and those that will need the most attention? Conversely, if the last CBA effort is any guide, why wait until January 2027 to start this process? It seems like absolute madness to me!
Anthony Franco
4:10
Brinkmanship, essentially. They can start talking now but neither side is going to move on anything contentious until the possibility of losing money comes clear into view
4:11
It's very easy two years out to say that you're ready for a fight and prepared to hold tough until you get what you want. The resolve doesn't really get tested until you're on the verge of the salary/TV revenue not coming in
Luc
4:11
Giants need to hit better who can Posey get to help?
Anthony Franco
The tldr version is that they should be on Willi Castro haha
Knock-Knock
4:13
Miscalled balls and strikes are frustrating but I don’t want to see it taken out of the Umps hands. Human error is a huge part of the game. Expanding the strike zone and pitch framing is a skill that elite pitchers and catchers develop. If it goes to ABS then that skill is lost forever. What would happen to soft tossers when they can’t play the edges? Would the catcher position devolve into a bat first position? Throwing out batters would be the biggest skill that a catcher could possess.
Anthony Franco
4:13
Fortunately MLB and the players agree with you, which is why they're doing the challenge system first
4:15
Kind of feels like a half-measure to me but no harm in trying it out for a few years and seeing if it strikes the balance they want. I don't think it'd become a bat-first position if they went full ABS, though. Teams put a lot of emphasis on game-calling, and you'd still need to be athletic enough to not commit a million passed balls and block stuff in the dirt
Go Dills!
4:15
Padres are buying right?  NOT trading Cease surely?
Anthony Franco
4:16
Yeah they'd need an abysmal July not to go for it with that kind of high-end talent
4:18
Needs have been obvious for a while: left field, a catcher who can even slightly hit, utility guy to bump Wade or Iglesias off the roster
Whither the Nats?
4:19
Surfing the interNats, a lot of Nats fans are calling the rebuild a failure already and saying that they should trade MacKenzie Gore (to set up the next rebuild?). The team has had a horrific month of June (5-18, yikes), which is contributing to the fan angst. But that came after two months of playing .500 ball. I look at this team and I see a solid core (Wood, Gore, Abrams) and a handful of promising prospects to back them up (Crews, whose batted ball profile was actually very good; House; Cavalli, Sykora; Susana). They have solid back end starters in Irvin and Parker and two more pitchers (Gray and Herz) on the way back from TJ surgery (at this point I have more hope for Herz than Gray). The catcher position and the bullpen have been disasters and need to be fixed, and the infield defense has been atrocious (although House has looked very good at 3b in limited action).
Anthony Franco
4:21
Not much to add here because I agree with everything you said. Upgrade at catcher, maybe second base and add multiple relievers this offseason and go for it in '26
Just Wondering
4:22
Why do sportswriters use the term "prototypical" when they mean, "typical?" E.g., "He's not your prototypical leadoff hitter . . ." when what they mean to say, "He's not your typical leadoff hitter." A prototype is something new. A type isn't.
Anthony Franco
4:23
Hey, Merriam Webster's #3 definition of prototype is "a standard or typical example" but yes, typical also works
4:24
I'm more of a "traditional leadoff hitter" fan but I'm sure I've used prototype before too. Gotta try to mix it up a little bit
Bravo
4:24
Atlanta can’t seem to really get going ,still below playoff caliber efforts. With a pitching staff now including Fuentes who redefines raw with no experience and Sale, Jimenez,Smith Shawver,,Lopez out the future looks dim.The offense has black holes called Albies,Harris,Verdugo and Murphy. Is AA really convinced they are no sale at deadline? Do the hitting instructors really do anything? Any fixes anywhere to give me hope? Show me a glimmer please.
Anthony Franco
4:26
The hope is that you have Acuña, Olson, Baldwin, Ozuna, Riley etc. and they've gotten there every year
4:27
I don't want to make too much of AA's comments because I think there was an element of trying to spark the team with a very definitive public vote of confidence. He said he'd tried to make a win-now type trade to have the same effect
4:28
But yeah, at some point you have to conclude they just don't have it this year and if they stick to that level of rigidity and buy when they're 5-7 games under .500 on July 30, that's shortsighted
4:29
Alright, I need to wrap up here
Thanks for all the questions this week! As always, happy to take stuff on X @affranco10 if I didn't get to yours today
4:31
Not sure what the schedule will look like next week. Steve will do his usual Monday chat. I'm off on the fourth. I'll probably move this up to Thursday, but if not, Darragh will step in on Friday
Have a great weekend!
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