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Front Office Chat: 6/9/23
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Anthony Franco
4:00
Hey everyone, hope you all had a good week!
4:01
Looking forward to chatting, let's get going
Sale
4:01
Sale to the 60 day isn’t that big of a deal IMO. It probably would have taken 30 days at least to go from catch to the major league team, and 30 days for letting the injury heal seems fine. Unless he ends up needing surgery, this doesn’t seem that bad.
Anthony Franco
4:02
I'd say it's disheartening but not surprising for the reasons you mentioned. It's a tough blow to the team unquestionably, even if it looked when he first hit the IL last week that this might be the case
4:03
But they don't have any margin for error in the AL East -- they're probably the worst team in the division -- and it's guaranteed they'll be without arguably their best starter into August. That sucks even if it didn't come out of the blue
keeper 10 team AL only
4:04
Have to drop either Clevinger or Barria today (added Barria as IL replacement for Clevinger when he went on IL)?
Anthony Franco
4:06
I prefer Barría. Neither misses many bats but Barría's got excellent command and probably a little better at staying off barrels. Clevinger probably works a little deeper into games but the Angels going quick hook for Barría at like five innings of two-run ball feels better than letting Clev give up four over six
Dr Dave
4:07
Do the O's finally make the transition from Mateo to Westburg soon?
Anthony Franco
4:08
Believe I said last week that I'd have done this already. Mateo hasn't done anything to change my mind in the past few games. They love the defense, I guess, but man he's looked lost at the plate for the last six weeks
Will in Westport
4:08
Hey Anthony, thanks for doing this.  Forgetting fantasy for a moment, the Tigers have gotten almost no production from the  3B position.  Does it appear that they are considering bringing up Malloy or Keith, from Toledo or Erie, respectively?  Neither are on the 40-man roster, but Carpenter, E-Rod, or Turnbull, could be moved to the 60-day IL, thereby opening a spot on the 40-man.  Your thoughts?
Anthony Franco
4:10
I haven’t seen anything on this from the beat. Definitely an argument for bringing Malloy up, at least. He’s striking out a lot in Toledo but he’s walking a bunch and hitting for decent power. I don’t see Detroit as a viable contender this year even in the AL Central – the offense just isn’t good enough – but I’d like to get a couple months of Malloy at the MLB level to see if they can count on him as the third baseman to open 2024.
Feels too early for Keith. Still just 21, this is his first upper minors experience. I’d rather get him some Triple-A time down the stretch this year with an eye towards a ’24 debut.
Chip
4:10
I'll be asking, maybe today I get lucky and get a response !! Will MLB ever set criteria for ejections as the umpires are out of control. We have seen a player ejected for clapping in the dugout and recently a home plate umpire get in the batter's face !! Seems umpires are not held accountable for their actions. Thanks
Anthony Franco
4:12
I understand where you’re coming from but setting strict criteria for an ejection feels like an impossible line to draw. You could pick certain words that get you thrown out automatically – and there presumably are unwritten lines that players and coaches know they can’t cross – but it’s not as simple as saying "anything beyond 45 seconds gets you ejected" or something like that.
4:13
What happens to a manager who throws barbs at an umpire every other pitch for seven innings? What about a player who doesn’t directly say anything to an ump but is ridiculously demonstrative after getting called out on strikes?
Will in Westport
4:13
Well, the Tigers just moved Turnbull to the 60=day IL (at 13:33 EDT).
Anthony Franco
4:13
Yeah, I like the waiver flier on Solak though. Hope he can stick somewhere, still have some belief in the bat
high and outside
4:14
despite the increase in base running, it doesn't appear that teams are using the pitchout to counteract steal attempts. Is the pitchout a flawed tool that doesn't pay off or am I missing something?
Anthony Franco
4:15
That's an interesting one. It doesn't feel like the pitchout is up anecdotally, I agree, but I don't know of anywhere that tracks them on a league level
4:17
My guess is teams are relying on data that says the drawback in giving up a free ball and putting yourself in a less advantageous count to try to guess when the runner is going is not worthwhile, but you'd think it's a closer call with stolen base attempts up
Dano
4:17
What's the OF alignment with Yordan out for the Astros?
Anthony Franco
4:18
Probably Tucker, Meyers, McCormick with Julks and Yainer Diaz getting a decent chunk of DH time. It's not great
If Yordan is out for an extended stretch, feels like they have to add a corner bat at the deadline. Can't really count on Brantley, Abreu looks terrible
tigersFan
4:19
Do you think the tigers will trade Lange, vest, or foley?
Anthony Franco
4:19
I expect they'll listen because the team isn't good right now and reliever performance can be volatile. But no, I think the ask will ultimately be higher than another team meets given the control windows
4:20
Trades like that aren't completely unheard of -- the Cubs sold high on Scott Effross to get Hayden Wesneski from the Yankees last year, as an example -- but they're not common either
Cory
4:20
Who are your top 3 starting pitchers and top 3 relievers that will realistically be available in a month+?
Anthony Franco
4:22
Starters: Giolito, Montgomery, Stroman. I’d probably take E-Rod over Stroman on talent and think he’d technically be available but the contract (three years/$49MM with a post-2023 opt-out) saps most of the trade appeal
4:23
Relievers: Barlow, Aroldis, Hunter Harvey. Alex Lange would be really appealing but like I said, don't think he ultimately moves
Ben
4:23
What is going on in the AL Central?  O/U 81 wins for the division champ?
Anthony Franco
4:24
I’ll stick to the over on .500 for Minnesota but it’s getting tougher
bill
4:24
It seems too me that the Braves faith in their “starting” lineup is a bit ridiculous at times.Sure now you can say “see;it worked” but maybe giving Hilliard some starts over Harris or Ozuna would have been warranted and worked also. Why is Sitker so set on pinch hitting for Rosario against lefties? Seems like he does okay against them.Thanks
Anthony Franco
4:26
Rosario's been serviceable against lefties but not a must-play over his career. Kevin Pillar's been good enough in that short side platoon role I don't have an issue with that
4:27
I'd have pulled the plug on Ozuna in April but he's been awesome since May started so I get why they've kept him in there
4:28
Harris is a tricky one, as Steve wrote about this week. The offense has been horrible; he's an elite defensive center fielder who showed better offensively last year. It feels like either you're optioning him or playing him every day. He's too valuable to get caught in a middle ground as a fourth outfielder. I'd keep running him out there in the majors but wouldn't feel great about it
Dano
4:28
Do the A's given any of their prospects in AAA (Gelof, Soderstrom, Stevenson, etc) major league experience any time soon?  Or is the team so hopeless they don't want to start the clock on any of them?
Anthony Franco
4:29
They called up Langeliers late last year during a lost season and have played him for all of 2023. If they were concerned about his service time, they didn't act on it
4:30
Soderstrom isn't hitting particularly well in Triple-A and they want to keep getting him catching reps, which aren't available at the MLB level because of Langeliers. He's not forcing his way up yet. I think Gelof gets a look in the second half though
Hits Like Rays
4:31
We often see stories about the worst player contracts (the worst value for the team) in baseball.  But what do you think are the most valuable player contracts?
Anthony Franco
4:33
We’d probably do a series looking at this if FanGraphs didn’t already do one every summer. The big ones for me are Acuna ($17MM annually) through ’26 with two more club options and Franco (signed through 2033 at no more than $25MM). Corbin Carroll deal might get there. Adley hasn’t signed a contract but four-plus years of club control is crazy good. 6/$73MM with a $15MM club option for Sean Murphy looks awesome for Atlanta.
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