You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Front Office Chat: 7/7/23
powered byJotCast
Anthony Franco
3:59
Hey everyone, hope you all had a good holiday week!
4:00
Only four more pre-deadline Friday chats, let's discuss!
Eddie
4:00
Is there something about Encarnacion Strand that keeps him from joining the big team...despite that they brought up McLain, De La Cruz and Steer?
Anthony Franco
4:01
I like the player a lot -- have been a fan since he was in college -- but he's a tough guy to squeeze onto that infield because of the defensive limitations. McLain and Elly can play up the middle. CES is a corner infielder and not a particularly good third baseman
4:03
That's basically also true of Steer, but he's a couple years older and further along in his development. If Steer weren't playing well, I imagine we'd have already seen Encarnacion-Strand by now. But Steer's raking, so obviously he's going to stay in the lineup every day. Doesn't leave much room for CES unless someone gets hurt
Jack Suwinski
4:03
Am I one of the most underrated players in the NL? Over/Under on me hitting 40 HRs this year?
Anthony Franco
4:04
Under on 40 but I'd probably take the over on 30 at this point. Certainly not something I would've seen coming at the start of the year
4:05
One of the most underrated players in the NL? Sure, I buy that. I've been kind of a Suwinski skeptic because the extremely patient approach runs him into deep counts and leads to a lot of strikeouts. But it keeps working, so I'm coming around
4:06
I know Steve Adams was all in when Suwinski was rocking like a .460 OBP two weeks into the season
Ruiz
4:06
I read an article by MLBTR where it said Ruiz was playing pretty good defense.  His OB at the time me was 310 and I think his slugging was 326 but with defense and 43 SB how could he be at negative .2 WAR?  I just don’t under the calculations for WAR.
Anthony Franco
4:08
This is an example of defensive metrics being super variable in small samples, which is the main reason why I don't think single-season WAR totals are all that useful
4:10
Defensive Runs Saved has him at -15 runs, which would make him easily the worst defensive center fielder in MLB. Baseball Reference -- which uses DRS as its defensive input for the WAR calculation -- has him below replacement level
That makes sense. If he's the worst defensive center fielder in the game and a mediocre hitter, then the baserunning alone isn't enough to make him a particularly valuable player
4:11
Statcast's defensive metrics has Ruiz two outs above average. Statcast doesn't have a WAR metric, but if he's actually a slightly above-average defensive center fielder, then he's a much better than replacement level player -- probably somewhere between 1-2 WAR
4:12
So the WAR figure is going to vary wildly based on which defensive metric you use as the input, and they can be all the over place in single-season samples
4:13
(Sorry, this is about Oakland's Esteury Ruiz in case anyone wasn't clear. I should've specified that at the beginning)
Dodger Dave
4:13
Anthony Help!!! Dodger pitchers are dropping like flies. Suggestions on how to save the season?
Anthony Franco
4:14
I'd flip that and generally take an optimistic view on where things stand. They've had almost no rotation stability and they're still 11 games over .500 and half a game back in the division
4:15
They have to add pitching, which Andrew Friedman has basically already said they would. I think someone like Jordan Montgomery would fit really well there -- not the highest-upside play but somebody very stable who you can rely upon for mid-rotation production in a rotation that's leaning really heavily on inexperienced pitchers right now
4:16
But they obviously have the farm depth and payroll capacity to upgrade, and the fact that they haven't been buried by all the injuries means they're in really strong position in my view
Super crazy trade prediction that won’t happen
4:16
The Brewers trade Chourio, Frelick, Gasser, and Freddy Peralta for Luis Robert Jr and Dylan Cease. Here is the justification: the white Sox get players in the upper minors to help get them back into contention sooner than getting lower level players (their owner is old and doesn’t want a long rebuild). The brewers get an offensive stud to deepen their lineup and gives their pitching a boost. The Brewers go for it over the next two seasons. The White Sox take a small step back to go for it in a couple of seasons. Lastly, as cool as this trade would be, it won’t happen
Anthony Franco
4:17
Certainly will not happen (don't think either team would do it) but would be very fun
Letsgo
4:17
I know it might be asking a lot but if Manoah can come back to suitable form AND Ryu can start, too... jays can't really trade for a starting pitcher, right?
Anthony Franco
4:18
I'd still try to bring someone in. Manoah's iffy and there's no guarantee Ryu finds his pre-surgery form right away. They've also had basically perfect injury luck in the rotation this year, which is tough to bank on all season
4:19
If everyone clicks, they have a decent amount of depth and push Kikuchi back into relief. I think that's fine
Cody and Mike
4:19
If the Cubs trade Cody Bellinger, does Mike Tauchman get a chance to earn a regular gig for this year?  Mike started great but he has faded of late
Anthony Franco
4:21
Tauchman's not really a guy they'll worry about making room for. He's kind of a journeyman depth type
I'd rather give those reps to Nelson Velazquez and see if he's worth holding on the roster into next season
The Rangers fan
4:21
any chance the Rangers pick up a power hitting DH/outfielder while looking for pitching?
Anthony Franco
4:23
Yeah I think a corner bat should be on the wish list, ideally one who hits left-handed. Robbie Grossman's ok against lefties but shouldn't be starting regularly against RHP for a contender
Jankowski has had a good season but has a multi-year track record as a 4th/5th outfielder. Brad Miller hasn't played well since landing in Texas
FA pitchers
4:23
If you are Urias and you don’t improve in the second half would you take the qualifying offer or the smaller albeit substantial offer that will be on the table in FA?  Same question for Nola?  Lastly i believe Ohtani ends up at 660M.  Do you take the over or you under?  Everything I read from you guys suggests that the writers believe I am a little over 100M too high.
Anthony Franco
4:24
Would not take the QO if I were Urías or Nola. I think Nola's too old to look for the short-term deal, would rather just max out the guarantee if I were him
4:25
Urías is young enough I can see the case for wanting something shorter to come off a better platform year. Should be able to do that with an opt-out clause as opposed to accepting the QO, though
4:26
Rodón signed a two-year, $44MM deal with an opt-out after the first season over the 2021-22 offseason. At the very least, I'd expect something like that to be out there for Urías
4:27
On Shohei, I'd pretty easily take the under on $660M. Just can't see anyone breaking the all-time contract record by nearly doubling it. I know he's two superstar players in one, but there's still some injury downside you have to account for
FA pitchers
4:27
Can Nola get a Qualifying offer?   If not and he’s m
Anthony Franco
4:28
He is eligible for the QO (unless the Phillies somehow collapse and trade him at the deadline)
Baltimore
4:28
I’m a yankee fan.  Convince me that if Baltimore is willing to spend to their previous levels from  the past that they are not looking like the most promising and dangerous team in the the American League.
Anthony Franco
4:29
They very well might be, although it requires a leap of faith on the spending as you mentioned. Peter Angelos was signing off on the franchise-record payrolls. His son John is point person in ownership now and hasn't yet demonstrated that willingness
Load More Messages
Connecting…