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Front Office Chat: 8/2/24
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Anthony Franco
3:01
Hey everyone, hope you've all had a good week!
3:02
Lots to discuss post-deadline, let's get rolling
Ross Atkins
3:02
Any particular deadline deal stand out as great deals for the sellers?  Seems like varying trade returns amongst the relievers and also amongst the starters.
Anthony Franco
3:03
We talked about this on the pod in more detail but the Kikuchi one was the biggest for me. Getting Bloss alone would've felt like a really good return there
3:05
Seems like consensus from the prospect community is that the Angels did well on Estévez. I'm not super familiar with either pitcher but they're both up-arrow guys this year. I thought Norby/Stowers for Rogers was solid work for Miami (a B+ or A- level return) but Tim, Steve and Darragh all loved that one for them
KY Bucs Fan
3:05
Read a lot about how De La Cruz was a not a “big enough” pickup. True or false: If Pitt had his production in RF all year we’d be in the #2 wild card spot.
Anthony Franco
3:08
Nah, I think that's an overstatement. That'd be a three-game boost from an ok but below-average player. De La Cruz has more power than the guys the Bucs have been running out there but his .291 OBP is way below the .319 mark Pittsburgh has gotten from the position
3:09
I think he's a modest upgrade, which is fine for what they gave up, and would probably have flipped one game over the course of the season. Unlikely he's the difference between making and missing the playoffs though
Three hitters
3:09
Do you think that Tampa Bay will find the secret sauce to unlock Dylan Carlson?
Will Anaheim finally give Michael Stefanic a chance to become Luis Arraez?
Is Brooks Baldwin the White Sox second baseman of the future?
Anthony Franco
3:11
Ha, it feels boring to answer "no" to all three of these but I don't see it on any of them. I'm past the point of holding out hope for Carlson to hit for power. Arraez is a unicorn and Stefanic's a 28-year-old organizational depth guy
3:12
Of the three, Baldwin feels the likeliest to become what you're suggesting (solid regular at second base) but he's probably a little light on power for that. I could see him being a solid bench piece though
Lunhow
3:13
I did a great job building the Astros but I’ll probably never get offered another mlb job. Why?
Anthony Franco
3:14
Just feels like people were turned off by how combative Lunhow was in the wake of the sign-stealing stuff. Hinch and Cora were a lot more contrite. Whether you believe them or not, that's the kind of response people want to see after something like that
3:15
Filing a lawsuit against your former employer isn't the kind of thing that is going to have other teams lining up to hire you
RAGBRAI
3:15
What player traded or not sees the most increase in PT? What SP and RP, traded or not, benefits the most?
Anthony Franco
3:17
Biggest beneficiaries are the MLB-ready guys who were blocked but got traded to rebuilding teams: Norby, Stowers, Miguel Vargas. I know Norby got optioned by Miami but there's a much clearer path there than there would've been in Baltimore. That could apply to Nick Yorke as well depending on how you feel about Vaughn Grissom vs. Nick Gonzales
3:20
It's not as big a deal on the pitching side but the Estévez and García trades could get Ben Joyce a chance in the ninth in Anaheim. They used Hunter Strickland last night for some reason, but that blew up right away. I don't see why they wouldn't give Joyce a crack at it since Strickland clearly isn't a key piece for 2025
RAGBRAI
3:20
Who gets the most saves in Miami?
Anthony Franco
3:21
I'd guess Bender but wouldn't be surprised if it's Faucher. There won't be many save opportunities to go around anyways
Astros
3:21
Many said we were the obvious losers of the deadline, do you agree?
Anthony Franco
3:23
Eh, I don't like the Kikuchi trade as a long-term play but they needed to plug somebody into the middle of the rotation and they did that. "Obvious losers" feels harsh, at least in comparison to a team like the Twins that did nothing (apologies to Trevor Richards) or some of the obvious sellers who didn't go far enough
Curious A's Fan
3:23
If you could sign 1 A's player to a contract that would keep them an extra 2 years after they're currently FA eligble... who would it be?
Anthony Franco
3:26
Hmm, this is a good question. Would've been Gelof coming into the year but this season has been so bad. If it's cheating to say Jacob Wilson on one of those extensions for guys with basically zero MLB experience, I guess give me Langeliers
Terrance McKenna
3:27
Loved the podcast, do you think the deadline isn’t as exciting as years past?
Anthony Franco
3:29
I don't think this one was as exciting as the last couple. There's probably some element of a long-term trend at play -- as we discussed on the pod re. playoff expansion's effects on team building -- but it was also just a down cycle in terms of star talent. It'd have been more exciting if the Tigers were actually willing to move Skubal, the Sox hadn't backed off on Crochet/Robert, etc.
3:31
This year's also featured more of a steady flow of moves from Thursday night onward. That's both entertaining and makes our lives easier, so I'm not complaining, but it saps some of the suspense at the end. If the Rays had waited until 5:47 on Tuesday to trade Paredes and Randy, that evening would've been more exciting
Prospect Evaluations
3:31
Do you favor performance based stats or predictive like exit velocities?
Anthony Franco
3:32
On prospects specifically, the scouting reports at BA, The Athletic, FanGraphs, etc. are still the best starting point. It's easier to fake minor league production if you're too physically advanced for the level or have good strike zone awareness but limited physical tools
3:34
Beyond that, I'd go to the component parts of a player's skillset. Strikeout rate for a hitter is huge. That should rise at basically every stop, so if you're striking out 28% of the time in Low-A, it's a red flag even if you've got a 125 wRC+ or whatever
3:35
Minor league exit velos are tough to come by publicly but Statcast stuff is instructive for MLB players. Needs a decent sample though and the K/BB profile is still the starting point for me with a young major league hitter
Will Wagner
3:35
Evaluators aren’t high on me despite my performance and pedigree. Do you think Wagner makes it 6 + years in the majors?
Anthony Franco
3:37
Could see him getting into parts of six MLB seasons as an up-and-down guy who exhausts his options. Surpassing six full years of service time by establishing himself as a permanent piece of a major league roster, probably not
Cat Herder
3:37
Did Detroit wait to long to trade JF?  It seems like, by Tuesday afternoon, the return on SPs was going down.  I like the return on Kelly and Chafin and Canha was adequate.  But, it seems like LA got off easy on what some speculation for Jack was earlier in July.  Thoughts?
Flaherty
3:37
Do you think Detroit would’ve taken Loperfido, Bloss, Wagner over Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney? I think Kikuchi might be a better fit for the Stros as a workhorse.
Anthony Franco
3:38
I don't think Detroit would've taken what the Astros gave up for Kikuchi. Houston GM Dana Brown has kind of implied that they moved off Flaherty quickly because they weren't willing to do what the Tigers were floating
3:40
The Flaherty return felt a little light but Liranzo's an arguable Top 100 guy. The stuff about the Yankees' issue with his medical probably contributed to it seeming underwhelming. I don't think it had much to do with waiting until Thursday evening to make the move
Guest
3:40
What was really going on with the St. Louis, LAD, CWS trade that seemed to provide no benefit to the White Sox?
Anthony Franco
3:41
We debated this on the pod, so I encourage you to check that out if you haven't. Tim thinks we were too high on Fedde and he's not a guy that a lot of teams trust as a playoff starter
3:42
I just think the White Sox love Miguel Vargas and value him comparably to a Top 50 prospect, which is what Steve seemed to feel as well
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