You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Front Office Chat: 8/23/24
powered byJotCast
Anthony Franco
3:59
Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well!
4:00
Steve's off today so I'll need to keep this one right around an hour to take over news coverage from Darragh at 4:00
Cole World
4:00
Which aging arm puts up better numbers in 2025: Cole or deGrom?
Anthony Franco
4:01
I'll take deGrom. I think he's a slightly better pitcher than Cole when they're both healthy. The TJ ostensibly addresses the arm issues he was battling late in his time with the Mets. He's already firing 99 in his first rehab start
4:03
Cole's probably a safer bet for innings. Even if deGrom doesn't suffer any kind of setback, the Rangers might want to slow him down at some point with a phantom IL stint next summer to keep an eye on his workload. But I don't have enough confidence in either guy (or almost any pitcher) to stay completely healthy, so give me the guy who I think is the better pitcher if they're both starting the year at full strength
Pip
4:03
What the blank blank is wrong with the Orioles? They’ve been playing lousy fundamental baseball for about 60 games, but the coaching staff hasn’t changed. Everybody is playing terrible. Any thoughts?
Anthony Franco
4:07
Losing Westburg's a huge blow but that doesn't explain everything. Adley's hit a tough stretch of BABIP, not sure why Mountcastle's power has dried up. I still think they'll be fine offensively (and a coaching shakeup right now seems really drastic), but they haven't carried things the way they were earlier in the year
4:09
The pitching? It's mostly injuries but this is one where the front office might end up kicking themselves.

I was higher on the Rogers pickup than most people. I don't want to completely jump ship after three weeks but I can't remember a high-profile deadline acquisition playing so poorly that they were optioned within a month.
4:11
Not making a clearer upgrade at the back of the bullpen always felt more questionable to me. Kimbrel's completely untrustworthy at this point. Soto and Domínguez are high-variance upside plays but don't offer much stability. I know the cost of relief pitching was high, but I didn't like that they didn't get more certainty back there and think it's their biggest issue going into October
Dave
4:11
How much longer can the Yankees keep running Verdugo out there? Even if it’s not Dominguez, you could easily put Cabrera out there.
Anthony Franco
4:11
I'd still take Verdugo over Cabrera but I agree it should just be Domínguez at this point
barron_hudson
4:12
Do you expect the tigers to spend this off-season to contend for the AL Central? If so what names??
Anthony Franco
4:14
Yeah they'll be active. Steve and Darragh talked about this on this week's pod too. They both think starting pitching's the priority there. I do expect them to add a mid-level FA starter (similar play as they did with Maeda with hopefully much better results), but I'd prioritize the position player group myself
4:17
Unless he's set on being on the West Coast, I think they should be in on Ha-Seong Kim. Bridges the gap at shortstop to McGonigle -- Sweeney feels like a utility guy to me -- and offers cover if Keith or Jung don't develop as expected. They can accommodate four years in the $70MM range pretty easily even if Chris Ilitich isn't as invested as his father was
4:18
If Kim's not an option, maybe a Danny Jansen type to provide more offensive upside than Rogers brings. They've got too many defensively limited players to make a push for another corner guy but they need someone who can play up the middle and isn't a complete trainwreck offensively
barron_hudson
4:18
Do you believe this is Javy Baez last year in a tigers uniform.
Anthony Franco
4:18
Relatedly: yeah, I'd be surprised if he's on the Opening Day roster
Mo
4:18
Will Goldy be on the Cardinals next year? What about Marmol (the manager)?
Anthony Franco
4:20
Man, I know they've suggested they want Goldy back but I don't see why they'd do this. He was an awesome pickup for them but he's gone so sharply downhill. Turn first base over to Burleson and give yourself more flexibility to rotate through DH or leave the position open if Walker figures things out
4:21
On Marmol, I wouldn't be surprised if they make a change (assuming they don't make a late playoff push)
Dan
4:21
A week and a day before the playoff roster deadline - has there been any rumblings about some of the teams outside the playoff picture dangling some pending FAs on the waiver wire?  Texas & Toronto both feel like teams that would want to shed some cap to get under/stay under the luxury tax line - could we see guys like David Robertson or Andrew Heaney get dangled?
Anthony Franco
4:23
Texas GM Chris Young already implied they weren't doing this (although he didn't outright say it, at least publicly). I still think Toronto should try with Chad Green -- possible they already did quietly and he didn't get claimed -- but the Jays traded all their impending FAs and don't have anyone they could lose without impacting the '25 roster
Aside from Ryan Yarbrough, I guess, but he'd probably clear anyways
Art Moreno
4:24
I wish I had a job contract extension for the putrid performance like the angels GM
Anthony Franco
4:25
Definitely surprised by that one. I was joking with Darragh yesterday that if you told me one of Servais and Minasian would get fired and the other signed an extension, wasn't sure if I'd have guessed which was which
4:26
Minasian's unquestionably hamstrung by ownership. I think there was defensible logic behind their constant fast-tracking of prospects and the push last summer within the constrains that Moreno imposed (especially the unwillingness to move Ohtani)
4:28
But everything they've done going back to last winter has baffled me. It's mostly an ownership problem -- Arte didn't want to match the Ohtani offer and cut back payroll overall -- but he presumably didn't mandate that they only sign relievers (headlined by a three-year deal for Robert Stephenson) to address a roster that had holes everywhere
otispdriftwood
4:28
I have been riding the wave with A Call on offense and with V Bellozo on pitching. Can I continue for the ROS, or should I trade/jettison them soon?
Anthony Franco
4:30
I think Call's alright. Certainly not this good but I like him as a fourth outfielder. Not sure that's valuable enough for fantasy
Not really buying it with Bellozo
MLB Playoff Seeding
4:30
As a pirates fan, 2024 playoffs aren't happening. But 2025 feels extremely realistic. Is it better for a young team to get the bye and have the extra days off or stay in the groove and push through like Arizona did last year? Seems like the time off would help an older team but younger?
Anthony Franco
4:31
Mentioned this last week but I'm still firmly of the belief that I'd take the bye in any circumstances
thebeatlesshow
4:31
Hey, Anthony.  Thanks again.  Any word on how pace of play...game times are doing this year?  Starting to creep up again??
Anthony Franco
4:31
Appears to be down actually. Four minute drop on average, three minutes for nine-inning games
4:33
Scoring dipped again so that's a small part. We're down from 75.7 plate appearances per game to 75.1. Pretty good on the overall pace of play though
Joe
4:33
Is it a career goal of yours or other writers on this site, to obtain jobs in major-league front offices? Or would it perhaps be to springboard into a more lucrative writing career? Considering the the quality and quantity of your writing and analysis, both seem attainable. Is there a consensus among the MLBTR contributors about this question? How do you feel? Thanks and appreciation.
Anthony Franco
4:35
Thanks for the kind words! I don't know about the long-term plans for my colleagues but I'm happy where I'm at. I did try to break into a front office when I was first starting out (before I moved to full-time here) and didn't get in anywhere.

I don't have a mathematical or coding background that's especially appealing to an analytics staff and don't have much in terms of scouting experience, so I'm not sure that my skillset is appealing to teams
4:39
As far as other writing opportunities, I don't know. If something came along that was a dramatic boost financially, I'd have to think about it. But I'm not pursuing anything in that regard and really like working here. Tim's great -- super appreciative that he largely trusts us to handle things and doesn't get any kind of ego boost out of micromanaging -- and the staff all gets along really well even though we never see one another in person
buffy, the umpire slayer
4:39
The commissioner is talking about forcing SPs to go a certain number of inning. He says it would make the game more entertaining. It got me thinking. Is MLB an entertainment industry or is it real ly a for-profit business? For the players, entertainment is secondary to the livelihood it provides. The owners, who are not filthy rich and can afford losing money, surely treat it like a business looking for profits based on how they impose limits on payroll.
Load More Messages
Connecting…