Front Office Chat: 8/31/2026
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Sharky
4:46
Thoughts on the league’s proposal for a free agency freeze? Specifically the idea itself, not the fact that it’s likely DOA with the players union.
Anthony Franco
4:48
It's not great for mid-tier players. The tighter FA window means they're facing more pressure to sign before it closes, asking prices would fall as Dec. 21 (or whatever other deadline they decide) approaches. That's the main appeal for the league in offering it
4:49
Obviously the league attached it to their cap/floor proposal, in which case it's a little redundant. The tighter spending window incentivizes teams to do everything within the first days of the offseason anyway, no advantage for a player in waiting until mid-January and hoping to get an owner to raise the budget if the rules prohibit them from spending more
4:51
Selfishly, I hate it because it'd make my job a lot more difficult. We'd have a few days to a week where we're basically working around the league clock and then a few months of having very little newsworthy material where site traffic plummets
4:53
Obviously that's a niche concern that no one else cares about. I can see the argument that it'd make the offseason more fun for the average fan. I prefer the slower burn of the MLB offseason to keep January and February from being a complete dead zone, but I understand the appeal of an early bonanza where you're refreshing constantly for five days and then just kind of check out on MLB until February
Trot
4:53
Anthony!  Curious how you think Okamoto handled his 1st MLB season.  Do you expect improvement next year, particularly with K%?
Anthony Franco
4:55
Yeah it's an encouraging season. Handled velocity fine, the power obviously plays, solid understanding of the strike zone. Could see a slight improvement on the strikeout rate in the next year or two but it'd probably be a brief one because he's going to run up against physical decline in his early 30s
4:57
The bat speed's good now but that usually starts to wane around this age. Guys can feel that going, need to make the swing decision an extra beat or two early to compensate, and that can lead to increased chase and/or pulling off secondary stuff more frequently
podsednik05hr
4:57
white sox starters have finally begun to hit a wall.  Taken longer than I thought.  I think they are in teh playoffs but still not sure if they win the division.  either way an incredible run
Anthony Franco
4:58
I think they'll hold on and nab the #2 seed, which would position them well with the way the AL bracket is shaking out to get to the ALCS
5:00
Obviously the rotation's light and they're going to need another high-end starter to be a true championship contender (as opposed to just getting in and hoping to get the batted ball luck against much better teams), but I'd take this lineup/bullpen over whoever comes out of the AL West or wins the sixth seed
Like Enos to the Slaughter
5:00
Thanks for the chat!

Both Stott and Bohm seem to have been weirdly rejuvenated by their position shifts since Arraez arrived in Philly. Does that change either's long-term future vis-a-vis the Phillies, or are we all still just waiting for Aiden Miller's lower back to cooperate?
Anthony Franco
5:03
Move on from Bohm after this season. We've seen stretches like this from him before. He can be a decent player but there's not enough game power to do it consistently as an everyday 1B
5:04
More open to this being a meaningful change for Stott, even if just demonstrating that he can be a high-end defender at 2B or 3B to provide insurance at either spot if Miller doesn't pan out and Turner needing to move off SS next year
MrBill
5:05
Crunch time for Braves and Phils both have difficult schedules.Who will prevail?
Anthony Franco
5:06
Atlanta's got the five-game cushion so I'm taking them pretty comfortably
Natty's Dred
5:06
As I understand speed calculations (distance / time), I was curious when I saw Benge throw 104 mph from about 250 or more feet. Pitchers do the same thing but it’s only for 60 feet. So is it calculated at several points during the throw with the highest number the overall speed? Or, is it D/T for the entire throw? If so, I would assume Benge’s throw was more than 104 mph. It seems a 250 foot throw would slow down at some point so it would have to start at a higher speed to average 104. So if Benge were still pitching he’d be breaking the record for fastest pitch? Right?
Anthony Franco
5:09
Statcast tracks velocity out of the player's hand for both pitchers and defenders, so you're going too far in trying to adjust for distance
5:10
Also not an apples to apples comparison because an outfielder gets to crow hop or get a running start behind a potential sac fly, big advantage compared to a pitcher
Duffy
5:10
Do you worry the Red Sox, after this past weekend, just don’t have what it takes to hang around for a three game wild card series in NY? What has to change in the next month to change that?
Anthony Franco
5:13
I'd give the Yankees a slight edge in October (assuming Judge is a full go) based on the starting pitching but wouldn't read too much into one series. They got kicked around a little bit, it happens
5:15
Boston's two best pitchers happened to not line up for that one too. Obviously Tolle and Gray are going in a three-game series as opposed to Bello and Sandoval
Guest
5:15
Who picks up Hoby Milner?
Anthony Franco
5:16
Guardians or Orioles would make sense
RoxTalks
5:16
In 2000 Todd Helton led the NL in hits, RBI, BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, and bWAR. His road OPS was (1.074), which was higher than Jeff Kent, Jim Edmonds, and Mike Piazza's total OPS for the season, all of whom and Barry Bonds (1.127 OPS) finished above Helton in NL MVP voting. Is that one of the worst MVP votes of all time?
Anthony Franco
5:18
I agree with you that Helton should've won but Kent was a 2B who hit .334 with 33 homers on a team that won the division at a time when a lot of voters found it disqualifying to play on a non-playoff team
5:19
Helton probably would win if this happened in 2026 but this doesn't strike me as an egregiously bad one. Lot of worse historical awards votes than this one
Ao
5:20
Will we see Konnor griffin in Pittsburgh this week, barring any setbacks?
Anthony Franco
5:20
Seems like he'll be good when first eligible on Friday
Lockout
5:20
Once the lockout is in effect, can teams sign minor league deals? Will that “tier” of “talent” be where our news comes from while the rich argue with themselves?
Anthony Franco
5:22
Yep, can still sign minor league deals. Anything not involving players on the 40-man roster is fair game. Get excited
Not Alex Cora
5:22
Does Chad Tracy finish second in AL Manager of the year to Venable? Any chance he surprise takes the award??
Anthony Franco
5:23
Have a tough time seeing Venable not winning it if Chicago makes the playoffs. I'd guess Tracy ends up third behind him and Cash
walterj23
5:23
Will there Cubs make the playoffs  this year ? They can't hit good pitching and their pitching isn't doing themselves any favors .
Anthony Franco
5:25
They're getting in but I'd give Philly a slight edge if they meet in the WC Series
CBA Stuff
5:26
You have multiple games on a Sunday on NBC.  You hae the FOX games.  You have business booming.  Would the owners pick this as the time to increase their franchise valuations?  The timing of a lockout dipping into the season couldn't be worse.  The only way they would get the union to budge is to lock them out until the Union's War Chest runs dry, which means a lost season.  Which is devestating.  But owners make billions more off their valuations if that happens.  Also funny how they know the players won't take a cap but will lock them out for something they likely aren't getting anyway.  I don't think the owners/league would sit out part of next season, but I wouldn't be shocked
Anthony Franco
5:29
I take your point on franchise valuation but the worst of both worlds from their perspective is that they stunt all the TV momentum, miss games, and still don't get the PA to budge on a cap. If "lost season" automatically equaled "salary cap" then yeah that'd be an easy call for them

Risk continues to feel too high in my view but we'll see
Like Enos to the Slaughter
5:30
Is this the year the Brewers finally get over the NL hump and win the World Series? And if ownership wasn't willing to push its chips in for this year, will they ever?
Anthony Franco
5:31
Would love to see it, think it's pretty close to a coin flip between them and the Dodgers as the plurality favorite
5:33
Obviously they were overmatched by LAD a year ago and I still have some concern about the offense being so contact-dependent when the caliber of opposing pitching ramps up and it's tougher to string hits together
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