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Front Office Chat: 8/8/25
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Anthony Franco
4:16
The swing decisions have been so much better in Milwaukee. It never made sense to me why he wasn't good in Chicago considering his college track record
4:18
I'm very cautiously optimistic. We're talking about one month from a guy who was actively bad for almost all of a 600-game career up to that point. But he's obviously always had talent, and every so often we get a Ryan O'Hearn who manages to dramatically improve his approach atypically late in his career after a change of scenery
ClarkeInEC
4:18
Roman’s contract extension - good or bad?
bob
4:18
Are Jarren Duran and Kristen Campbell day numbered in Boston Duran never got an extension offer
Anthony Franco
4:20
Tough to argue with the Sox making the Anthony move. The track record for that kind of player (elite hitting prospect with a small amount of immediate MLB success) is really strong. It starts as a Carroll-plus deal and allows him to earn his way closer to the Bobby Witt Jr. if he becomes a star -- in which case the Sox are happy to pay anyways
4:22
Campbell will get another look at some point, they're not going to move him after one season of an eight-year extension. I imagine they'll listen on Duran again in the offseason because of the outfield depth but it'd probably take a high-end starting pitcher with multiple years of control
George C's Wallet
4:23
Blue Jays and Brewers currently have the best records against teams above 500.Could we see a WS with these two and is that good for baseball?
Anthony Franco
4:25
I hate the "good for baseball" discourse. Would fewer people watch it than Yankees-Dodgers? Probably, although the Jays are the favorite team of most of an entire country. It'd be good for Jays and Brewers fans, though, and both those teams have plenty of players worth watching even if you're more of a casual fan of other teams
4:26
Not picking on you specifically, to be clear. Speaking about when people adjacent to baseball media (or any sport) make that a talking point
O’Hoppe
4:27
I have been taking grounders at 3rd base, before games. Does this mean, that I will be getting moved to 3rd base next season?
Anthony Franco
4:29
Teams have guys do pregame work at a lot of different positions just in case. I could see the Angels getting him some time there to keep him in the lineup when they want to play d'Arnaud a little more, but there's no need to make that a full-time switch
Guest
4:29
Why aren't the Dodgers giving Ryan Ward a shot? He had a great spring and his numbers at triple A are very good.
Anthony Franco
4:31
It's a corner only profile and they're not really using the last bench spot anyways. Seems like they want Ruiz or Dean for defensive/pinch-running purposes. Ward hits left-handed, so Call's a more natural platoon fit with Conforto
4:33
I hope he gets a look at some point, either with the Dodgers or as a rare minor league free agent to sign an MLB contract. I watched him play a couple times at Bryant and always thought he could hit. He's basically done everything he can in the minors to earn a look
Hits Like Rays
4:33
If the Rays trade Fairbanks over the winter, that will leave them with only Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz making over $10m in 2026.  Even for a cheap team like the Rays, will that payroll be low enough for them to go after a good free agent outfielder?
Anthony Franco
4:36
Unfortunately it's a weak outfield class. They should have payroll space and the sale could be finalized by then. Not out of the question that new ownership signs off on some mid-tier moves but I'd be floored if they make a legitimate run at Tucker and Bellinger also seems unlikely
If you want to put them on Grisham or a fit for Robert if the Sox buy him out, though, I could see that
Danny
4:36
Speaking of ROY, does anyone challenge Baldwin in the NL?
Anthony Franco
4:38
I doubt it. There a few Milwaukee guys who'll get some love (Collins, Miz, Durbin, even Patrick would've had a shot had the Brewers' rotation not been so good), but Baldwin feels like the guy
4:39
Probably a few stray votes for Agustin Ramírez too, since he's a catcher who's going to hit 20 homers. The defense is atrocious though
Hits Like Rays
4:39
My Rays question forgot about Kim.  I would expect him to stay on the Rays in 2026 to lock in that salary and try to stay healthy...
Anthony Franco
4:41
Agree that's likelier than not but still think he could play his way into an opt-out over the final six weeks. The non-Bichette shortstop class is otherwise so bad that he doesn't need to show a ton. In either case, they should be able to add a mid-level outfielder
Josh Elliott
4:42
How long should a stat have to be followed by instructions before the stat is no longer used?  I read articles all the time where the writer uses ops+ or (insert whatever one you want) and then follows it up with what it does and that 100 is league average.  Tells me these newer stats arent really catching on with the majority of baseball fans.  What is your take?
Anthony Franco
4:43
They're not really intuitive, which is why we continue to use those caveats. In that sense, I agree with you that they haven't caught on to a lot of fans
4:46
That said, they're pretty clear drivers of how most of today's front office personnel evaluate players. You'll occasionally hear them reference indexed stats, and you see it in a lot of team behavior (e.g. Jose Iglesias signing a minor league deal one year after he hit .337). In that sense, it'd be a disservice to readers not to include them. My goal in most posts is to best explain why I think teams are doing what they are
Sometimes it's performance based. Others it's based on roster minutia, contract status, tax payroll, etc.
#2- er, I mean #1
4:47
Who's your favorite player of all time?
Anthony Franco
4:47
Ha, I had a weird group of favorite players. My favorite player growing up as a Cubs fan was Starlin Castro. Didn't age well
4:49
I became a D-Backs fan in the mid-2010s because of AJ Pollock. After that, I half-jokingly was a bandwagon fan of whatever team utilityman Ehire Adrianza played for because he was inexplicably good for me in an MLB the Show season that I played like 10 years ago
4:51
I've had "Ehire Adrianza Stan" in my Twitter bio for years and have heard from people affiliated with both the Twins and Braves that he's a great dude, so I'm cool sticking with that even though he retired last year
Brewer Fan
4:51
I really hope Collins finishes second over Miz.. need that extra year of control haha
Anthony Franco
4:52
Lol I imagine Matt Arnold's right there with you
D Hat
4:53
If you were the general manager of the Tigers, what changes would you make over the winter to improve the team?
Anthony Franco
4:53
Would've done more to upgrade the team at the deadline, for one. Pretty disappointing that they didn't come away with a Bednar or Helsley. Getting Finnegan and a handful of middle relievers was a letdown
4:55
To your actual question, adding a back-end reliever in the winter feels like a must. I'm not really in on Finnegan to begin with, but he's a free agent regardless. Given the long-term payroll space, another run at Bregman or a Bichette push should be realistic
SPray
4:56
What did you think of the decision to release Marcus Stroman? Very weird move IMO, seeing as Schlittler could've been optioned for the final two months and then you have another SP in case someone goes down due to injury. Currently, if the Yankees start playing well and any of Warren/Gil/Rodon/Fried get hurt, I guess Schlittler's pitching in the playoffs in his rookie year?
Anthony Franco
4:59
Yeah, I'm with you on all of that. Wouldn't want Stroman pitching in the playoffs either, of course, but it locks them into Schlitter holding a rotation spot with essentially no injury cover, at least until Yarbrough comes back. I'd have optioned Schlittler to preserve the depth instead
5:00
Alright we're approaching the two-hour mark so I need to wrap this one up
5:01
Thanks as always for continuing to support the site and for all the questions! Feel free to throw anything else at me on X @affranco10 over the weekend
5:02
I'm on vacation next week but I believe Darragh will step in on the Friday chat. I'll be back the following week
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