Front Office Chat: 9/18/26
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Anthony Franco
3:01
Good afternoon, hope all is well!
Looking forward to another of these, let's get started
Braves fan since 1968
3:01
Will the braves Target a short stop in the off-season
Anthony Franco
3:03
Yeah they're going to have to. Dubón's kind of a stopgap there. Even if they bring him back, he's ideally a super-utility guy. Jim Jarvis isn't an answer, Tate Southisene feels like a 2028 arrival at the earliest
3:04
Two-year stopgap deal for J.P. Crawford or something
Matt
3:04
Assuming the Mariners trade either Kirby or Gilbert, who is the most realistic trade target they receive in return?
Anthony Franco
3:05
Went into that more here with a few speculative names I think could be plausible:
3:07
Masyn Winn's not going to fix the offense but Seattle's infield defense has also been rough. If Crawford walks, they could play Emerson at 3B and have Donovan in a super-utility capacity.

Cardinals need upside SP, could move Wetherholt to SS and have Jesús Báez looming as a 2B option
3:08
I don't think STL would do it for one expensive year of Gilbert -- they're not quite there yet in the competitive cycle -- but as some kind of framework involving two years of Kirby?
brewsed ego
3:08
Kyle Harrison's wheels have effective fallen off.  Seems safe to say he won't be part of the playoff rotation, which really hurts us brewers.  Has he just had super bad luck of late?  I'm sure some of it is confidence that he no longer has, going from being a stud in the rotation to can't get an out on some days.  Does the underlying data show something else at work here?  Is he just gassed?  Appreciate your time!
Anthony Franco
3:13
The stuff doesn't seem that much different but hard to feel like there's not something off mechanically after the forearm tightness. Not any huge changes but his arm slot did drop a little bit in August
3:14
Command obviously hasn't been as sharp. Some regression from a home run perspective was inevitable either way
3:16
But yeah obviously not ideal going into the playoffs. He's clearly behind Henderson at this point and probably May as well. Might even prefer Gasser as a Game 4 starter
Confused Met Fan
3:16
What is your take on the recent Pete Alonso return to Citi field and the standing O he got from the home crowd after hitting a homerun?
Anthony Franco
3:17
Obviously no issue with an ovation when he first comes back. Do think it goes too far when you're actively rooting against your own team and celebrating him hitting a game-tying HR against them (even as a career milestone)
3:19
But whatever, it's not like I'm offended about it. Mets fans should be pissed about how this year has gone, I'm sure some of it is rooting against Stearns at this point. Just would not have done that myself
Wvpirate
3:20
Can you name a free agent pitcher who signed for at least 3 years. Who did not land in the IR.
Anthony Franco
3:20
Kevin Gausman's the first one who jumps to mind
3:22
I'm sure there are more but obviously, there's a > 50% chance that a pitcher's going to get hurt at some point in a multi-year deal. That's true of any pitcher. Most of them don't go three years in a row without an injury no matter where they're at in their careers -- and the free agents are almost always in their late 20s or 30s and therefore higher risk
Just the cost of doing business. You need someone to pitch and almost no one's going to be able to get that all from a homegrown rotation
Josh E
3:23
Not the biggest fan of these new fangled stats (pardon me while I take my teeth out and sit on the porch), im trying though.  What stat, if there is one, could possibly begin to explain the offensive difference the Padres have experienced between the first and second half?  Seems they couldn’t do anything right in the first half and are doing little wrong in the second half.
Anthony Franco
3:25
Ha, not sure we even need any analytics on that one. They've been better offensively in every area and I think the true if boring explanation is that Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill are just way too good to play as badly as they did in the first half for an entire season
3:28
Merrill's striking out a little less often. Tatis is hitting the ball harder and when he's getting the ball in the air, he's doing a much better job pulling them. It's obviously easier to hit balls out to left field than to center as a right-handed hitter
3:29
France has been huge all year. They got some contributions from Rengifo before his injury, but they really just needed their two best players to get going and it's finally happened
SandyG
3:29
Does Francisco Alvarez have any trade value? His is currently unplayable with no plate discipline, poor defense and zero production. Surely Senger or Parada couldn't be any worse backing up Torrens (who's having a career year). Thanks!
Anthony Franco
3:31
Fair to say the ugly finish deals a bit of a trade value hit but yeah, there'd still be a lot of teams interested in three years of a 25-year-old RHH catcher with this kind of power and arm strength
3:33
Disagree on your latter point. Fair to say Torrens has outplayed Alvarez this year -- he unquestionably has in the second half -- but you're accepting a much lower offensive ceiling out of the position if you roll with him and Senger moving forward
3:34
Some teams are willing to do that (e.g. Guardians) and maybe it's worthwhile if they cash in Alvarez for pitching or controllable infield help, but it's a downgrade at catcher
Optimistic Giants Fan
3:34
What's the worst food item you've ever had at an MLB ballpark
Anthony Franco
3:35
I basically stick to high-floor stuff like nachos or fries. Risk-reward of getting adventurous on ballpark food is not worth it IMO
Just a baseball guy
3:36
Anthony Hi. Cards need a starter and a third base guy. I don’t know about a starter ( May worked out ) but who plays third base next year? Fermin , Saggese maybe as a place card ?
Anthony Franco
3:37
Yeah I think it's someone outside the organization. Bohm, Willi Castro, maybe the next A's GM isn't a huge Zack Gelof fan and puts him out there
Jagger
3:37
Do you think Anthony Molina will be in the Giants rotation next year?
Anthony Franco
3:39
Probably depends on camp injuries (and I guess whatever happens with Houser, flexor strain is kind of vague) but I think he's done enough to compete for a back-end job in Spring Training
3:41
Webb, Roupp, two outside acquisitions and then hopefully just one spot to fill internally with Molina entering camp as the favorite, if kind of by default
Arise, Sir Loin of Beef
3:41
How does the draft lottery work? The Mets are one of the 6 worst teams in baseball, but several of the other 6 are ineligible for the lottery. If the Mets went on a streak, would they still get a lottery pick if they had the 7th worst record?
Anthony Franco
3:44
Not sure I understand the second part of your question. If you're asking if they're ineligible for the lottery if they end up with the seventh-worst record, no
3:45
Every non-playoff team is eligible for the lottery
3:46
They'll all be entered into a drawing with varying odds depending on where they finished (higher probably for the worst teams but still below 50%)
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