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MLBTR Chat: 2/22/23
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Anthony Franco
6:34
Erik Swanson over whichever reliever gets pushed out of the bullpen is more impactful than Thompson possibly taking some depth starts from Mitch White or Yusei Kikuchi too
arms
6:35
Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy end up where?
Anthony Franco
6:36
Probably both taking minor league deals somewhere. White Sox could use another depth starter on an NRI, Colorado perhaps
Colas
6:37
Do I Break Camp with the team?
Anthony Franco
6:37
I'd be surprised if he's not the White Sox's Opening Day right fielder
Phil
6:37
What happened to Austin Martin? He was once a top prospect and was thought to be a future star. That hasn’t been the case. How does he fall that far? I get it, he was traded to a totally new organization but that shouldn’t affect him so much after once being considered for the first overall pick. That brings me to Spencer Torkelson. He was incredible in the minors but he hasn’t done anything in Detroit. Do you see a chance that he can still be a star?
Anthony Franco
6:39
Still in on Torkelson, believe I answered a similar question on him last week. I thought Martin was the best player in that draft class (incorrectly evidently), but he just hasn't hit the ball hard enough consistently in pro ball
Guest
6:40
Is there a scenario where Cleveland don't trade Amed Rosario by the deadline? It seems in their best interest regardless of how the season goes.
Anthony Franco
6:41
They'd have to be out of contention to do that. He's a good clubhouse fit, fine everyday player. Trade return for half a season of Rosario wouldn't be all that significant anyways
james
6:41
Does M.Chapman have a 25% chance of passing Machado?
Anthony Franco
6:44
On their respective next contracts? Feels more like 10% to me. Chapman's strikeout rate is just too alarming. He feels more in the Nimmo/Swanson range to me: good hitter with significant defensive value but a little short of anchoring a lineup
Jose Iglesias
6:45
Why am I still not signed yet?
Anthony Franco
6:46
Defensive metrics have dropped off pretty significantly the last couple seasons. Feels like a minor league deal at this point
Cheever J. Loophole
6:47
Did SD make a lowball extension offer to Machado in your opinion? Thanks Anthony.
Anthony Franco
6:49
"Lowball" seems harsh. I'm not surprised he didn't take an additional five/$105MM, assuming that was accurately reported. But it wasn't at the level of Boston offering Bogaerts an additional one year and $30MM last spring or anything
Thanks Tony
6:49
Who has a better season, Cole or Rodon? Who has a “better”contract in the end?
Anthony Franco
6:50
Cole on both accounts
Guest
6:50
Stuck inside because of an ice storm here in W Michigan.   But at least I have a baseball chat.  What is it like where you are?
Anthony Franco
6:50
Some hail but nothing crazy in Buffalo. Hoping we're done with blizzards for the winter
Jim Leyland
6:50
What do you take on the over/under?  Miguel Cabrera 235 plate appearances
Anthony Franco
6:52
A little under. Think they'll want to get the Kerry Carpenter/Matt Vierling types a decent amount of DH work
RAGBRAI
6:52
Does Floro lose his closing job to Puk this summer?
Anthony Franco
6:53
The Herald's Jordan McPherson wrote today that the Marlins are planning to take a closer by committee approach from the beginning of the season
Shimdog
6:53
Will Kepler swing come back after shift is removed?
Anthony Franco
6:55
Should get a little bit of a boost as a lefty pull hitter who puts the ball in play, but I don't think he's going back to 2019 numbers or anything. He just doesn't hit many line drives, typically hits a lot of infield fly balls. Those are bat control issues rather than bad luck with the shift
Amir
6:55
Rangers to win the AL West. Pitching staff will be a lot better and they hitting will be fantastic as the pressure of year 1 is off the guys that signed last year. Thoughts?
Anthony Franco
6:56
Astros are still clearly the best team in the division for me. Texas is more in the Wild Card conversation given the questions about the outfield and some of the injury questions within the rotation
6:58
They're going to be a lot better than they were. That would've happened regardless of what they did this offseason based on better results in close games, and the offseason attacked their biggest flaw. It should be a pretty good team but they'd have to improve by like 30-35 wins to take the division. I don't see that
ivylander
6:58
Opinion on the O's offseason seem split - quietly excellent vs. hugely disappointing. Not bringing in a major starter seems to be the issue. What's your take?
Anthony Franco
7:00
In between those extremes but closer to the latter camp. They seemed really concerned about not wanting to jeopardize the long-term payroll outlook because the rebuild should yield competitive rosters for most of the decade. That's fine but I don't think they've done enough to make themselves a playoff team in 2023 -- which is ostensibly their goal after last year's solid second half
teej-A
7:00
Who gets first pick in the 2024 draft?
Anthony Franco
7:02
I'd pick Oakland to end up with the league's worst record but there's a draft lottery now, so anyone in the bottom three has an equal shot (with decreasing odds for every non-playoff team)
Let’s go John Angelos
7:02
Is there a show format yet on the podcast? When is it coming out?
Anthony Franco
7:03
We have a producer in place now. Still lining up some of the logistics on it. Seems like it could be up and running within the next couple weeks
Alright I have to head out to cover the site
7:04
Thanks for all the questions this week. As always, I'm sorry for the stuff I couldn't address. I'm on Twitter at @affranco10 if you want to throw anything else at me
I also do a chat every Friday exclusive to Front Office subscribers. I get to a significantly higher percentage of the questions in those with fewer people involved
7:06
You can find more about our memberships at that link. Those also came with weekly posts from Steve and myself on various topics. I looked at Jeremy Pena's rookie season and potential comps if the Astros wanted to engage him in extension talks for this week
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