You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Rockies Outlook Chat
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Anthony Franco
5:22
It was creative but yeah, it's not an accurate reflection of how the deadline trade market works. Calling, say, Alex Colomé a Range Rover is overstating things obviously. More importantly, the limited offers reflect Colorado's lack of leverage on guys with expiring deals
5:23
I guess you can argue they could just extend the guys they were set to lose (as they did with Bard), but they'd almost certainly have been better off taking whatever was on the table for both him and Kuhl at least
Perhaps Carlos Estévez too
Is Kris Bryant a bust?
5:23
Is it safe to say the Kris Bryant contract is already a bust? I know he could bounce back but is it at all likely he ever actually lives up to that surprisingly large salary?
Anthony Franco
5:24
How are we defining bust? I wouldn't have wanted to invest seven years and $182MM in Bryant at the time they did, and obviously year one didn't go as planned. It's very clearly an underwater deal at the moment
5:25
That said, he's only going to be 31 and should be healthy at the start of next season. Do I expect him to live up to a $28MM salary? No, but I think he should still be pretty good for a while
Josh P
5:25
Maybe this is simplifying things too much, but how come to Rockies don’t just overpay for pitchers who are extreme ground ball pitchers? Those seem to be the only types of pitchers who would succeed in the altitude of Coors, so why not just spend the money on what works?
Anthony Franco
5:26
They've tried this but there's a trade-off that comes with that where you're getting guys who don't miss bats. Very few pitchers get both strikeouts and grounders, and the ones who do are tough to acquire
5:27
So you're targeting pitch-to-contact guys in a ballpark that allows the most hits in the majors (as mentioned, lot of ground to cover). It doesn't give them a ton of margin for error
Brad Hand’s Hand
5:27
Is McMahon really a better 3b than Machado?
Anthony Franco
5:28
Machado has a better arm. I think McMahon's probably a little rangier. They're both very good, I lean slightly in favor of Machado
Obviously this is defense-only. Machado's a significantly better overall player
Andrew
5:28
Should they prioritize good-great fielders with speed in FA or through trade, kinda like KC? I feel like outfield defense has been an issue for awhile now, especially with Coors and it’s massive outfield.
Anthony Franco
5:29
Yeah probably. They may also have to do this out of necessity, since the only good free agent CF this year (aside from Judge) is Brandon Nimmo
I think Nimmo's going over nine figures and am skeptical the Rockies would do that for a second straight offseason. If they miss on Nimmo, they're pretty much down to defensive specialists
5:30
Kiermaier's the main one. Cody Bellinger probably gets cut by the Dodgers. Could try to trade for Michael Taylor
MoonBeamMcSwine
5:30
Rockies have to look at depth/quality from highly rated farm systems.. Pivoting is ALL they have... A pivot to the contact oriented Cleveland model could bring them into relevance that much faster.. A deal where the Rockies acquire two(2) potential TORP, an A- ball middle infielder and one current ML'er, preferably a pitcher would be the "get"! Who says no: Rox get Brayan Rocchio, Bryan Lavastida, Tanner Burns, Joey Cantillo for Drew Romo? (a 40 man roster clear for the Guardians for a near ML ready SS, catcher and two SP candidate)?
Anthony Franco
5:30
Yeah Cleveland isn't going to give up that much for Romo
Baseball fan
5:31
Bryant, Freeland, Blackmon & Diaz - can any of these contracts be moved?
Anthony Franco
5:31
Not without eating a chunk of money. None of those guys would make what they are if they were free agents this winter
Ryan
5:31
Why are the Rockies looked at as hopeless. If you objectively look at that minor league system, it’s loaded
Anthony Franco
5:33
I don't think it's hopeless long-term. But for 2023 they're up against the franchise-record spending level with at least three question marks in the rotation, two outfield needs, a rookie shortstop, a mediocre catcher and an already meh bullpen that could lose one of its better arms (Estévez) to free agency
minoso9
5:33
I think the Rox have many good young ballplayers. Rodgers at 2b has enormous potential and the shortstop they brought up in September looks promising. To me the Rockies problems begin at the top with the owners, then comes the front office, and field manager Black is a good guy but has not done much at the helm for years.
Anthony Franco
5:34
I got a bunch of questions about the ownership and front office, so I'll use this comment as a proxy to respond to all those
5:36
I think the biggest issue is the Rockies don't have a great grasp for the broader market, at least in comparison to other teams. They're strongly loyal to their internal core, which has some pieces but has shown time and again it's not deep enough to compete for a playoff spot
5:37
Yet they've doubled down with above-market extensions for a bunch of those guys (Freeland, Senzatela, Díaz in particular)
5:39
Bill Schmidt and Bud Black have been in the game for decades. They obviously know a ton about scouting, managing personalities, etc. But I do think this organization would benefit from adding (and genuinely trusting) more outside perspective on the current roster than they've been willing to do in recent years
Farhandrew Zaidman
5:39
Radical idea here. The Rox have proven the ability to develop hitters and proven their inability to develop pitchers. Why not simply....stop drafting pitchers? Trade from an enormous competitive advantage for major league arms on the cheap, fill out the org with foreign/NDFA/indy ball guys.
Anthony Franco
5:40
I kind of disagree with the premise. Márquez and Freeland (and to a lesser extent Senzatela) were player development successes, at least initially
Brenton Doyle
5:40
Do I have any chance at making the big league roster on Opening Day? When do you see me being given the opportunity to play CF at 20th & Blake?
Anthony Franco
5:41
He'll go on the 40-man roster this offseason but I don't see him being on the Opening Day roster. His strikeout and walk numbers in Double-A were rough
5:42
He clearly has intriguing physical tools but he's nowhere near a finished product offensively
Evan
5:43
Will Todd Helton get into the Hall of Fame this year?
Anthony Franco
5:43
Can't see him jumping 25 percentage points in one offseason but I do think he'll get in eventually
Brendan Rodgers
5:43
What are realistic expectations for me next year?
Anthony Franco
5:45
Still think there's an above-average hitter in there somewhere. Expect he'll top 20 homers for the first time, something like .275/.340/.460-ish
5:46
Hitting fewer grounders is easier said than done but he's consistently muted his raw power potential with the low angle of contact. Maybe a new voice helps there?
Sammy
5:46
ロッキーズのフロントオフィスはどの時代に戻れば平均以上と評価されますか?　80年代？90年代？
Anthony Franco
5:47
I don't speak Japanese but Google translate indicates this question is basically: how far back do you have to go for the Rockies' front office to be considered above-average? 80's or 90's?
5:49
Which is interesting. I hadn't really considered it, but my guess is it's probably closer to the mid-2000's. Understanding that OBP is more important than batting average and being able to account for park effects is a strong starting point that probably wasn't as prevalent 20 years ago
Connecting…