JotCast | Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

Anthony Franco

2:00

Hey everybody, hope your weeks went well!

Looking forward to another chat, let's jump right into it

Braves Fan

2:00

How long does Snitker the great keep Will Smith as closer. We can't have a clean inning ever.

Anthony Franco

2:01

I could see a case for going to Rodríguez with Smith struggling to throw strikes recently, sure

2:03

But I think the difference between being used as a closer versus a high-leverage setup man isn't all that big really. Either way, both those guys are going to have to get outs in key spots. So if means more to Smith to keep the ninth inning (no idea if that's the case, but it's plausible), then I think it's fine for Snitker to show confidence in his guy and give him a bit of a leash

Tony M

2:03

If you had to pick the wild cards right now, who would you be picking?

Anthony Franco

2:04

I'm off the Padres' bandwagon finally. Dodgers and Reds in NL, Yankees and A's (who I'll stick with until the end, terrible week notwithstanding) in the AL

Don

2:04

Do you think Braves will bring some combo of the 4 outfielders they brought for LF AND DH. Then give Pache and Waters a chance to fight out CF. I just don’t see another year of no true CF in middle of defense. I would like to see Peterson, Duvall and Soler come back. Curious about when to expect Rosario. Maybe this weekend with Giants coming to town.

Anthony Franco

2:04

Don asked this question earlier in the week

2:06

Rosario was reinstated today. I think Duvall's probably the likeliest of the deadline acquisitions to come back but I don't see room for all of them plus Acuna. Honestly, I think they'll probably trade one of Waters or Pache this winter

2:07

Neither of those guys has really forced their way to an everyday job next year given they've only been OK at Triple-A this season

Guest

2:07

What ever happened to the dispute between the Yankees and Jacoby Ellsbury as to his last year’s salary?

Anthony Franco

2:08

I haven't seen anything on this since May, when Jim Callis reported there was no timetable for a resolution

2:10

Kris Bryant's 2015 service time grievance was heard in October 2019 and the ruling was announced the following January. These things take forever, and I'm guessing the pandemic didn't help

daddydeerist

2:10

Of the 2 most notable deadline pickups by the Yankees I don't see and can't imagine either of them sticking in the Bronx. Gallo is just another HR hitter & corner OF with low BA & high K %. Enough of that already, huh? We already have a surplus. Rizzo would serve the purpose of maybe keeping Voit available instead of on the IL but the price of both to platoon would be more than they are collectively worth. The future appears to be on the open market, but who? What say you?

Anthony Franco

2:11

Gallo's controllable next season via arbitration, so they don't need to make a decision on him just yet

2:13

As an aside, I think you're being a little too general with your characterization of Gallo. You're right that he's a low-AVG, high-power corner OF on a team full of those, but he's one of the league's best at drawing walks and a Gold Glove caliber outfielder. He's much closer to Judge than he is to someone like Chris Carter

2:15

On Rizzo, I think they'll look to keep him around. If they do, they'd probably trade Voit this winter. Stylistically, Rizzo's different than the righty-heavy lineup of high-strikeout sluggers you alluded to. If they're concerned about the redundancy, signing him and moving Voit makes more sense

Greggo

2:16

In the postseason pitching and then defense seems to reign supreme. After that what's more important: (1) a team that hits a lot of homers, or (2) a team that keeps the line moving?

Anthony Franco

2:18

You hear the cliche that the playoffs are about contact hitting, etc, but I don't think there's much truth to that. Ben Lindbergh at the Ringer looked at this last year and found that homer-dependent teams were actually a little more successful generally in the postseason than teams that put the ball at a higher rate

https://www.theringer.com/2020/10/15/21517482/home-run-wins-playoffs

2:19

Put the ball in play* at a higher rate

2:20

But even that's a pretty small effect, and there are obvious exceptions (2014-15 Royals, for one). I don't think there's actually a secret to winning in the playoffs. The samples are too small for the "best" team to win every time

So really, you want a team that puts the ball and hits for power (i.e. a great one) and you still need some luck to go with it

Randy G

2:20

The Brewers' big three of Peralta, Burns, and Woodruff is indeed an imposing rotation, but I would argue that Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, and Tyler Mahle (along with Wade Miley) is a staff that also misses bats and could take the Reds deep in a playoff run. The bullpens, of course, are not comparable. In a seven-game series, where a fourth starter is often needed, I submit the Reds are even deeper (Gutierrez has been a pleasant surprise as a fifth starter, too). Your thoughts?

Anthony Franco

2:22

Even rotation-only, I'd go Milwaukee. Woodruff, Burnes, Peralta all have lower ERA's and higher strikeout rates than any of the Cincinnati guys

2:23

Not to say the Reds' rotation is bad -- it's really good, I agree -- but Milwaukee's is the best in baseball IMO

But yeah, the Reds could be dangerous in the playoffs. Have to beat either the Dodgers or Giants in a one-game playoff first, though

Jorge78

2:24

Last year minor leaguers could come up and "help" during the playoffs with no service time implications. Is that rule still in effect? How do you feel about the current September roster rule? (28 total). Seems like a few more slots would 🤔 be better. Thanks!

Anthony Franco

2:24

Yeah, the playoffs don't count for service time purposes

2:25

I actually prefer the trimmed-down September rosters. Never understood why we'd completely change the rules of the sport during the season's final month

Teddy Ballgame

2:25

Matt Barnes has had a disgusting August. Garrett Whitlock, on the other hand, has had a "below the radar" spectacular year. Is there any chance that the BoSox will pivot away from Barnes next year and install Whitlock as its closer? Isn't Barnes a free agent at the end of this year (according to RotoGraphs' Roster Resource)?

Anthony Franco

2:26

Barnes signed a two-year, $18.75MM extension last month. The deal has a club option covering 2024 as well

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/red-sox-matt-barnes-nearing-agr...

2:27

It's a similar question to the one I answered with regards to Smith and the Braves earlier. I think it's fine to bump Barnes from the ninth if Cora thinks a brief mental reset will be better for him

2:28

But either way, the focus should be on getting him right again since he's a pivotal part of the bullpen. If he's the kind of person who'd be more likely to do that with a longer leash that shows the organization's still confident in him (no idea, but Cora obviously would), then I think that's the right move

Who?

2:28

Who's your surprise playoff team?

Anthony Franco

2:29

Kinda late in the year for sleeper teams haha. I don't think we're going to get a late run from a team that's 5+ games back at this point

2:30

Entering the year, I had the A's as a playoff team (might've been the only one on the MLBTR staff who did) and I'm sticking with them despite their recent slump, so I guess they're the closest to that

CBA

2:30

I saw that MLB proposed a $100M team minimum salary. I think this would be great for the game, but have to imagine there are some franchise like Oakland, Pittsburg, TB, and Miami that would not be in favor of this. What do you think the odds are for this? Looking at Oakland and TB situation currently with the potential moves, would this make them more likely to move? Can't imagine with their stadium situations and lack of fans they could survive at that $100 year in and year out.

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