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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

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Anthony Franco

2:30

Yeah it's a huge blow. I do think they're in better position than everyone except maybe the Rays to withstand the loss of one of their top relievers. Still have Hader, Jake Cousins has been unreal. Ashby and Strickland are good, and I think they can move a guy like Houser to the 'pen and get really good work

2:31

But Williams is a top ten reliever in baseball. You can't replace that guy easily, and the way in which it happened has to be pretty deflating for that clubhouse

Bruce

2:31

Is there any reason for Phillies not to fire Girardi. Many questionable decisions during season and for second year in a row, team collapsed during most important week of season.

Anthony Franco

2:32

That all depends on how well-respected he still is with the clubhouse and his relationship with the front office

2:33

But I agree, from what we can tell publicly, I didn't love a lot of Girardi's in-game decisions and the team didn't exactly perform above expectations. I'd have him as one of the three to five likeliest managers to go this offseason

Bill

2:33

Will the Mariners trade Haniger this winter? Should they? What could they get?

Anthony Franco

2:33

I doubt it. He's been so good lately, the team can easily afford to keep him around, and they're squarely in win-now mode at this point

2:34

I wouldn't move him unless some other team completely blows me out of the water, and I don't expect them to do so. Can always look into an extension, and if he departs as a free agent after next season, they'll probably be in position to recoup a draft pick via the QO

Ron

2:34

Baez gives about the same production as Alonso and has proven he can play in NY. Not easy to find that production at 2nd. Why shouldn’t the Mets sign him vs Conforto and find a cheaper option for RF?

Anthony Franco

2:37

There's certainly merit to this, but I'd be wary of going completely all-in on Báez. Anecdotally, it sure feels like he's one of the streakier players around. He's riding an absurd hot streak right now, but his huge swing-and-miss looks pretty bad when he's going in the other direction

2:38

Good player all in all and an exceptionally fun guy to watch when he's right, but there's very little precedent for being a great hitter when you strike out as often as Báez does while essentially never drawing a walk

Billy Bravo

2:38

Why no love for Austin Riley for MVP?

Anthony Franco

2:39

That wasn't meant to be an exhaustive list earlier, just some off-the-cuff names. I haven't looked at it too deeply since we don't really do awards stuff

2:41

But I'm guessing Riley would probably be at the back half of my top ten? He's having a great season, but I have a hard time seeing a case for him over someone like Turner, who has basically the same OBP and slugging as Riley and is also arguably the best baserunner in the sport while playing both middle infield positions

Cardinals

2:41

Huge last season push, Cards looking pretty good going into the WC. What key factors do they NEED to do in order to make a huge push deep into the playoffs?

Anthony Franco

2:42

Pretty bland answer, but the first step is Wainwright posting an ace-like performance in the Wild Card game, where they'll probably be facing the Dodgers

2:43

If they get through the Wild Card game, sure they could make a run. The team defense is great, Flaherty's back now and O'Neill/Goldy/Arenado is a great lineup core

NotUAgain66

2:43

Is this generally true: a good offense gets a team to the playoffs, while a good pitching staff wins the pplayoffs?

Anthony Franco

2:44

I doubt it. The "pitching and defense wins championships" thing gets thrown around a lot, but I've never actually seen any statistical backing for it

2:45

I'd consider last year's Dodgers more of an offense-heavy team, for instance. They had great pitching too, but I think the most fearsome aspect of the team was the lineup

2:46

I'm pretty skeptical of the "secret to winning in the playoffs is X" kind of thing in general. The Nats did it with the rotation, the Dodgers and Astros with great lineups, the Royals of a few years ago were a bullpen/defense team

2:47

I'd rather build the best possible team I can in every area and hope those guys performa and the ball bounces my way in October

Tony M

2:47

Please explain to me how J.P. Crawford can have a .715 OPS and an OPS+ of 102, and Amed Rosario has a .729 OPS and an OPS+ of 99? Thank you!

Anthony Franco

2:47

Sure, so this is a park factor thing

2:48

FanGraphs' park factors are available here

https://www.fangraphs.com/guts.aspx?type=pf&season=2020&teamid=0&sort=...

2:49

Cleveland's Progressive Field (where Rosario plays half his games) rates as exactly league average for offense. Seattle's T-Mobile Park (where Crawford plays half his games) checks in as the fifth-most pitcher-friendly stadium in the league

2:50

So Crawford's raw numbers are lower, but the indexed stats (OPS+, wRC+, ERA-) adjust for the environment and give Crawford more credit than you'd think on the surface because his home park is so tough to hit in

RAGBRAI

2:50

Who are the Brewers 4/5 SP next year? Houser and Lauer or are their other/better options from within. Seems like any money spent should be on some IF/OF positions before pitching needs.

Anthony Franco

2:51

I'd run it back with Houser, Lauer and re-up Brett Anderson. I think the current rotation is great and deep enough that preserving it and looking to the position players (first base especially) would be the focus

RAGBRAI

2:52

Kelly and Varsho make for a good tandem but it seems a waste to platoon them. Does Varsho get more AB behind the plate or in the OF?

What’s first base like next in AZ. Walker doesn’t seem to be the answer. Is Beer or is he more of a DH type? Though Beer is often the answer to many questions. Do they seek outside help, if so who?

Anthony Franco

2:53

I think they'll probably trade Peralta and work Varsho through left field occasionally, but GM Mike Hazen has talked recently about wanting to be a little more consistent with positions for the younger players generally

2:54

The fact that Beer didn't get a call until September despite Walker being awful all year makes me question how much they really buy him as a regular first baseman. So that kind of depends on which direction they take the franchise in

2:55

Rebuilding? Then let Beer get 600 plate appearances and see what you have, even if he's a bad defender (which he is, by all accounts). If you're trying to be more competitive, then go get a Yoshi Tsutsugo or Brad Miller type to give you some more steady production

2:56

I don't think they know yet where they want to take things, because they were way worse this year than they expected to be. That presents a tough evaluation challenge moving forward

RAGBRAI

2:56

What will the winter meetings be like if there is no agreement by then? Will they still meet? Will trades get done if no new CNA?

Anthony Franco

2:58

Tim found that last time this happened, teams could still make moves. I expect that wouldn't be the case this time around, although I'm obviously hopeful that's not how things play out

RAGBRAI

2:58

Do the Padres really need to do much this off-season other than work on staying healthy during the season. Are there any major FA besides Melancon and does he resign? Seems like they have the right parts it just well oiled this year.

Anthony Franco

2:58

Got through all the RAGBRAI questions haha

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