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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

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Anthony Franco

2:35

Not saying that's necessarily the case with Lowe, but I'd at least want to keep Margot around as insurance

I do think they'll be motivated to move Kiermaier and probably find a deal for him this winter

Jeremy

2:35

Thoughts on the breakdown of the Berrios contract? I love it for the Jays

Anthony Franco

2:36

Yeah, the terms were probably a little lighter than I expected when I first saw that he signed

I don't think it's a terrible deal for Berríos, but I'd have guess 6/131 before 7/131 going in. I like it a lot for the Jays

Five Tool Time

2:36

It's been a while since Yermin Mercedes's 15 days of fame earlier this year. If the NL gets the DH, does he have any trade value -- maybe packaged with a high salary like Kimbrel or Keuchel to sweeten the deal a little?

Anthony Franco

2:37

I think he has marginally positive value

If he were placed on waivers tomorrow, I'm sure someone would claim him

2:38

But his overall offense was just average in both the majors and Triple-A this year, and he's a soon to be 29-year-old DH. Teams aren't going to be falling over themselves to get him

The other Urias

2:38

Luis Urias (MIL) seems to be improving each season by small degrees. Considering he is only 24 yo, do you foresee a much larger jump in bat production for '22?

Anthony Franco

2:39

Hmm, that's a good question. He was already 11 points above league average this past season

2:40

Doesn't hit the ball super hard, but he's got good strike zone feel and doesn't swing-and-miss much. I could see him as like a 115-120 wRC+ guy, sure

2:41

I don't think he's on the verge of superstardom -- probably doesn't have enough power for that -- but if you told me he was quietly a really good player in 2022 (in like a Jake Cronenworth kind of way) I could buy it

Giantsphan

2:41

How likely do you think it is that the Giants will be able to re-sign Gausman? In addition, do you think Farhan will go after another big-name established starter (Ray, Stroman perhaps) or do you think he’ll target mid-tier SP and try to improve their output similar to the past two seasons? Thank you!

Anthony Franco

2:42

I think the Giants are the favorites on Gausman. I don't think Gausman/Ray is happening, but Gausman and one of the higher-end mid-tier guys (Jon Gray, perhaps) seems realistic to me

2:43

Or Gausman and a trade for an above-average starter like Bassitt or Pablo López

grover

2:43

Who says "No"? Oakland sends Sean Murphy and the underwater contract of Stephen Piscotty to Miami for Max Meyer, JJ Bleday, & Eury Perez. The Marlins get 4 years of a gold glove Catcher with a league average bat and don't lose anyone from their active roster. The A's clear an otherwise unmovable salary in their efforts to slash payroll to the $40-50 MM mark and still land impact prospects.

Anthony Franco

2:43

Can't see the Marlins giving up that kind of talent for Murphy

mmddyyyy

2:43

Do you tend to see more questions about good players or bad players?

Anthony Franco

2:43

Good ones, by far

Fans want their teams to sign good players

soto shuffle

2:43

if you were a RH hitter in need of a pillow contract why wouldn't you just go hit in front of Soto in DC? he made Rendon and Turner into stars and brought Escobar's career back from the dead.

Anthony Franco

2:44

I disagree with the premise here. Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon were already awesome before Soto even came up

2:45

Playing in Washington and being in the same lineup with Soto would be super cool, to be clear, but I don't think he's single-handedly turning bad players into stars

Hits Like Rays

2:45

The Rays have so much long-term control over their projected starting pitchers (McClanahan, Chirinos, Baz, Patino, Yarbrough, Fleming) that it looks like an obvious strength. But their playoff loss looks to have been largely due to those starters’ inexperience. Do you think the Rays will try hard to add an experienced playoff starter to lead them into 2022, and if so, who might fit the Rays’ budget? Or do you think the Rays will just hope that their current starters will mature enough during 2022 to win in the playoffs?

Anthony Franco

2:46

This is an interesting question. I tend to think they'll just run it back with their young guys. They haven't really felt the need for an established playoff starter in the past, and they declined a perfectly reasonable option on Charlie Morton last year

So my guess is they're more likely to chalk their playoff struggles up to variance and run it back

Bob

2:47

So Cohen wants to spend big on FAs, doesn't want to trade prospects, and wants to compete now. Are we all discounting the possibility that the Mets throw stupid amounts of money at a lot of free agents and completely upend our expectations for the hot stove???

Anthony Franco

2:47

I think they'll be really active, yeah. It would surprise me if the Mets don't make at least one marquee move, perhaps two

Frustrated fan

2:47

How can the Angels be content with taking the same tired approach of signing only one year pitching deals when there is so much quality available on the market and this approach has repeatedly failed over the last 6 years? I’m happy about Syndergaard but that is not enough and a couple more bandaid one year pitchers of the C class is not going to get them anywhere close to contention.

Anthony Franco

2:48

I actually like the Angels' in-house options quite a bit. I think Sandoval and Suárez are good. Obviously Thor/Ohtani gives you the chance for an elite 1-2. I haven't even completely given up on Canning

2:49

So while I generally agree that their past decisions to take one-year gambles on Matt Harvey and José Quintana weren't great, I think it's a lot more defensible this winter

2:50

With Syndergaard in the fold, I actually think the middle infield is the bigger issue. A Fletcher/Rengifo pairing is probably bottom five in MLB. They need something to bump Rengifo (or Mayfield, I guess) out of the starting lineup

mmddyyyy

2:50

It seems like every time there's a rumor connecting a team and a shortstop there's a caveat in there somewhere that the team already has one or more top shortstop prospects. Are there really this many solid shortstop prospects?

Anthony Franco

2:50

Yes, but not all of them will stick at shortstop

2:51

Guys become top prospects because evaluators believe in their ability to have an important significant big league role in the future

It's easier to envision that with an 18-year-old who's playing shortstop in A-ball than it is with an 18-year-old who's playing first base in A-ball

2:53

Because if your shortstop gets a little bit too big or slow to stick at short long-term, he might still be able to have value at third, second or in the outfield. The 18-year-old who's already at first has nowhere to go at that point, so if he regresses physically or doesn't hit as expected, he's just not a big leaguer

So top prospects disproportionately tend to be shortstops and center fielders. There's just more margin for error there

Lilly

2:53

Ham or turkey?

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