JotCast | Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

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Anthony Franco

1:59

Hey everyone, hope you all had a good week!

2:00

Appreciate you all still chatting even though no one can do anything anymore

Let's get into it

Kirt

2:00

What scouting rating would be given to Jesus Sanchez and Joe Ryan at this point in their careers? I think they both were at 8D prior to 2021 season.

Anthony Franco

2:00

I'm not sure what you're referring to as far as the pre-2021 stuff, but I'd have them both right on the 45/50 FV line

2:01

Essentially, talented but flawed players who have a realistic shot at being pretty good

I think they're each pretty fascinating. Sánchez has huge power and decent bat-to-ball skills, which is a rare combination

2:02

But he also swings a lot and can't play center field, so there's real downside too. I think you're looking at an Eddie Rosario type. Pretty good overall and capable of carrying a lineup at times, but frustratingly streaky because the approach is bad

2:03

Ryan's tough, because I don't there's another starting pitcher who succeeds the way he does. He throws a low-90's four-seam like 3/4 of the time, but he hides the ball and backspins it perfectly so it jumps on guys at the top of the strike zone

2:04

I think he'll be kind of homer-prone living that way, but I buy him as a solid mid-rotation guy who posts surprisingly good strikeout and walk numbers

Peter

2:04

Do rehabing players have access to team facilities like whirlpools etc? Thanks

Anthony Franco

2:04

Nope, no access to team facilities or personnel

2:05

Jameson Taillon, who had ankle surgery last month, had a tongue-in-cheek tweet this morning about how he was going to take off his walking boot now that the Yankees' medical staff couldn't monitor his progress. I thought that was pretty good

Brian

2:05

This might be a silly question, but can teams negotiate trades with each other during the lock-out? I understand that the transactions can’t actually happen and teams can’t negotiate with players, but can trade proposals be discussed now and completed later?

Anthony Franco

2:05

They can not, at least not legally

2:06

Will there be some back-channel phone calls? I don't know, but they've prohibited from discussing one another's players

To be clear, this only applies to players on the 40-man rosters, who are part of the MLBPA. They can discuss and actually finalize trades involving non 40-man players

2:07

So I guess it's possible we see a few prospect for prospect swaps if teams get bored and scour each other's farm systems since they can't do much else. But those aren't common in most years

Yumpin' Yimmini

2:07

Did the Blue Jays overpay on Garcia? Seems like 2 and an option might have been a bit of an overpay?

Anthony Franco

2:08

Yimi got 2/11 guaranteed. It's a $4M decision on the 2024 club option, which can vest with innings thresholds

I think it's fine. Not a steal or anything, but par for the course for a solid middle reliever

JBJ

2:08

Boston added two more prospects to their ever improving farm system. Is this trade A. Gearing us up for a big trade, B. Offsetting the draft pick loss for an upcoming big free agent signing, or C. Just classic Chaim Bloom Farm maintenance?

Anthony Franco

2:09

I'd guess mostly C, although I do think it's a precursor to brining in a new righty bat of some sort

2:10

Feels like they just really liked Hamilton and/or Binelas and were willing to pay a couple extra million to do so. Clearly, they don't think there's a huge downgrade from Renfroe to JBJ, at least not one that's nearly as big as last year's performance would indicate

Levi

2:10

What grade would you give the Brewers and Red Sox for the Jackie Bradley Jr. trade

Anthony Franco

2:10

Broadly speaking, I liked it more for Milwaukee. I've always been a pretty big Renfroe fan, though, and it seems like the league likes him less than I do

2:11

I get it, he never walks and he strikes out a lot. But I like the power, arm strength and useful corner outfield defense more than most teams I guess

I'm bigger than the league seems to be on Adam Duvall too, for similar reasons

Guest

2:11

Braves currently have only switch-hitting Ozzie Albies from left side, making it imperative to bring back Eddie Rosario along with Freddie (Olson/Rizzo). Anyone else to balance their lineup?

Anthony Franco

2:12

I think lineup balance stuff is more a tie-breaker than a necessity really. I'd at least poke around on the center field market

2:13

Free agency's barren with Starling Marte gone. But if Mullins or Ketel Marte are truly available -- I'm skeptical, particularly on Ketel -- the Braves should be one of many teams in pretty hard on that

Freeman

2:13

In your predictions you had Freddie going to Red Sox. Are you sticking with that and, if so, what do you see them doing with Triston Casas?

Anthony Franco

2:13

I guess I'd go Yankees now since they've been linked to Freddie and Boston hasn't

2:14

That was mostly a symbolic choice to take the field rather than having unanimous Braves picks on staff, though. I just thought Atlanta's pretty hefty payroll outlook, past spending history, and Freeman's age could make that harder than a lot of people expected

I have no reason to move off the field, since the longer it goes, the more plausible it seems that he'll leave

2:15

I do think the Red Sox should be in that mix though. I've been pretty underwhelmed with their offseason to date honestly -- wrote my Front Office piece this week on exactly that

2:17

There's still time for them to do more once the freeze is over obviously. I don't think it's been a definitive failure. But I'd have been more aggressive than they were, particularly regarding the rotation. With the free agent rotation market pretty much picked through, they're among the top handful of teams I'd like to see make a significant position player add now

2:18

As for Casas if they signed Freeman, I'd just have him spend a couple months in Triple-A this year, let JDM walk next winter and have him and Freddie split 1B/DH in 2023 and beyond. Dalbec doesn't really move the needle there for me

Giants Fan

2:18

We have money to spend, have we missed opportunities because we have over analytics

Anthony Franco

2:18

I wouldn't say analytics have much to do with it. Every team uses analytics in their decision-making, and a few have been very active already

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