JotCast | Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

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Anthony Franco

2:20

Buck Showalter in New York, Matt Quatraro in Oakland?

Tammy

2:20

Are the Angels jeopardizing the chances of resigning Ohtani by there lack of aggressive signings of any top tier pitchers. Why stay with a team or play for an owner who won’t do what the entire league knows the team needs.

Anthony Franco

2:21

I don't think so, at least not directly. If they continue to miss the playoffs because they didn't land Max Scherzer, then maybe

2:22

But I don't think Ohtani wouldn't re-sign just because they signed Noah Syndergaard for one year instead of Robbie Ray for five. If Thor pitches the way they hope and they make the playoffs next year, I doubt he cares about the state of the long-term books

Guest

2:22

Were you surprised that the Mets didn’t make more of an effort to re-sign Javy? Any chance they pursue Story for 2B and/or Bryant for 3B or is it back to McNeil/Escobar?

Anthony Franco

2:22

I doubt it, feels pretty crowded already. I think they're just comfortable with a McNeil/Escobar platoon there

2:23

As for surprise on Báez, not really. Eppler's not the one who acquired him in the first place; it's possible he's just not a huge fan

Rob

2:23

Totally silly question, but since minor leaguers can still be signed during the lockout, could a team conceivably sign say Correa to a 10 year $330 mil minor league contract with an invite to spring training?

Anthony Franco

2:24

They cannot. NRI's have a max value of $4M, according to Jeff Passan, and I believe teams are only permitted to sign guys who didn't end last season on a 40-man roster during the lockout

Gerard

2:24

Which of the three Oakland starters is most likely to be moved? Bassitt, Manaea or Montas? What would be your ballpark framework ask for Bassitt or Manaea (arb-3) vs Montas (arb-2 and younger in age), assuming Oakland is not intent on contending thus more into prospects or young big leaguers (pre-arb or at most arb-1)?

Anthony Franco

2:25

I looked into past trades for a top-of-the-rotation starter with two years of arb control a few weeks ago. That post was centered around Luis Castillo, but I think Montas winds up in a similar range

It's typically two or three prospects, headlined by a guy like 25th to 50th overall on most public lists

2:26

Montas is a little worse than Castillo, maybe he's closer to 40-75 overall as a headliner?

2:27

The guys with one year are obviously less valuable. Probably looking at a guy in the 75-100 range and another decent prospect

Elden

2:27

Normally I can see the reasoning for most of the NYY decisions but trading Tyler Wade to Anaheim for virtually nothing just when he was starting to show some promise was bone-headed. He could field 5 or 6 positions including CF, steal bases and was hitting .268 when tossed on the scrap heap. Wouldn't a versatile 27 yr old speedster have more value than cash or the infamous PTBNL to a team that felt it had to risk occasionally playing Aaron Judge in CF? Not saying here that Judge can't do it but the injury risk is significantly higher and his potential loss to the team greater. With nothing on the horizon for a CF but the oft injured Hicks, it seemed absurd from a team that trusted SS last year to Torres, Urshela and Velazquez?

Anthony Franco

2:27

Well they'd already DFA'd Wade as part of Rule 5 protection day, so at that point it was either a trade or let him walk in free agency

2:28

But to your point, yeah, I was a little surprised they DFA'd him

Michael

2:28

Is there anything stopping a player/agent/GM from signing a contract like; 2022 to 2025: $24MM per season, and 2026 to 2029: $1MM per season, with player opt outs each year 2026 to 2029? This would essentially be a 4-year/$100MM contract say, but instead of hitting the cap as $25MM per year, it would $12.5MM. Is this workaround possible, or are the measures in place to prevent this creative accounting?

Anthony Franco

2:28

Yeah MLB's going to void something that crazy

2:29

They do give you a bit of leeway though. Houston's Jake Odorizzi deal, the Yankees' ones with Gardner/O'Day all contained an extra option year that probably weren't going to be picked up, just to spread the money out a little more and lessen the AAV

So you can get kind of creative, as long as you're not too blatantly making a mockery of the thing

Jonathan

2:29

Did the Jacoby Ellsbury dispute ever get resolved?

Anthony Franco

2:29

Don't believe so. These grievances take forever

Rick

2:29

What do you honestly believe it will take to bring the MLB Owners and MLBPA back to the negotiating table? When do you expect for some serious bargaining to take place

Anthony Franco

2:30

Getting closer to the start of the season, really

Deadlines spur action. Right now, nobody's losing money. Once they get closer to canceling games -- owners lose gate revenue, players don't get paid salaries -- they'll be more motivated to move closer to a middle ground

Luke

2:30

There was a lot of talk about limiting the amount of innings for pitchers going into the 2021 season. Just watching games, it did not appear to me that teams actually did so. Has MLBTR crunched the numbers and made any conclusions?

Anthony Franco

2:32

I haven't seen (or done) any overall study on that, but with just a broad overview, they did a little bit

Only had four 200-innings guys this year, compared to 15 in 2019. 55 guys with 150+ this year, 75 in 2019

2:33

It wasn't as drastic as I expected it to be, but teams were definitely more cautious

Jeremy

2:33

In terms of the Jays offence, they said they want to add an IF. Do you think its more likely they trade for a controllable IF (marte for example), sign a big FA (Correa,Story), or a stop gap (seager) until Groshans/Moreno are ready?

Anthony Franco

2:33

I'd probably go stopgap, big FA, big trade in that order

2:34

Their willingness to bid on Seager gives me some thought they could make a run at Correa or (probably more likely) Story

But I don't expect any of the elite infielders (José Ramírez, Ketel Marte, etc.) to really move this winter

Joe

2:34

Is Suzuki a viable option for everyday center field or is he best on the corners?

Anthony Franco

2:35

Nobody we talked to thinks he can play center

Joe

2:35

What's going on with International Free Agents? Can owners technically sign them starting 1/15 (they're signed to minor league deals, I believe)? Could this end up being a "WFT-2010" type situation where most owners assume the "cap" still exists, but one decides to go for it and sign all of the IFA's to well over "cap" deals?

Anthony Franco

2:36

Good question, I'm not sure. Quick Google search seems to suggest it's going to continue as planned, but I don't know about the reliability on that. I'll try to look into it and have a better answer for you next week

Braves20

2:36

Do you see the other MLB owners signing off on a Tampa Bay/Montreal split season?

Anthony Franco

2:37

Sure, as long as Sternberg can demonstrate it's economically viable

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