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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

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Ping Pong Stats

3:13

There are several MLB players that make me chuckle because their production alternates from year to year between strong and poor production (guys like Ian Happ). What do you think is responsible for this weird phenomenon If injuries are not responsible)?

Anthony Franco

3:14

MLB pitching's really good, and the margin between, say, a home run and a pop-up can be a few millimeters on the bat or milliseconds of timing

3:15

There's softer factors at play with some guys too. Some guys, I'm sure, are better than others at putting bad days behind them, not falling into mechanical ruts, etc.

3:16

But broadly speaking, I think it's mostly about quality of competition. The guys on the other team are also really good and always game-planning for ways to beat you and exploit weaknesses. If you fall even a little bit out of step with where you want to be, it can be tough

free agents

3:16

first name off the board when the lockout ends?

Jeremy

3:17

Within the first 48 hours of the lockout ending, there will be $X given out in deals?

Anthony Franco

3:17

Man, I have no idea on either of these but I'll take some wild guesses

Let's go Kyle Schwarber and $75MM

3:18

Not counting deals like Nick Martinez and Jordan Lyles that were agreed to before the lockout but won't be finalized until after

mmddyyyy

3:18

Coors amplifies offense. Would a stadium below sea level have the opposite effect?

Anthony Franco

3:19

Not a clue. Better question for a ... physicist? Meteorologist?

bellinger

3:20

belly + cash + 1 interesting prospect to the a’s for Olson, Montas, and Trivino. who hangs up first?

Anthony Franco

3:20

A's aren't doing that. Bollinger doesn't have a ton of appeal right now coming off the year he just had

Slow Bro

3:21

Love the player chats! Any chance of having a front office person and/or an agent do a chat? I think that could be fun too

Anthony Franco

3:22

Wouldn't rule it out but also not sure if either's feasible. Players don't have as much incentive to be secretive. Agents and front office execs probably wouldn't be as forthcoming

Slow Bro

3:24

Favorite baseball book?

Anthony Franco

3:25

Haven't read too many, but I really liked Ben Lindbergh's and Sam Miller's The Only Rule Is It Has To Work

They took over an indecent league team with essentially zero baseball operations experience a few years ago and tried to push the limits of seeing what they could implement from a data perspective

3:26

Thought it was revealing about both the virtues and challenges associated with trying to communicate a lot of that stuff to players/coaches while also just being a really enjoyable, often funny read

George Hunt

3:27

Do you think expansions will happen any time soon?

Anthony Franco

3:27

Doesn't seem likely. They seem to want to get the A's and Rays' stadiums sorted out first

Ryder

3:29

Favorite sandwich?

Anthony Franco

3:29

Ham and swiss for lunch, a chicken parm sub for dinner

tradezzz

3:30

ok wait a couple more ideas… yankees + angels, phillies + rockies, rangers + giants, and a’s + giants. take your pick!! whatever seems most interesting :)

i love a good blockbuster trade. let’s scheme a couple up. I’ll pick the two teams and you pick the players? first one: rays + oakland. second: giants + nationals.

Anthony Franco

3:32

Really specific, not sure there's great matches on all of these. I guess there could be something to be had involving Frankie Montas and Heliot Ramos+ between the Bay Area teams

3:33

Could see the Rays at least kicking the tires on a deal involving Chapman/Walls if they think they can make the money work, but it's not my favorite fit

Mariners Fan

3:33

What do the Mariners do at 3B? Play Toro, sign a FA, make a trade (Chapman maybe)? Just don't say Ty France.

Anthony Franco

3:34

Feels like they're ending up with a free agent infielder, I'd probably have them as my pick on Bryant at this point

If they stuck internal, I think it'd be Toro over France, who seems pretty well set at 1B/DH

3:35

Alright everyone, stuck around an extra half hour this week but I've gotta run to get some stuff up on the site

Thanks for chatting, always enjoy these and appreciate the thought you all put into the questions!

If you want to reach me with other stuff during the week, I'm on Twitter @affranco10

3:36

Not sure what the plans are regarding a chat next week. I'm going to be off next Friday for the holiday but it's possible we move it up a day or two

3:37

Thanks for supporting the site! Have a good weekend!

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