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Anthony Franco
2:59
Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well!
3:00
We've got a decent amount of stuff in the queue today, so I'll try to move through quickly. Let's get going
Dodgers fan
3:00
Was the series with the pirates just a freak happening or is there need to worry. Their bullpen is shaky, their starters are struggling and they leave too many runners on base
Anthony Franco
3:00
Just a fluke, baseball randomness happens. They'll be fine
Max muncy
3:00
Am I still not completely healthy from last year’s injury
Anthony Franco
3:01
Kind of seemed like it in his early-season performance, and the fact that he's back on the IL with inflammation in the same elbow he hurt last playoffs would seem to suggest that, yeah
Don
3:02
Some rookies with ok running skills run (Morel) while others who are much faster, don't seem to take an interest (Harris, Thomas).  What SB future do you see for Harris & Thomas going forward?  Do they need to be moved up in the order before they consider running?  Part II - How do you see ATL resolving their OF dilemma and the impact on Harris/Contreras?
Anthony Franco
3:02
Yeah this is an interesting question. I think it may just be organizational philosophy, where some teams encourage guys to run more than others?
3:03
As for question 2, that just feels like it comes down to Harris. If he's playing well, they'd love to have seize the center field job and kick Duvall back to the bench. I'm skeptical he will given his lack of high minors experience, but they wouldn't have called him up if they weren't prepared to give him that shot
3:04
Contreras is tougher because he's not really an outfielder, but he'll probably rotate through catcher, the corners and DH so long as he's hitting
Bob T.
3:04
What explanations could there be for the Angels bullpen collapse? My thoughts are 1) Most clubs had really good pitching in April due to the shortened Spring Training and the unusually cold weather for the first month of the season. 2) Both Loup and Tejera had their best seasons in their walk year, this is always a red flag to me.
Anthony, any thoughts on this?
Anthony Franco
3:06
I agree that your first point probably plays some role. Offense has been up a little more leaguewide the last 30 days than it was in April
3:07
But more than anything, I really just think it's the nature of relief pitching. It's the most volatile unit of a team, and a handful of bad outings can really tank your season numbers (particularly this early) because of the limited amount of innings you're throwing. I don't think Tepera and Loup aren't as motivated as they were before so much as they're just riding the roller coaster most relievers do
3:08
Loup's underlying numbers are still pretty solid, so I'm not really concerned about him. Tepera's swing-and-miss is way down, he lost some velocity. He doesn't look good right now
James Click
3:08
If I offered Castro, Kory Lee, and Alex Santos for Tyler Stephenson and Mike Moustakas, do you think the Reds would be interested? It would save them money, and Stephenson will be well into arbitration before the Reds are relevant again and Lee should be ready by then.
Anthony Franco
3:09
No, I can't see the Reds moving Stephenson and if they do it'd be for a haul centered around someone better than Korey Lee. He's a franchise catcher controllable through 2026
3:10
Cincinnati's in sort of a similar spot to the A's. They're not rebuilding so much as ownership just cut spending and dictated they enter 2022 with a flawed roster. They should fully expect to compete while guys like Stephenson and India are still on the roster (and relatively early in their arb years)
Brandon Belt
3:10
could I get a major league multi year deal in the off season ? Or am I facing a minor league spring training invitation?
Anthony Franco
3:11
There's a middle ground you didn't mention, which is a one-year MLB deal. I think that's the likeliest outcome at his age
Two-year big league deal far more likely than a non-roster Spring Training invite though, unless he suffers some kind of huge injury at the end of the season
bill
3:12
How much do the Braves miss Freddie and in how many ways?
Anthony Franco
3:13
I don't think it's as much as Braves fans seem to miss Freddie. Obviously, they'd have liked to keep him if the money lined up, but it's not like there's been a huge difference in production between he and Olson so far
Freeman has a 141 wRC+, Olson's at 135. Freddie makes more contact obviously, but Olson has pretty much been the guy the Braves thought they were trading for
3:15
I know there's a lot of narrative speculation about the rest of the roster possibly underperforming because of the clubhouse changes and everything. I won't go so far as to rule that out entirely since I'm not in that clubhouse and I do think that stuff matters, but I'm also wary of that as a primary explanation for team underperformance
3:16
The outfield has been terrible, they need Albies to be a little bit better. Charlie Morton has fallen flat so far. This stuff happens, and it's not too deep into the year to turn it around
Around the turn...
3:16
You'd think with a new owner in KC, that he'd want to make some changes that would get people excited about the future and a potential downtown stadium ask. How the heck are Dayton Moore, JJ Piccolo, Matheny, and Cal Eldred still employed? It's long past time to consider Carlos Santana a sunk cost, DFA him and Ryan O'Hearn and bring up Pratto and Vinnie Pasquantino?
Anthony Franco
3:18
The Royals are fiercely loyal and have given the Moore - Piccolo group a ton of leeway based on the 2014-15 run. You can argue they should've exhausted that leash by now and I might agree, but they really seem to value continuity from their leadership staff
3:19
As for question two, I have no idea what's taking so long, particularly regarding Pasquantino. I wrote about how it was time to DFA Santana and call up Pratto a month ago, and they've stubbornly held to it
3:20
To their credit, I'd have probably cut into Hunter Dozier's playing time then too, and he rewarded their faith with an awesome May. But Santana has looked cooked for a while now, and if you're not going to use a season where you're 17 games under .500 by the start of June as a chance to evaluate your young players, when are you ever doing that?
A's Fan
3:20
What odds would you give on Frankie Montas pitching for Oakland come Independence Day?
Anthony Franco
3:21
95%
I think he probably gets traded but guys like that typically get held until the week before the deadline
Brian Cashman
3:21
Any good centerfielders available on the trade market? Asking for a friend.
Anthony Franco
3:22
Not really, unfortunately for Cashman, Zaidi and Dombrowski, Anthopoulos and all the other win-now execs who could use some center field help this summer
3:23
Michael A. Taylor? Tyler Naquin?
3:24
Outside chance the Pirates and Orioles move Reynolds/Mullins, respectively, but neither did that over the winter and now they're each having less impressive seasons than they did in 2021
Jackie Bradley Jr
3:24
Will the Red Sox trade me? I’ve been hitting a little better as of late…
Anthony Franco
3:25
He had a slightly above-average May, but he'd been awful the year-plus preceding it. I don't think there's any appeal there yet
Paul
3:25
I read that Taylor ward was supposedly talking with Aaron Judge. Do you think he could become an Angel
Anthony Franco
3:26
Not outlandish or anything, but I'd probably have a few other teams ahead of them on the pecking order. They've already got a few long-term position player commitments, and they're going to want to earmark some money for an Ohtani extension
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