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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat With Anthony Franco
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Anthony Franco
2:00
Hey everyone, hope you all had a good week!
Test
2:07
I think this is working now?
Sorry about that, had some issues with the software
2:08
Alright well hopefully the rest of the chat goes more smoothly. Apologies
Guest
2:08
What moves would STL need to make to be the favorite in the Central?
Anthony Franco
2:09
That's a good question. I think they're close to Milwaukee but with a roster that's a little tougher to upgrade because it's already pretty solid across the board
2:11
It's easier to make a meaningful upgrade if you've just got a black hole at any one position, but improving over average players is tougher to pull off
2:12
Signing Correa would do it, although there's no indication STL would do that. If they signed Rodón and Ryan Tepera, it's a tough call. Would probably still lean Brewers but that'd be close
MikeD
2:12
Instead of a large increase in the CBT this year, wouldn’t it make greater sense to add in a guaranteed increase of 5% yearly?
Anthony Franco
2:13
I don't think ownership's going for that. 5% increases compound pretty quickly. By the end of a five-year CBA, you're already talking about a $268MM base tax threshold
MikeD
2:13
Any chance we’ll see a pitch clock in 2022, or is that something that will require a separate bargaining session?
Anthony Franco
2:14
I was pretty confident we'd see a pitch clock until Manfred said they were setting aside the on-field rules tinkering (at least early in CBA talks) because they had so much to hash out
So now I'm more 50/50 on a pitch clock this year. I'd ballpark it at around 75% we see one within five years though
Liptowi
2:14
Lots of speculation as to Oakland-NYY trade.  If you were to get very specific, what is your best guess as to who goes from Yankees to A’s in a deal for Matt Olson (only, with no other Oakland players involved)?
Anthony Franco
2:15
Jasson Dominguez and Clarke Schmidt both feel like Oakland types. They've swung for a few high-risk, high-upside guys in the amateur realm lately (Austin Beck, Kyler Murray, Logan Davidson, Robert Puason)
2:16
Those haven't really panned out, but it does seem like they're trying to land star-level tools early in guys' pro careers. Dominguez obviously has those
2:17
Schmidt would be more in the Kaprelian/Brent Honeywell mode of landing MLB-ready former top prospects with injury concerns and limited big league track records
2:18
I don't think Dominguez and Schmidt alone get Olson, but maybe those two and a guy in the 10-15 range in the system (a Ken Waldichuk type) makes the A's think
magrupe
2:18
The only choice for the BlueJays 3rd base need is Matt Chapman, right? Cleveland won't trade J-Ram, Seager retired, Bryant will be too expensive given all the other extensions in 2 years, and a reunion with Villar sounds unlikely given how it turned out last time. I guess they could sign bryant and move him to left when either Gurriel or Theo leaves... but slim pickings either way.
Anthony Franco
2:19
Yeah Tim answered this in greater length in the mailbag, and I mostly agree with his take. Bryant feels a little more plausible to me than you seem to think (Story too perhaps) since there should still be payroll availability
2:20
But Chapman does feel like the best blend of short-term productivity without a long commitment that might affect their ability to negotiate extensions with Bichette, Vlad, Teoscar a couple years from now
magrupe
2:21
Whoops! Missed the mailbag. Thx.
Anthony Franco
2:21
No worries, we don't always agree so I'm happy to answer duplicate questions haha
TigersFan
2:21
Who do you see the tigers going after to fill the last spot in the rotation or will they just stick with Tyler Alexander
Anthony Franco
2:22
They have to add somebody. Alexander's a perfectly fine sixth starter/swing type, but even if you like him as a #5, there's not enough depth to weather the inevitable injuries and innings management you'll be dealing with in 2022
2:23
But I don't think it's likely to be anyone particularly exciting. Maybe just bringing back Wily Peralta for a couple million bucks
Giants fan
2:23
How much more than Joey Bart would it take to land Sean Murphy?
Anthony Franco
2:24
I think there's a pretty significant gap in value. We've already got proof of concept of Murphy thriving at the big league level, and while he strikes out a decent amount, Bart's minor league K% are significantly higher than Murphy's were
2:26
I don't think the A's are moving Murphy this offseason anyways. If they did, I could see Bart being part of the return, but I think you need another of the most highly regarded guys in that system (a Luis Matos type) in there too
MikeD
2:26
Are we within two seasons of having all five AL East teams playing above .500?
Anthony Franco
2:27
Have we ever had a five-team division where everyone finished above .500? Not trying to be condescending, I honestly don't know. But it feels unlikely
2:28
Even if they're all true talent .500 or better teams -- and I don't think it's a given the Orioles get there by 2024 with the amount of work they still have to do on the pitching staff -- it feels like they'd play each other too often to all post winning records
They'd all have to be awesome in inter-division games to make that happen
T-Mobile
2:29
Do you get the impression that the M's have given up on Toro? They signed a new second baseman and appear to be looking at Bryant or Story for third. Is Toro doomed for a bench or utility role? That would seem strange given how he was praised when he came over. He did well until the last month or so of the season last year.
Anthony Franco
2:29
I definitely don't think they've given up on Toro. It feels more they're taking the approach that last year's offense was bad, they need to be better, and they're just trying to bring in good position players
2:30
They've got young, talented players all around the diamond (Toro included). Some of those guys will take the next step and cement themselves as regulars, as Ty France did last year. Others won't quite hit expectations. Even the Mariners don't really know which way a lot of those guys are going to go
2:31
So they're prioritizing grabbing talent where they can find it, divvying up playing time for a bunch of different guys to see who runs with it, and then they can reevaluate and have a clearer picture of "Position X isn't cutting it, we need to upgrade" at the deadline
Philly A's
2:31
In 2005, NL East had 4 teams above .500 and Nats at .500
Anthony Franco
2:32
Interesting! So it's possible, if extremely rare
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