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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat With Anthony Franco
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Greg
3:05
With respect to a shorter season, are the Giants more likely to only target modest upgrades before the season starts - or wait until mid-season, or next year's free agent market, to target "high-end upgrades?"
Anthony Franco
3:06
It seems like they'd prefer to spread the money around throughout the roster, given reports of their reluctance to drop nine figures on anyone this winter
3:07
I don't know that's going to be a hard and fast rule, really. They were willing to spend on Bryce Harper, for instance. But it does seem they're maybe not enamored with this year's crop of top free agents, particularly in the outfield
Sockpirate
3:07
The MLB owners offer on minimum salaries amounts to about $500,000 increase per team.  Do you see that offer as a legitimate attempt at negotiation.  It appears the owners do not intend to give up any of their present strong position.  
Anthony Franco
3:08
Yeah it's not enough. I believe Travis Sawchik calculated it to be a cut relative to the 2016-21 CBA after adjusting for inflation
Guest
3:09
Dom Smith to the As for Manea.  Obviously not straight up,  but what would the rest of that trade look like
Anthony Franco
3:09
Dom Smith's projected for a $4MM arbitration salary, and the big motivation for the A's likely trades is to drastically slash payroll
3:10
He does feel like their type of player in a vacuum, but I would guess they just don't want to take on that kind of money this offseason with Smith coming off a down year
Gerrit Cole
3:10
What rotation help do the yankees get me before the season starts? Seems unlikely they trade for a top guy from the A's or Reds given their needs in the infield. Am I looking at more depth guys and, if so, who?
Anthony Franco
3:11
I actually think they're more likely to land a notable upgrade -- any of the A's/Reds guys except Sonny Gray, for obvious reasons fit there IMO
3:12
Particularly if they're just going stopgap at shortstop. If they come out of the lockout and trade for just, idk, Nick Ahmed and Merrill Kelly, that's a bad offseason
Guest
3:13
McNeil would be a great fit for the ChiSox.  What kind of return would my Mets get?
Anthony Franco
3:13
Yeah I think he's a perfect fit in Chicago. Angels make sense too if they're really comfortable with David Fletcher at shortstop
3:15
I still think he'd bring back a lot. I don't know that Chicago would want to deal from the major league team, but I think anyone in their farm system (which, as I mentioned earlier, is terrible) should be on the table for McNeil
3:17
Baseball America put Colson Montgomery at the top of the Chicago farm system. He was their first round pick last year, a really interesting power projection high school draftee with a chance to play the infield. Might be really good someday
But for three years of Jeff McNeil, I'd make him available
Sockpirate
3:17
I think a strike or delay will have a significant impact on the tv ratings and attendance.  Do the owners only care about their profits?
Anthony Franco
3:19
The short answer is yeah, basically
3:20
I'm sure there are plenty of owners who like baseball and would also love to get a deal done at some point. But they're businesspeople first and foremost, and if they think they can squeeze a better deal out of the players by stalling an extra few weeks, they're going to do that as a collective
Philbert
3:21
With the MLBPA shooting down the MLB’s request for federal mediation what are we learning about each side’s strategy in these negotiation? It can’t possibly be a good sign for the fans, can it? I didn’t think so.
Anthony Franco
3:21
I'm less optimistic about the state of labor relations now than I've been throughout the entire process, yeah
Willy Mo Pena
3:22
Which player with a “bad contract” would you be most interested in acquiring (regardless of what a team’s need is)?
Anthony Franco
3:24
I guess it depends on what the kicker is for me to absorb the deal in the first place. If ownership's signing off on taking some of Eric Hosmer's money to grab Robert Hassell from the Padres, then that
3:25
But if it's just, which player would I be most curious to give another chance if his current team kicked in some cash and it cost me very little prospect capital? Then Ha-seong Kim
3:26
Still 26, was very highly-regarded coming of South Korea last year, good defensive shortstop. Rookie season was ugly, for sure, but there's some foundational defense/contact skills there and I wouldn't be surprised if he develops into an ok everyday player in the next couple seasons
Rangers13
3:26
assuming Rangers don’t get Suzuki and decide they want better defense than Schwarber provides who would be. fa or trade possibility for LF.
Anthony Franco
3:27
Tommy Pham or Brett Gardner? Neither of those guys is long-term solutions, obviously, but they should be fine players in 2022
Similar to the Kole Calhoun move
Rangers13
3:28
Allard, Arihara, Solak,Lowe, Calhoun and Acosta olsen and Bassit.
Anthony Franco
3:28
Not enough. A's are only packaging those guys for an impact headliner. There's a lot of quantity in that offer but not that kind of quality
Joe J.
3:28
When does the season start?
Tony
3:28
Opening Day will be?
Anthony Franco
3:29
Guess we should head out on this. I said in my chat with the main site this week that I thought it'd be March 31. After the mediation debacle, I'd have the O/U closer to April 15
Braves20
3:30
Love it the way you usually end the chats in a style similar to old style press conferences with "Thank you, Mr. President" or in this case, Mr. Franco!
Anthony Franco
3:30
Ha, I'll wrap with this one for the week
3:31
Thanks for subscribing everyone, really appreciate your support of the site!
I always look forward to the Front Office chats in particular. Get a bunch of thoughtful questions week after week
I'm on Twitter at @affranco10 if you want to ask me stuff there during the week. I try to get back to people within a day or two there
3:32
Otherwise, we'll do this again next Friday. Have a good weekend!
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