JotCast | Trade Rumors Front Office Chat With Anthony Franco

Trade Rumors Front Office Chat With Anthony Franco

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Anthony Franco

3:09

Depends on the money. I'd sign Michael Conforto if Reinsdorf were willing to sign off on that sort of thing

Joe Madden

3:09

What will we do when the lockout ends. Another pitcher or ss

Anthony Franco

3:10

Shortstop should be the bigger priority, in my view. Not to say they can't make a depth addition (maybe via non-roster Spring Training invite) to the rotation, but they need a substantive upgrade in the middle infield

Mike Trout

3:10

Am I becoming injury prone

Anthony Franco

3:11

I wouldn't go there yet. 600+ plate appearances in both 2018 and 2019, played in 53 of 60 games in 2020

The days of him playing 155+ games are probably gone, but I still think he can shoulder a regular workload. It seemed like the calf just never responded the way they continued to expect it to throughout the season

3:12

And eventually, it got late enough in the year that the Angels were out anyways and figured it best to shut everything down

Kevin J.

3:12

What do you see the Rangers doing with the 6-7 infielders surplus now that 2nd and Shortstop are locked for a few years. We have some tradable guys right ? Could Foscue or another play the outfield? or a trade with the Reds.

Anthony Franco

3:13

It's an interesting question. Some of it will sort itself out, because not all prospects hit. But yeah, I think eventually they're going to start funneling the worse defenders to the corner outfield

3:15

I've kind of assumed Foscue was going to end up in left field since his sophomore year in college honestly. He could always rake but never seemed all that comfortable to me at either of second or third base at Mississippi State

Rangers13

3:15

How high would the prospect cost for Winker be? If Tampa Bay would do it what would TX need to give for a Kiermier/Yarbrough combo?

Anthony Franco

3:15

Doesn't seem like the Reds want to move Winker, although as Steve wrote last week, that's kind of a weird distinction to draw if you're not going to go for it this year anyways

3:17

A Kiermaier/Yarbrough package deal seems plausible enough to me. Hard to peg a specific prospect return since it'd probably be three mid-tier prospects from a very deep Rangers' farm system that the Rays like

3:18

I don't think it'd cost anyone who's among their organizational top five on most prospect lists

sgrossman

3:18

The only way a CBA emerges soon is if there is someone who can shuttle back and forth in private saying: I think I can get them to agree to x if you can agree to y. Is there anybody both sides might trust enough to take on this role?

Anthony Franco

3:19

Doubtful. That idea seems sort of like mediation, which the players never had any appetite for

They pointed out that it'd take time to get that person up to speed, and the union feels that mediation during the 1994-95 strike leaned in the owners' favor

3:20

I'm not familiar enough with the intricacies of that labor stoppage to really weigh in on that, but at the very least, it seems both sides agreed mediation wasn't a huge help last time

3:21

They may not like each other personally, but at some point, they're going to have to budge on issues meaningful to one another because they all have a common interest in getting the sport going again

Abe Froman

3:21

Did Reynaldo Lopez pitch himself into competition for the 5th SP spot or do the Sox go out and get another rotation piece?

Anthony Franco

3:22

I think it's Giolito, Lynn, Cease, Kopech, Keuchel to start the season

López only made nine starts last year. He was better than he'd been but still not great. I think they'll try to keep him in the bullpen

3:23

Sleeper for NL ROTY?

Anthony Franco

3:24

Ha, this is kind of a niche question. Bryson Stott? Could be a plug and play MLB infielder for the Phillies pretty early in the year, strong track record of minor league performance

3:25

And if he winds up at shortstop, he'll have the favorable positional value that'll prop up his WAR total

Chris

3:25

Appreciate your hard work Anthony. Love your chats. Thank you.

Anthony Franco

3:26

Thanks man! The Front Office chats, in particular, are always a blast

I have to head out for this week and come up with some stuff for the main site

Thanks as always for subscribing and for all the questions!

3:27

I'm available on Twitter @affranco10 if you want to ask me anything during the week