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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat With Anthony Franco
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Anthony Franco
2:23
On the positive side, the Angels and Mets are probably the two off to the most impressive starts relative to what I'd expected a few weeks ago
SteveM
2:23
Joe Ryan? He seems to have found his place in the Twins rotation...maybe even the ace of the staff. I have zero confidence in Bundy regardless of is good start...unless Wes Johnson has tweaked something. Of course I didn't trust Gausman up in Toronto but Pete Walker has continued what he learned in the Giants big year 2021. Again, sustainable? The Blue Jays have a great staff. It would be hard to sink down with that staff.
Anthony Franco
2:25
I think Ryan's going to be a little homer-prone once the weather picks up and the ball starts carrying more. A lot of his game is in-zone four-seam fastballs, which is a recipe for fly balls and some longballs
2:26
That said, I buy him as a strong mid-rotation guy who's going to have incredible K/BB numbers. He has awesome control, his fastball has always missed bats no matter the level. Whether it's deception or his ability to manipulate its movement, he can miss bats with it in the zone despite meh velocity
He's good, I just think it's more 2/3 starter than an ace
2:28
Gausman's elite now, yeah. He's pitched like one for two years, misses tons of bats. He's going to walk a guy eventually, but I think he's a true #1 starter
Dave roberts
2:28
We have some pitching returning in the next few weeks. What can I expect
Anthony Franco
2:28
Probably just more multi-inning bullpen work for the Tyler Anderson and Tony Gonsolin types. They'll make it work
baby shark do-do-do
2:29
woof, Yasmani.  Is he cooked?
Anthony Franco
2:30
I don't think so. It's similar to Ohtani, where pitchers are just coming after him a little more right now. Should even out and he'll be back to his walk machine ways
AAA White Sox
2:30
How did we get this bad?  Injuries are partially to blame, but we don't even look like we are trying.  Luckily it's still very early in the season but what do we have to do to play like a professional baseball team?
Rick Hahn
2:30
What the hell is going on with my team? No one can hit, no one can field, the manager is making dumb lineup decisions, OUR PETS HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!
Anthony Franco
2:31
Got a few "why are the White Sox terrible" questions this week and I mostly think it's just a blip. The second base tandem of García and Harrison was spotty coming in and it's been terrible, so I guess that's a concern. Losing Jiménez again hurts
2:32
But at the same time, there's way too good a track record with guys like Abreu and Robert for me to be worried about a slow first few weeks
2:33
They're probably going have to add at the back of the rotation and maybe get a second base upgrade this summer, but I wouldn't consider either a fatal flaw. Give them another move to get things back on track
Month*
Julius
2:33
What has to happen for the Jays to clear their catching logjam once Janssen returns? Collins is doing well but can obviously be demoted, but Kirk is proving to be a great game-caller, especially with Manoah, which has to make him less expendable.
Anthony Franco
2:34
Heineman gets DFA and they probably just carry all of Jansen, Kirk and Collins and rotate the latter two through DH
Assuming Collins is still hitting. If he starts to struggle by then, he gets optioned too
George's Bell
2:34
The Yankees' performance is a bit misleading considering the number of times they've played the Orioles, no?
Anthony Franco
2:36
Sure, they've had a pretty soft schedule so far, but the roster also just looked good coming into the season. The division's going to be tight the whole way through, but I thought the Yankees were a playoff team three weeks ago and they've done nothing to dispel that
Matt
2:36
Hot take: Patrick Sandoval is the best pitcher in the Angels rotation
Anthony Franco
2:37
Hmm, I don't know if I'd go there just yet but you can make the argument. He's really good; would probably still take Ohtani (even solely as a pitcher) but it's close
Appeal incoming
2:38
Trevor Bauer Receives 324-Game Suspension
baby shark do-do-do
2:38
2 year suspension for Bauer!!
Anthony Franco
2:39
Man, I hadn't seen that. I'm not going to hazard any sort of guess about whether he'll win his appeal though, it's not my place
Twins
2:39
Is their starting pitching performances sustainable?
Anthony Franco
2:40
I addressed Ryan in greater detail in an earlier question. By and large, I don't think the Twins' rotation is this good, no
2:41
I'd still be concerned about the health. I like each of Ober, Bundy and Paddack but more as 3.75-4.00 ERA types the sub-3.00 guys
Guest
2:41
Do you suppose if MLB hadn't spent several seasons screwing around with the baseballs and denying it, there would be fewer conspiracy theories about how it's all because of the baseball?
Anthony Franco
2:42
Absolutely. I'm not sure the league ever intended to mess with the ball in the first place, but if they'd more transparent about its changes earlier, there'd be less skepticism about it every time its behavior is different
The league kind of brought the mistrust on itself by being so cagy in 2015-16
Julius
2:42
The Blue Jays OF/DH depth is looking somewhat exposed right now with the Teoscar Hernandez injury. Are options like Tapia/Zimmer/Fowler enough for a team with legit Works Series aspirations, or should they be looking to add someone like Michael Conforto, or maybe swapping Alejandro Kirk for an outfielder?
Anthony Franco
2:43
I do think they'll eventually want to grab another outfielder. I'm not a huge fan of Zimmer or Tapia. Fowler, we'll see
2:44
Will probably be more of a role player than someone you'd give up Kirk for though, a fine but boring David Peralta type
Conforto had shoulder surgery btw. He's out for the year
Capt. Peeve
2:44
I’m probably the 57th Cubs fan to ask but how’s it looking like the Heyward situation will play out given the upcoming roster reduction? Who goes? Any lineup normalcy we can hope for?
Anthony Franco
2:45
I thought they should've cut bait with Heyward a while ago, but he's got a .390 OBP through the first couple weeks of the season. So long as he's doing that and playing good defense, he'll be the right fielder
2:46
As for midseason, I think a lot of it depends on how Heyward's hitting and what Brennen Davis looks like in Triple-A. In an ideal world, Davis plays his way into Heyward's lineup spot at some point. But right now, he's hitting .190/.288/.317 with a 37% strikeout rate in Iowa. Can't call him up until he turns things around
RAGBRAI
2:46
What does B Rodgers need to do to turn things around? Is a AAA visit in his best interests or is this who he is?
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