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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat With Anthony Franco
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Anthony Franco
2:28
Hey everyone, hope you all had a great week!
2:29
There's a pretty good amount of stuff already in the queue, let's get rolling
Joey Bart
2:29
How much patience will the Giants show with Bart?  What are the options?  There is too much swing and miss in his game.
Giantsphan
2:29
Hey Anthony, do you think that Joey Bart “needs more time” to adjust to MLB pitching….or is he just not good enough to compete with the “big boys?”  Thanks
Anthony Franco
2:30
I think it's a little bit of both. He's always going to strike out a ton. He has in the minors, he did to a lesser extent at Georgia Tech. There's just going to be swing-and-miss there
2:31
But you can still be a good catcher today even if you strike out a third of the time so long as you're a quality defender with power, as Bart is. Mike Zunino also whiffs constantly and is probably a borderline top 10 catcher leaguewide
2:32
So there's a path for Bart to be good in that sense, and I think he'll get there eventually. But at the same time, yeah, there's a pretty big difference between 33% and the 45% strikeout rate he has right now
2:33
So I do think they'll be open to a midseason trade that upgrades this season without completely giving up on Bart (a Contreras rental, something like that)
Anita
2:33
Hi Anthony, even though I think a Soto for Bo trade (even though I love Bo) would improve and give the team more balance... realistically who do you think would be a better fit as well as a great bat to add - Josh Bell, Andrew Benintendi, Ian Happ or someone else? and should they do it earlier than the trade deadline. Also a bullpen arm Thanks
Anthony Franco
2:34
Yeah so I don't think the Nats would do Bichette for Soto anyways, despite the longer window of control. I can't see Washington trading Soto right now, period
2:36
To answer your question, I'd look at outfield upgrade over Gurriel/Tapia. I prefer Happ to Benintendi because I just think he's a better player, but they both make some sense. Benintendi would cost less in return because he's an impending FA
Bell's a good hitter but I don't know where the Jays shoehorn him into the lineup with Vlad already at first, both the catchers playing well, wanting to rotate Teoscar through DH, etc.
Eddie
2:37
Haven't heard news about Luzardo.  Seems his injury can be serious.
Anthony Franco
2:38
Forearm soreness is always alarming, but Luzardo and Mattingly have both downplayed how severe it is right now. He's not throwing at last check but it also doesn't seem like they're imminently considering surgery or anything like that
Seems like it's in a holding pattern for a bit. I doubt he's back imminently, maybe a month if everything's going right?
George's Bell
2:39
Does Alek Manoah get CY Young consideration if this continues?
Anthony Franco
2:39
I doubt he can maintain a sub-2.00 ERA all season with the strikeout and ground-ball rates where they are right now
2:40
But if he does somehow -- or if he just starts striking guys out again like he did last year (totally possible) -- then yeah, he'd probably be a finalist
2:41
He's right there with Verlander, Gausman, Skubal, Martín Pérez somehow as the best pitchers in the AL thus far
Astros fan
2:41
The Astros outstanding pitching has covered for a mediocre offense to this point. The catchers and the bench have been particularly unproductive. If you are Click what moves would you pursue to improve the offense.
Anthony Franco
2:42
Maldonado can't hit but he's so good at the other stuff they don't care. I think they're fine with the catchers. Maybe upgrade over Castro via minor trade but it's not really a necessity
2:43
The bench has been a problem, yeah. They'll probably give Dubón a month but I could them going after someone like Jonathan Villar midseason (assuming he starts playing a little better) to upgrade the infield depth
2:44
Goodrum looks terrible, doubt he's on the roster a month from now
Duffy Scliff
2:44
Will Salvador Perez be a Hall of Fame catcher?
Anthony Franco
2:46
I think he'll get some support and stick around the ballot a few years but I can't see him getting close to 75%. The pitch framing metrics have always rated him horribly, so he's at like 15 career FanGraphs WAR. You have to be over 40 to get any real consideration
2:47
I think fWAR is light on Pérez and he has a bunch of the other accolades -- All-Star appearances, one-franchise player so far, team leader, World Series -- that are really appealing
But I think there'll be enough voters who look at the poor framing metrics and an OBP that'll probably be below .300 and are just out immediately
2:48
For the record, I also don't think he should be a Hall of Famer, though that's not to say he hasn't had a great career
Hits Like Rays
2:48
Hi Anthony! Thanks for doing these chats each week! As a lawyer, what is your take on the Angels Stadium debacle? The public accusations and investigations look ugly. Will it be enough to embarrass the other owners so much that they demand the team be sold?
Duffy Scliff
2:48
With the nasty legal battle occurring with the Angels and the city of Anaheim, it feels like a divorce will eventually come for the two sides. If the Angels do leave Anaheim, is there another SoCall city that has or you think will show interest in them?
Anthony Franco
2:49
Haha, I graduated law school but I'm not a lawyer to be clear. Despite constant needling from my family, I've never sat for the bar
2:51
That aside, I don't know enough about the details on the Angel Stadium thing to have a clear take on it. It certainly seems shady, but I doubt it'll have many long-term ramifications for Moreno (although it obviously did for some key local politicians)
It does look like the land sale itself is going to fall through. I imagine they'll work something else out and the team ultimately remains in Anaheim anyways, but that's just a guess
joey gallo
2:52
I know I wasn't really included in your conversations about earning power this winter but could you ballpark what my contract might look like?
Anthony Franco
2:52
Yeah he's really hard. I mentioned in the email I broadly don't think he's that dissimilar from Dansby, but obviously Swanson's ability to play shortstop gives him a leg up out of the gate
2:53
It's really dependent on the final couple months, for Gallo more than most players. As things stand, I think he's trending towards a one-year prove-it deal somewhere
2:55
But if he catches fire and puts up a 139 wRC+ from here on out (which is what he did in Texas last season), he's probably beating Schwarber money and could get into nine figures. Super high variance, but he has to start hitting at some point
SteveM
2:55
Toronto...Jansen, Kirk, Moreno. Who do you keep? Keep all 3 rotating them through DH duties...but then there is the rotation between Vladdy, Bo, Teo and Lourdes Jr. Charlie is smart but he must drink!
Anthony Franco
2:56
Moreno still only has a month of Triple-A experience under his belt. I'd do exactly what they're doing for now, keep Moreno in Buffalo and let things play out
At the end of the season, I expect them to make Kirk available for help elsewhere on the roster. Abundance of riches for sure
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