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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat With Anthony Franco
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Chip
2:56
Which new Manger Buck Showalter (Mets) or Bob Melvin (Padres) do you think will make the biggest difference on their respective teams ??
Anthony Franco
2:58
Both seem to be doing a great job, as far as we can tell from the outside. But I have to lean Melvin, both because there were a ton of reports of actual clubhouse discord in San Diego down the stretch and because he's like unanimously viewed as a top five manager
Don
2:58
Do you know the injury status of Adbert Alzolay and Jesus Luzardo? Who has more upside of these two guys plus Reid Detmers, Roansy Contreras, and Edward Cabrera.
Anthony Franco
2:59
Addressed Luzardo earlier, haven't heard anything on Alzolay since Spring Training. Seems like a second half return, judging from the lack of activity and how quickly they threw him on the 60-day
Luzardo's forearm stuff is scary, but I think he's the most talented of the pitchers you listed
3:00
Contreras is close, a little safer from a control/health perspective but probably lower on sheer upside
3:01
Then Cabrera, Detmers and Alzolay. Cabrera's control is rough but the stuff's great, I think Detmers and Alzolay are like #5/6 starters (though I'm lower than consensus on Detmers)
Chris W
3:01
how likely is it we see Oneil Cruz make his debut prior to the 4th of July?
Anthony Franco
3:02
I think we'll see him in June now that he's started playing better in Indy
Joey
3:02
I feel like I've been seeing more 4-man outfields this year. Do you have any data as to how common it is this year vs years past?
Anthony Franco
3:03
So I hadn't noticed this beyond realizing that four-man outfielders exist at all when they really hadn't before
3:04
But it seems like it's mostly just the Blue Jays skewing everything?
3:05
As of a couple weeks ago when David Adler wrote that piece, the Jays had used the four-man outfield 76 times. No one else had done it more than 23
So it appears that Charlie Montoyo's all in now and everyone else is still skeptical. Interesting
Joey
3:05
When do you think MLB will expand? I feel like it's inevitable. Once it's agreed upon, how long will it take to implement?
Anthony Franco
3:06
It's inevitable but I doubt it happens until like 2030 at the earliest. Part of the reason Dave Dombrowski took the Phillies president job is because he had a bunch of people in the game telling him that his previous role trying to get an expansion team to Nashville wasn't going to be successful anytime soon
3:07
I think it would've happened earlier if not for the pandemic
Juan Soto
3:07
Everyone knew that this year was a wash so it makes no sense that the Nats would suddenly change course and trade me at the deadline. But, we're still very far away from contention. If the Nats are aiming to compete in 2023 and 2024, what do they need to add to the roster? Is it realistically possible to be competitive before my free agency?
Anthony Franco
3:09
They need a whole hell of a lot, and I'm surprised they didn't do more this winter to try to lay the foundation for 2023 and beyond like the Rangers did
3:10
Pitching's a real concern. I like Josiah Gray, but beyond him, who's filling out that rotation? Strasburg and Corbin, I guess, but they may not be good. Losing Kieboom stinks because this was his chance to really lock down third base
3:11
I don't know how you just turn that job back to him next year again when he's done nothing in the majors. I thought Lane Thomas was a great find and he's been terrible this year
3:12
They should have some payroll space but this season is not going well in terms of identifying core pieces. It's a long road back
Guest
3:12
Why do baseball games have weird start times? Why start at 7:05 when you can start at 7
Anthony Franco
3:13
I don't actually know but think this has to be some weird quirk for television, right? NFL games start at 1:05 all the time, NHL games often drop the puck at 7:08
If someone actually knows the reason for this, I'd love to hear it
Mike Elias
3:13
Do I have my outfield of the future with Hays, Mullins, and Santander?
Anthony Franco
3:14
I'm skeptical they view Santander that way. He's gotten more patient this year, pretty clearly intentionally, and it's reflected in his now-respectable OBP
3:15
But he's not really hitting for power the way he did in 2019-20, and he's not a great defender. Decent player, useful enough, but not a long-term core guy and I think they'll still be open to trading him this summer
3:16
Hays and Mullins, on the other hand, should be there to stay
Kirt
3:16
When does Josh Lowe get called up?  Who is the odd man out?   The fans hope that Brett Phillips is not the one.  Count me among those masses.   Thank you.
Anthony Franco
3:17
I don't think you can call Lowe up while he's striking out 40% of the time in Triple-A. I know the bottom line numbers have still been good and he's hitting for power, but there's not really any indication he's going to whiff any less in the majors than he did in April before he got sent down
3:18
Particularly because, as you mentioned, to get Lowe back up and playing regularly probably means you're DFA'ing one of Harold Ramírez or Phillips, both of whom are out of options
3:19
They seem to love Phillips as an energy guy off the bench. Good defense, great in the clubhouse. Ramírez is just hitting really well right now
3:20
Both those guys would get claimed, in my opinion. Do you really want to lose one before you're convinced Lowe's ready?
jonathan loaisiga
3:20
I know he recently got put on IL, but why is he so bad this year?
Anthony Franco
3:21
His control has just been terrible. He's throwing way fewer pitches in the strike zone. The walks are up, and the more bad counts you find yourself in, the tougher it's going to be to prevent extra-base impact
Whether that's because of the injury or just some mechanical inconsistency, I don't know, but he has to throw more strikes. The stuff's still there
TV Guy
3:21
With a first pitch at 7:05, the TV networks can have intro music, opening segments, quick previews, and introduce all the announcers for the broadcast, and still adhere to the traditional TV time slot. If the game started at 7, the pre-game show would have to start at 6:55, and that would throw everything off.
Anthony Franco
3:23
Ah yeah I guess this makes sense, that would really throw off the timing of any non-sports programming that comes before on the network wouldn't it
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