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Front Office Chat: 2/16/26
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Anthony Franco
3:02
Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed your weekend!
Different schedule with the holiday so I'll have to keep this one around an hour
RoxTalks
3:03
When Arenado gets into Cooperstown, does he go in as a Rockie, or is there too much bad blood there? Thanks!
Anthony Franco
3:04
Agree he's a Hall of Famer, and yes, pretty clearly a Rockie for me
3:06
Could argue his best season was with St. Louis in '22 but majority of his career was in Colorado, including five of the six top 10 MVP finishes. Second or third best player in franchise history for the Rox
Guest
3:06
Over Under 93.5 Mets wins, and what is the X-factor
Anthony Franco
3:06
I'll go under but not dramatically so. If I have to pick one x-factor, it's McLean
3:08
Confident they're going to hit. Bullpen isn't elite but should be solid enough. Rotation's the highest variance but obviously looks much stronger if McLean is immediately a #2 starter
Joe from Milwaukee
3:08
Do you think the Brewers make an effort to extend Contreras? They seem a lot more willing to give big money to their position players historically and he's one of the best catchers in baseball. Also, the Yelich money is gone after 2028 anyway.
Anthony Franco
3:10
Pretty far outside their usual spending habits at this stage of a player's career. Quero's hanging around as a potential long-term answer as long as the throwing drop-off isn't permanent. Eventual trade of Contreras seems more probable
el jefe
3:10
After a busy week (Andujar, Castellanos, France, Canning, Marquez), how much have the Padres improved?

Thoughts on the Preller extension?
Anthony Franco
3:12
Probably added two wins between all those moves? Not bad for the cost. Canning's my favorite of them but they're all sensible since rotation depth and the bench were the biggest issues and not that difficult to address for cheap
3:13
France would've been overkill on an MLB deal. For a minor league deal, sure. Decent chance he just doesn't break camp and opts out at the end of Spring Training
3:15
We'll see how long the Preller extension runs but makes sense to keep him around. Much as the approach can be shortsighted at times, especially with the free agent spending toward the end of Peter Seidler's ownership, they continue to trot out top 5-10 teams that are also far more exciting than virtually any Padres teams from before Preller was hired
Ms fan
3:15
Are teams generally staying away from promoting their top prospects to AAA now? Seems like you get a lot more guys going straight from AA to the majors.
Anthony Franco
3:16
Yeah it seems like this is happening more often. The Prospect Promotion Incentive rules are part of it. There's also just less to be gleaned from Triple-A from an evaluation perspective
3:17
The Pacific Coast League, in particular, is so hitter-friendly that the stats there don't mean much. The pitcher quality at Triple-A continues to drop as injuries at the MLB level rise and force teams to call up more of their depth arms. There's also more of a tendency for the interesting Quad-A pitchers to move to Asia rather than sticking around in Triple-A because they can see the earning potential if they have success overseas
Guards4Life
3:18
Is Kwan open to an extension or is he gone? Haven't heard much from his camp.
Anthony Franco
3:20
Haven't seen any substantive reporting on this but I don't see why he'd be closed off to conversations. Very good player but he'll be a free agent at 30 as a corner bat with minimal power whose offensive impact is a up-and-down based on the average in balls in play
CBA Rules
3:20
Interesting tidbit regarding CBA: you are required to spend revenue sharing receipts on 'improving on field performance'.  You have to carry a luxury tax payroll 1.5 times more than the money you receive in revenue sharing.  There are three teams not doing that (Cle, TB, Mia).  There have been grievances filed, and nothing has ever happened to those teams since the Commissioner is in charge of it and he works for the owners.  What is the point of having rules when there is no way to enforce them?
Anthony Franco
3:21
The "improved on-field performance" language is pretty broad. It doesn't mean it has to go directly into player salaries. Spending on scouting, player development facilities, coaching, analytics all indirectly helps on-field performance
3:23
Agree with you on the grievance point though. The A's seem to be the only team that hasn't treated them as completely toothless, and that's only because the A's had just been phased back into revenue sharing and couldn't risk losing that money midway through a relocation
Bravenewworld
3:23
What doo you think Atlanta will do in the dwindling pitching supply market?
Anthony Franco
3:23
Shrug
3:24
Should sign Scherzer or Littell but they've already let so many rotation opportunities pass them by despite this situation being entirely foreseeable
3:25
I don't buy AA's 'we're only looking for playoff caliber arms because we like our depth' explanation. Holmes, Schwellenbach and López are obvious health red flags. Elder and Wentz are barely MLB pitchers
3:26
Only thing that makes sense is if they're tapped out on the budget, which again raises the question why they felt the need to double up on Dubón/Kim and sign Yaz when their corner outfield was already fine
The Coop
3:26
Anthony, thanks for chatting. What do you think Cade Horton's ceiling is - a #1 or 2 at his best and do you feel the Cubs will have him on an innings limit this season?
Anthony Franco
3:29
More of a #3 for me. Not sure the fastball moves enough to miss bats consistently, and I have a tough time seeing him keep the home run rate as low as it was a rookie
3:30
Still a pivotal piece of a contender, playoff-caliber starter, etc. Don't think he'll be on a strict innings limit but they've got enough rotation depth that they can go a six-man midseason if they want to ease off him, Boyd, and Steele coming off surgery during the tougher parts of the schedule
Alan53
3:31
I think the Reds and Pirates are going to finish 1-2 in the NL Central because they have better pitching than the Brewers, Cubs, and Cardinals. What do you think?
Anthony Franco
3:32
Still like Milwaukee and the Cubs a little better overall. Those teams can both pitch too -- Milwaukee bullpen should be elite -- and I think Pittsburgh has (understandably) given back some of the run prevention by downgrading on defense to add some power
3:33
Everyone aside from the Cardinals should be pretty good though. Don't think it's crazy to order them any way 1-4
Angels
3:33
Could Alcantara to Angels make sense?
Anthony Franco
3:34
Marlins didn't have any desire to move Sandy during the offseason and have already named him their Opening Day starter
Too late, never
3:34
is there any trade between SD,KC that might be built around Laureano for Bubic ? or would each be too thin in the aftermath despite the decent add
Anthony Franco
3:35
I'd rather roll the dice on Bubic staying healthy but I can see the case for both teams doing this still
Pablo Lopez
3:35
Hate to overreact without the imaging results but this feels like he should have been traded if his health checked out after the elbow injury last year
Anthony Franco
3:36
Other teams would've had trepidation about this being an issue obviously. Of all the players they didn't trade, Pablo's the one I most understood holding
3:37
Fingers crossed this is just a blip. Really good pitcher and seems to be a great dude, hoping for the best
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