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Front Office Chat: 5/19/23
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Anthony Franco
2:59
Hey everyone, hope you all had a good week
3:00
Looking forward to another one of these, let's get going
Spirited
3:00
Are you buying Josh Lowe?
Anthony Franco
3:01
As a good player, yeah. Rare to find center field capable outfielders who can match his power. He’s obviously not top five hitter in baseball good and I’m still a little wary of the approach keeping his OBP at a league average or better level, but there’s enough power and defensive value I think he’s a quality regular.
Suffering Padres Fan
3:01
Hi Anthony. Give me a reason to continue watching. Everyone says they can’t be this bad and it will get better but I just don’t see it happening.
Anthony Franco
3:03
Last year’s Phillies were 21-29 at the end of May. The Braves were 23-27 and went on to win 101 games and the NL East. I concede it’s a lot easier to say not to panic when I’m not watching the Padres lose to teams they should beat every night, but there’s still a ton of time for them to turn it around.
Ultimately, I still think they will grab a Wild Card spot. The pre-2023 track records of the top six or so players in the lineup are just way too good for this to be a below-average offense all year.
David's Bell
3:03
How is it that the last place team in the AL EAST would be the FIRST place team in the AL CENTRAL? That's nuts.
Anthony Franco
3:04
It is crazy. Everyone knew the AL East was going to be good and the Central divisions were bad but that’s a hell of a discrepancy for almost two months into the season.
David's Bell
3:04
Who has the greatest need for Aroldis Chapman?
Anthony Franco
3:05
Still plenty of time for that to change. Virtually every contender can always use an extra relief arm, since it’s pretty simple to just push everyone down a peg in the leverage hierarchy and squeeze your eighth or ninth reliever off the roster.
Rangers, Twins, Diamondbacks are among the teams that would make the most sense for me though. Angels too if they’re competitive enough to trade for a rental reliever.
So Cal Craig
3:06
Culberson...... come on.....  Why dont the Braves bring Grissom back for 60 days, stinging the ball at AAA...  I know is defense is iffy but ........  Culberson......  Geez...........
Anthony Franco
3:07
Culberson’s not the most inspiring choice but I wouldn’t bring up Grissom to play like twice a week. Arcia’s the starting shortstop and it makes more sense to get Grissom regular run in Triple-A to see how the glove comes along than to keep him on the major league bench.
David's Bell
3:07
MLB says the jays have a need at second base? Isn't their problem that they just haven't given the job to Whit Merrifield?
Anthony Franco
3:09
Eh, Merrifield has one homer and is slugging .350 over 151 plate appearances. I don’t think the Jays’ second base group is a disaster and it’s not typically an easy position to address via midseason trade, but none of Merrifield, Biggio or Espinal has done enough that the front office shouldn’t at least look for upgrades when the time comes.
Squeeze Bunt
3:09
It looks like Harper will be moving to 1B for the Phils.  What happens to Bohm?  Back to 3B?  DH?
Anthony Franco
3:10
Bohm presumably goes back to third and Edmundo Sosa moves into a utility role if everyone’s healthy.
Any hope?
3:10
Any hope that Mike Clevinger and Matthew Boyd will re-find the magic that once made them decent pitchers? Their ratios are sky high, and Boyd's ERA is even worse.
Anthony Franco
3:12
Clevinger’s just a #5 starter for me at this point. The stuff isn’t what it was pre-Tommy John. Boyd’s still spinning the ball well and missing bats with the fastball and changeup. He’s always going to be homer prone and the command hasn’t come back after the long layoff yet. I’ve still got some hope he can find #3/4 starter form as he gets further away from surgery but even at his best, he was wildly inconsistent.
Crash
3:12
If Manoah keeps pitching like this, do the jays ever end up sending him to Buffalo to get back on track?
Anthony Franco
3:14
Man, imagine asking this question a month ago. I don’t think we’re at that point yet and Manoah seems like the kind of guy whose confidence will hold up even as he struggles, but if he still looks like this in a month or six weeks, maybe?
Tony
3:14
Greetings, Thanks for the chats! Nolan Gorman is on a tear. What do you think his ceiling look like? I believe is a .280/.350/930 line is a realistic possibility for him. Am I drinking Kool aid?
Anthony Franco
3:15
I wouldn’t go .930 OPS. Four qualified hitters got there last year. You’re talking MVP candidate at that point. But I do love Gorman and could see something like .255/.340/.530 or so. That’s a great player.
Social climber
3:15
I so hate to ask this again, but it really does feel like the pitcher injury situation is *vastly* worse this year than any other year in memory. If you agree with that assessment even partially, can you even venture a guess as to why?  Rha
Anthony Franco
3:16
It feels like that but I've still not seen any definitive data suggesting that's the case. It could be recency bias
3:18
If they are up, I've seen the pitch clock hypothesis and think it's at least plausible. It's been in the minor leagues for a while but obviously an adjustment for pitchers at the major league level
AA
3:18
How worried should I be about my rotation?
Anthony Franco
3:18
(Braves)
3:20
Guess I'd put my concern at like 4/10. Not ideal to lose Fried and Wright for extended stretches obviously, and the depth options aside from Bryce Elder are iffy. They can upgrade midseason but don't have the top-tier farm talent of teams they'll be competing with on some arms
3:21
All that said, they have what I think is the best lineup in baseball and an above-average bullpen. They're 4.5 up on Miami in the NL East and six-plus clear of Philadelphia and the Mets. The rest of the roster should be good enough to hold the fort for now. So long as Fried and Wright aren't impacted for the postseason -- and there's nothing to suggest they would be right now -- I think they'll be ok
bill
3:21
Matt Olson’s strike out numbers are concerning and isn’t this a good time to trade Ozuna while his worth is better than noting?
Anthony Franco
3:22
Still not going to be any interest in Ozuna. Great couple weeks but it's not like teams are going to forget the extended terrible performance that preceded it (to say nothing of the contract)
3:24
Not worried about Olson yet. He's gone through stretches like this in his career. He's never been a high-contact hitter and while he's striking out more often than normal right now, he's bounced back from these ruts. You're buying the power, plate discipline and first base defense with Olson. The average is never likely to be great
Will in Westport
3:25
Hey Anthony,  Now that Zach Jackson has gone on the IL, who will the As turn to for the few number of Save situation that might be created?  Thank you.
Anthony Franco
3:27
Trevor May's on a rehab stint and could take it back. Until then, Richard Lovelady maybe? It's bleak
Biggs
3:27
Why are the jays still carrying Cavan Biggio?
Anthony Franco
3:27
No idea. I’d have optioned him a while ago.
Seattle unknown
3:27
José Caballero seems to have come out of nowhere and repaced Sam Haggerty, the injured Dylan Moore, and the failure of Kolten Wong as the top super-utility guy. Can we count on his small-sample, but excellent, stats this year in AAA and Seattle as a harbinger of the future?
Anthony Franco
3:28
Upper minors numbers are probably inflated a bit by playing younger competition but I think the plate discipline’s good enough he can be a viable utility player. Don’t see him as a regular without any power though
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