Front Office Chat: 5/8/26
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Anthony Franco
3:00
Good afternoon, hope all is well!
3:01
Looking forward to another of these, let's get it rolling
Fanthony Aranco
3:01
The MLBTR team was (justifiably) incredibly down on STL, how long would this have to continue for you or the rest of the team to believe?
Guest
3:01
If the Cardinals keep playing like they are now, what will they do are the Trade Deadline?
Anthony Franco
3:03
I'll probably dig into this in more detail for the Front Office post next week. I mostly remain skeptical they can keep this up with that rotation. They're again managing to keep them all healthy but this level of pitching to contact on the starting staff just doesn't seem like it's going to work all season
3:05
Can buy this as a slightly above-average offensive team, especially if Nootbaar looks better post-surgeries. Still out on most of the bullpen in front of O'Brien
3:06
They're seven games over and I think they'll probably land around .500 but the NL playoff field is deep enough that they'd still be my pick to finish last in the Central
3:08
Can't see Bloom pushing in prospect value to make any huge deadline splashes but if they're still 5-7 games above .500 in late July, the front office owes it to the team to at least make a moderate buy in the bullpen, maybe add a fourth OF
4 Sale Cheep
3:08
Who are some players we didn't expect to see on the trading block before the season but might end up moving thanks to their team not digging out of their unexpectedly bad start?
Anthony Franco
3:10
Your mileage may vary on whether the Giants were ever going to be good but sure looks like Robbie Ray and Luis Arraez will be out there in July. Mets are running out of time to get things going, so Freddy Peralta could be the top rental available.

Sonny Gray would be a pretty big one (albeit with a complicated contract given the big option buyout)
3:12
Taylor Ward could fit here, though Baltimore felt like a longer shot contender to me from the beginning. Still have a tough time seeing Houston completely blow it up but they're down to a year and a half of arb control over Jeremy Peña and he could bring back a Kyle Tucker-like haul if he's healthy
The Legend
3:12
what might a Drake Baldwin extension look like?
Anthony Franco
3:14
Steve thought I was light there for what it's worth. I'm a little more cautious given the market's trepidation on paying catchers and (to a lesser extent) Atlanta's ability to get a lot of guys to sign below what I would have expected on early-career deals
Power Outage
3:14
Brewers have 1 home run from SS, 3B, LF, and CF combined. I know rushing people isn't great but Pratt or Made or even Brock Wilken so someone needs to get a shot here pretty quick right?
Anthony Franco
3:15
Still think it's too soon to make the jump on Made but I'm increasingly coming around on that happening in the second half
3:16
Jett Williams seems likelier than Cooper Pratt or Brock Wilken to be the first one up from Triple-A
3:17
Not super optimistic on any of them making an immediate impact though. Williams is starting to pick it up a little but none of them has done much against Triple-A pitching this year
Hmmm
3:17
Which catcher would you prefer to have on your roster: Langeliers or Goodman?
Anthony Franco
3:17
I like Hunter Goodman but taking Shea Langeliers here pretty easily
Sam
3:17
Any chance the Twins extend Ryan Jeffers?He's quietly one of the best offensive catchers in the league.
Anthony Franco
3:19
Yeah I don't think it's crazy. They've been willing to invest in that position and Eduardo Tait is still a couple years away
3:20
Wouldn't say it's likely necessarily -- would still guess deadline trade over extension -- but it wouldn't floor me if they signed Jeffers to a three-year deal
Buster Posey
3:20
Do I keep Schmitt or trade him? I can't trade any other IFer other than Arraez, can I?
Anthony Franco
3:22
Arraez and Schmitt are the only ones they can move (aside from Bryce Eldridge obviously). Probably Arraez traded and they plug Schmitt back into the regular second base role
Basically have to play Schmitt in the outfield in the short term
Trevor Story
3:22
Will I be traded or DFA’d before the end of my contract?
Anthony Franco
3:23
Man, unfortunately I think we're looking at him getting released before the end of '27
3:24
Not anytime soon, and he's come back from extreme offensive lows before, but that gets progressively more difficult in a player's mid-30s
Maria Von Trapp-Nutting III
3:24
How do you solve a problem like Marcell Ozuna? He put up a .759 OPS last year.  Do we expect an all-start? Ha. Do we expect this ....  I'm not even sure what to call it.  Collapse?  Of course not.  Did he just forget how to hit in the off season?
Anthony Franco
3:26
Eh he was pretty bad from June on last year too. Past calendar year he's at .212/.314/.365 in nearly 600 PAs
3:27
Power has completely plummeted. Still has bat speed but not pulling the ball as much. He's obviously not this bad but even if you get a rebound to league average offense, it's not a good use of a roster spot
3:29
They don't have anyone else forcing him out of the lineup yet, but it was always a bizarre signing given the limitations in the OF defense they were forcing by pressing O'Hearn out there next to Cruz and Reynolds
Arrer Prone
3:29
Ya know, it just dawned on me. I never thought, do minor league teams have the same 40/26 roster restrictions that the majors do?  With all the DFAs, call ups and rehabs, its gotta be almost as interesting a roster shuffle, no?
Anthony Franco
3:30
Minor league teams do have active roster limits but the 40-man is only an MLB roster consideration
3:31
Minor league players who aren't on the 40-man will just get released if they get squeezed off the active roster. This happens all the time in the low levels with players you've never heard of (especially mid-late round draftees) and usually just means their career is over
3:33
When it happens in Triple-A, especially for players who have previous MLB experience, they'll often find another minor league deal somewhere. At the very least, there's probably an independent or Mexican League team that's willing to take those guys on
Varies player to player whether they want to keep going at that point. Some just want to play as long as they possibly can, a lot of others will just unofficially retire
RoxTalks
3:33
Re: Goodman v. Langeliers. I love Goodman too but he’s striking out at nearly 40%, I believe the highest of all qualified hitters. He makes such loud contact, but it’s almost 50-50 when he does.
Anthony Franco
3:35
Yeah the strikeouts are the big differentiator. Langeliers had similar concerns early in his career and has just gotten better and better at making contact
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