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Front Office Chat: 8/30/24
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Anthony Franco
3:59
Hey everyone, hope you've had a good week! Probably going to keep this one around an hour, let's get rolling
Waiver Scoops
3:59
Curious which waiver guys you see getting claimed. Seems like the O's could use one of those bullpen arms...
Rich
3:59
Will Tammy Pham be picked up after he was DFA?
Anthony Franco
4:01
Pham didn't hit at all with the Cardinals, season numbers are just ok. Wouldn't be shocked if someone claimed him but I'd guess he clears
4:04
In general, not expecting many of the players who are known to be on waivers to get claimed. I think someone will take a flier on Jankowski as a speed and glove guy with the extra roster spot. All the Giants players feel unlikely, though I'd give Estrada the best shot. Doubt it on Nicky Lopez. Grossman could get claimed, I guess
4:05
Taylor Rogers is probably the best player known to be out there, and I agree he'd be a nice upgrade for a Baltimore team whose bullpen feels like it's teetering, but locking in $12MM onto next year's books is a big impediment
UtahSteve
4:05
MLB need another team in the west. Salt Lake City is ripe for a franchise. The Salt Lake Bees are the AAA for the lousy LA Angels yet the area supports the Bees just like they do for the NBAs Utah Jazz and now the Utah NHL team beginning play this year. The minor league hocky team is well supported. The area is huge and growing ridiculously fast! Please MLB place a team in Utah...the plans are in place. Funding is in place. Bring it on MLB. What say you?
Anthony Franco
4:06
Totally neutral and unbiased pitch from UtahSteve!
4:07
Just kidding. I think SLC will very much be in play for the next expansion round. It's a good sign for them that the A's gave that genuine consideration as their stopgap home
Angel Fan
4:07
The Angels just can't seem to get it right.  Do you think Washington's way of handling the kids is working.  Will they be better in 2025?
Anthony Franco
4:09
There's just not enough talent. Tough to gauge how Wash is doing when the roster is so deficient in basically every area. I think they'll be a little better next year than they were this season, largely because of the upper minors pitching they're starting to produce, but I wouldn't expect them to be good
Olereb
4:09
The Atlanta Braves received Soler from the Giants. Soler is weak defensively, he’s going to lose as many ballgames by his poor defense. I have already witnessed him in two series misplay 3 balls in my opinion most outfielders would make, and that’s just 2 series. My question is what are they going to do with him next year, they already have Ozuna that cannot even throw a ball. Does Soler have any trade value with 16 million for the next 2 years or are the Braves going to have to pay the majority of it to get rid of him.
Anthony Franco
4:10
Soler's making $13MM annually for the next two years. Hitting well but zero defensive value, as you mentioned. Doesn't fit well on a team with Ozuna (although I liked the deadline move considering the lack of alternatives to get any kind of life into the offense)
4:11
I think they'd need to pay it down a little but not dramatically so. If they got it down to like 2/20, they could probably flip him to a team that doesn't already have a DH flirting with the Triple Crown
Ophelia Quivers
4:11
Once again, Cashman's pitching aquisitions at the deadline have been an epic fail. Leiter has been awful and De Los Santos is already gone. Bad luck or ineptitude?
Anthony Franco
4:14
EDLS wasn't much of an acquisition to begin with, but Leiter's grounders immediately plummeting while he can't keep the ball in the park isn't a great look. I don't think it's an indictment on Cashman specifically -- bullpens are weird and the Yankees are better than most at getting production out of unheralded relievers -- but it's fair to say they should've pushed harder for one of the more impactful back-end arms with how wobbly Holmes has been
Guest
4:15
Can you rank the three Js of the rookie OF class for projected career offense?  (Chourio, Wood, Merrill)
Anthony Franco
4:15
I'll go Chourio, Wood, Merrill but you can't go wrong with any of them
Who’s On First?
4:15
Assuming the Cardinals offer a legacy contract to Paul Goldschmidt, would $10M plus incentives be fair, or is that an overpay at this point?
Anthony Franco
4:18
I think it's fine money in a vacuum but I'd rather see the Cardinals move on. If they bring Goldy back and he starts next season the same way he's been hitting this year, does the manager (whether Marmol or a potential replacement) feel obligated to keep playing him? It's already an old roster, he's clearly on the downswing of his career, and they could play Burleson there to open up corner outfield reps to get a little more athletic
2024-25 FA Class
4:18
If everyone who can opt-out does so, does the 2024-25 evolve into a buyers market?
Anthony Franco
4:19
Nah, I wouldn't go that far. It's a weak hitting class beyond Soto even if you got Chapman and Bellinger in there
4:20
The starting pitching market would be pretty strong, but there's not going to be an oversupply of quality pitching. Everyone knows how quickly that thins out once Spring Training begins
UtahSteve
4:20
What's up with Minnesota? The Guards keep trying to give the division away and neither the Twins or Royals take advantage. Is it lousy pitching? (which is a Twins downfall for years and years)
Anthony Franco
4:23
Bullpen has really let them down lately. The middle relief group looked kind of thin to begin with and their only deadline acquisition was a struggling middle reliever who couldn't throw a strike for them and got DFA within a month
4:26
They've been without Correa for six weeks. Willi Castro has been huge for them all year but they're obviously better off with Correa at short and Castro kicking around the diamond. Rotation has held up pretty well despite losing Joe Ryan
ROY
4:26
Why isn’t Lawrence butler talked about as a ROY candidate. He’s should definitely be runner up to Jackson Merrill.
Anthony Franco
4:30
Butler narrowly exceeded the 45-day rookie cutoff last year, so he's not eligible. He'd be in that mix if he were, playing really well
Sorry, having some Internet issues. One sec
4:31
Ok, I think we're good
Ryan Red-leg
4:31
Do you think that Nick Martinez will opt out of his deal after the season?  Any chance he just works out a new contract with the the Reds?
Anthony Franco
4:32
Yeah, I'd guess he opts out of $12MM again. He's having a very typical solid Nick Martinez season, in which he outperforms his contract and then opts out for a slightly better deal
4:33
I don't see why the Reds wouldn't want him back. Another two-year deal there seems fine. The ability to bounce between the rotation and 'pen is still pivotal for them with a young rotation that has a bunch of injury questions
chris
4:34
In your view, who is the NL wild card team that could surprise in the playoffs and find themselves in the World Series, similar to the Diamondbacks of 2023?
Anthony Franco
4:35
The NL Wild Card teams are probably going to be Arizona, San Diego and Atlanta. Hard to call it a surprise run if the Braves make or if the D-Backs get there twice in a row
4:36
Does that leave me with the Padres by default? I think the Diamondbacks are most likely of the three, but I don't know that anyone would be surprised by it again. All three of those teams are much better than last year's D-Backs were
For Love of the Game
4:36
Spencer Torkelson strikes out 28% of the time which was acceptable last year when he hit 31 bombs, but not this year when he's hitting them at half that rate.  Short of just giving him away, what might a trade look like should the Tigers decide to pursue veteran leadership like Alex Bregman or Matt Chapman, moving Jace Jung to 2B and Colt Keith to 1B in the process?
Anthony Franco
4:37
Pretty strong argument that they should do this. Maybe I'm in the minority but I think the infield is a bigger concern there than the rotation (although I'd add one back-end starter at least)
4:39
Not a ton of trade value with Tork at this point but someone would take a shot. Could probably get some kind of bullpen help or a depth starter.
4:40
Cardinals got a rental middle reliever (Shawn Armstrong) for Dylan Carlson. I think Tork's got a bit more value than that but not dramatically so. There's a decent chance that he's one year away from a non-tender
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