Front Office Chat: 8/7/26
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Anthony Franco
3:02
Hey all, hope you've enjoyed your week!
3:03
Have some family commitments to attend to this evening so I need to keep this one right to an hour
Let's get rolling
Flubs
3:04
Two parter, if possible. I’m glad the Rockies got value out of Doyle and getting Norby out of Vodnik is a great buy-low move for both teams, I really liked that.
But the Senzatela deal is…. Okay?
Anthony Franco
3:06
I get the logic of the Colorado-Miami one as a challenge trade, but frankly just don't think either of those guys is a good major league player. Vodnik has 30-grade command a fastball that plays below its velocity, Norby's a positionless infielder who'll maybe be an average hitter
3:07
Senzatela return was about what I expected. He's pretty expensive for a setup guy and the results over the last two months diminished a lot of the early-season enthusiasm
Alfonse
3:07
Of all the articles written about the Skubal trade, I think the most insightful and impactful was the one today by Jeff Passan.  Your thoughts?
Anthony Franco
3:09
Yep, excellent writeup (unsurprisingly). Breaks down exactly why the Dodgers and Brewers were best positioned to make the top offers and why Detroit could understandably prefer Hope/Ryan to a package around Luis Peña and Alexander Frias, even if the latter is. perfectly reasonable offer in its own right
Black and Gold
3:09
Simply put. Did the Pirates do enough?
Anthony Franco
3:10
Probably not but I do think that's more about the injuries than their deadline moves
3:12
Decent chance we're on year 11 of no playoffs so I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to hear excuses but I do think this season specifically they just got unlucky with losing almost half their lineup in a two-week stretch
Mike the Nats Fan
3:12
A common suggestion found on the InterNats (Nationals fan sites) is to move CJ Abrams to the OF or 2B and move James Wood from the OF to 1B. Both of them are great bats with defensive metrics that are, um, not so good.

Has there been any discussion on these ideas in the wider baseball world? Do you think these are good or bad ideas?

One obvious issue (beyond telling the starting NL All-Star SS and likely Silver Slugger for the position he's not really a SS) is the financial implications for Abrams. Suffice it to say young SS hitting free agency seem to do very well; a young 2B not so much. Extending him at SS prices would probably solve that problem, but that by definition involves paying a 2B or OF like a star young SS.

Wood is a Boras client, so asking about extensions is fine (it worked with Strasburg in 2016!) but planning on him being willing to sign an extension is foolish. Still, moving Wood to 1B may help save some wear and tear on his big body. Your thoughts?
Anthony Franco
3:12
Long question but basically asking about position changes for CJ Abrams and James Wood
3:14
There's definitely talk among other teams about moving Abrams off SS when he was a realistic trade candidate. More common move would be second base but I'd be inclined to try center field next year. He's obviously a premium athlete and I'd rather have a plus all-around regular in CF than 2B
3:16
I think there's less urgency to move Wood to first but I see the logic for it if he slumps again down the stretch. Seems like he wore down physically in '25 and if that's a recurring problem, then more 1B/DH work could mitigate that
Wouldn't need to be a full-time position change, could have him split evenly between RF/1B with a lot of DH days mixed in
mlbfan
3:17
Is Dillion Dingler an MVP finalist?
Anthony Franco
3:17
Yeah, he might just win it at this point. Unreal player
3:18
Premium defensive catcher who can also take 97 mph down and away and hit a missile out to right-center. Incredible
Hits Like Rays
3:18
It felt like the Rays really needed to add a strong outfield hitter in order to truly compete for a championship.  What do you think?
Anthony Franco
3:19
Liked their deadline overall, wish they would've upgraded on Mullins but we've talked a lot about how hard it is to acquire an above-average CF
3:21
Would've felt better about it if Melton didn't go back on the Triple-A IL one day after the deadline though. This lineup definitely feels light for a championship contender but hey, someone has to win the AL
Francophilia
3:21
I was surprised by MLBTR’s rather searing criticism of A.A. and the failure to sign a more notable pitcher.
Anthony Franco
3:22
Darragh was indeed pretty critical here:
3:23
I'll say that I don't entirely agree with him -- I was harder on their offseason than on the deadline -- even as it's tough to feel like this is more than a B- or C+ deadline when all they came away with was Mahle and Thomas
3:24
deGrom would've been perfect but you can't force him to move or the Giants to listen on Webb. And I don't think any of the non-Skubal rental starters who got moved are so much better than Mahle and Bryce Elder that I'd be far more confident in them starting Game 2 of a playoff series
3:25
Are Robbie Ray and Casey Mize better than Elder? Probably, but either way you're hoping for like four innings of two-run ball and getting to the bullpen. You're not going to have the better starter in the non-Sale games against the Brewers or Dodgers either way
Josh
3:26
Who will finish last in the NL Central - Reds, Pirates or Cards?
Anthony Franco
3:26
I'll take St. Louis but imagine all three of those teams end up in the high 70s
Sec. 315
3:26
Hi Anthony, Nats fan here. What are your thoughts on Washington's deadline moves? I thought the Mead and Garcia deals made a lot of sense, but would rather they have held onto Griffin and made a QO for him, given the so-so bunch of prospects they got for him. He likely would have turned the offer down, and the comp pick they'd then receive would have a lot more upside than any of the players they got back in the deal. Of course, that assumes there still will be such a thing as a QO and associated comp picks after this season. Keeping him at least would have helped the fan base maintain some interest over the last two months. What say you?
Anthony Franco
3:28
Loved the Early/Mead deal. García one was fine, seems like everyone's pretty skeptical on him being this good. Package they got for Cleveland on Griffin is better than the QO so if the extension talks didn't go anywhere, I'd definitely have moved him
3:29
Decent chance he accepts the QO, you're paying $23M and he regresses to a 4/5 type and has no trade value next summer
3:30
And the long shot playoff berth hopes basically evaporated when Atlanta swept them
Optimistic Giants Fan
3:30
Your thoughts on the Giants deadline, and specifically the Mayer/Miller trade?
Anthony Franco
3:31
Easy yes for them on Mayer/Miller. Shout out to whichever of you called Miller as a trade chip in here for them last week. I was skeptical he'd have that kind of value, and while I think that deal says more about what the Red Sox think of Mayer than Miller, absolutely worth the dice roll for SF
3:32
Really liked everything they did. Paid Ray down appropriately to get two good prospects from SD, loved getting Lalane for Ramos, packaging Kilian with Arraez to get Marquez from Philly
Jake
3:33
Should we as Brewers fans be more mad that they didn't go and get a power hitter than than losing out on Skubal? Our starting pitching has the best ERA in MLB, but I feel like our offense is still prone to going flat in the playoffs like we saw last year against the Dodgers.
Anthony Franco
3:34
Agree that offense would've been the bigger get but not a ton of power bats moved. Abrams would've been ideal for them but just played so well that Nats couldn't justify moving him (at least not without Milwaukee putting Made in there or something)
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