JotCast | Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

Trade Rumors Front Office Chat

Anthony Franco

2:00

Hey everyone, hope you all had a good holiday!

Looking forward to another chat this week. Let's get into it

Matt P

2:00

If the Red Sox were to extend Devers, is Franco a good outline for what one might look like?

Anthony Franco

2:02

No, they're not really analogous. Devers is only two years away from free agency, Franco was six years out. Devers would do better -- certainly on annual basis, probably on an overall guarantee

2:03

That's not to say the Franco deal was a mistake or anything. I understand why he took it, and he shattered the record for his service class. That's just how the service time structure in baseball works

Tony M

2:03

Is there a limit on how many players can be drafted from a team in the Rule 5 draft? I’m thinking there isn’t, but I don’t know for sure.

Anthony Franco

2:03

Not technically, although you can't take more Rule 5 picks than the number of open 40-man roster spots you went into the draft with

2:04

The Padres took three guys a few years back. That's the most I can remember for any one team

GBS42

2:04

Anthony, for players with contracts for not much above the current minimum salary level, what happens if a new minimum salary is negotiated into the upcoming CBA that is higher than their agreed-to salaries? For example, a player is signed for $800,000, and the players negotiate a new minimum of $1 millionWould all of these contracts automatically be bumped up to the new Major League minimum? Would they be bumped up to the difference between the old minimum and the agreed-to salary?

Anthony Franco

2:05

I don't know the answer to this, but I have to imagine they'd just bump everyone up to the new league minimum

2:07

That's the only solution that makes much sense to me. Can't see them punishing, say, Jake Cave for signing under this CBA and forcing him to keep an $800K salary in 2022 while literally everyone else on the team makes at least $1MM or whatever number they bump it up to

bobwebb655

2:07

What moves do you believe STL needs to make after the Matz signing? My hope is they sign re-sign Luis Garcia ($2-3M) and sign a closer to share the 9th inning responsibilities so Gallegos does not suffer the burnout Reyes suffered in 2021.

Do you see Mark Melancon as a Cardinal fit to take some pressure off of Gallegos?

Anthony Franco

2:08

Yeah I think a García reunion and/or a Melancon signing both make sense. It's a pretty strong roster already, with bullpen and catcher standing out as the areas I'd want to address if I were the front office

2:09

Obviously, you're not going to supplant Said behind the plate, but I'd rather have a more proven #2 than Knizner at this point

Yadi, not Said. My laptop oddly autocorrected that one haha

Joshua

2:09

What type of return do you think Carter Kieboom could bring back in a trade? Any teams out there that you could see as a fit for him? Thanks.

Anthony Franco

2:10

I think he's a lottery ticket at this point, wouldn't bring back a whole lot. Diamondbacks, A's if they trade Chapman, Orioles make sense

Teams that don't really have a current third baseman of the future but probably aren't competing in 2022

Joe J.

2:11

I haven't seen the Yankees linked to any starting pitchers. I'm not counting the obligatory Luis Castillo trade rumors. Was it Verlander or bust?

Anthony Franco

2:11

I doubt that. There hasn't been a ton publicly reported on the market for guys like Gausman or Ray yet. I'd imagine the Yankees will at least look into them

2:12

On the trade front, they could be fits for one of the Marlins or A's guys. Montas makes a lot of sense there (and like fifteen other places obviously)

Dmitry

2:13

Why did the Yanks keep Britton on the 40 man if he wont pitch this year? The money is owed anyway, why not reclaim the spot to keep another prospect safe from rule 5?

Anthony Franco

2:13

I was a bit surprised by that too. Two possible explanations I can come up with...

2:14

1) They're not entirely convinced he won't pitch at all in 2022. That looks unlikely, but if there's still some hope of him coming back in August or September, then I guess hold on

2:15

2) They're still looking for ways to try to offset some of his salary in a trade for a different higher-priced player. If they release him now, they're just on the hook for all that money

Low Arb Diet

2:15

Who are the highest profile arb-eligible players who might get non-tendered next week and join the FA pool?

Anthony Franco

2:16

Gary Sánchez, Matt Boyd, Anthony Santander all look like plausible NT candidates to me

2:17

I could see like a 10-15% chance of non-tenders of Cody Bellinger and Adam Frazier too

Giantsphan

2:17

It seems like the negotiations between the Giants brass and Gausman have hit a snag….perhaps. Is it possible Farhan doesn’t want to pay him 5/20-25??? It makes me a little nervous too as he is vulnerable to periods of ineffective pitching when his splitter is off. Your thoughts? Maybe Z would rather have Stro?? Even Max if the Dodgers don’t respond-sign him.

Anthony Franco

2:18

I don't think it's crazy to balk at that kind of money for Gausman. I do wonder if some teams will just be wary of spending at that level for a largely two-pitch guy who's go-to secondary is a splitter

2:19

I've heard of teams discouraging prospects from throwing splitters because they believe it increases injury risk. (Haven't seen any empirical evidence for that, but maybe teams have in-house research that backs that up). Gausman's been pretty durable and super successful the last couple of years, but I could see a few clubs just being out because it's a non-traditional profile for a top-of-the-rotation guy

Adam

2:19

Garver, Jeffers, Rortvedt, who's the most likely to be traded in a package?

Anthony Franco

2:20

I think Garver's the most likely. Doubt Rortvedt has a ton of value

Giants fan

2:20

I keep wanting my team to trade a little depth for prospects and open up a few jobs for new players. Last winter Sam coonrod got us an exciting prospect. Which of these players has sneaky-positive trade value? Slater, Flores, ruf, Dominic Leone, Zack littell, Caleb barager

Anthony Franco

2:21

Sure, I think all of those guys could have sneaky value in a Coonrod sort of way. Not sure there'll be enough appeal to warrant moving any of them, since the Giants obviously want to contend in 2022

2:22

I'd be least surprised if Leone got traded out of anyone in that group, His peripherals didn't match the ERA and he's in his final year of control

Doubt they're actively trying to move him, but I imagine they'd be open if another team really liked him

Kraken fan

2:22

With the Yankees built to win now, would a trade of Jasson Dominguez be enough to get Matt Olson? Helps the Yankee defense and a power left handed bat. Gives the A's a blue chip prospect plus saves the A's money. Would the Yankees need to include Voit and money to make this work?

Anthony Franco

2:25

Starting a package with Dominguez/Voit would be interesting, but I don't think the A's would pull the trigger. Add a 45 FV, high minors starting pitcher in there (Ken Waldichuk maybe), and I think it's a compelling call

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