You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Trade Rumors Front Office Chat With Anthony Franco
powered byJotCast
Anthony Franco
12:06
Test
4:59
Hey everyone, looking forward to another chat!
5:01
Appreciate your flexibility in pushing it back a couple hours this week
EWitkows
5:01
I know it's just Spring training but are Huira's new stroke legit? Seems like he's in line for 1B,2B and DH this season
Anthony Franco
5:02
I've gotta see it in real games before I start to buy in. It's not crazy to have hope -- he's 25 and was once a very good hitter -- but exhibition play isn't moving the needle for me
Ross Atkins
5:02
What does Dexter Fowler bring to the table that I don't already have in Ramiel Tapia or even a prospect like Josh Palacios?  Is this me indulging in making up for not getting him in the 2016 off-season?
Anthony Franco
5:03
Fowler's got better plate discipline than Tapia, but I really wouldn't make much of the move. It's a minor league deal, he'll just start in Buffalo in case somebody above him on the depth chart gets hurt
Chip
5:03
I have googled several times and always get different answers. How does MLB define the strike zone ? Thanks
Anthony Franco
5:04
The official strike zone is the area over home plate from the midpoint between a batter's shoulders and the top of the uniform pants -- when the batter is in his stance and prepared to swing at a pitched ball -- and a point just below the kneecap. In order to get a strike call, part of the ball must cross over part of home plate while in the aforementioned area.
That's from MLB.com
Guest
5:04
Since Albert is back with the Cards and announced he is retiring after the season. Do you think Wainwright will follow suit and retire with 2 other Cardinals legends?
Anthony Franco
5:05
Wainwright himself doesn't even know that yet. He's taken things year-by-year for a while now, and he demurred when asked about this spring after they brought Pujols back
5:06
If I had to throw money on it right now, I'd guess he retires after this season. But it's not a lock, feels like something he'll just reevaluate with his family come November again
Manny Lee
5:06
Who do you think plays more games at second base for the Jays - Biggio or Espinal?
Anthony Franco
5:06
Biggio. He's not great but he's looked like a capable regular in the not too distant past
5:07
Espinal had a nice 2021 season, but it was basically driven by making contact and running a .353 batting average on balls in play he's not going to sustain. Still think he's more of a solid utility type than an everyday player
Anthony Tanko
5:08
What prominent free agent has the largest risk to underperform against expectations?
Anthony Franco
5:09
I wouldn't have gone near the kind of money the Tigers did on Báez. His game is so athleticism dependent -- both defensively and overcoming a terrible approach with otherworldly bat speed and bat control -- that I'd be pretty concerned with how he'll age as the physical gifts tick down in his 30's
5:10
Any of the nine-figure pitchers are risky, just by nature. Pitchers get hurt a lot; even someone like Scherzer -- whose deal I think was fine and made a lot of sense for the Mets -- could get hurt in the next couple years
5:12
I liked Ray over Gausman this winter because I'm not sure how well a pitcher who's almost 50-50 fastball-splitter will hold up into his mid-30's. That's just a gut feel thing though. I've not seen any data backing up that it's a riskier profile and I might be wrong, but it feels riskier than a more typical fastball-curveball-slider repertoire
Jonathan
5:12
I started typing this and then received the notice about Dodgers trading for Kimbrel. Anticipate Reynolds is next. So ... did AJ Preller have a plan for this offseason? Or did he abandon his plan? Is he halfway back east by now, feeling the scene of his crime, back to mom and dad. What gives?
Anthony Franco
5:12
I doubt Reynolds is next for the Dodgers, but we'll set that aside
5:13
On the Padres offseason, I think they just backed themselves into a corner with their previous moves. They've been unsuccessfully trying to get out from under the Hosmer contract for a while now, and it seems like they basically entered the winter up against the limit from a payroll perspective
5:15
And then Tatís got hurt without them knowing it. Any team would have trouble overcoming the loss of one of the 5-10 best players in the game. So I don't know that this offseason's inactivity was because Preller and the front office didn't have a plan so much as they're just reaping what they sowed with some prior bad decisions
Chriss
5:15
How concerning is Bellinger’s slow spring start? I know spring stats are meaningless, but the high % of Ks has to be somewhat alarming
Anthony Franco
5:15
Don't care about the spring stats at all. He's clearly tinkering with his mechanics during games that don't mean anything. That's fine
5:17
At the same time, yeah, I'm worried. He was awful last year. Back to his rookie contact rates with the worst batted ball results of his career. He was pretty clearly out of whack, and similarly to Hiura, I won't believe he's found himself again until I see it in regular season games
Quarantino Martinez
5:17
Rules question: Does Shane Baz have to get placed on the IL or can he just be optioned to free up the roster spot?
Anthony Franco
5:17
Can't option an injured player, no. He has to go on the IL
Bob T
5:17
Do you expect to see more Starting Pitchers having arm tightness and other issues because of the shortened Spring Training? The shortened training period in 2020 led to way more injuries, per capita.
I think that having a three week ST was very short-sighted by MLB and the MLBPA.
Anthony Franco
5:18
This Spring Training was closer to four weeks, but yeah, I expect we'll see a few more injuries
5:19
I don't think anyone thinks it's ideal, so much as MLB and the union took a brinkmanship tack during the lockout and held out until the last possible second to get a 162-game season in. Shortening the season would've raised more huge economic issues (should pay and service time be prorated, etc.?) and Spring Training was a casualty of that
5:20
There are probably going to be some guys who get hurt who wouldn't have but for the lockout. Unfortunately, both MLB and the PA had bigger fish to fry in January
Ragbrai
5:20
Does Bryant see time mostly in the OF or does he get used at 3B quite a bit?
Anthony Franco
5:20
He's going to play mostly left field. They've got José Iglesias at shortstop and a Gold Glove caliber third baseman in Ryan McMahon
5:21
Bryant would've never been an option at short, to be clear. But the Rockies kicked around the idea of kicking McMahon from third to shortstop early in the offseason. Signing Iglesias keeps him at third
Ragbrai
5:21
Does any specific NL player(s) see more AB with the DH or is it a lot of rotating players through DH to rest them from the field?
Anthony Franco
5:22
I think the bigger thing is that it freed up a couple teams to sign guys they otherwise wouldn't have. Nats with Nelson Cruz, Dodgers with Freddie to push Muncy to DH
Corey Dickerson/Pujols with the Cardinals
5:23
As far as guys I expect to get more playing time because of the DH, J.D. Davis and Darin Ruf spring to mind
Load More Messages
Connecting…