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
3:00
Hey everyone!
Apologies on the ever-changing chat timelines, have had some schedule adjustments the past couple weeks as we try to get all the Offseason in Review posts out
3:01
Let's get into it
Joe J.
3:01
From Tim's mailbag yesterday: "Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino aren’t as good as they’ve shown" What does Nasty Nestor have to do to get some re2pect? So far he's just continuing his dominance from last year.
Anthony Franco
3:01
I don’t think Tim was trying to dump on Cortes so much as acknowledge that he’s obviously going to give up a run at some point.
3:02
As you said, he’s been good since the start of 2021. Cutter allows him to mitigate platoon concerns, he’s a good strike-thrower. Doesn’t get enough whiffs that I buy him striking out 30% of opponents long-term but I think he’s a capable #4 starter
Joey gallo
3:02
when can we start to say that I’m a sonny gray type who will just never succeed in the bronx
Anthony Franco
3:02
Eh, I'm always kind of wary of that kind of explanation. It's not like there's zero pressure or scrutiny in Arlington, it's still Major League Baseball
3:03
I think it's likelier that Gallo's just an inherently streaky player because he's got the most extreme profile around
3:04
He was bad in 2020 too. Things can look amazing when he's crushing the ball 450 feet, walking 20% of the time and playing Gold Glove defense. They can also look really bad because he whiffs like a third of the time he swings the bat
Around the turn...
3:04
What can the Royals do to start generating some offense? The bullpen and defense are incredible, and Dozier seems like he's back from injury, but man... Santana and others are just bleh. At what point does Santana become a sunk cost and they call up MJ Melendez?
Anthony Franco
3:05
Ha, you're preaching to the choir. The whole premise of my post for subscribers last week was that Melendez and Pratto should be because, to answer your second question, I think the Santana sunk cost time was Opening Day
3:06
Now they've both been terrible so far this in Triple-A, so that's probably part of the delay. But still, I think the best chance they have is to let those guys take a shot at it and put Santana on the bench or cut him
3:07
The rest of it, I think you just have to let it play. Whit Merrifield has been awful so far. What can you do but let him play through it? Witt's struggles are concerning, but I don't think it's to the point you have to consider sending him down yet
Joe J.
3:07
Give us some nice surprises you've noticed this season so far.
Anthony Franco
3:10
Guardians offense has been good, props to Owen Miller and Steven Kwan. Tylor Megill has been great and throws gas now. The Rockies are off to a good start, largely because C.J. Cron's been like the third-best hitter in the league so far
Guest
3:10
Anthony,  how long can the Red Sox continue with little or no offense from Bobby Daubec and the combination of right fielders?
Anthony Franco
3:11
I'd probably call up Casas and option Dalbec now. I've always been a Dalbec skeptic, seemed like he turned some heads in the organization and fanbase with his nice showing down the stretch last year but he was still striking out a ton. Hasn't carried that over this season, and you have an elite first base prospect hitting the crap out of the ball in Triple-A
3:13
As far as right field goes, though, I don't know what you can do about it right now. Jackie Bradley's been fine so far
The Pitts
3:13
When does Diego Castillo start playing every day?  When does Oneil Cruz get called up?  Why did they send Roansy Contreras back down?  Shouldn't they be letting the kids play?
Anthony Franco
3:14
I think service time considerations were the primary driver in sending Cruz down, but he'd also only had six career Triple-A games. Not crazy to think he could use some more development against high minors pitching, and it's not like he's forcing their hand the way he's playing right now
3:15
Contreras, I think they just want to keep tabs on his innings total. He only made 14 starts last year because of injury, didn't pitch in games in 2020 due to the pandemic. Easier to space his workload out in the minors, I don't think there's anything nefarious or short-sighted about how they've handled that
3:16
As for Castillo, I think it's fine to rotate him and Hoy Park through there. I don't know that either's necessarily more promising than the other. They're fine
Ryan S.
3:16
What kind of contract would Trevor Rosenthal be looking for? He's amazing when he's healthy, but he's a glass cannon. Would still like to see the Cardinal's give him another look.
Anthony Franco
3:17
I think he's probably just looking at minor league deals. Maybe he can squeeze a guaranteed spot and a million bucks with incentives or something, but it's not going to be a huge commitment
Hits Like Rays
3:17
I read the Red Sox Offseason Review article this week.  It listed most of the major player salaries for this year, but they only added up to about $120 million.  If they are at the $230 CBT, where is the rest of that money going????
Anthony Franco
3:18
Not sure whether you're referring to the top part, where Darragh listed the offseason's major league signings, or the bottom, where he covered all the players who'll be coming off the books after this year
Either way, that's not a holistic picture of their obligations
3:19
Chris Sale's the big long-term commitment. Story as well. JDM and Eovaldi have notable salaries this season but will be free agents after the year. Devers isn't a free agent obviously but has a significant arb salary
3:20
Their CBT estimate is also about $18MM higher than the actual 2022 payroll commitments. That's mostly because player benefits are included in the CBT figure
A's Fan
3:20
The Draft runs July 17-19. The Trade Deadline is August 2.  Two weeks feels like too short a window for Selling teams to finalize their Want List... could we see a lot more trade activity in late-June/early-July?
Anthony Franco
3:21
I don't think so, just feel like it'll make front offices' jobs harder in July
Teams are still going to want to wait until the last second for trades. Bubble teams need to know whether they're in or out. Contenders are still trying to evaluate needs, hang on as long as possible in case injuries come up, etc.
EddieB
3:22
Why is Roansy Contreras going back to the minors?  What order would you rank these future SP's?  Eury Perez, Daniel Espino and George Kirby.
Anthony Franco
3:23
Addressed Contreras earlier in the chat. I'm inclined to go Kirby, Perez, Espino for the second question but you're better served asking somebody at Baseball America or FanGraphs about them. Kirby's the only one of that group I've seen in person, and that was four years ago
Joe madden
3:23
What are you expecting from us. Do we need to add anything
Anthony Franco
3:24
I think the Angels will be about .500 for most of the year. I'm skeptical about Tyler Wade playing like he has all year and think second base will still be an issue they have to address
SteveM
3:24
Charlie Montoyo's decision to take Gausman out of the game in the 9th...good or bad decision? I agreed with it in spirit and even understood it but as a fan I hated to see it.
Anthony Franco
3:25
Yeah I'd have probably pulled him too, zero issue with it. Some people hate the idea of not letting anyone complete games anymore, and I kind of get it, but I'm so accustomed to every team handling their pitchers like that it really doesn't bother me much
Dave roberts
3:25
is Andrew Heaney hurt. We can’t afford to lose a pitcher
Load More Messages
Connecting…