Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

Anthony Franco

• Good afternoon everyone, hope you're well!
• There's a lot already queued up so apologies in advance for anything I can't cover. Let's get rolling

Black and Gold Bleeder

• Do the Pirates have a reasonable shot at either Suarez or Okamoto?? They need power from the third base position before anything else.

Anthony Franco

• Yeah it seems like either of those should be viable with their current spending posture, especially if Geno ends up at two years. Not sure how a low-OBP righty bat would play at PNC but agree that third base is a need and they should be after offense wherever they can get it

Giants fan

• As a giants fan im confused on the direction they should go. Signing a pitchers to longterm contracts doesn't seem to be the giants course. The giants have money to spend a knowledgeable fan base too. 10 outfielders on the roster not enough infield depth. The giants as mentioned in your trade rumors comments today lists a solid core of young pitchers but lacking experience. Trades are possible. Please give your thoughts.

Anthony Franco

• Well I think they should sign Kyle Tucker but that's an ownership question more than a front office one. If they're limited to the Gallen/King tier in free agency (I'd prefer the latter for any team), then they're probably leveraging some of those upper level starters for an outfielder
• Nootbaar's available and Cardinals are targeting high level starters. I wouldn't give up Roupp for Noot but if STL likes Whisenhunt or McDonald, maybe that gets the ball rolling
• Similar logic with Ketel (Roupp/Birdsong should be on the table there), but I have a tough time seeing Arizona moving him at all -- much less in division

Mariners

• What/who do you think makes the first major move at the meetings? What team/free agent? Is it a trade or a signing?

Anthony Franco

• Based on my annual last place finishes in the Top 50 contest, I recommend ignoring any of my predictions
• But give me Framber to Baltimore

David

• Stearns says he wants to prioritize defense this off-season which he proved with the Semien trade.  However there is  always talk of moving Vientos to first which would probably be a drop from Alonso since he’s never played there.  What do you think the Mets will do at 1B if they don’t resign Pete to bolster the defense

Anthony Franco

• Disagree a little with the premise, not like Pete's an elite defender there either. I think having Vientos log any meaningful time at 3B would cut against the infield defense priority, so the question is whether they think he'll bounce back enough at the plate to warrant 1B/DH time or whether it's time to move on entirely
• If the goal is solely to upgrade the defense, they'd probably be best off signing Bregman and moving Baty to first. I think that's too far in the other direction and still expect them to get something done with Alonso personally

Gonzo for Gonzo

• Thoughts on the Pirates-Red Sox deal? Losing the best nickname in baseball and a RH OF plus having to dump Criswell seems like a steep price for the Sox, they must believe they can unlock something with Oviedo. Makes lots of sense for Pirates if the Password can hit at the MLB level.

Anthony Franco

• Yeah I like it more for Pittsburgh but I'm not super enamored with either player, so I get the logic on both sides
• Oviedo's probably the seventh-best starter that Pittsburgh had. They ran out Tommy Pham and Alexander Canario in LF for most of last season. I'm concerned about Garcia's approach and still think they should be in the outfield market, but he has minor league options and enough promise (power, youth, upper minors track record) that he's a guy they should absolutely be willing to roll the dice on
• Wasn't going to have the opportunity for everyday reps that he'd need to develop the approach, so I'm fine with Boston moving on. Would've expected them to do better than Oviedo, but Tim Dierkes's immediate response was "not sure why Garcia is considered a Top 100 prospect, but I'll leave that to the experts" and I tend to agree
• I don't think Oviedo's more than a five-and-dive starter unless the Sox can teach him a splitter or something, but he'd be more interesting to me out of the bullpen so maybe he becomes a surprise relief weapon in the playoffs

Matt

• How about Brandon Lowe for one of Roupp/Birdsong?

Anthony Franco

• More than I'd give up for one year of Lowe
• Like the player and fit in SF though

DodgerFan

• Seeing the initial reports that Teoscar Hernández was being discussed on the trade market didn’t sit well with me, but after thinking it over, I can understand why the Dodgers might explore it. Two-part question:
  1. What kind of return could the Dodgers realistically get for Teo, and would they be able to move his full contract?
  2. Do you view Bader as a legitimate fit for an everyday center-field role, or is it more likely they fill that spot internally (Edman, Kim, Pages)?
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