Anthony Franco
- Good afternoon, hope all is well!
- Let's get another of these rolling
Jimmy Wynn
- What, if anything, can the Astros do pitching-wise to salvage their season?
The Biggest Loser
- Thank you for the chat. Early of course, but which losing streak concerns you the most? Yankees (5), Mets (5), Brewers (5) or Astros (7)
Anthony Franco
- Astros most alarming just because it's paired with the all the pitching injuries. Clearest on-paper fit for Giolito at this point
- It's tight with the CBT, which is the obvious hangup. But we've got them about $7M below the line right now and I have a tough time seeing him get that much at this point
- Limits their flexibility for deadline trades but that doesn't matter much if the pitching in April is so bad that it tanks their season anyway
Mason Miller trade
- The A’s trade of Mason Miller is not looking good. They thought they were going to be a few years away from Contending but here they are tied for 1st Place. Factor in Mason was making essentially Minimum Wage and I need to be walked back from the ledge ……
Anthony Franco
- Leo De Vries is one of the top 5-10 prospects in MLB
- Obviously the A's were aware that Miller's unbelievable. They wouldn't have done it if the Padres didn't offer them a potential franchise shortstop
Debuts
- Thoughts on White Sox promoting P Noah Schultz ... is this a one off , replacing Shane Smith's spot in the rotation? Since he isnt being promoted until after the 16th day of the season and that delays his service time by a year
Anthony Franco
- Don't see what the point would be in calling up your top pitching prospect, especially one who wasn't already on the 40-man, for a spot start
- Might need to option him midway through the season for workload management but he should get at least a few turns through the rotation. Jonathan Cannon
- Jonathan Cannon's not exactly an obstacle
Josh
- More likely: best record in AL at season’s end is 95 wins or less, or the Dodgers win 105+ games
Anthony Franco
- Hmm I'll say the AL one because the Dodgers tend to take their foot off the gas in the regular season to keep pitchers fresh for October
- 105 is plausible but I'd be closer to 100
The Doctor
- If Boston is in the playoff hunt at the deadline should they move Duran to address other needs?
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Regarding this;
Jimmy Wynn
What, if anything, can the Astros do pitching-wise to salvage their season?
Anthony Franco
Astros most alarming just because it’s paired with the all the pitching injuries. Clearest on-paper fit for Giolito at this point
It’s tight with the CBT, which is the obvious hangup. But we’ve got them about $7M below the line right now and I have a tough time seeing him get that much at this point
Limits their flexibility for deadline trades but that doesn’t matter much if the pitching in April is so bad that it tanks their season anyway
I dislike the Astros, but if a team suffers that many injuries, they should get a CBT break so they can sign or trade someone. If they were >20M under, I’m sure they would.
I’m not sure how it would work, but, say, signing Gio for $7m. Not counting against cbt & not changing their payor status either if they would go over otherwise. There are quite a few little things like this they should put in the next CBA. A pool for TJ pitchers. No more DFAing or non tendering injured players. A seperate DL/IL for players out 12 months+ so they don’t have to burn 40 man spots all winter.
NHL has a cap break for players placed on Long-Term Injury so teams can use that money to sign or trade for players to fit under the salary cap. Having a similar luxury tax break negotiated in the next CBA for players on the 60-day IL sounds reasonable. But……the NHL has a hard cap, so it probably wouldn’t be the same of course. But that kind of framework would be a good idea if it can work. Unless there’s something I’m not seeing, I’d imagine both sides would go for something similar to that.