Front office subscriber chat transcription

Anthony Franco

• Good afternoon, I hope you all had happy holidays!
• There’s a lot lined up today, let’s get started

Nice guy

• Will M Gore get a deal this season? If so, what returns can be expected after the Baz deal?

Anthony Franco

• I still think he will be moved this season. Would expect a better headliner than Tampa Bay got in the Baz trade and a slightly stronger package overall. Think Gore is more valuable despite Baz having an extra year of arbitration control

KerryFam4

• There are now two Japanese players that have signed short-term deals with opt-outs at lower rates than expected. Do you think this will affect the remaining unsigned Japanese player(s)? Should we read from that something about the markets for Tucker, Bichette, Bregman, Valdez, etc?

Anthony Franco

• Don’t read much into it. It seems more like MLB teams didn’t particularly like Murakami or Imai
• If all the top free agents are still unsigned in two or three weeks, I’d be more into the idea of ​​shorter-term contracts with outs for them

Gavin

• Should the Padres trade Pivetta to the Cubs/Mets/Yankees for prospects and sign Basset or Giolito?

Anthony Franco

• I think it’s too cute. Pivetta is just way better than those guys and the rotation is pretty weak outside the top three. I understand the concern about potentially losing Pivetta and King next season, but the Padres almost always operate in some sort of chaos because they’ve overpaid Bogaerts, Darvish and Cronenworth.

Guest

• Which outlet do you think is best for prospect coverage? Is there one that you guys typically use?

Anthony Franco

• Baseball America is the gold standard for me, but there’s clearly a lot of good work in there and it’s valuable to get different media outlets’ opinions on players. We refer to BA, FanGraphs, Kiley McDaniel’s work at ESPN, Keith Law at The Athletic and MLB Pipeline

Rise, sir loin

• Are there top-level OFs available in a trade this year?

Anthony Franco

• It’s not great, especially if Boston is holding everyone. Donovan could roughly fit that description, even if he has more impact at second base and/or bounces around the infield. We have seen such a ceiling before from Robert and Nootbaar, but not recently
• I think it’s more likely to be available on deadline. The Red Sox are fairly well positioned on the pitching staff now, but injuries could change that by the summer. If Cleveland struggles, Kwan should go in July. Perhaps at that point, Minnesota will reevaluate Buxton and their top starters as their half-hope of competing this year blows up

A’s or Marlins?

• Which team, between the A’s and the Marlins, do you think is in a stronger position to compete for a wild card spot this season?

Anthony Franco

• I’d take Miami’s selection right now, but that likely changes if the A’s add a mid-rotation caliber starter. Still think they’re both long shots, but more realistic dark horses than they’ve been competing in the past few seasons

Confused

• Why is Brendan Donovan so sought after? Minimal power and he doesn’t have the .300 batting average to compensate?

Anthony Franco

• Hardly anyone hits .300 anymore. There were seven qualified hitters who did that in each of the past two seasons. Donovan is a reliable bet to hit .280 with an OBP above .350. Not huge power, but enough for double-digit home runs and 30 doubles
• It’s very difficult to find players who do that while playing in the middle. The average second baseman in the league hit .243/.310/.371 last year

Chris

• Who is a player you think could potentially be traded this offseason that hasn’t been speculated in trade talks?

Anthony Franco

• Still think the Giants should trade Robbie Ray to free up $25 million for a move to second base or right field next year

Giacomo Puccini

• Who is the best active player not to win MVP?

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