Anthony Franco's NL Central comments

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mikechamp
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Anthony Franco's NL Central comments

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These comments came from a chat with MLB Trade Rumors' Anthony Franco that occurred on July 6. (You can find him on Twitter at @affranco10 if you really want to ask him something.)

It was a brief chat this week, with no bonus Q&As.

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-chat ... 13474.html

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Who do the Cardinals need to get?

Anthony Franco
Pitching help. High-leverage reliever still feels like the biggest need to me but they'll probably look into the Quintana types at the back of the rotation too with continued uncertainty about Flaherty's health.
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How much of the Cubs' current roster will be gone after the deadline?

Anthony Franco
A good portion of it. Contreras feels like a lock, I expect Happ to go as well. The bullpen's going to lose a few guys -- Robertson, Givens, I like Effross as a dark-horse trade candidate.
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Where is Contreras playing after the trade deadline?

Anthony Franco
Giants remain my guess there.
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We know the Reds are moving Castillo. What other starters are getting traded as well?

Anthony Franco
If he's healthy, Montas is a virtual lock to go. There are the back-end rentals on bad teams (Davies, Quintana, maybe Chad Kuhl) who'll move. Angels are probably trending towards flipping Syndergaard and Lorenzen at this point.
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Best guess where Robertson is come August 2nd?

Anthony Franco
Man, I'd probably give you a different answer to this every week. Ten teams could use Robertson.
I'll say Red Sox for now, I guess.
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Do you see really any top-100 prospects getting moved at the deadline? Feels like none of the available players this year are worth the cost.

Anthony Franco
Yeah, some of the controllable guys will bring back top prospects. Castillo, Montas, Happ all would.
So would Bryan Reynolds and Cedric Mullins/Austin Hays, although those guys feel like longshots to actually move.
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I don't see Aaron Judge or Carlos Correa or any other top SS's signing with the Cubs this off season. As Chicago media and Cub bloggers tend to think will happen. They don't want to sign with the rebuilding club.

Anthony Franco
In general, most guys will go where the top offer is. That's not universal, of course, and maybe the two players you mentioned will prioritize different things. But they can add impact talent this offseason if they're willing to spend.

I also think it's a totally fair argument to say it's too early for them to do so. Correa's young enough I'd be intrigued but it's pretty hard to see the Cubs as a 2023 contender, in my view. For a guy like Judge, who's heading into his age-31 season, that timeline isn't great.
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If SD is able to trade Snell, who should they acquire? Bell? Happ? Reynolds?

Anthony Franco
I think Happ makes a ton of sense if they can find a taker for Snell.

Not Happ for Snell, of course. The Cubs wouldn't have any interest in that. But if they can shed some of the Snell money to buy some CBT breathing room, pivoting back to deal young talent for Happ is a pretty clean payroll/roster fit.
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Do you think Pablo Lopez could be moved before the deadline? He'd be a great fit for St. Louis!

Anthony Franco
Nah, Miami's right in the thick of things. Doubt they'd have moved López anyways, but they're definitely not going to now.
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