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 August 10. (You can find him on Twitter at @affranco10 if you really want to ask him something.)

He got to all the NL Central teams. I also included 2 bonus Q&As: one about trade deadline strategy and another about the intent of instant replay.

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-chat ... 13703.html

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Extension chances for Contreras?

Anthony Franco
Very slim. They've shown no interest in that to this point, which is fine given where they're at competitively.
Even keeping Contreras doesn't make that team anywhere close to a contender next season. They're not really in position to be pushing nine figures on a bat-first catcher, in my view, no matter how much Contreras seems to love it there.
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On October 5 what team is going to say, “Boy, we messed that up.” I pick the Brewers.

Anthony Franco
The deadline? I was surprised the Cubs didn't do more than tear down the bullpen.
Felt like Happ and Contreras should've moved. Obviously I don't know what was on the table so I can't definitively say they messed up, but I thought they were in better position on August 1 than I do now.
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Have fun in Cincy! I hear it’s a beautiful city. Are you catching a Reds game?!

Anthony Franco
Not sure about that yet. Flying in Wednesday morning. They play Philly at like 12:35 and then are gone for the next week, so we're kind of playing that by ear depending on when we land.
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Were you surprised about the Jason Heyward statement? Done for the year will be DFA end of season.

Anthony Franco
Surprised they announced it two months in advance, not surprised it's happening.
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What you think about Phillies can they make the postseason?

Anthony Franco
I like the Brewers and Padres a little bit more, but they absolutely could get one of those spots. All seven of the top NL teams are really good.
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Who was your deadline winner and why?

Anthony Franco
Hard to go against the Padres as far as buyers go. Reds among the sellers probably.
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Mo seems to make little moves with a big picture in mind. Post Yadi, Waino, Pujols, does Mo make a FA move this winter to keep the momentum going? If so, give me a little speculation(only) as to who it could be.

Anthony Franco
They do take swings that are a little bit bigger in the offseason than they typically do around the deadline. I'm sure they'd love to have Wainwright back, but they'll keep pushing even if that entire trio ends up retiring.

Herrera probably steps in at catcher but I think they'll be in the shortstop market. Could see them as a suitor for Dansby. Going to need to address the rotation in some form if Waino does retire, bullpen could use help.
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Do you think the Reds will be competitive while Green, Lodo, and Ashcraft are still in Cincy?

Anthony Franco
Yeah the young position player core is pretty good. I think there's a path back by 2024 once Moustakas and Votto are off the books.
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So the Brewers, on October 5, missing the playoffs and giving up a chance at a World Series isn’t as bad as the Cubs not trading Contreras?

Anthony Franco
If you think the Hader trade costs the Brewers a playoff berth, then yeah, that'd obviously be worse. I don't think that's the case.
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Percent chance that Arenado stays/renegotiates/leaves?

Anthony Franco
I don't know how to handicap his priorities, but I think he could pretty easily beat 5/$144 if he wanted to max out. I guess I'll say he renegotiates since he seems to like it there?
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What time frame/window do you see as potential for a decent team in Pittsburgh. Decent meaning playoffs.

Anthony Franco
2024.
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Do you buy the narrative that accepting subpar returns for pending free agents at the deadline when you are out of contention will negatively affect what teams offer you for your future trade chips?

Anthony Franco
No. Everyone understands those teams don't have great leverage. The demand comes from pitting teams against one another, not threatening to just keep the player.
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I like instant replay except for the calls overturned because the runner came off the bag for 1/2 a second. I don't feel that was the intention of instant replay. Your thoughts?

Anthony Franco
Agreed.
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