Maikel Franco Deal with Os Final

[Moose Milligan]

5 minutes ago, interloper said:

A quick look at baseballsavant shows some interesting things. Basically, the biggest advantage Maikel has over Rio offensively is that he strikes out a lot less. Otherwise, they are pretty similar statcast players. Rio had a much better outs above average than Maikel last year. 

Again, I'm not against the signing. I just wonder if Franco is the offensive upgrade he seems to be. I think he's capable of having a better offensive season than Ruiz because he's done that. At the end of the day, neither guy is all that exciting, so I just wonder if Elias has some other wrinkle to this. 

It's a slight upgrade.  And Maikel Franco was a good prospect for the Phillies a few years ago, maybe Elias thinks there's some better performance he can tease out of him.  

It's not a huge upgrade over Ruiz but it's an upgrade.  

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

It's a slight upgrade.  And Maikel Franco was a good prospect for the Phillies a few years ago, maybe Elias thinks there's some better performance he can tease out of him.  

It's not a huge upgrade over Ruiz but it's an upgrade.  

I guess when you start thinking about 3/4 of your infield being Galvis, Sanchez, and Ruiz, that would probably make you want to sign Franco. 

[jabba72]

I dont know what the advantage is of signing Franco. Maybe Ruiz isnt healthy? I think it will hurt our infield defense with maybe no or slight upgrade to offense. 

[interloper]

1 minute ago, jabba72 said:

I dont know what the advantage is of signing Franco. Maybe Ruiz isnt healthy? I think it will hurt our infield defense with maybe no or slight upgrade to offense. 

Ruiz is in today's lineup, so he's back from whatever illness he had. 

The upgrade seems very marginal unless Franco really goes on a tear this year. I really think this is mostly an organizational depth move because he's out there for so cheap presumably. 

[BRobinsonfan]

21 hours ago, Aglets said:

Franco played every game last year for KC and hit .278 / .321 / .457 .   Would be on pace for roughly 20 HR over a full season.

Seems like there is potential for him to offer more than Ruiz.  Not saying for sure.....but it seems like it is possible.

Franco's 162 game average over 7 years is .252 / .304 / .433

Ruiz's projection for 2021 is .232 / .309 / .397

While Franco is a little better I'm not sure he's that much better.  As always, God is in the details of the contract.  

[Aglets]

I think it's pretty clear.  He is a marginal upgrade that will be signed to a super short term deal and if he gets hot we can flip him for prospects.  This is what we do right now.  Think Iglesias from last year....although obviously i don't expect him to be THAT good.

[Sports Guy]

https://twitter.com/jonheyman/status/1371477670249254912?s=21

[Aglets]

1 minute ago, BRobinsonfan said:

Franco's 162 game average over 7 years is .252 / .304 / .433

Ruiz's projection for 2021 is .232 / .309 / .397

While Franco is a little better I'm not sure he's that much better.  As always, God is in the details of the contract.  

Interesting that you use one player's 162 game average.    But the other one's 2021 projection.   Why not use the same metric to compare them?   

I think we are all basically in agreement.....he is possibly an upgrade although likely not a significant one.   There is also upside here in terms of him being tradeable at the deadline.   I don't see any reason to criticize the deal OR to think that Franco is going to take us to the Promised Land in October.

[LookinUp]

Heyman's getting every inch of this Franco deal, lol. In that line of work, you get the big scoops, and the Franco's of the world. 

[BRobinsonfan]

1 minute ago, Aglets said:

Interesting that you use one player's 162 game average.    But the other one's 2021 projection.   Why not use the same metric to compare them?   

I think we are all basically in agreement.....he is possibly an upgrade although likely not a significant one.   There is also upside here in terms of him being tradeable at the deadline.   I don't see any reason to criticize the deal OR to think that Franco is going to take us to the Promised Land in October.

Lol... I guess the same reason you used the small sample size of his 2020 season to project his 2021 potential.  But seriously, Ruiz only has 812 plate appearances over 5 years and Franco has 2782 over 7 years so I figure the longer track record for Franco was a better predictor (but also it made my case better).  At the end of the day I think we're in agreement that Franco is a slight upgrade... so if the deal is right... why not?   

[interloper]

 

[Aglets]

Oohh, didn't even think of that angle?!!?

Are we sure he's an upgrade over Chris Davis?  

[Just Regular]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

There is no way the Orioles are picking that contract up. If Odor passes through waivers and is available I could see them potentially kicking the tires if something happened to Sanchez, but no way are the Orioles picking any big contract up. If Franco signs for more than $1.5 million I'll be surprised. I don't see the Orioles signing anymore free agents no that 3B is filled, but could still find someone interesting off DFA.

Sure - only at a Franco-like price point for us for now.   If Odor has like $25M to go and Davis has $50M to go with deferrals, it would just be like Davis and $25M for Odor to keep long term expenses level for both clubs.   After DFA I believe its MLB minimum for anyone and the Rangers pay his paychecks.

The Rangers are hoping to establish 2B Solak (good luck with that fielding-wise!), so might want Odor around for insurance even when Jung gets the call.  But depending on the psychobabble, maybe they don't want Solak looking over his shoulder every time he flubs a grounder.   They're probably as good with that this year as we are with the middle infield not hitting a lick, seeing what King Felix has left, etc.

[interloper]

I find it hard to believe the O's would keep two guys on the 26-man roster who both are limited to 3B/1B/DH, but I guess if Davis is out forever, Rio just replaces Davis. 

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Aglets said:

Oohh, didn't even think of that angle?!!?

Are we sure he's an upgrade over Chris Davis?  

Yeah Ruiz basically assumes Davis' spot on the bench, playing occasional 1B or 3B or DH. That does make some sense.