You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
August Fagerstrom FanGraphs Chat -- 1/19/16
powered byJotCast
View Full Chat Next Page
august fagerstrom
11:33
Good morning! And soon-to-be afternoon! As always, I'll be back around the top of the hour to kick things off, so let's start filling up the queue
11:34
Today's chat soundtrack: Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children
11:59
alright, let's begin
Bork
11:59
Mike Ilitch seems crazy. As in spend all his money on the Tigers while he's still alive crazy. It's awesome right now, but further on down the line could it really hurt the Tigers financially?
Q-Ball
12:00
Wow, the Tigers are headed for a financial train wreck! But Ilitch can't take it with him, and Detroit isn't going to throw a parade to Mike Ilitch's fiscal prudence. Are the Tigers Exhibit A in how an owner can drive strategy in ways that doesn't always make long-term baseball sense?
august fagerstrom
12:00
These two go hand-in-hand
Yeah, it could really hurt the Tigers down the line, and in all likelihood, it kind of will
12:02
But, to the point Jeff's brought up recently, there's a different evaluation process when a team has a fixed budget of X dollars, say $120 million, and they plan to spend it all. Then, it's easier to quibble with how the dollars are spent, and whether the funds were used efficiently. When money honestly, truly, doesn't matter, it's hard to be too upset with a contract, or a number of contracts
12:03
Tigers fans might not be too happy several years down the road, when the Tigers are stuck with all these albatrosses, but I'd be willing to wager the the overwhelming majority of baseball fans would love to see their team push all-in like the Tigers have the last half-decade+, even at the risk of future Philliesdom
Tigers ownership graded out very well by the community when Jeff ran those polls a couple weeks bak
back*
Zonk
12:04
I think Dexter Fowler to the White Sox makes sense if the Sox feel they don't have the scratch for Cespedes. White Sox have protected pick. What say you? Can you think of another home for Dexter?
august fagerstrom
12:05
It makes some sense, in that he provides an outfield upgrade over Garcia. I think a lot of what you think of the fit depends on how you think of Fowler's outfield defense -- that's what the Sox really need to improve
12:06
As for other options, none of the other protected-pick teams make much sense, except for maybe the Padres. I could see the Cardinals making a run. They've already received two comp picks for Heyward/Lackey, and would only have to give up the last pick of the first round, and could use some more certainty with their Grichuk/Piscotty/Pham-heavy outfield
Gus
12:07
Convince a fellow tribe fan to be optimistic.
august fagerstrom
12:07
your team might have the best rotation in baseball
Guest
12:07
The Astros will have an 81 million dollar payroll in 2016 when Gattis/Castro settle. That puts them around 22-24 in payroll. In a mid market. In the 4th largest city in America. With 2000 new season ticket buyers. On a team that is one of, if not the best team in the AL. Im disgusted. I wish Manfred would step in and end this
august fagerstrom
12:08
FWIW, reports this morning indicate the Stros could be a player for Cespedes
12:09
also, the Astros are still a really good team. when you don't have a limitless budget (see: Tigers), flexibility is valuable
Q-Ball
12:10
Who do you think is the best FO in baseball? The worst?
august fagerstrom
12:11
Best: Cubs, and small market teams like the Rays, Indians and A's are impressive, though comparing those with the Cubs are kind of apples and oranges. Worst: D'backs? Rockies? Twins seem kind of weird, too
TJ
12:12
Do the White Sox make another big move ?
august fagerstrom
12:12
It wouldn't be at all surprising to see them sign Cespedes
Q-Ball
12:12
If you were GM of the Rockies, and had full control, what moves would you make with the club?
august fagerstrom
12:12
how much weight do I have in pushing for relocation?
starting to think it's simply not possible to build a sustainable winner at altitude
12:13
it's a cop-out answer, but I honestly don't know. It depends so much on whatever the loads of research they've surely done on team-building at Coors would show.
I do like the strategy of signing hitters and trading for pitchers
Eminor3rd
12:14
What do the White Sox do now? I don't blame them for not wanting to pay Cespedes $130m+, but it's hard to swallow leaving that black hole in RF after trading for Frazier, no?
august fagerstrom
12:15
Yeah, especially when a potential black hole still exists at SS, maybe even 1B/DH depending on what you think of LaRoche. It would be way more comforting if they at least had a platoon for Garcia. Him as an everyday player on a contender is scary
Warehouse
12:16
Upton in Detroit - do we see an increase from last year and, if so, how much?
august fagerstrom
12:17
Yeah, not unreasonable to expect an uptick due to ballpark. Upton's probably what he's been the last few years though: wRC+ between 120 and 130 with meh defense and solid baserunning
Zonk
12:18
What players stand out to you as really intelligent, based on your experience?
august fagerstrom
12:18
Chris Archer is one of the smartest people I've ever talked to
12:19
Super down-to-earth, too. I did a story on him at a local youth event in Cleveland at a little league park. We talked about that for 20 minutes or so and then ended up shooting the shit for another 20 minutes off the record about books on a park bench. He's a really personable, insightful dude
12:20
As far as baseball stuff goes, Brandon Moss thinks about the game in a very intelligent way, and obviously Trevor Bauer knows his stuff. I'd love to talk to Votto
Outta my way, Gyorkass!
12:20
Is Upton's signing the first domino to fall in a run of free agent hitters? It seems like the market for hitters this year has taken an awfully long time to play out.
august fagerstrom
12:20
aren't too many dominoes left, are there?
seems like the domino thing never really happened
Q-Ball
12:20
With the Tigers and White Sox making major additions this offseason, Royals kind of treading water, how do you rank the AL Central at this point?
Connecting…