JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 1/26/26

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 1/26/26

powered by

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Ben Clemens

2:20

Here is an incredible article by the best living baseball writer that addresses mutual options in great detail

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18519226/show-mind-games-mutual-op...

Curious Minds

2:20

Best value FA signing this year so far?
Most puzzling?

Ben Clemens

2:20

I can only evaluate this from my own perspective, but my favorite bargain of hte year has been Murakami. And if you exclude him because he's such a weird case, then it's Ryan Helsley

2:21

I just think that Murakami is the kind of player you usually can't sign for any amount of money, let alone a relative pittance. great, high-leverage bet that teams rarely get to take

and Helsley got more stink on him from a bad few months than most of the other guys in this class, but he's been one of the best relievers in baseball for years. The discount he signed for relative to Edwin Diaz is outrageous

Screw ICE

2:22

What do you think of the Skubal-Tigers arbitration situation? Skubal's gotta feel like he's in a good spot, right?

Skubal Arb

2:22

If Skubal's arb goes to hearing, which way do you think it ends up? I respect him for pushing it from a labor stand point, and guessing he'll get a higher AAV in free agency, but seems to me like the odds are against him a bit. I know he can compare to free agent deals vs. just arb deals, but will that work here?

Ben Clemens

2:22

I'm not really sure. And I think anyone who tells you they are is just lying to you

2:23

This is a case without obvious precedent. I'm trying to be neutral about it, I'm pro-labor by disposition, and I have to say that if the Tigers hadn't given out such an insulting number, I think that Skubal would have no chance

but by purposefully low-balling him I think that they've given the arbitrator a lot to think about. His case that he should set the new standard for arb salaries because he's the best ever player in arb is pretty good

Guest

2:24

If I just leave my driveway unshovelled will I regret it? I don't have anywhere to go until Saturday.

Ben Clemens

2:24

I am possibly the worst person to ask this to. I haven't lived in a place where it snows for 7 years, and I haven't had a driveway since I graduated high school

Sedes

2:24

Mike Tauchman, guaranteed 2026 big league deal receiver?

Ben Clemens

2:24

i extremely doubt it

Broken Bat

2:25

iyo, would.a salary cap possibly result in bringing the cost of regular season games down? I mean the price of tickets actually is helping streaming subscriptions for fans. Thoughts, and do you agree with the per ticket price now effecting in game attendance?

Ben Clemens

2:25

no, lol, what?

prices for games show almost no year-to-year correlation to salary

prices for games are determined by fan demand. they're not 'balanced to payroll' and then teams just operate for the harmonious good of the whole

it's just a profit maximization equation that compares costxtickets purchased for various costs

2:26

teams care a ton more about sentiment when it comes to setting ticket prices. I know because I'm on various season ticket mailing lists and you can really see when they're desperate and when they're not

it's all about local buzz, or at least, largely so

Chris

2:26

Do you still expect Bassit to get his expected value, or is his price getting lower as ST nears?

Ben Clemens

2:26

yeah lower and lower

2:27

here's an article I wrote about this last year

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/is-time-money-when-it-comes-to-free-agent-...

Guest

2:27

Do you say "feel badly" or "feel bad"?

Ben Clemens

2:27

generally 'feel bad', unless I"m trying to make a point about how snooty my grammar is

Sedes

2:27

Marcell Ozuna, guaranteed 2026 big league deal receiver?

Ben Clemens

2:27

I think yes

NL Central Enjoyer

2:27

The NL Central has been the second best division by both out-of-division record and run differential over the last two years (after the AL East). It also had the best team last year by record and run differential. Why do you think it tends to be regarded as a weaker division, and is that an accurate characterization? (i.e. is there something I'm missing?)

Ben Clemens

2:28

because they never play well in the plyaoffs, never spend, and contain a disproportionate amount of sad-sack teams over the years (the two centrals combined, I agree that the NLC catches some heat b/c of the ALC)

and like, yeah, I do think it's an accurate representation. it's exaggerated, for sure. but the central divisions spend less and do less well in very long aggregates

Jay

2:28

Give me a deal that will be the perfect capper to the Blue Jays season - Donovan? Someone else?

Ben Clemens

2:29

I truly think that would be silly

where would he play??

laughing

1

the most realistic capper would be some ace pitcher unexpectedly becoming available and the Jays trading for him

or, ooh, what if Mason Miller gets dealt for some very strange reason?

didace

2:29

Nats Plan - Rizzo was a great GM right up until he wasn't. Times changed and he didn't. Ownership was loyal (he won a World Series!), but took too long to make the change. Toboni looks like he has a plan, but we'll need some more time to find out.

Ben Clemens

2:29

I concur with this reading of the Nats

Connecting…

Register

Message History

On Off

On Off

On Off

On Off

Your current subscriptions

None

Register now to continue managing your subscriptions

E-mail Address	Chat Owner	Status	Remove

Enter your email address to be notified when Ben Clemens hosts a chat