JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 1/4/21

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Ben Clemens

2:15

Yes, I believe so. Any team with a righty 1B who isn't a stud would have to consider at least a little bit of a platoon there. It's contingent on him wanting to, but I am pretty sure that won't be a sticking point

DRB

2:15

Did you get a PS5? Do you play the show at all?

Ben Clemens

2:16

I did get one! I've been playing Ghost of Tsushima so far, and haven't played the Show, but I'm going to learn how to play this year. Seems like getting the new version when it comes out and going from there is the play?

2:16

Do you think Marcus Semien could make for a decent defensive 3B? Could be an outside the box solution for the Jays, who would then have a backup SS as well.

Ben Clemens

2:17

I definitely think he would, but I think that might undersell his talents a bit. Kind of depends on what happens to his market, I think. The Jays definitely have some stuff to do this offseason

Christian Colón for Men

2:17

Mike Minor. Carlos Santana. Greg Holland. Michael A. Taylor. Jump on board the Royals playoff train -- Toot! Toot!

Ben Clemens

2:17

Love the Minor signing. Big fan of the Taylor signing honestly

Santana? Eh, less enthused

It does help that if Cleveland trades Lindor, they only need TWO teams to fall flat on their face this year

Kate

2:18

Does the move to Washington help Josh Bell's odds of rebounding? I can't help but feel better about him being out of Pittsburgh.

Ben Clemens

2:18

I feel the same way. I can't say why but it just felt like he had hit a soft ceiling in Pittsburgh

Charlie’s Mom

2:18

If you’re the Blue Jays’ FO, what is your ranked order of priorities? I tend to think position player FA, try to trade for (and extend) Lindor or even Bryant and then make trades to fill out rotation. Obviously, this is subject to other parties (teams, players) being willing. But what would *your* plan A be?

Ben Clemens

2:19

My order is similar to yours, though I think I'd sign a pitcher in free agency if the deal made sense too

Lindor just feels like a good fit there, I'm not convinced moving Bichette off of shortstop will give them pause at all

Charlie

2:19

Gun to your head - who is the highest profile free agent to fail to secure a MLB deal this offseason?

Chris

2:19

How is it that no one has even offered tanaka a deal?

Ben Clemens

2:20

So, I actually think it's Tanaka, but not b/c no one has offered him a deal yet -- my understanding is that the actual deal usually comes late in the process, after talking about what kind of deal both parties are interested and so on

Tanaka has the highest chance of signing a deal to play elsewhere, though, and if he does, he'd be hte highest profile FA to do so for sure

Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes

2:20

We're getting better at cooking with tofu. Big ups to this crispy tofu sandwich.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021237-superiority-burgers-crispy...
Also delicious baked. Melted a slice of American, put on some artisinal chili oil, *chef's kiss* vegetarian comfort trash. Related, everyone should make their own mayo. Braindead process with an immersion blender or mini food processor.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/two-minute-mayonnaise.html
Had some garlicky braised beans when we ran out of food. Very flexible, but double it and/or serve with sides like rice or toast.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019982-creamy-braised-white-beans
NYE we made pimento cheese (did I mention homemade mayo?) and soft pretzels and engorged.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/09/sauced-pimento-cheese-reci...
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/hot-buttered-soft-pretzels-re...

Ben Clemens

2:21

Oh yes, some tofu recipes

We made some black pepper tofu (I don't have a recipe offhand because we've just been playing it by ear a little)

And also received a tortilla press for Christmas

2:22

I'm already much better at turning masa harina into something that resembles tortillas.... my first attempt did not go well!

am1479

2:22

Off-topic, but I'm new to Fangraphs....what does it mean when there are only zeros for a player's three year forecast?

Ben Clemens

2:23

Probably that Dan didn't forecast them. The three-year forecasts are a weird thing on the site, because they're cool additional info but can sometimes be misleading. Dan makes them before each season, and publishes them exactly once

So the 2021 and 2022 projections you see in there were made in January (ish) 2020

When the full ZiPS projections are released (which should be soon), I believe a new three year projection will come out as well

Christian Colón for Men

2:24

As it's HOF season, which player who has fallen off the ballot would you immediately add to the HOF if you had the power to do so?

Ben Clemens

2:24

Kenny Lofton

It's just a travesty that he fell off so quickly

I truly do not understand why

Daniel

2:25

Are the Padres pretty heavily dependent on Wil Myers being good? He was their best regular by wRC+ last year. Better than Tatis and Machado. Is betting on Myers a bad bet?

Ben Clemens

2:25

I don't think they're heavily dependent on him doing well, because they're just so juiced with players at the moment. They could shift Cronenworth or Pham to right, for example

2:26

That said, it's obviously a big benefit if he continues his 2020 form

Takes pressure off the rest of the lineup and so on/so forth

2:27

I'm a Myers fan, and I think a lot of the changes he made in 2020 were sustainable (not to put too fine a point on it, but he just made more in-zone contact)

I don't think he's a true-talent 150 wRC+ hitter (news flash!) but I think he's better than what he showed in 2018-2019 by a fair margin

Cito

2:27

Carlos Delgado falling off the HOF ballot after 1 year is also a travesty.

Ben Clemens

2:27

Indeed

2:28

Delgado is a personal favorite of mine because he played a season in Knoxville when I happened to go to about 30 K-Jays games

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