JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 11/9/20

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Ben Clemens

2:39

hm you can't use tilde's in jotcast

Who knew?

Estevão

2:39

Max Scherzer is the best big money fa signing of the 21st century by a mile, right.

Ben Clemens

2:40

I think so

He was just really good for longer than expected and the team also won a World Series because of him

Guest

2:40

Even worse than talking about you in the 3rd person, Austin, is that Ben changed your last name to Matthews!

Ben Clemens

2:40

Uh, no idea where that came from

Whoops!

David

2:41

Would you rather see Bonds hit 3 homers in a game or Maddux pitch a shutout in under 100 pitches?

Ben Clemens

2:41

Maddux

2:42

Combination of two things: first, homers are fun but only briefly, and your sweat is only when Bonds is at bat, whereas Maddux is the whole time

Derek

2:42

Are there any teams out there expected to spend big this offseason (besides, allegedly, the Mets)?

Ben Clemens

2:42

I'd argue that the Jays are set up for it

2:43

Who knows if they will do it, but signing Ray early makes sense if they want to get a bunch of pitching tihs offseason

Appa Yip Yip

2:43

Blake Snell is under contract for three more years, clearly the clock is ticking on a trade because Rays. How long until they dangle him for prospects?

Ben Clemens

2:44

I don't think they will do it, but I wouldn't say it's a complete non-starter

More likely, they'll talk about another extension, Longoria style

But Snell is a really good fit for Tampa Bay, and they don't have huge salary commitments in the next two years

Cohen

2:45

Pete alonso for Blake Snell. who says no

Ben Clemens

2:45

I think the Rays would say no, just b/c I don't know where they'd put him, and given the amount of lefty bats they have he'd be replacing a good matchup if they wanted to use him every day

Jacques Pederson

2:46

Does Carlos Martinez get traded?

Ben Clemens

2:46

This seems more likely than Carpenter getting traded

"Change of scenery" is a very lazy take, but I think it might be true with Martinez. The fans in St. Louis are pretty down on him, and I get the sense that it wears on him a bit

Teledji Adeledji

2:47

Do you think Bauer's public persona/abrasiveness has any effect whatsoever on his value?

Ben Clemens

2:47

I basically don't

Now, that's Twitter abrasiveness I'm talking about

Because it seems like he doesn't have the same effect on teammates

2:48

I do think that there are teams that aren't interested in signing Bauer b/c they want to do something very regimented with him and they don't think he'd be willing to

Cordane

2:48

Bader for Nimmo, straight up? Would you do the deal if you're the Cardinals? If you're the Mets? Both teams deal from strength, both teams get something they desperately need, both players are roughly the same age & contract, etc. Plus Tots heads home & gets the media attention he needs to finally win a GG.

Ben Clemens

2:49

I've seen this batted around a bit. I love this trade for both sides. In my eyes, the holdup is that we're probably overvaluing how teams pay for CF defense

I love watching Bader, but there's a good chance that guys like that simply don't get the money that WAR implies they're worth ever

Ex-Panded Playoffs

2:49

Can anything be done to put this cat back in the bag? Seems like the players are not too opposed, and owners want it as a concession for universal DH (which players clearly want). Also, how opposed are you to the 16-team format on a scale of 1-10

Ben Clemens

2:50

16, I'm 10 of 10 opposed

2:51

I think that it's likely some form of expanded playoffs will end up happening, though I think that's less to players' benefit than they think

As you said, it's hard to put the cat back int he bag

Anon

2:51

“They clearly didn't give anyone else a real shot this time despite what Chaim Bloom said.” Any source on this or are you just speculating?

Ben Clemens

2:52

I'm not gonna go source for source through all the reporting I've read, but it's speculation based on two things. One, no one else was ever seriously linked to the club or mentioned as a strong candidate by any of the numerous reporters with in-the-know sources. Two, they didn't need to hire anyone yet, there was plenty of time and they're the marquee job available this winter with TLR locked into Chicago

Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes

2:53

Was a 4-WAR season not a breakout for Meadows? (Also, I'll give him a pass on last season, apparently his sprint speed never recovered, possibly from COVID, so maybe he wasn't 100%.)

Ben Clemens

2:54

No, it totally was. I was skeptical that it would persist, and yeah, I'm not ready to declare victory, but 2020 made 2019 look more fluky. That said, excellent point about COVID and recovery

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