JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 12/14/20

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 12/14/20

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Ben Clemens

2:00

Hey everyone, welcome to the chat.

Given that it's December 14th and this is a baseball chat, I'm anticipating a slower pace today, which suits me just fine.

2:01

There's still baseball to talk about, but all that baseball will likely be here on January 2 still, so if you have something random to talk about, the odds are high I'm into it.

But fine, let's start with a baseball question.

Guest

2:01

Why does Bauer look like he'll likely receive 32 million+ a year when he is extremely inconsistent?

Ben Clemens

2:02

Yeah, I think I'm a bit lower on Bauer than the market is, but if you think that his jump in spin rate is going to stay, you can tilt your estimates towards his more recent form.

And pitchers with top-of-rotation stuff and durability aren't easy to come by

I don't actually think he's going to sign a complete barn-burner of a deal, but I see why teams are interested

Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes

2:02

Recipes:
We tried tofu in these taco bowls.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/vegetarian-taco-bowls
Was overzealous in squeezing so the tofu crumbled, but texture and flavor were fine over rice with avocados. Didn't like the red lettuce, would prefer pickled red onions. Trying this next:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020243-tofu-scramble
Another vegetarian option we make when we want leftovers:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020034-cheesy-eggplant-and-rigato...
We use a half pound of mozzarella and it's still cheesy. To combine everything, we put all components back into the Dutch oven we made the pasta in and then put it into a casserole dish for maximum surface area (crispiness).
Finally, one of our standby recipes when we're out of food. This recipe has no business working, but it does. Up the cayenne. Use a decent ketchup like Simply Heinz. Does not taste like ketchup.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7878-stir-fried-chicken-with-ketch...

Ben Clemens

2:02

I wanted to talk about tofu today, so this is very convenient!

2:03

I got my wife a tofu press (theoretically for Christmas, but actually b/c I saw it in a gift guide and was tired of using paper towels and pans to press tofu)

And we used it once, to incredible effect. If you're going to cook a lot of tofu, I highly recommend it. It ups the crispiness really well

That last one sounds awesome

2:04

I might try to cook that next week, when I'm generally hoping to not have to work too hard on any meals.

NolanRyansRightHook

2:04

Speaking of Bauers jump in spin rate, do you foresee MLB cracking down on pitchers using foreign substances or letting things play out as they have been?

Ben Clemens

2:05

I'd lean towards them letting it go

Until I hear otherwise, I am skeptical of baseball getting rid of something that has been in the game for SO long

Johnny5Alive

2:05

I guess there's some mixed reviews on McCann deal. I don't mind 4 years at about $10 million per - in baseball salary terms, it's not really that much money, especially for a starting player. Sure, you would rather it be 3 years, but $40 million vs $150 million or whatever Realmuto was looking for, I think I'd rather have that extra money to put toward other weaknesses. Plus, what if the last 2 seasons are closer to the new normal? Then its a steal.

Ben Clemens

2:05

Yeah I'm fine with it as a deal -- I'm not a huge McCann fan, but at this price, your downside is a dead contract in the back half of it, which isn't the end of the world at $10 million a year

2:06

I think the real downside is that it locks the Mets into Bauer or Springer if they're actually trying to sign a marquee free agent this year, and I thought Realmuto was the best of the class by a fair margin

But on its own, I'm totally fine with it.

Pandemic Legacy

2:06

What is your hot take on "legacy" board games, i.e. those where you have 12-20 sessions but the board (and the rules) change and adapt after each session? It's an intriguing concept during 2nd lockdown, but I'm worried about attention spans and replayability.

Ben Clemens

2:07

I'm into legacy games as a whole, but I do find myself getting game fatigue

My wife and I are partway through Aeon's End Legacy (great, highly recommend), Charterstone, and Pandemic Legacy

Because we like variety in our games and have too many

All three are excellent games, and the replayability thing isn't hte end of the world for me because I don't have a lot of games I've played more than 20 times

2:08

And it beats the heck out of the cost of most entertainment

But attention span is a real worry

If you're more of the flit from game to game type, I'd say no. Otherwise, I'm in favor of legacy games. The feeling of ownership over your character is awesome. Gives a different texture to the decisions you make when you have a history

SO you get a bit of an RPG feel in something that otherwise wouldn't have it

Pandemic (the board game)

2:09

Related -- should I purchase Pandemic The Board Game? I'm a fan of co-ops, but there are now so many different variants of Pandemic (similar to the Catan problem now). Which variant of Pandemic should I buy? Is it gauche to play Pandemic during the pandemic?

Ben Clemens

2:09

Pandemic runs into what I call the Pandemic problem (original, I know).

If you have a power gamer type in your group, this style of co-ops (perfect information, no time constraints) will devolve into them giving orders or 'suggestions' and everyone being annoywed

2:10

If you don't have oneo f those, though, Pandemic is great. I've only played the original and the Rome one, and I think the original is a solid game

I'd probably get that

Nate

2:11

Could you explain how much control the Rangers receive with the Dahl signing?

Ben Clemens

2:11

Yeah, so I haven't seen the exact terms of Dahl's deal with the Rangers, but given how it's been reported, I'd say 99% chance of 3 years of team control reamining

remaining*

You can sign contracts that waive team control and make you a free agent -- see Miles Mikolas, for exmaple

2:12

But Dahl wasn't reported to have done that, which means that he simply fits back into the existing service time structure

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