JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 12/14/20

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Ben Clemens

2:12

Which looks from his years of service like it would make him Arb 3 in 2022 and Super-2 Arb 4 in 2023

Sean Huff-Scheidel

2:12

Sadly I'll be taking a final in about 3 minutes (good luck to everyone else who has those!) but I'm dying to know did you try Survive the Internet on Jackbox yet?

Ben Clemens

2:13

No! But we are planning on it for a gift exchange with friends we're doin this week

Sandy

2:13

Will Realmuto still be able to double McCann's contract with the Mets out of the market?

Ben Clemens

2:13

Yeah I think so

Guest

2:13

What do the cards do to bolster offense? Seems like a good time to bring in longer term bat to get their window started in earnest with Libatore and Gorman coming up soon

Ben Clemens

2:13

They're going to do almost nothing

2:14

Run back a very similar team in 2021 and hope that gets there

(that's my guess, at least)

I don't think that makes all that much sense, but the place I want them to improve is catcher, and if they somehow don't sign Yadi, it's not like they're going to go for an upgrade instead

Signing an outfielder just seems like a way to add to the uncertainty around the young talent they have, it's not like they're benching Fowler

John

2:15

NL Central looks like a race to cut salary. Which team looks like the odds on favorite or is there more cutting to come ?

Ben Clemens

2:15

I'm writing about the Central for tomorow, actually

I think the favorite is probably the Cubs, just because they have the most talent remaining, but I think the Reds have a good shot as well

Honestly all four non-Pirates teams have a decent shot

2:16

But yes, via all four subtracting rather than all four adding

bighen

2:16

Seems like Mets are getting a lot of kudos for the Porter hire. Begs the question - why was he available at this point etc.

Guest

2:16

Do you have any thoughts re: the hire of Jared Porter? Any personal insight there?

Johnny5Alive

2:16

Jared Porter - frat bro or legit baseball mind (or both)?

Ben Clemens

2:16

I'll be honest, I know next to nothing about Porter

2:17

Dan Haren liking him is a mark in his favor in my book, because I'm a huge Haren fan, but I just don't know that much

I'm not really clued in on the back-room dealings of teams, and who is most and least respected behind the scenes

I'll give it a solid 'wait and see' but I find it quite hard in general to handicap front office signings

Minor Quibble

2:18

Great write up today on Milb fiasco. This seems like the proverbial short-term profit fix at the expense of the long game. Does this mean MLB is just conceding that in person attendance isn't that important to their future revenue plans?

Ben Clemens

2:18

Thanks!

I'll admit I'm biased, because I love minor league baseball, but if you want to look at it from the league's perspective, the number of fans they're potentially losing (on the outside) is big but not backbreaking

2:19

I do think it's putting short term profits over long-term viability, but there's some NPV level where that makes sense

To be clear, I think that they're misjudging it

But it's not as though you get huge returns from putting a team in, say, northern Colorado

2:20

I think of minor league baseball as a public good, and from that standpoint I hate this move

Will

2:20

Will Cleveland's name change affect the on-field product in the next few years? Will Cleveland have more incentive to have a great team during its first few years under a new name, or are they okay risking associating the new name with mediocrity while they bulk up the farm and let go of Lindor?

Ben Clemens

2:20

Mmmm, I don't think so

It's not like the current name has these amazing warm feelings

2:21

They're best known for how hard they are trying to trade their best player!

The Final Boss

2:22

Can player who were added to 40 man rosters specifically to protect them from the Rule 5 draft now be removed without consequence?

Ben Clemens

2:22

Basically, no