JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 12/21/20

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 12/21/20

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Ben Clemens

2:53

Like, look what they got back for Mike Clevinger

2:54

35 interesting but not overwhelming names

Do the Indians turn down, say, Knizner, Tyler O'Neill, and maybe Johan Oviedo? They might

But if they're willing to shop for quantity, and they seem to be, the Cardinals consistently hvae a lot of okay prospects

Benji

2:54

And in the 80s and early 90s the A's ran high payrolls it's just John Fisher being a stingy billionaire that turned us into a small market team

Ben Clemens

2:55

To be fair the stadium has something to do with it, but yeah, small-market is what you make of it

David

2:56

Re:Mariners - They are probably better off letting position players play and see which of their younger players stick than sign a mid name fielder.

Ben Clemens

2:56

yeah another benefit of signing pitchers is that you're not blocking anyone

Unless you sign a LOT of pitchers

Guest

2:56

The Mets are technically coming off a last place finish, but anyone who dismisses them as such is either trolling or ignorant- they finished tied for 4th in a tough division after losing Thor to TJ, Stroman opting out, and Wacha, Matz, and Porcello all putting up career-worst lines. Any one of those guys having an even average year might have been enough to bump them from last to 2nd.

Ben Clemens

2:56

Haha yes that was a bit of a joke. I picked them to win the East last year!

2:57

I don't think you can just dismiss the struggles as 'oh that was unlucky won't happen again' without acknowledging that htey also got some unexpected and good performances, but yes, the Mets weren't a cellar-dweller, the level of the East was just quite high last year

GoMs

2:57

Mariners perfect offseason: sign FA’s Paxton, Walker, and Trienen; trade for and extend Story to play 3B (package for Rocks: Trammel, Dunn, Then)

Ben Clemens

2:58

If they made all these moves, would you say that their offseason would be Dunn, Then?

Sorry sorry sorry

Benji

2:58

More likely to be traded Story or Arenado?

Ben Clemens

2:58

Story. Arenado's contract is just such a confusing one

2:59

With an opt-out after 2021, he might be an expensive rental

On the other hand, he might be there for six more years at 30-something per

3:00

It would be an extremely negotiated deal, particulalry given his no-trade clause. The team trading for him would need to get assurances that he wouldn't opt out, and he'd have to be willing to give those assurances, etc

3:01

But if he doesn't opt out, that limits the number of teams who are going to pay that much for a corner bat, even such a defensively-gifted one

Not to say it can't happen, but with Story, there are probably 20 teams who would be interested

3:02

He's a rental, but a nice one

Ross

3:02

How valuable would a truly ambidextrous relief pitcher be if he could strike out batters from both sides? Would he be worth ~4.5 WAR or greater in today’s matchup-driven league?

Ben Clemens

3:02

Wait I want to answer this one but first, to close the loop:

Benji

3:02

Would he want to do those assurances to get out of losing situation in Colorado?

Ben Clemens

3:02

Maybe yeah. I think it's possible for that exact reason

Though he could also just opt out after this year

3:03

And pick his team more proactively

Okay, the ambidextrous reliever

3:04

Let's say that he gets the best of both sides

Chris Farley

3:04

It's amphibious, not ambidextrous.

Ben Clemens

3:04

My bad

:)

3:05

SO he's Adam Kolarek against lefties and Liam Hendriks against righties

Let's say that works out to a 1.5 FIP

3:06

Eh, let's make it Hendriks's 1.14 FIP

3:07

At around 75 innings and all high leverage, that gets you to your 4.5 WAR number, which owuld be one of the best relief seasons of recent memory

Benji

3:07

Ooh I like ambidextrous reliever, I'm also wondering could they do double the workload or does overall body fatigue kick in beyond just having two arms

Ben Clemens

3:07

I think body fatigue would still kick in, but we'll probably never know. True ambidexterity seems unlikely to happen at a major league level

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