JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 2/2/2026

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Well-Beered Englishman

2:40

Gotta follow up on your Emily Henry tip from last week. What got you into the genre? What's the comfort of it for you?

Ben Clemens

2:40

Oh, great question that I forgot to asnwer earlier

2:41

I think the main thing drawing me in is that I really like good writing. I will read pretty much any genre if I think it's written well, which to me is a combination of believable character motivations and then just prose that sparks joy

am I a fan of the Emily Henry genre? I mean, not particularly, but I'm not wildly against it either. 'contemporary romance' or something, i guess? it's fine, the unremarkable entries in the genre are absolutely not my thing

2:42

I just think she's one of the best writers going right now. Delightful to read, well paced, sentences and constructions that make me wish I thought of them

Zac Gallen

2:42

Is that an official offer? Can you send over the contract?

Ben Clemens

2:42

would you accept 'total enlightenment on your deathbed' in comp? We're a little ligth on the 'money' part of an offer

Booney

2:42

Do you think that signing Alonso and extending basallo reduces the chances the O’s end up re-signing Adley? Alonso will likely need a lot of DH at bats toward the end of his contract, and basallo’s best fit may end up being there or 1B too. I’d also imagine Adley will need DH at bats as he ages, especially given the demands of catching and his injury history…so it feels like something would have to give.

Ben Clemens

2:43

Oh absolutely. I read this as Adley's ticket out of town

not before FA, I don't think

but how are they gonna square all this?

bosoxforlife

2:43

Nothing, but nothing would enhance my perception of the Fangraphs analysis team than recognizing that the DH penalty is absolutely without foundation in reason.

Ben Clemens

2:43

Well, challenge accepted

We have some really cool stuff on the horizon

2:44

I feel justified in saying that in the next month, I personally will have contributed more to the FanGraphs analysis suite than in the rest of my career here combined

Guest

2:44

I'm surprised more old pitchers don't do what Clemens did and start the year late. Especially if you have school aged kids. Sure you have to be good for teams to be interested but I don't think you have to be generationally good and you can save some wear and tear and still be playoff relevant.

Ben Clemens

2:44

Yeah. Maybe this is the year Scherzer and Verlander do that

Tigers pitching

2:44

Who do you think has a better season, Olson or Mize?

Ben Clemens

2:44

ooh, tough one but gimme Olson

Steve O

2:44

Is it just me or are the penalties for spending money quite harsh already? Luxury tax spending is taxed heavily, draft pick losses for signing qualified free agents, draft pick moving back 10 spots, loss of IFA money, smaller bonus pools with winning, smaller IFA pools if a large market team, extra picks for "small market" teams, loss of qualifying free agents, revenue sharing, etc. I mean this is all quite substantial and the luxury tax is essentially a cap, right? Not many teams pass the cohen tax.

Ben Clemens

2:44

VERY harsh

2:45

on purpose

it's all grandstanding

and like, what are ownership sources gonna do? NOT say they want a salary cap?

Insert Witty Name Here

2:45

Tennis! How does Djokovic keep this pace up? I’m around his age and I get tired walking the dog. Also, Sabalenka - I had flashbacks of Curt Schilling with the towel over his head in the 93 World Series. Such a bad way to end that 3rd set. Lastly: could Rybakina have looked less excited to win? She seemed like she was finished doing her taxes.

Ben Clemens

2:45

oh hell yes

let's talk

2:46

i didn't catch much of the two last Djokovic matches but I love that he won 47% of poitns against Sinner, and 47% against Alcaraz, but he just couldn't pull out that Djokovic clutch magic in the final

that's fun, and also I find myself liking the guy more and more with every slam. His interview after Musetti had to retire was incredible, just the exact thing I want more of from my athletes

2:47

as for the women's final, I love Rybakina's all-no-show attitude, but eh, I think I like Sabalenka's pure wearing her heart on her sleeve game more

I'm Team Iga if you made me pick one, and Team Mirra if I got two.... but I do like Sabalenka

Screw ICE

2:48

Djokovic is an anti-vaxxer

Ben Clemens

2:48

yeah, look, starting from a low baseline. He's also pretty annoying if you like good competitive tennis, what with him just winning everything with a very boring-to-me style for a decade

I'm just saying that my opinion keeps going up, and that i think he's getting more mature and more interesting with age

bosoxforlife

2:48

Watching Djokovic reach deep, deep into his soul to find the strength to defeat Sinner was something that stirred my soul. He was beyond exhausted but showed why he is the GREAT champion that he is!

joe

2:48

if you got problems with djokovic brother, just wait until you hear about 90% of mlb!

Oaktown Blues

2:49

FG offers "total enlightenment on your deathbed" coverage? Is that compatible with the HSA plan?

Screw ICE

2:49

Djokovic didn't win a set in the 2 matches leading up to the final, he was very lucky to be there

Ben Clemens

2:49

the semifinal, but yeah. Like, we're not getting another of these anytime soon