JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 2/28/22

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 2/28/22

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Ben Clemens

3:01

auto renewals: they suck no matter who does them!

eh, that's not fair

they're useful if you get a note telling you when they're coming up

MLB does not do that

Teddy

3:01

Thanks for holding these chats - always appreciate your measured takes on here! How's life on the west coast?

Ben Clemens

3:01

It's great

Everyone should come live out here -- though not in SF, my rent is high enough as it is

Going skiing in Tahoe this weekend, meanwhile it's 64 and sunny in the bay

3:02

Hasn't been much rain of late, so that sucks, but aside from that the weather and outdoor activities in California just continually remind me of how happy I am that I moved out here

JT

3:02

I've just held off on doing our drafts for fantasy baseball, and I'm already losing good owners to other commitments.

Did you just do drafts/keeper deadlines, or did you hold off, too?

Ben Clemens

3:03

All of my drafts have been postponed, but I dunno what we're gonna do if this wears on much longer

hombre

3:03

Imo, Brad Miller is an underrated versatility piece coming up to the market. He mashes lefties and has been drawing walks, has CIF/OF utility, I’d be interested to hear who you think he fits with

Ben Clemens

3:04

I agree with this take overall, and enjoyed his contributions to the Cardinals

I do think that he's stretched defensively at third, so he's more 1b/cof

3:05

But as a nice platoon bat (and I assume you mean righty masher), he's a nice piece

Teams that don't have a clear 1b vR should be calling him up

3:06

I thikn that the Freddy Freeman market makes things tricky at 1b but the teams who miss on Freeman will be looking for a bit of lefty juice, and I think Miller could be a bargain in that vein

Bob

3:06

Is the Jeter thing as simple as he wants to spend and the Sherman group doesn't? And being a former player, he's sticking up for the players in the midst of a lockout?

Ben Clemens

3:06

I don't think we're ever going to know

But I do think that the team's hesitance to spend has a decent amount to do with it

3:07

It turns out it's very hard to build a baseball team the way you want to (somewhat in the image of the Yankees, presumably) when you're not spending much money

Inaccessible Rail

3:07

Autorenewals: Fangraphs does them too, and I'm thankful for this, as I'd probably forget to renew otherwise.

Ben Clemens

3:07

That's why I quickly hedged lol

I get our 'hey your subscription is about to auto-renew' email every year

and then promptly forget about it

Teddy

3:08

[Perhaps too hard to answer in the chat]

Would you mind speaking briefly about your decision to change industries/careers as a younger person? How did you think about the costs/benefits of doing something that (presumably) gave you more happiness on the day to day vs. higher salaries?

Ben Clemens

3:08

This is a great question, so sorry other people in the chat who don't actually want to hear about a no-name baseball writer's past job life

I don't think I can tell you how to value compensation vs. on-job happiness

3:09

But while I enjoyed my coworkers and found the day-to-day stuff I was doing very interesting, I found the stress level and inability to write for others to read really frustrating

3:10

"stress level" is a really generic thing, I know; for me it wans't day to day swings so much as the fact that you really don't get to turn off ever, because there could be profit opportunities (or loss avoidance opportunities) at any hour on any day

One thing that really set me on the path to leaving was when Jenna and I were on a vacation in Japan and the Bank of Canada unexpectedly hiked rates

I was like hey, it's not healthy that I have to care about this right now, I want to go eat a delicious omakase dinner

3:11

But I did have to care, and that need to be on grated over time

That said: I'm a big fan of doing what you love, though it's a little easier for me to say that after working in a field noted for its high compensation for a decade

Try to have fun at work, it's so much of your life!

Tacoby Bellsbury

3:11

What's the least interesting thing to happen to you today?

Ben Clemens

3:12

Woke up at 6:46 (that's when my alarm goes off) and solved the Wordle in four guesses, which is my average

bam!

Bob

3:12

Could we see more free agents signing one year deals in KBO or NPB if it becomes clear the lockout is gonna cost them 1/3-1/2 of a normal 162?

Ben Clemens

3:12

Lower-end free agents, I'd say yes

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