JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 2/5/24

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 2/5/24

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Ghinga

2:45

Do you think his defense will hurt those chances?

Ben Clemens

2:45

no, because I think it has improved a lot

Guest

2:45

Age 26 David Wright crushes Riley. Riley's got a long, long, long way to go.

Ben Clemens

2:45

well sure

i'm not saying he's 50% to make the hall of fame even

but David Wright had a phenomenally unlucky run-out on his career

Cautiously-optimistic M's Fan

2:45

Everyone can agree that the Mariners budgetary restrictions are hogswallop and the team's ownership is embarrassing... with that being said, am I wrong for thinking Jerry Dipoto has put the Mariners in a pretty solid position to succeed in 2024 with his offseason maneuvering? The Polanco and Soto additions have me excited

Ben Clemens

2:46

Yeah I agree with this sentiment

I think given the silly restrictions, he did pretty well

I'm not sold on the Santos trade in particular, but I'm willing to be convinced

Jason

2:48

Hi Ben, I hope you've had a nice off-season so far. I was wondering what your current expectations are for the Diamondbacks this season?

Ben Clemens

2:48

Compete for the division and make the playoffs

Marcos

2:49

Pick one player from the 2015 Royals or 2016 Cubs for the Hall of Fame.

Ben Clemens

2:50

Aroldis Chapman

man, that's a boring pick

but I don't see any other obvious ones and I could see Chapman ending up with one of those 'yeah okay fine he was just such a key reliever for so long' kind of things

depends on how reliever cases for HoF evolve over time obviously

but I don't see any other great options

K DOT

2:50

I know the numbers aren't quite there, but Anthony Rizzo has Veteran's committee written all over him

Ben Clemens

2:50

He was my second choice

Cody

2:50

Do you think Theo coming back to Boston will have a significant impact on the franchise moving forward? I'm excited about his return, but not sure how much control he will have.

Ben Clemens

2:50

Not relaly, to be honest

2:51

Sounds like he's going to bop around between all the teams in the fenway orbit and offer general advice on best practices

which is neat but probably not the knid of thing that makes you better instantly

wheelhouse

2:51

on volpe: my skepticism of his offense is on not having any hitting skill to hang his hat on. his exit velo is okay not great, his contact rates are okay not great, his swing decisions, pitch recognition, batted ball profile all okay not great. pulls the ball, good, but 59% grounders when he pulls, GB/FB 2.59. it's not a profile that has one glaring flaw that if he addresses it, everything else comes together.

Ben Clemens

2:51

Yeah totally fair

2:52

it does mean that he doesn't have a single point of failure, but I think his carrying tool is just generally swing decisions and bat control given those decisions

which is admittedly kind of a nebulous profile

Ghinga

2:52

A lot of focus on the o’s this year, and rightfully so. Who in the Al east do you think has the best chance of winning the division other than them?

Ben Clemens

2:52

I think the Yankees

But it's going to be a really competitive division

2:54

Our odds are coming out this week and I expect the Yankees to be the favorite given what the projections are sayihng right now

cool

3

2:55

Just by projected WAR, which is not the same as playoff odds, 4 of the 5 teams in the ALE are in the top 11 in baseball

Duece

2:55

I would guess Jon Lester before Chapman, but I agree we need to watch where the pitching electorate goes.

Ben Clemens

2:55

I'd have had him third after Rizzo

just not a high enough peak for me, but I could definitely be wrong

and we're dealing in long shots no matter what

CFH

2:55

Do you think it's easier to improve a team with a stars-and-scrubs construction? Seems like Verdugo and Grisham (even before you account for Soto) are huge upgrades over the Yankees negative-WAR outfielders besides Judge from last year whereas it's much harder for a team like the Giants to make an upgrade like that because they are about average everywhere and would need to bring in stars

Ben Clemens

2:55

I absolutely do

2:56

the Giants and Cardinals are my go-to examples of teams that have trouble improving with individual moves b/c they've already done so well at the easy holes to patch

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