JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/14/22

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Ryan Williams

2:29

What are your thoughts on the Cardinals two new reliever additions? Seems like a good diversion of all their "name" pickups that haven't worked out in recent seasons (Cecil, Miller, Holland)

Ben Clemens

2:29

I like VerHagen, less enthused by the Wittgren addition

Appa Yip Yip

2:29

Speaking of Chapman, would a package centered around Alejandro Kirk be a good starting point?

Ben Clemens

2:30

I think that's the right caliber of player, but I'm unsure if the A's would be interested in Kirk. They seem to prioritize catcher defense pretty highly and also just traded for a top catching prospect

Sirras

2:31

How much caffeine do you think has been consumed across MLB (including front offices, agents, writers, reporters, etc) since the end of the CBA? Please answer in cups of coffee rounded to the nearest silly 3rd decimal point. For any non-coffee caffeine, please convert to coffee cup equivalent units

Ben Clemens

2:31

Love it

I think we should do per person per day

2:32

because otherwise this is just a consulting interview question about how many people work in baseball

Four?

I'm at four

Didace

2:32

As a Nats fan, having Freddie Freeman out of Atlanta is the best move the Nats could possibly make this year.

Ben Clemens

2:32

Colton Anderson

2:32

What's the market look like for a guy like Seiya Suzuki now that signings and trades are heating up again? I know before the lookout I saw a lot of people saying Philly was a good spot for him but haven't seen anything since.

Ben Clemens

2:32

The buzz I keep hearing is that everyone wants him

2:33

I just think that the risk is kinda high. I'd like to sign him if I were a team, but I'd want to have a lefty who plays the same position in case he's worse than expected against same-handed pitching

Appa Yip Yip

2:33

If the sticking point for Atlanta was the sixth year at 30m, didn't they just give up more than 30m value worth of prospects?

Ben Clemens

2:34

Yeah.... I truly don't get it. I guess you could make an argument that for them the core is Acuna/Albies/Soroka/Fried and they don't want anyone older than that on a long-term deal?

But that strikes me as overly rigid th inking

Mariners

2:34

1-10 how worried should I be that we are going to miss all the good bats?

Ben Clemens

2:34

Let's say 6.5

2:36

It's not like a ton of big names that I thought made sense on the Mariners have gone off the board, but they could use another bat, preferably one who can either play first or outfield?

And of course, everyone can use more pitching, but there's just not a lot of that left

Maybe they'll be involved for Castillo

Wireless Joe Jackson

2:36

Fangraphs servers struggling under the load of the compressed offseason? Hard to load any pages.

Ben Clemens

2:36

We are experiencing some site-wide difficulties right now for sure

2:37

I'm impressed so many people are here talking to me!

2:37

In my soon-to-be-released rankings:

TEX return for 1.5 years of Joey Gallo:
Duran 50 FV (104th overall)
Smith 45+
Hauver 40
Otto 40

OAK return for 2 years of Matt Olson:
Langeliers 50 (81st overall)
Pache 50 (105th)
Cusick 45
Estes 40

Oakland will receive OF Cristian Pache, C Shea Langeliers, SP Ryan Cusick and SP Joey Estes, sources tell ESPN. Massive haul for Matt Olson, the Braves’ new first baseman.

Ben Clemens

2:38

Seems reasonable to me. I could see higher on Estes, he's one of those guys that I intermittently hear is underrated and then wonder 'wait he's rated?'

Guest

2:38

Am I wrong to think Pache isnt really that big a loss? He’s a great defender but his bat hasn’t improved in 3 years.

Ben Clemens

2:38

I think you're wrong

Not wildly wrong or anything

But his outfield defense is SPECIAL

2:39

I think that it's wise to accumulate players like that, because if they make any advance on the offensive side... even just striking out less, let's say... that's an All Star

His bat hasn't improved in three years, it's true

2:40

But particularly in a giant stadium like Oakland, I think it makes a ton of sense for them to see what happens with his development

Guest

2:40

Do you think the 13th hitter roster spot, in addition to the NL DH, creates incentive for teams to carry the likes of say Joc Pederson or Eddie Rosario and we could see a pinch hitter/ backup DH/ fringy corner defender type role on every team? A Darin Ruf 2021 being the hoped for best possible outcome?

Ben Clemens

2:40

Yeah, I could totally see that

Having a guy who you mainly like for his bat but who profiles as a backup outfielder might feel weird

2:41

But if you don't have a DH, that's just bonus AB's for a guy you want for his bat

Baby Jay

2:41

If the asking price for players like Ramirez and Marte and Chapman is high, should the Jays stand pat and then reassess their needs at the trade deadline? They have a pretty decent team right now. And they did pretty well at last year's trade deadline (Berrios, Cimber, Richards).

Connecting…

Message History

On Off

Your current subscriptions

None

E-mail Address	Chat Owner	Status	Remove

Enter your email address to be notified when Ben Clemens hosts a chat