JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/14/22

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Ben Clemens

3:11

Chad Kuhl as a swingman

Farhandrew Zaidman

3:11

Is David Price just...not a starting pitcher anymore? In all the variations of the Dodgers' rotation, I haven't seen him mentioned.

Ben Clemens

3:11

Right? I'm rather surprised too

But it does seem like there's a smoke/fire thing here. Everyone is reporting this and at this point I've been incepted into believing it

Eric Hosmer

3:12

Do you think Preller is a good GM

Ben Clemens

3:12

No. I think he's a good talent evaluator with good strategic ideas though

Would love to have him in my franchise, with maybe more of an analytical type as GM

I dunno what he's like to work for but I can imagine that having a guy who is such a famous workaholic might not be fun, also

3:13

I like that Meg isn't scouting minor league games on the weekends and calling me for my impressions

The Ghost of Bobby Thigpen

3:13

Hi Ben. The White Sox have an extra closer, and a glut of corner/1B bats. Is there any deal that makes sense for them that addresses their 2B issue? Thanks.

Ben Clemens

3:13

Is this the time whre I'm strong enough not to make a Madrigal-for-Kimbrel joke?

It is not

They should trade Kimbrel for Nick Madrigal

3:14

I'm not sure, I'm writing up the second base power rankings at the moment and nothing jumps out to me

Like... Whit Merrifield? Is that a good fit?

Mike

3:15

Is a McNeil for Bummer framework something that's feasible? McNeil seems to provide more WAR in terms of ZiPS while Bummer gives the Mets a good reliever behind Diaz, May, and Lugo

Ben Clemens

3:15

I don't think the Mets want to trade McNeil

I think they're gonna end up trading J.D. Davis

Trading McNeil means a lot of Cano at second and that's too risky imo

Lorenzo

3:15

Besides Luis Castillo and possibly John Means, can you name any other SP that may be available via trade?

......forgot Manaea and Montas, add them too

Ben Clemens

3:15

Yeah, the Oakland duo are hot commodities

3:16

Mike Minor

Luke Weaver

Shane Bieber? You'd have to really pile on the enticements there

Jordan

3:17

Ken Rosenthal is championing the "Correa 1 year contract" talk on Twitter, which personally, I think is ridiculous

Ben Clemens

3:17

Agree but I mean, he knows people

Derek

3:17

Would a team that had Juan Soto in every lineup spot but also Juan Soto at every defensive position be a good team? My gut tells me yes but also that this team would play some loooong games

Ben Clemens

3:18

I think they'd be quite good

It'd be awkward at catcher, short, and second for sure

but 'Juan Soto can't field' talk is overblown

He's gotten better

and he's pretty clearly a good athlete, you know?

3:19

It's not like he's Vladdy Jr. or Kyle Schwarber out there

Did you know that he has above-average sprint speed and was in the 90th percentile for RF defense per Statcast last year?

Dan

3:19

What's the most important reason the best hitters tend to play the easier defensive positions, rarity of a human being truly elite at multiple things, increased need/difficulty of practicing defense, different ideal body type, something else?

Ben Clemens

3:20

The ideal body type thing definitely matters

I think it's just all of these things

But it's also a self-selection thing. In positions where defense matters relatively more, you funnel the better defenders even at the expense of bat

Joe shlabotnik

3:20

Braves and Mets just got better. Phillies need a big name to make it work for them. Who you got? Kb? Castellanos? Correa?????

Connecting…