JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/16/20

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Ben Clemens

2:17

MLB stores games in a consistent, searchable form on YouTube. I've used this to create gifs of weird old games in the past, but there's nothing stopping you from just watching a whole season of a team's games.

Derek

2:19

The Mandalorian is excellent!

Ben Clemens

2:19

I've heard mixed things, but I'm a Star Wars fan from way back, so I'm pretty sure I'll like it.

I used to have a miniature Slave One ship model when I was a kid. How can I not watch a show about people who look like Boba Fett?

Curtis

2:19

Revisiting Ken Burns Baseball series would seem appropriate... can watch in segments as necessary breaks. There's a lot of excellent player bios as well out there...if you need a baseball fix.

Ben Clemens

2:20

Another excellent suggestion. I saw somewhere that PBS was going to be replaying some of it. But you could just buy it as well presumably, and it'd be money well spent.

Derek

2:20

Also, if you are okay with watching cartoons, both Clone Wars and Rebels are excellent tv shows as well. They are definitely more geared towards children (especially early Clone Wars), but honestly they are just good shows period (again, assuming you don't have a prevailing aversion to watching animated shows, which some people do), and they mature as they go on. The Clone Wars is miles better than any of the 3 prequel movies imo and Rebels is at least as good. They're good on their own merits but they also make paying for Disney+ palatable!

Ben Clemens

2:20

I think there's even a new season of Clone Wars coming out, too.

2:21

Yeah, I'm probably buying it before too long. You've talked me into it.

Team Staffer

2:21

Doing sporcle quizzes as a competition is a good team break.

Ben Clemens

2:21

Oh, great suggestion. I hadn't thought of doing that remotely, but it would definitely work.

Team Staffer

2:22

I am a very low level Team analytics employee who has a dry cough (but no other symptoms and I've been self-isolating for a week, I'm fine) and my one solace in this trying time is that if it turns out I have COVID 19, Ken Rosenthal will probably be trying to figure out my name.

Ben Clemens

2:22

Stay safe, and I hope you are well

That'd be extremely small solace, especially given that you might just be called 'team employee'

Bay Area Resident

2:23

Does a team like the Yankees (and perhaps the Indians too) with injured pitchers actually benefit from this whole situation? Tough to say that a pandemic (and the layoff it causes) could actually benefit someone, but still.

Ben Clemens

2:23

I don't think benefit is really a fair word, but there are going to be a lot of impacts like that.

Players who are hurt will now miss fewer games rehabbing.

2:24

Teams who were favorites will have fewer games in the season, and so less inevitability.

There are lots of little effects like that.

It's hard to know what those effects will be until we get a better idea of the schedule, though.

Also fantasy baesball is gonna be super weird.

2:25

I had an auction days before the season was suspended, and trying to figure out which team is favored now is really hrad!

2:26

Wow, DeAndre Hopkins just got traded to the Cardinals. Not baseball related, but look, there aren't a lot of sports going on right now.

Guest

2:27

Best thing to do with canned beans?

Ben Clemens

2:27

Now this is a question I feel qualified to answer.

Dan would tell you not to make chili with them.

I don't completely agree, but there are all kinds of options.

2:28

If you have a slow cooker, I like making slow-cooked spicy beans.

You can find all kinds of recipes online, but it's going to largely be black beans and spices.

Let those cook on low for eight hours and you get a delicious bean and spice slurry

2:29

You could also mix them with beef and spices to make chili (sorry Dan).

I haven't cooked a lot with dried beans, but have a bunch of those too. I'd imagine it's roughly the same.

If you don't have a slow cooker, you can still make bean tacos, with or without chicken sausage.

2:30

If you do that, though, I'd go heavier on spices; the slow cooker makes everything delicious but if you're just cooking them in a pot, I'd want more flavor.

Innocent Team Owner

2:30

Surely the public will pay me back for the revenues lost? Maybe a new stadium?

Stefan

2:30

How the heck is the MLB gonna handle traded players who are gonna be free agents? Did the LAD trade away Mookie for no reason? Does everything just get reset. This all seems so messy

Ben Clemens

2:31

It's definitely too early to think about questions like this, but when there's a more fixed structure in place, analyzing winners and losers is going to be a hot topic.

2:32

At this juncture, a complete season cancellation seems unlikely.

And given that, the Dodgers might actually benefit *more* from trading for Mookie?

2:33

The shorter the season, the less favored the Dodgers are.

Connecting…