JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/30/20

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/30/20

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Ben Clemens

3:13

It always feels weird asking for financial help, at least to me, and seeing people talk about how much they like the site and how happy they are that it exists beats thath awkward feeling back.

Seeing the outpouring of support just makes me very happy, in a way I didn't completely expect when I first talked to Appelman about all this.

Sammi from a Brooklyn park bench

3:14

Has Sale been cut on yet?

Ben Clemens

3:14

I'm really shocked that I can't find the answer to this easily. I'm guessing that he has not, because I don't think that story would be hard to find.

3:15

Seems like he lives in Florida in the offseason, and we know they're still open for TJ business given that Syndergaard just got it done.

3:16

So your guess as to why it hasn't been reported is as good as mine. Maybe someone with better Red Sox knowledge has heard more.

Fan

3:16

Any MLB the Show ratings that you think are particularly inaccurate?

Ben Clemens

3:17

This is a question for Sporer or Dan; I'm not really a The Show person, though that might be changing soon given how much time I'm spending at home wishing for baseball.

Derek

3:18

This site is incredible, and I hope there is soon an option in place that allows us to just outright donate above and beyond purchasing a membership (Jay in his chat seemed to suggest there was at least some chance that this happens). I am extremely fortunate to have a job that allows relatively seamless work-from-home and is in an industry that is actually seeing an increase in business right now, and I would love to be able to contribute (in however small a way) to places like FanGraphs that are really feeling the strain.

Ben Clemens

3:19

Hey Derek, thanks a lot. I don't know any specific details about it, but I guess I'd just say to keep your eyes peeled. This is all a very quickly evolving situation but we have definitely received several versions of this feedback today.

Which, again, is so cool.

2-D

3:20

Which GM would you trust the most for trading away a superstar, and which GM would you trust the most for acquiring a superstar?

Ben Clemens

3:21

Talked a bit about this with some DC friends over the weekend; Mike Rizzo's record in trades is sneaky good. He's somewhere on my list. I like Dave Dombrowski's ability to identify talent, and he's won a lot of trades in his day, but only on the acquiring end and he's not employed anymore.

3:22

I think I'd go with David Stearns among active GM's for acquiring a star, because I like his aggression around trades and ability to say okay we're going for it here, and then just go for it.

It's tempting to just say the Rays for trading away a star, but the problem is that they've been good at that over several GM regimes.

3:23

So that's not really fair, though both GM's/Presidents of Baseball Ops/whatever have done well.

But I'm going to go with a bit of a dark horse here and say Rick Hahn for best at trading a star away.

3:24

That White Sox teardown was sad for Sox fans, but Hahn did really well when it comes to getting value without either waiting too long or going too quickly.

I think that was a tricky situation to handle, but he managed to get something of real value for all three of Sale, Eaton, and Quintana without flooding the market or letting their service time run down too much.

3:25

With that, I'm going to call it a chat slightly early today. Thanks a ton to everyone for chatting, and far more than that, thanks so much for your kind words and support. The memberships mean a lot, hearing what you think about us means a lot, and we're fortunate to have such a great readership in a trying time.

3:26

I'll be back same time next week, hopefully with a little less sappiness but the same middling comedy and off-topic buffoonery you've come to expect.

Have a great day, everyone.

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