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Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/12/25

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Ben Clemens

2:11

I think that it's just not enough savings, particularly when you consider that teams often want to teach players new skills

or new ways to maintain fitness, etc.

War2d2

2:11

Bonus Cubs trade-value question: Moises Ballesteros seems like he’s taken a leap forward on offense but still really has no home on D, as a bad-fielding catcher with a mediocre arm. How much actual trade value does a guy like him have, as a bat-first guy who’s never seen an MLB breaking ball? Feels like someone like that would be worth more to the Cubs as a lottery ticket that could turn into a Pablo Sandoval type in the long term vs. what they’d net in return, but maybe I just don’t value him correctly.

Ben Clemens

2:11

Depends on how you feel about the following question

Jed Hoyer's Burner

2:11

Should I be worried about my bullpen because I'm looking around ... there's not a lot available ...

Ben Clemens

2:12

Ballesteros seems like the kind of guy I'd target if I were trading a good reliever

I mean, I really like the guy obviously, he's been on my sleeper list before and he's gotten better since then

Jaffe's powers have weakened

2:12

He did not reverse jinx Judge. Judge's slumps in 2025 are basically a game and a half. He hit .500 vs Sacramento and he didn't get on base in the first game. What is happening

Ben Clemens

2:12

It's..... just wild

2:13

I've seen some baseball writers complaining about the Rangers hiring Bret Boone without coaching experience but Bochy's argument that he is there more for his perspective to be augmenting the more analytics-focused coaches they already have on staff makes sense to me. I am curious what you think

Ben Clemens

2:13

Oh yeah, I get it

I think it can be taken to excess

2:14

The Giants of the early 2020's had 8 trillion coaches and players said it was a little bit much

Noly-moly

2:14

Aaron Nola seems to be settling in after a rough April. Do you thinks that’s the long and short of it?

Ben Clemens

2:14

Yeah basically

Oops sorry didn't finish up the earlier thread. It can be taken to excess, but I think Bochy will probably not do that

Jeremy

2:14

How *should* a team communicate with a star player about his long-term future role, given that it's impossible to predict the team's needs, or the player's skill level, several years in the future? If we can agree that the Red Sox have handled Devers badly, what would good handling have looked like? Like the the Yankees after the signed ARod and kept Jeter at shortstop?

Ben Clemens

2:14

So I talked to Ben Lindbergh about this a bit on EW on Friday, if you're interested in a longer take

But I'll give mine here as well

2:15

I think that the biggest issue that is going on with the Sox is that they tried to keep a little bit too much flexibility in the whole thing

Like, they signed Bregman and said 'oh maybe he'll play second' when they clearly didn't want him to

2:16

That started them off behind the 8 ball - generally speaking, if I sign a $300 million contract, I'm not expecting my team to go out and sign another star at my position without talking it over with me first

now maybe the Sox did that and Devers just said 'well screw you' but it doesn't feel that way from the public eye

So at that point, they're like "Raffy you're going to DH, shut up and do it" more or less

2:17

so I think if you deliver that message instead of "We're going to have you play first base, a position where you have no professional innings, so spend time learning it"

Then you've walked yourself into a corner

I'm not saying Devers is some paragon of virtue here, but if this happened to you at your work, you would DEFINITELY be annoyed

management is jerking him around, and it sure sounds like it's the front office and not Alex Cora

2:18

the end solution has Devers at first, imo. But the path there is SO messy, and I think that the team's behavior is a large reason why

Happy Girthday

2:18

Leiter two step vs. Col, and vs. ailing Hou, or Tyler Anderson @ LAD?

Ben Clemens

2:18

Leiter

SPArn

2:18

Pretty funny time for that Trevor Rogers question. Granted, Stowers slowed down this week, but his OPS starts with an 8, he hit a walk off home run off the best reliever in the game last weekend, and Rogers ERA in Triple A starts with a 7

Ben Clemens

2:18

Great time as far as I'm concerned!

love Stowers

Mike Elias

2:18

Weekly check in to ask what possible steps I should actually take to improve my SP? Go for Alcantara while his stock is low, try and snipe Mackenzie Gore or Liberatore, or dump Morton/Gibson and try out some internal options in AA/AAA?

Ben Clemens

2:19

Do you guys think that Bartolo Colon and Jamie MOyer are available?

like.... c'mon they're not doing any of the first three

I'd prefer the last, but I just don't think that Mike Elias and I agree on what steps are possible

to the point where I almost think I can't explain their decisions based on how I see the world

Bosoxforlife

2:20

If Devers did get mad then let him get mad more often because he is tearing the cover off the ball since the flap occurred.

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