JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/17/21

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Travis

2:13

What's up with the Giants SP, besides their defense? Alex Wood, 60% GB rate. They turned Gausman into a top player. Desclafani is rolling. Their components all seem legit, and I'm buying their rotation as a top 10 in MLB. Agree or no?

Ben Clemens

2:15

Eh, I don't really agree sadly. Gausman is great, Desclafani is solid, but as much as I've been an Alex Wood fanboy my whole life, listen to the slate of teams he has faced so far

Miami, Miami, Colorado, Colorado (at Coors), Texas, Pittsburgh

For those of you keeping score at home, that's the 25th-best offense twice, 29th-best offense twice, 12th-best offense (but projected to be kinda bad going forward), and 27th-best offense

2:16

Those are the opponents he's faced, and all he can do is beat the guys in front of him, but take it with a grain of salt is all I'm saying

Callup question

2:16

I read something about it being harder for people to be promoted from AA to the Majors. How will that impact guys like Bobby Witt and others?

Ben Clemens

2:17

Yeah, this is a COVID protocol thing

I don't think it's going to be a huge deal for Witt, b/c I just don't think that the Royals will call him up, but generally it means that teams who have a prospect they're considering calling up soon are going to stash them in Triple-A, which has the same protocols as the majors

2:19

I do think this means that teams with interesting potential callups will lean towards AAA for those assignments

Wander Franco skipped AA, and I bet that's at least partially b/c the Rays want flexibility around calling him up

Just appreciation

2:19

I really appreciate how long and detailed your responses are with chat - I'm learning a lot about questions I didn't have! Thanks a ton for showing up this way

Ben Clemens

2:20

Just wait until we get to the speed round or someone brings up food opinions, you might change your mind then :)

Guest

2:20

Why did the Dodgers put a center fielder and shortstop on the IL and then acquire Albert Pujols and Yoshi Tsutsugo? They seem like awkward fits for that roster.

Ben Clemens

2:20

I'm not the Dodgers, but my thinking about this is that they're basically cashing in their positional versatility

2:21

Muncy and Lux being multi-positional was neat but not particularly useful before

B/c they were going to get the PT at 1st and 2nd

now that they need a shortstop and Lux can fake short, they're making Muncy a 2B

2:22

But with Rios on the IL, they don't have a ton of other great 1B options, so they created a single solid 1B by combining Tsutsugo vR and Pujols vL

Then Chris Taylor, the other multi-positional guy they have, can play center

And if Muncy is going to be a 2B most days, they don't need Taylor there

2:23

It actually works, though it is really funny to see them lose two premium defenders and replace them with two DH's

NetworkAir

2:23

Ben,
With the context of the new CBA, are teams going to potentially operate under the assumption for long term pick ups that there will be an universal DH? Ex. Are the reds more likely to chase an outfielder under the assumption that Winker will primarily DH in the future?

Ben Clemens

2:24

Very likely, but with a grain of salt: no one is going to be doing much long-term business this offseason until there's a new CBA

2:26

I think that in-season trades wlil likely assume a long-term DH, but there just aren't going to be pre-CBA signings

Mitch

2:26

Willy Adames is going to hit arbitration next year and the Rays have some great middle infield prospects. Do you think he will be shopped at the deadline? Might be hard to deal him next winter with all the great FA SS

Ben Clemens

2:26

Oh yeah, I think he's being shopped as we speak

The Rays aren't known for NOT maximizing their roster, and probably the best way to handle that is trade Adames for help somewhere they need it

Rotation? Outfield?

YardGoat

2:27

Olive oil or butter with your bread?

Ben Clemens

2:27

Olive oil, not particularly close

There's a really nice olive oil shop near where my wife is from, and her mom sends us some every year for Christmas

2:28

This place: https://orodioliva.com/

They have some cool flavored oils and vinegars, and we order these a lot and use them on bread

2:29

The Christmas gifts no longer last us all year

Kevin Platinumstein

2:29

Does FGs ignore the Marlins? I’ve asked about Sandy Alcantara the last couple chats and no one answered? I usually get my questions answered which is why I ask? I mean, I wouldn’t want to watch the Marlins either, but I’m forced to since my team is in the NL East.

Ben Clemens

2:29

I would not say that Sandy is a pitcher who tremendously interests me, through no fault of his own

I'm probably a little wrong on him, but I just have decided I need to see it longer before I buy in

2:30

He just never gets enough strikeouts for how hellacious his stuff looks, and I wnat to see a clean break to something better before I upgrade from 'nice mid-rotation guy' to better than that

2:31

Aside from that though, I think we have covered all the Marlins I'd be interested in writing about. Jesus Aguilar, Trevor Rogers, Jazz

Maybe that isn't ALL the interesting Marlins, I think Rojas is intriguing, but yeah

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