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Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/10/26

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Ben Clemens

2:21

Cheeknbut

2:21

Just playing devil’s advocate but does revenue sharing disincentivize winning or trying to win / market your team ?

Ben Clemens

2:21

right, gotta work out a way to make you spend to get it, or increase the amount shared if you win, etc.

Cheeknbut

2:22

two SF questions ! Did you go to Outsidelands ? what’s for lunch ?

Ben Clemens

2:22

I didn't, I took a much-needed short vacation this weekend

if I had gone, I was very excited to see the Clipse and Charli XCX

2:23

I drove out to outer sunset yday for an errand and man, the festival crowds were huge

looked like a fun time

2:24

what's for lunch? I got some ravioli from costco that I probably need to cook soon so most likely that

lmb2020

2:24

Seems like there's two pretty clear-cut ROY winners. Do you agree? I don't necessarily default to WAR as the only way to choose (I think counting stats make sense as a factor) but is there an argument against the Wetherman or Professor McGonigle?

Ben Clemens

2:25

mayyyyyybe if McGonigle slows way down, the Tigers collapse, and Messick goes on a run, I could see him winning

but mostly no, they're close to locked up

K’d Cavalli

2:25

Hey Ben I’m back with my bi-monthly Dylan Crews check-in. His hard hit balls are on the ground. His hard hit balls that he DOES elevate are to straightaway center. Is it swing mechanics? Is that something that can be fixed? I could take the chase and K% if he was doing damage otherwise, but as the president of the Dylan Crews fan club, I am rapidly losing hope in a prospect that I adored

Ben Clemens

2:25

ah, the Jordan Walker conundrum

I sympathize with you. Cardinals fans have gone through this before

2:26

if you play around with the Squared-Up Explorer, Crews' 2026 looks almost exactly like Walker's 2025

the best contact is scalded ground balls, not enough squared up stuff in the air

2:27

it's a really hard thing to change, but not impossible, as Walker demonstrates

2:28

but also as Walker demonstrates with his recent extreme cold streak (.255/.298/.327 with 1 HR in the last month) you never quite get rid of the feeling of 'oh this guy might just pound the ball into the ground'

illardfillmore

2:28

When I go to the team leaderboards and sort by DEF, only 4 teams are positive. The average is -15. How should I think about that?

Ben Clemens

2:28

with a confused, wry smile

it has to do with DH's

we give them a ton of negative value, of course

2:29

we could maybe re-center that. Haven't talked about it too much, but it's an interesting idea. but yeah, it's something about the way we make the 600 WAR to hitters/400 WAR to pitchers split work, I forget the exact mechanics, but I agree it's confusing

bosoxforlife

2:29

The Brewers continue to baffle all the experts, that is everybody here including the commenters, Miz is a given and Harrison's return was great. Do you think Henderson is enough for the post-season rotation?

Ben Clemens

2:30

I think May is a given too at this point, honestly

I would be happy running Henderson out there

2:31

obviously tons of uncertainty, but this feels like a risk I'd be interested in taking. Miz/May/Harrison/Henderson and a bunch of relievers to work big chunk innings if somebody has a short outing? seems good to me

it's maybe not the Dodgers rotation but it's still quite good

sliderinthedirt

2:31

Ohtani has a bum knee
Mookie looks cooked
Tucker also looks cooked
Will Smith is MIA
Muncy is slumping hard
Edwin Diaz is a cockfighter
Freddie has giant teeth

Is it over for the Dodgers?

Ben Clemens

2:31

it's over

they should just quic

quit*

don't even play the games, just head home and train for 2027

Barbaro Garbey

2:31

Ben, with the Tigers' continued solid play post-deadline, should they now be considered maybe a slight favorite to sneak into the postseason again? We all thought 2024 might be a fluke, but maybe for the Tigers selling = buying when it comes to making a late playoff push...

TKDC

2:32

It won’t be as improbable as last year if it happens, but the Tigers making another postseason run would be objectively hilarious, wouldn’t it?

Ben Clemens

2:32

it's a good reminder of the limited impact of one player, particularyl in the regular season

2:33

in the postseason when ace pitchers get a bigger share of the pie and rotations shorten, not having those guys sting more

in the regular season, it's really hard for one player to be the difference between a good and bad team

crew87

2:33

is it survivorship bias that MLB never has day games on the days I MOST want to / have the availability to turn them on at work?

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