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Craig Edwards FanGraphs Chat -- 3/14/2019
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mike sixel
2:45
I doubt the best way to find new customers is to black out local streaming viewers.....
Craig Edwards
2:46
This is true, but there are those paying a lot of money for exclusivity and that talks louder for MLB teams right now.
Brian
2:46
Did Kris Bryant peak in 2016?  Injury marred season in 2018, but not a lot of buzz about him rebounding to MVP form. Your thoughts on him for 2019?
Craig Edwards
2:48
Anybody who puts up an 8-win season has probably just played their best season, but Bryant basically repeated that in 2017. The big issue is health, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a sixish-win Bryant this season.
Dr. Bob
2:48
So if it's three batters period, then a team can't hit for a pitcher if he gets two batters out but comes up the next half-inning?
Craig Edwards
2:48
if you finish the inning that meets the requirement for the rule.
Barbados_slim
2:48
Do teams watch their players during the offseason so they do not get hurt?
Craig Edwards
2:49
they try but players understandably want time off and want to train with people they trust and that isn't always the team.
Barbados_slim
2:49
Before the marlins fire sale of stanton ect a fee years back, Would they have been a threat to win the world series? Why didnt they keep their players?
Craig Edwards
2:50
they could have spent a little more money on pitching and contended. They opted to save money and rebuild again.
MikeM
2:50
Team brings in a pitcher who gets the final out of the inning.  He then starts the following inning and gets another out.  Now having only faced two batters is he eligible to be replaced since he met the finished the inning criteria?
Craig Edwards
2:50
I doubt it, but not sure.
Guille
2:50
reg rule changes, I see lots of pitching changes with two outs happening, and waaaay fewer in between innings pitching changes
Craig Edwards
2:51
this is possible. We might not see any fewer pitching changes. Who knows?
Barbados_slim
2:51
If machado and harper have a rough start in the beginning of their contract, would that scare other teams in signing big and long deals to other players?
Craig Edwards
2:52
There's a long history of players not performing well on long term contracts. Enough do well that teams have generally still paid for stars. Some teams need wins now at the expense of future wins and are willing to pay now.
Mark
2:52
What do you make of the Cardinals vocal commitment to not break camp with their best arms in the bullpen and instead make decisions based on roster flexibility? Only asking about this because too flustered to even ask about Fowler/Ozuna vs O'Neil.
Craig Edwards
2:53
I'll wait and see what they actually do. A lot of this tends to work out over time. Cecil and Gregerson aren't even doing much of anything right now. Martinez opens up another slot.
The Amish
2:54
Pitching change will prevent the 3 RP coming in to face 3 hitters which is just ridiculous so I'm all for it.
Craig Edwards
2:54
this is the obvious benefit in terms of having a bunch of in-inning breaks. The question is how big of a problem it is and whether other problems will make the benefits moot.
MikeM
2:56
Robot umps are the best way to reduce strike outs and get more balls in play.  It would be easy to tighten the top and bottom of the strike zone so that hitter would have a better chance of putting the ball in play.  You would be able to tweak the zone from year to year to get exactly what you need.  I dont know why the umpires union is so against it.  It wouldnt eliminate the home plate umpires job and would significantly simplify it.
Craig Edwards
2:57
There's a reason they are trying this out in the Atlantic League. It helps to have an actual case where we know how often calls are missed by the robots to make a plan going forward. I wouldn't be opposed to a beep in the umps ear if a ball were off the plate so they would know not to call it a strike. high-low is a bit more difficult that way.
Brian
2:57
______ will lead the Red Sox in saves this year?
Craig Edwards
2:57
Mookie Betts
Brian
2:58
Starling Marte or Michael Brantley for 2019?
Craig Edwards
2:58
Marte
Brian
3:00
Marco Gonzales was top 20 for WAR last year, don't feel like he is getting the buzz he should entering his prime with solid peripherals.  Do you like him in 2019?
Craig Edwards
3:01
Like him? Sure, but he does have an injury history and wasn't quite as good in the second half. He has to keep the walk rate down to be good given his okay strikeout numbers so it doesn't leave him a large margin for error.
Antonio
3:01
Over/under 90 home runs for Judge and Stanton?
Craig Edwards
3:01
I would take the under. Just too many possibilities of one guy getting hurt or falling short.
3:02
Looks like I made it an hour. Thanks for all your questions. I'll be back next week, probably Thursday, maybe earlier in the day.
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