JotCast | Craig Edwards FanGraphs Chat--8/13/2020

Craig Edwards FanGraphs Chat--8/13/2020

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Craig Edwards

2:39

I think it's good that players want to hold their teammates accountable, though we have to keep in mind, the virus is still out there infecting a lot of people who are being safe and taking precautions. It's a tough situation to be in, but certainly reckless behavior shouldn't be tolerated.

Estevao

2:39

I'm not necessarily talking about saving money, I just think that unless he signs an extension before reaching FA, the likelihood that he hits the the open market and returns to SD a medium market at best is very, very small. By playing him from day one are they more likely to keep him beyond the six years because of a better relationship without the animosity that we saw on the Kris Bryant-Cubs scenario

Craig Edwards

2:41

that's possible, it just usually doesn't work out that way. Kris Bryant was probably going to go to free agency no matter what the Cubs did. Other players are going to sign extensions because they need that security. It's possible having a positive relationship with your front office leads to an extension, but it doesn't often play out that way.

Benny Baseball

2:42

What most likely happens to me? Option, DFA, Trade, Non-Tender, Above Avg Player next yr?

Craig Edwards

2:42

I'll say above-average player next season. This year is just too weird and too short to put too much stock into it long-term.

Astros

2:42

So.... they did not manage to have their off-season forgotten around the league.

Craig Edwards

2:43

Players are certainly still upset about it, yes.

Isolated Thinker

2:43

Shouldn't "league leaders" be divided in 3 this season: West Central and East? Having an AL and NL HR champion for example doesn't make sense if teams are not facing the other divisions in their respective leagues.

Craig Edwards

2:44

Maybe, but that sounds complicated, and even with that competition and uneven schedules, talent is still fairly close together overall.

Estevao

2:44

I know this is insane but what would you think of forbidding stolen bases, designing a spot to indicate the furthest the runner can take his lead from 1B, nobody steals anymore and it would do wonders to speed up the game

Craig Edwards

2:44

I think action is more important than pace and taking away action for the sake of pace is counterproductive. Steals are fun.

Chris

2:46

Kyle Lewis is awesome!!

Craig Edwards

2:46

First 10 days of the season, 217 wRC+. Last 10 days of the season, 95 wRC+. The latter is much closer to his future production, even if he still has a 159 wRC+.

Scott

2:48

Who can the Red Sox trade? What kind of return should we expect?

Craig Edwards

2:49

Maybe some of their relievers or Martin Perez. I'm not sure there will be much of a return for most players. There are going to be a lot of PTBNL in trades this year and most of them will end up being 40s or less.

Daro

2:50

CWS needs Vaughn!!! E5 is just a hot corpse at the moment!

Craig Edwards

2:51

It's only been 10 games. I would give him a bit more time.

Panda Sandoval

2:53

I was watching a Darvish start and man does Victor Caratini really ham it up with his framing. Never seen so many pitches hit the middle of the zone if you are going by where the catcher's mitt ends up. Is that considered good framing? Do framing stats treat it as a positive? I'm thinking umps probably might even treat it unfavorably, producing less strike calls on questionable pitches

Craig Edwards

2:53

Our framing numbers don't seem to indicate Caratini is a good framer. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/victor-caratini/14968/stats?position...

2:54

i think generally, less movement is best, even if you catch it out of the zone.

Lorenzo

2:54

Can you envision the Red Sox trying to acquire Yaz? Obvious reasons. I mean it would have to please their fan base no?

Craig Edwards

2:56

I suppose it is possible, but I don't think sentimentality is going to win the day on this one. I think Red Sox fans would rather win, and trading away good prospects, which the Red Sox need, is what will get them there the quickest.

Carlos Santana

2:56

Such an anomaly, .182 avg, .430 OBP. Low BABIP suggests he could pick up where he left off in 2019, is there anything suggesting he will regress to mediocrity?

Craig Edwards

2:56

I think Ben Clemens is working up a piece on him right now.

Derek

2:57

"Prepare to be mad at the Comissioner." So business as usual, then?

Craig Edwards

2:57

Sometimes, you can try to ignore the Commissioner.

Chris

2:57

Hahahaha Strasburg just got thrown out while sitting socially distant in the stands. Where does he go?

Craig Edwards

2:58

I'd like to see him go up to the second deck or something. Heckle from there.

The swoosh

2:58

I thought I was going to have other ads and logos to hang out with on player uniforms. I read that it was happening but never read anything after that that said it wasn't. Do you know what happened with all that? I thought it was free money.

Craig Edwards

2:59

It was part of a deal the players offered to the owners, but the two sides were never able to come to an agreement that altered the original March agreement so it didn't happen. They did agree to expanded postseason, but that was pretty limited and only got done right before the season started.

Sonny

2:59

MLB probably rooting pretty hard for Miami and St Louis to stink ROS? Like, hands are kind of tied so just hope they don’t play their way into playoff conversation

Craig Edwards

3:00

I don't think they are going to need to root when it comes to Miami. I think all else being equal, they'd like St. Louis in the playoffs because there's more name recognition, there.

Estevao

3:01

Zack Greinke is a fine hitter, how much potential do you think went untaped because of his position (pitcher) and start in the AL

Craig Edwards

3:02

From 2011-2019, he was worth 5.6 WAR as a hitter due to his superiority over other pitchers. And that's in one full season's worth of playing time. I think we'd be talking about another five wins or so if he had started his career in the NL and continued there.

the487

3:03

I watched Kurt Suzuki catch yesterday, which is to say I now understand the importance of pitch framing

Craig Edwards

3:04

Kurt Suzuki has about 10 career WAR. It would be double that if he were average at framing. It's not his thing. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/kurt-suzuki/8259/stats?position=C#ad...

Guest

3:04

Thoughts on David Peterson so far? Impressed or mostly luck?

Craig Edwards

3:06

He's been solid. I think back-end of the rotation seems like the most likely outcome, but that's not terrible.

viper

3:06

Nate Pearson - was last start a vision of things to come or just an off day

Craig Edwards

3:07

I think he's still adjusting to the majors, and his velocity isn't in midseason form, yet. I think his last start was more off day than bad sign.