JotCast | Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat

Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat - 9/13/17

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Dan Szymborski

2:12

Fine and dandy like sour candy.

CamdenWarehouse

2:12

no beans in the chili?

Dan Szymborski

2:12

If you want it to be chili, then yes, no beans.

Chili with beans is like a crabcake with ketchup. Take it to Rhode Island.

Tom

2:13

Talk to me about Dansby.

Dan Szymborski

2:13

He sounds like a character from the Great Gatsby

CamdenWarehouse

2:13

As someone who lives not in the mid atlantic, can you tell me how far you can get from Baltimore before you no longer see Old Bay in the store?

Dan Szymborski

2:13

I dunno. You can get it in Ohio. That's more of a crowdsourced thing?

OK guys, REPORT IF YOU'VE SEEN OR NOT SEEN OLD BAY AFTER LOOKING, FOLLOWED BY YOUR STATE

2:14

What's the most amazing thing about CLE's winning streak thus far? Kluber? Diaz? Lindor?

Dan Szymborski

2:15

Kluber has been amazing, he still had an ERA above 4 in mid June.

JKD

2:15

What is the actual optimal deployment of Otani? On an AL team, he doesn't get any ABs when pitching (unless they totally forfeit the DH those days) but if his bat plays, you can DH him three of the four other days (probably don't want to do so on his throw day). In the NL, he bats when pitching (so ~100 PAs) and you can either play him sometimes in the field, or have him as designated pitcher pinch-hitter (so another 130-300 PAs). Thoughts?

Dan Szymborski

2:16

This is one of those TBD. There are so many possibilities with a player like Otani.

Bob Villar

2:16

Would you trade Machado for Bellinger and Souza in a keeper?

Dan Szymborski

2:17

No if your league still allows him to be a SS, yes if youre league does not.

Bob Villar

2:18

Is this what Gerrit Cole really is or Is there another level to get him to almost-ace like?

Dan Szymborski

2:18

He can still get back there if he stops with the HRs

TwinkiePower

2:18

Joe Mauer & Byron Buxton: Gold Glove Odds?

Dan Szymborski

2:18

Buxton's are very good.

2:19

The process still isn't perfect, but we're actually getting generally better choices with less of an incumbent discount.

Mauer, harder to tell.

Porcho Villa

2:20

Is Eric Thames a tough 2018 projection? He was Barry Bonds for a month plus, then plunged into contact-challenged mediocrity (or worse) for the balance of the season.

Dan Szymborski

2:20

The projections weren't that bad for him in 2017, so I can't imagine 2018 is necessarily harder.

Steamer nailed it, though had not enough walks and too much BA. ZiPS missed the walks, but got the BA and the SLG.

CLE

2:20

This 21 straight game feels like the postseason. Love it.

Andres

2:21

Hello! What does it mean when people say someone's contract is "underwater"?

Dan Szymborski

2:21

Same as when your mortgage is underwater.

The player's worth less than the contract and in the connotation, generally extremely so.

Like Pujols.

Bob Loblaw

2:21

What's up with Tommy Pham? Assuming his new super contact lenses have fixed his vision problems, can we expect another 4.5+ WAR season in '18?

Dan Szymborski

2:22

The BABIP will likely come down a bit, but I think we just have to accept now he's a really good player

2:23

Remember Matt Diaz? He had a solid offensive run after getting his eyes looked at

Now, I'm not saying Pham is a 4.5 WAR player yet.

2:24

Becuase there's a lot of defense in there and that's the most volatile short-term stat stuff. And it's a small sample, regardless of whether we feel its consistent with our beliefs

I think I'd be comfortable calling Pham a 3 WAR player who *could* be a 4-5 WAR guy going forward

Not Ohtani

2:24

MLB merges with professional leagues from China, Japan, Europe, Cuba, and Korea to create a global baseball conglomerate. A true World Series. Then we wouldn't need to have any of this international posting garbage and just straight up trades. THOUGHTS?????

Dan Szymborski

2:25

You'd need different travel.

Bob Villar

2:25

Byron Buxton or Kyle Schwarber in a dynasty league?

Dan Szymborski

2:25

Buxton

I think he still has offensive upside.

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