JotCast | Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat

Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat - 9/26/19

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Dan Szymborski

12:45

I'm impressed, you guys are asking a very high density of baseball questions!

Kosch

12:45

Astros 125 wRC+...when is your article on how great the Astros are coming out?

Dan Szymborski

12:45

I'm not doing any year-end stuff like that until actual year-end!

Anarchist

12:46

White chicken chili, discuss

Dan Szymborski

12:46

that's white chicken bean stew

John Oleruds Helmet

12:46

Which famous athlete wore #33 and scored 4 touchdowns in one game for Polk High??

Dan Szymborski

12:46

Al Bundy

What am I, new?

Nolan

12:47

Have there been any updates on CBA talks between the MLBPA and MLB since the two sides agreed to reopen discussions early?

Dan Szymborski

12:47

Nothing public and I haven't heard much of substance yet from the usual backchannels

Hmm

12:47

I know the rotation isn't as good at the top teams, but I believe worse rotations than recent versions of Paxton and Severino (and you never know with Tanaka) have carried teams through. Hell, the dropoff from CC to Burnett and Pettitte seems like the 2009 rotation wasn't actually any better. The Astros are best, but I don't think people should be absolutely floored if they were to be beaten.

Dan Szymborski

12:47

I don't think the Yankees have a bad rotation, just one that's not top-tier

OddBall Herrera

12:47

You guys should totally tweak your WAR formula such that a totally average player has a ridiculous WAR, just to see if people will make up reasons he must be great. I feel that the entertainment value of this social experiment is worth the loss of your credibility

Dan Szymborski

12:47

That's the kind of cruelty I enjoy

12:48

Don't put laxatives in all the cupcakes. Put them in one and ANNOUNCE it

John Oleruds Helmet

12:48

Yo my man Dan he got a lot of cars

Dan Szymborski

12:48

Guys, please don't ask serious questions which include a dig at a colleague, I'm not going to post that.

MLB Owner

12:49

I enjoy service time manipulation.

Jolly Ol' Saint Nick

12:49

When was the last time someone other than your mother called you handsome?

Dan Szymborski

12:49

Hi Andy!

Sheesh, 12?

Mom never called me handsome.

12:50

Someone once emailed me to tell me I looked like a cross between Shrek and Hermann Göring, which isn't far off

My parents never lied to me about *anything*

Let It Be Lowenstein

12:50

For the CBA, what if the definition of a year of service time was reduced from 172 days to say 90 days? Teams could no longer game an extra year by sitting a player out for 3 weeks, but instead would have to hold them back until mid-season, which competitive teams would loathe to do (and non-competitive teams would do anyway).

Dan Szymborski

12:50

I don't like bright lines as they all have the potential for shenanigans on some level

12:51

When I was four or five, I asked my grandfather what happens when you die and he gave me reading material on putrefaction.

Gregg

12:51

Did you follow the Antonio Brown NFL saga at all? Has MLB ever had a comparable situation?

Dan Szymborski

12:51

I've been following the AB stuff and snarking on Twitter as have most writers!

12:52

My sister is convinced that he's legitimately mentally ill

Now my sister is doctorish rather than a doctor (she's a technologist for radiography and x-rays in oncology), but she's way closer than I am

12:52

With the juiced ball how is no one approaching 60 home runs?

Dan Szymborski

12:53

I think those outliers aren't going to be evenly distributed through time, even with an identical ball

Lee

12:53

What are the odds on Theo pulling another guerrilla suit special this year? (See https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2005/11/01/theo-epstein-resigns-lea...)

Dan Szymborski

12:53

I think no

There were Red Sox-related issues there

One of my regrets is that I knew about some Epstein-Lucchino tensions in the front office but was too dumb to realize I was onto a story months before it hit the public

12:55

I inquired about Roberto Petagine with a few sources in the FO at the time and got hints that it was a question that there was a lot of tension about

Anonymous

12:55

Somehow Chris Davis didn't have the worst hitter season this year, despite that memorable start. RIP Jeff Mathis (-2.1 WAR in 244 PA)

Dan Szymborski

12:56

I didn't put two-and-two together

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