JotCast | Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat

Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat - 9/9/21

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Jeff Wilpon

12:52

I enjoyed your recent Mets piece. If you were running the show in Queens what sorts of moves would you look to make this off-season?

Dan Szymborski

12:53

I think I'd aggressively try to land short-term free agents early in the offseason, like Scherzer and maybe Verlander. But if I fell short early, then I might focus on a bit of a retool, targeting 2023 and beyond.

Cave Dameron

12:53

thank you

Dan Szymborski

12:53

Very cool, thanks!

Dalton Wilcox

12:53

Woodruff or Burnes moving forward?

Dan Szymborski

12:53

C. Milwaukee Burnes.

Hideki

12:54

TELL US WHO DIDNT VOTE FOR JETER

Dan Szymborski

12:54

I don't know who didn't!

They haven't spken out.

It's kind of good that I didn't get into the BBWAA earlier and vote.

Because of the ten-player limit, I would not have voted for Jeter.

12:55

My priority is players with uncertainty around 75% and uncertainty around 5%.

And then players who need to start moving up because they're running out of time.

12:56

A vote for a player who is absolutely certain to hit 75%, if you have more than 10 players you'd vote for, is worthless.

And I would have been public too, because I also believe in that transparency as a principle.

12:57

But I can't say I'm unhappy that I was unable to put myself in a position where ethics demanded I do something that resulted in my never being able to step in New York again!

Steve O

12:57

I appreciate that you acknowledge your fandom of the Orioles as a writer. Most writers say they're not fans anymore but that's gotta be eyewash right? I know they say it's just a job, but that's honestly hard to believe. Rooting interests are human. Even in a boxing match that I know nothing about, I'll root for someone just because.

Dan Szymborski

12:57

I'm a fan, but I'd be lying if it was the same as it was before I was a writer.

I don't live or die with fandom.

I'm from Baltimore and have been an O's fan since I was a tyke. And all things being equal, I'd rather the O's win.

12:58

But I can't see I'm emotionally *invested* in it all that much.

say

It *is* hard to be a rabid fan about something you deal with professionally, especially in a role like mine where my objectivity is very important.

12:59

12-year-old me would be seriously pissed off I've written so many positive pieces about the Yankees!

Erik

12:59

What's the logic behind voters not being allowed to talk about awards they're voting for ahead of time? Avoiding campaigns or something? Seems like it could make for a lot of insightful articles if we saw voters' thought processes throughout the season.

Dan Szymborski

12:59

That's a big one.

1:00

They want people thinking of this when they cast their ballot, not as an ongoing thing over the season where you get early season assumptions built in

And for marketing reasons, they also want a big reveal!

1:01

As always, I'll walk readers through the processes of

me doing *my* ballot.

I literally spend 12-15 hours of the final weekend of the season putting together ballots the year I have a vote

baseball crank

1:01

I bet my friend $100 that spencer torkelson wouldn't be in the majors in 2021. what should I do with the $100?

Dan Szymborski

1:01

TACOS WHILE YOUR FRIEND WATCHES

Darb

1:02

Lunch? Cats?

Dan Szymborski

1:02

I had a couple slices of roast pork I made yesterday.

Justinian's sleeping on the couch in my office.

1:03

Cassiopeia (Cassie) is sitting on my lap glaring at him across the room while he sleeps.

Mercutio was asleep on the kitchen counter last I saw because the dishwasher was on (heat)

1:04

and I can hear Constantine playing with upstairs nearly directly above me. It's not Mercutio because Mercutio is a giant frigging cat and thumps a lot more

Guest

1:04

Just roll a d6 and make 1 and 2 =1, 3and 4 = 2, and 5 and 6 = 3.

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