JotCast | Dave Cameron FanGraphs Chat

Dave Cameron FanGraphs Chat

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Oscar O'Bannon

12:17

I feel like this is a dated question and I should know the answer, but what's the biggest reason pitchers don't throw nearly as many innings as they used to?

Dave Cameron

12:18

Because pitchers are more effective in shorter outings. Having a fresh guy facing a hitter who hasn't seen him is more likely to result in outs than a tiring starter.

The starter-pitch-the-whole-game idea was inefficient.

JRuby

12:19

Is there anything in particular you look for in the first week of a new season?

Dave Cameron

12:19

You just do your best to not overreact to anything. Bad teams can go 7-0. Good teams can go 0-7.

botchatheny

12:19

kolten wong said he'd rather be traded than be in a platoon. would you trust wong to be your starter?

Dave Cameron

12:20

Nothing wrong with Wong wanting to play, but the reality is that the Cardinals have a RH infielder who deserves to play and Wong hasn't shown he can hit LHPs.

thepaleking

12:20

what eventually becomes of willie calhoun?

Dave Cameron

12:21

The bar for 2B defense is getting lowered enough that I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed there and just ran a -10 UZR or whatever.

Dabo Dabo Sweeney

12:21

Does Freeman have a Miggy like trajectory to you? Very similar OBP, Miggy seems to have a bit more power, but otherwise they seem to be relatively in line. Would you rather have Miggy for 1 year at his age or Freeman for 1 year in his prime?

Dave Cameron

12:21

Freeman doesn't make contact anything like Miggy.

12:22

He ran contact rates in the low 70s the last few years.

Freeman might have another year better than what Miggy will do this year, but they're not similar hitters.

Sterling Mallory Chris Archer

12:23

Is FG doing a marathon opening day chat?

Dave Cameron

12:23

We sure are.

Xolo

12:23

Who do you think will be the Padres' All-Star representative this season?

Dave Cameron

12:23

One of the relievers. Capps or Hand, probably.

mtsw

12:24

Should the MLBPA investigate facilitating insurance contracts for pre-arb players as an alternative to signing Jose Ramirez-like extensions? It seems like a huge loss for the players in general to have star players locked up to these team-friendly deals through their prime. Or is one of those things where a dollar not paid to Ramirez goes to some other veteran anyway so the union doesn't care?

Dave Cameron

12:25

Yeah, I've suggested for a while now that if there was an established secondary provider of guaranteed income for young players, the competition would get teams to pay more for these extensions. The discounts are too steep. Even if the prices went up 10%, teams would still do these deals, because they'd still saving money versus going year to year.

Zonk

12:25

How does Rusney Castillo count (or not) toward the Red Sox luxury tax? If he doesn't count, but is promoted, does he then count? If so, does that mean that Rusney is locked in a golden prison with his pile of money?

Dave Cameron

12:26

Yeah, that's basically it. A team not close to the luxury tax could take him if BOS was paying almost the whole contract if they wanted to put him in the bigs, but now that he's 30, there's a shortening window in which a team would be interested in a glove-first guy without a lot of upside.

Nate

12:26

Without specifics, is a package for Jose Quintana including a top 20 overall prospect, another top 75-100, and 1 or two lottery ticket guys a fair return to expect?

Dave Cameron

12:26

I don't think you get a top 20 guy for Quintana.

PeterCee

12:27

If the MLB won't allow cash-for-player deals, how are "player to be named later or cash considerations" categorized?

Dave Cameron

12:27

Well, yeah, you can do cash-for-player on a small scale, when it's mostly just about giving a player a big league roster spot. But the league isn't interested in having big name players sold for cash like they do in soccer.

Adge

12:28

I have the Arizona Diamondbacks as my sleeper NL Wild Card. Do i need a Doctor?

Dave Cameron

12:28

It's not entirely crazy. A full healthy year from Pollock, a bounce back from Greinke and breakouts from Miller/Walker/Ray in the rotation, and they find a reliever or two out of nowhere...

12:29

If the Blue Jays are not in the hunt at the end of July, do you see them moving Donaldson, Stroman or Tulo?

Dave Cameron

12:29

If they're not in the hunt in July, it's probably because Donaldson is hurt, Stroman didn't pitch well, and Tulo looks old.

12:30

If they're sellers, the pieces they're more likely moving are Estrada, Liriano, Happ, etc...

Sonny

12:30

When a player is very publicly on the trading block how aware are all the FOs of each others offers?

Dave Cameron

12:31

Not that aware. Teams know who is available and could be had, but they don't know that X is offering Y for Z.

Stevil

12:31

What do the Pirates do with Bell? Is he more likely to stick around, or become a chip for more pitching if they're hangin' around in July?

Dave Cameron

12:31

If he really can't become a reasonable defensive first baseman, then he has no place in PIT, since their OF is full and will be for some time. So then it's a trade.

12:32

And as a team that likes GB pitchers, having a DH at 1B is a problem.

thepaleking

12:32

favorite radiohead album?

Dave Cameron

12:32

I can't name one radiohead song.

12:33

I've never seen an episode of The Simpsons.

I didn't watch Breaking Bad.

I'm not your guy for pop culture.