JotCast | FanGraphs After Dark Chat

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Paul Swydan

9:52

Seems light.

Minty

9:52

If Puig sucks for 2 months and Bellinger tears it up in AAA, does he come up?

Paul Swydan

9:52

I think Bellinger's call-up decision is going to be more determined by how well he plays.

TVD

9:53

Do you think Joc makes another stride forward this year and becomes a Top-20 OF?

Paul Swydan

9:54

Well, he was a top 20 outfielder last year, and he didn't even get into a full complement of games. So, he doesn't really need to stride forward much, he just needs to be as good as he was last year and maybe stay a little healthier. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=of&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2016&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

bananastand

9:54

Do you think that moonlight fared poorly at the poll at the beginning because fangraphs has a heavily white audience?

Paul Swydan

9:55

To be honest, it's been awhile since I checked FG's demographics, but in the past, nothing has stuck out as overly remarkable about our demos other than the heavy skew toward men over women.

Judging from the second poll, it seems likely that most of tonight's participants have simply not seen the movie.

Murdoc

9:55

I'll say something nice about the Rockies, Coors is aging quite nicely. Where does it rank in your current top ballparks? Hard to believe it's the third oldest park in the NL.

Paul Swydan

9:56

It's top 5. And the reason it ages nicely is because the team sets aside millions of dollars each offseason for refurbishments, even if those refurbishments are as simple as new paint for railings and girders. In other words, keeping the ballpark is a point of focus for the team, and it shows.

keeping the ballpark looking pristine, that should say

Rocks

9:57

Staying on theme, what do you see from Trevor Story next year? Similar or little bit less production.

Paul Swydan

9:57

Similar if a little lower on the slugging percentage

python-r

9:57

What disastrous injuries/under-performances will wreck the Red Sox season a la 2014/2015?

Paul Swydan

9:58

Well, if you're asking me to actually predict injuries - and I have to say, only a Yankees fan would ask someone to predict injuries like that - I'd say it would probably be Pedroia and Chris Sale.

But that's a bad look. Don't ask me to predict injuries!

Ryan

9:58

David Dahl, the new face of the Rockies for the next couple years? Will he be a star?

Paul Swydan

9:58

I think he will be very good, but I expect Nolan Arenado to remain the face of the Rockies.

bananastand

9:59

How do teams protect their valuations of players? If a team offers one prospect over another to a team, doesn't that tell the other team how they value their players? Or does everyone know what everyone thinks about their players?

Paul Swydan

10:00

I think an isolated example of a certain team's player valuation probably has a ton of noise in it, and isn't predictive of their behavior. In addition, there is enough shuffling between front office employees and scouts that how most teams value their players probably isn't the closely guarded secret that they would like it to be. To be honest, I find the whole secrecy thing to be a little bit ridiculous.

Stevie Ray

10:00

Do you think the Tigers have any chance of catching Cleveland this year?

Paul Swydan

10:01

There's always a chance. Cleveland is good, but they are certainly not in "infallible" range. However, I am not particularly enthused about Detroit's chances, so they would need to overperform AND see Cleveland underperform. It could happen though.

10:01

does Zymborksi look like bubbles from trailer park boys in real life?

Paul Swydan

10:02

Having never watched Trailer Park Boys, I really couldn't say. But I will say that Dan Szymborski (you forgot the S you jerk!) is a really great guy and that you should meet him in person if you can!

10:03

OK everyone, thanks for hanging out, but I need to call it a night. I guess Jeff never did make it, but he's allowed, as coaching his daughter is far more important than our little chats. Until next week, stay safe on those internets!

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