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Jay Jaffe FanGraphs Chat - 3/7/23
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AvatarJay Jaffe
3:18
I think they'll let him run. 30-30 seems possible.
JB
3:19
Is there a worse name for a minor league team than the recently-renamed  Lexington Counter Clocks ? Who signed off on that? yeeesh
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:20
I don't mind that one at all, but I'll grant you it's a bit weird. I mean ,in a world that contains the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Amarillo Sod Poodles, Rocket City Trash Pandas and Burlington Sock Puppets, THAT is the one you're worked up about?
Concerned Citizen
3:22
Just seeing the reporting about "forever substances" in the Phillies AstroTurf, which, well, everything about that is horrible. How many other stadiums from the 70's/80's/90's used that type of AstroTurf? How bad is this?

(Thoughts are with all families affected by cancers brought on by this. This is rough.)
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:22
3:23
From the story:

Decades after the final out of the 1980 World Series was recorded, McGraw, Vukovich, Brett, and Quisenberry had all died from brain cancer.

They weren’t the only ones: In all, six former Phillies have reportedly been felled by glioblastoma — a particularly aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer — including former catcher Darren Daulton and former relief pitcher David West, who died in 2022.

The rate of brain cancer among Phillies who played at the Vet between 1971 and 2003 is about three times the average rate among adult men.
3:24
Offhand, IIRC Phillies, Cardinals, Royals, Expos, Astros, Blue Jays, Pirates, and Reds were turf teams.
somebody on Twitter pointed out that Gary Carter died of glioblastoma as well
JB
3:25
Lexington is my hometown team. Lexington Legends was badass. Counter Clocks , not so much. Also, the reasoning is sus. "because KY is known for horse racing and the direction the horses run is counter-clockwise"   *puke*
Liz
3:25
The Counter Clocks should be allowed to run the bases the opposite way.
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:25
everybody runs the bases counterclockwise
TheVoiceInYourHead
3:27
Grove or Pepiot for 6th starter on Dodgers?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:27
Pepiot until Miller is ready
Bill
3:28
How do you think the HOF voters will treat some of these guys signing deals into their early 40’s? Some teams will be smart and cut bait and eat the remaining years, but I’m sure some of these guys will play and have a few pretty bad years on their resume. Do you think the voters will look the other way and not weigh the bad years heavily knowing the only reason they are not retired is because of the contracts to circumnavigate the luxury tax?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:29
I think it will end up being pretty negligible. Guys have always played into their 40s without being very productive, HOFers and non-HOFers alike. Just because they're getting paid doesn't mean somebody HAS to give them a spot; think about what's happened to Robinson Cano, making $24 million last year and this.
3:30
Rightly or wrongly, voters tend to value milestones even when they're obtained under negative-WAR conditions (Biggio's 3,000th hit, for example).
3:31
But not all of the guys on those long-term deals are going to be chasing milestones
Justin
3:31
How high are you on Ronald Acuna this year after the down year post injury? Seems like it hasn't been talked about much that he looked a little less special last year. Expecting a big year?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:32
I'm a little nervous that we'll never see the pre-injury Acuña again but a full offseason to heal could be just what he needed.
Devil Ray Jay Johnson
3:32
Let's assume the veterans' committee (or whatever they are called now) is scrapped.  How would you structure the selection of HOF candidates after they leave the ballot?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:34
I preferred the Era Committee system that was replaced last year; I would tweak that by adding a separate Negro Leagues/Black Baseball Era Committee into the cycle to capitalize on the interest generated by the Seamheads data, and create one all-eras ballot for non-players (managers, execs, umps) instead of having them crowd players off the ballot.
3:37
I also would put the creation of the ballots in the hands of many more historians and fewer of the writers who ignored so many great players of the 1970s, '80s and '90s when they were on the writers' ballot. Too many of the same people who failed to recognize Lou Whitaker when he was a BBWAA candidate are involved in deciding whether he'll be on an Era Committee ballot.

I would also double the sizes of the committees and prevent anybody who was a teammate, manager, or executive on a candidate's team participate in that vote. Just too many opportunities for cronyism as it's set up with these 16-member panels. Make them 32-member but in some cases you may have only 28 or 29 voters.
3:38
OK folks, that's it for me today. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the spring baseball! Especially the WBC!
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