You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Jay Jaffe FanGraphs Chat - 4/19/18
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
AvatarJay Jaffe
12:44
In the sense of promises, promises, maybe.
Victor Robles
12:44
will I join The Bigs this year or the injury will delay?
AvatarJay Jaffe
12:46
it sounds like that elbow injury is gonna delay things for a few months, at least. But if things go right I can see him helping the Nats in the second half or down the stretch. And if there's a setback, they'll have to work around it
LosDoyers
12:47
Can you please write more about Kenley Jansen's struggles so that he rebounds? or does your magic only work for hitters
AvatarJay Jaffe
12:49
Already did it once and he showed signs of turning it around. Can only go to the well so often.

Mentally, I try to keep track of the frequency with which I write about teams, both because I don't want to concentrate too hard on just a few (something that alas was eventually mandated at SI.com) and because there are good ideas to be had if you take a closer look at players on teams that you haven't paid attention to for awhile. I watch more Dodgers and Yankees than I do any other teams, and the Mets and Red Sox are probably next on the list of teams whose highs and lows catch my attention. Gotta escape that gravitational pull so I'll let somebody else document the next Jansen turn.
MARTin
12:49
IS Braun worth keeping in a 12 man over Brantley?
AvatarJay Jaffe
12:50
Obligatory weekly announcement: i haven't played fantasy since 2011, so I'm not much help here. Follow your gut, or the numbers. Or both!
Jack
12:51
As a guy who feels like I've accrued at least a full day my lifetime just deleting needless emails concerning LinkedIn - I was VERY amused by the general tone in which you said, "Please don't try to connect with me on LinkedIn" on the podcast with Cistulli.
AvatarJay Jaffe
12:51
I'm always a bit alarmed when somebody wants to connect with me there. If it's a friend of a friend or somebody I've met RT, sure. But why should I be seen as vouching for somebody whose work and character I have absolutely no idea about? And why the hell do I need to pay attention to one more channel when I've got email, twitter, facebook, slack, g-chat and iMessage in my life?
Baseball for $100, Alex
12:53
Please rank SS...  Simmons, Semien, Diaz
AvatarJay Jaffe
12:54
I'd keep them in that order, actually.
James
12:54
Can Andrelton Simmons ride his glove to Cooperstown?
AvatarJay Jaffe
12:56
Yes, I think he's the rare shortstop who can, but it's worth noting that he's also vastly improved as a hitter over the past few seasons — not unlike Ozzie Smith. Combine a league-average offensive footprint with an elite glove at short and you're gonna make tracks towards Cooperstown
Henry Rowengartner
12:57
Do you see much separation between McCullers and Verlander?  Health concerns aside :)
AvatarJay Jaffe
12:59
There are huge differences stylistically – Verlander being a fastball/slider guy and McCullers relying on that curve more than 50% of the time. I like McCullers a lot but until he puts together a single 30-start season, comparing him to a guy who might wind up in the Hall of Fame isn't a fair fight.
Sean
12:59
Buying a humbled, "in better shape" Joey Bats having a future in the MLB (at least in 2018)?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:02
**** the narrative that Bautista needs to be humbled, but I don't see him able to help much anywhere besides DH, let alone 3B, a position he last played more than 10 games in a season at in... 2011
Wes
1:02
Please don't be alarmed by my Untappd add. Asking you to vouch for beer is different than LinkedIn.
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:02
Oh, I welcome the untappd follows (@jay_jaffe) even if I don't communicate much there.
Shuck Bowalter
1:03
What's your guess on an ETA for Gleyber Torres?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:05
Last week I said June, around the Super Two cutoff, but all the sudden Torres-watch around the Yankees seemed to ramp up (obviously, the beats read me and could immediately infer that the opposite was true). So now I'll say early May.

Check back for next next week's chat, which will probably be the day after he'll have made his MLB debut!
NPC
1:06
Is there any reason for optimism w/r/t Matt Harvey?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:09
not especially. Velo is down again, swinging strike rate still in the single digits, batters are chasing him outside the zone with decreasing frequency... His FIP and ERA aren't cringeworthy but the start-to-start trend isn't good. I haven't seen him much and right now i'm not sure I want to
Yo-Yo
1:09
It's worth noting that Ozzie Smith's HoF credentials are a bit lacking. I think Simmons would have to be AT LEAST as good as Ozzie to get in, and that means a dozen+ Gold Gloves. Personally, anyone who gets five or more legitimate GG's gets a huge boost in my HoF rankings. Yadier Molina is a lock for me (and why isn't Edmonds and Rolen already in the HoF? What a travesty). What do you think?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:13
Ozzie Smith's credentials are not in the goddamn least lacking for the Hall of Fame. What in the actual... The man is 8th in JAWS despite having an 87 OPS+ because he was an outstanding baserunner in addition to being an elite defender. Go through the component-by-component comparison to Omar Vizquel here https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/12/06/omar-vizquel-hall-fame-ballot-2018

As for Molina, he's going to be a polarizing candidate as I've said a dozen times. I'm disappointed that Edmonds fell off the ballot after the first go-round but Lofton, Beltran and Andruw are better candidates at the position, so it's tough to say his result is a travesty. I'm very keen on Rolen and hope that the electorate comes around.
MKE Fan
1:14
When you think of Wisconsin beer, what do you think of?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:15
Jerry Lee Lewis' song, "What's Made Milwaukee Famous Has Made a Loser Out of Me." And a lot of dreadful, watery beer that I generally try to avoid. The cheese, OTOH...
Victor
1:15
Your article on the integration of baseball was about those teams that integrated and the benefits they achieved on the field. That same night McCovey Chronicles game thread was filld with racist talk about Cueto's hair("it's a door mat", "does he wash it", "I bet it gets itchy"). White MLB teams benefited, an industry was shut down(Negro League baseball), and now people of color are worshipped for their skills but are still misunderstood and mocked for being who they are which is Black and Latino. Where are the benefits again?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:21
The ability to hide behind relative anonymity online brings out the worst in people, and sports fans are no exception, sadly.

As for integration and the effect on the Negro Leagues, I think there's a tendency to romanticize what was going on there — yes, the businesses were black-owned, but most of those players were living very rough lives and were probably underpaid. Lamenting the fall of separate-but-equal enterprises is not something i can do. The one thing I will say is that major league owners should have done a better job of compensating teams from whom they bought Negro Leagues playes; even Branch Rickey wasn't so great about that.

But my God, if you don't think the world is a better place for the integration off baseball, even if some immature idiots are chattering on the internet to the contrary, log off and seek help.
Willie Calhoun
1:21
What do you think of my odds of getting called up anytime soon?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:22
They'd be better if you were still a second baseman, but then you'd probably get injured like every other Rangers middle infielder has so far.
Pedro C
1:23
Are you worried about Tanaka?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:27
A bit, because I thought that his strong postseason suggested a light bulb had gone off in his head with his remixed repertoire (more sliders and splitters). I do wonder whether the cold weather has been a factor, but then he's hardly alone in that as an explanation
Backend Starters??
1:28
Hey, I’m in a ten man points league. I’ve got a couple of pitchers on the waiver wire that I like but not sure if any of the guys I currently have are worth dropping for. Tyson Ross, Triggs and Heaney are on the wire, while I have Cobb, Boyd, Junis, Gibson and Stratton. Let me know if I should drop one of those guys for someone on the wire. Thanks
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:28
I'll let you know... next February. Don't hold your breath. I'm not the fantasy guy here.
Brian Sabean's goatee
1:29
Which HOF'er was the oldest when they made their MLB debut? thanks
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:31
Satchel Paige was believed to be 42 when he debuted in MLB, but then he isn't in for his major league performance. I think Hoyt Wilhelm is the oldest for MLB-only at 29 (he had lied about his age).
Sonny
1:31
Greetings from Providence! We miss you. What does Mauer need to do in the next 3y+ to ensure HOF?
AvatarJay Jaffe
1:33
Hey Providence, I miss you! Was there last year for my 25th college reunion and I would go back every year if I could. A Joe Mauer who remains as productive as he was last year for a couple more would be a good thing for his Hall case, but as I said last week on the occasion of his 2,000th hit, I think he's fully qualified already. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/joe-mauer-and-the-rule-of-2000/
Mark
1:34
I live in Illinois, but spend a lot of time in Wisconsin, where there are dozens of small breweries making beer in as many styles and of every bit as high quality as any place else in the U.S. Obviously the stuff from Miller isn't very good, but there's a lot more to Wisconsin beer these days. Just FYI, love your chats.
Connecting…