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Jay Jaffe FanGraphs Chat - 8/11/20
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Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes
3:07
20 games for Alex Cintrón. 6 for Laureano.
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:09
I saw 5 for Laureano, not 6. Knew Cintron would get hung out to dry because of his recent history — Manfred's binder on him has to be the size of the one he has on Joe Kelly — and the fact that there's no union to appeal on his behalf.
Estevao
3:09
There are European soccer matches being played with not nearly as much COVID cases throughout the process. What is the US doing wrong?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:10
Well, this administration turned a public health crisis into a political one. We don't test or contact trace adequately, and there's a unique strain of American shithead that things his/her personal liberty to NOT wear a mask comes before taking the tiniest precaution to keep others safe.
3:11
(left out the word NOT the first time I pubbed that)
DBRuns
3:11
Jay, have you seen any indication of whether we're operating in a juiced-ball environment in 2020? My observation is the ball is not traveling as far as this time last year, but I haven't seen any data yet.
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:11
Rob Arthur at BP had a thing the other day about the ball being less juiced than last year
Derek
3:12
Looks like even a 16-team field won't be enough to get Trout back to the playoffs :(
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:13
We have the Angels 9th in the AL in terms of playoff odds, just behind the Red Sox, with the Tigers (9-5!) the real surprise interlopers
3:14
I'm not sure that things stay that way; give Adell a bit longer to settle in, for one thing
Big Joey
3:14
Cole has been good, but not elite. Just a slow start-up, still getting loose?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:16
Under the conditions it's a miracle any pitcher is performing well. His most recent outing wasn't great but he still K'd 10 in 4.2 innings. I wouldn't worry about him
Guest
3:16
RE: importance of batting average, is it the aesthetic quality of baseball with higher batting average you're advocating for, or something else?  To me it does seem like baseball is more fun to watch with more hits / less strikeouts, but maybe that's not universal?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:19
I definitely think there's an aesthetic/entertainment quality to it and that at a time when MLB is struggling to grow or maintain its audience, that such considerations should be factored into what we want baseball to be and where we want the game to head.

I get the fascination with power hitting and power pitching, understand the high valuation of strikeouts for pitchers and dismissal of same for hitters — and I've helped promote those things over the past decade and a half — but the style of play has become very monochromatic and I think that's a bad thing.
Pie
3:20
Can we call Kevin Gausman a great get for the Giants yet? Held 96-99 deep into his last start with good secondaries and command
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:22
Farhan Zaidi has taken some very interesting flyers that have panned out to some degree. Gausman, Yaz, Alex Dickerson, Donovan Solano... very interesting to see what degree those successes can be maintained.
David
3:22
lets say the hall of fame let you redo membership. Would you favor a bigger hall smaller hall or similar size
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:24
Under that scenario, I think as a matter of principle I'd keep it the same size and go one in/one out. So long, Chick Hafey, hello Barry Bonds.
Logan
3:24
To what extent will the Machado, Hosmer, and Myers deals impact the Padres' willingness to extend Tatis at this point?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:26
I don't think they'll be much of a factor. Tatis entered the season at 1.000 service time. By the time he's into the serious money, Myers will be long gone and Hosmer will be closer to the end than the beginning.
Lyle
3:26
As you mentioned in today's article, there's a lot of young talent in the game today.  Based on WAR accumulated by the players in the relevant age category (e.g., 27 or younger, 25 or younger, etc.) what year did the league have the most young talent?
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:26
I have no idea but it would make for a great study.
Nolan
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:29
that's a starting point. You'd need to adjust for the number of teams and would probably also want to include pitchers (or track them separately)
Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes
3:32
  1. Alex Cintrón, as a coach, is eligible for membership in the MLBPA, though I won't claim to know if he's actually in it.
  2. The 5-game suspension was Nightengale being wrong. Rosenthal confirms 6.
AvatarJay Jaffe
3:32
huh, "All players, managers, coaches and trainers who hold a signed contract with a Major League club are eligible for membership in the Association. In collective bargaining, the Association represents around 1,200 players, or the number of players on each club's 40-man roster, in addition to any players on the disabled list."

I did not know that
3:33
not exactly surprised to see that Nightengale was wrong. It's tough to beat Ken AND be right
3:36
OK folks, it's time for me to head out. I have to go to Greenlight Bookstore to sign the copies of The Cooperstown Casebook I donated for that membership drive a couple weeks ago. On that note, if anyone else wants to buy a signed copy, here's the link to use: https://www.greenlightbookstore.com/book/9781250071217

Take care, be safe, enjoy those Tatis dingers, and we'll see you next week!
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