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Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 1/29/16
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Duke
9:52
From many preseason sources that I've seen, the NLW for 2016 looks like SF, Ari, LAD, SD, and Col. What's your opinion?
Jeff Sullivan
9:52
Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies, with the last two super close
pete
9:54
Tyler Flowers had great framing numbers but the White Sox let him go in order to go for more offensive value. Is this mostly just betting that Flower's good framing was due to having good pitching?
Jeff Sullivan
9:54
I think they just tired of his sub-.300 OBPs
9:55
Obviously he has some defensive skill but not enough to make him all that valuable. The bat is so limited
9:57
Now, Avila has been a negative framer. And Navarro has also been a negative framer. So those are considerations. They're just hoping the bats offset the defensive drop, and I don't think that's too unreasonable
Bill
9:57
Why is a changeup the most important pitch to throw against opposite handed hitters?
Jeff Sullivan
9:57
Numbers suggest it's the most effective, in terms of reducing platoon splits. Although a good cutter is also awesome
a eskpert
9:58
Would you ever go to "Jeff Sullivan Salmon Feast" the restaurant?
Jeff Sullivan
9:58
I'm not one to turn down VIP treatment
James
9:58
Which left side of the infield do you take next year, Giants with Duffy & Crawford or Dodgers with Turner & Seager?
Jeff Sullivan
9:58
Giants by a little bit -- love Crawford
Ruby
9:59
I've heard rumors that Gattis could catch occasionally in 2016. Could work in theory. Your thoughts?
Jeff Sullivan
10:00
Looking for playing time, and he could make an emergency 3rd-catcher sort. Good for roster flexibility. Doubt he'd catch a significant amount of innings
Julio Pepper
10:00
What is the rationale of Desmond marketing himself as an OF? It's not like his bat looks so impressive in a corner spot, and a lot of his historical value has been plus defense at SS.
Jeff Sullivan
10:01
This offseason, not many good teams have been looking for a shortstop, so he wanted to expand the pool of interested candidates
Billy Corman
10:02
How much of a Sarah Palin word salad has the Rays OF become with last night's trade? Folks expect another trade, but wasn't that a clear warning to have one in pocket when Colorado signed Parra?
Jeff Sullivan
10:02
It's messy, but even now, it would be workable with a lot of depth and flexibility. But there are teams like Anaheim and Baltimore still looking for OF help -- Cleveland, too -- so there's a good chance of a trade
Steve
10:04
What is the outlook for Austin Hedges? Will he ever have enough of a bat to be a starter?
Jeff Sullivan
10:05
I don't think the bat will ever be good, but if he's one of those guys who forms really excellent relationships with pitchers, then he should have a peak of several years where he starts 100 games
10:06
More realistically, though, he might just be waiting to become the next Chris Stewart
10:07
To be a regular starter, he'd have to get almost everything out of his skillset
Justin
10:08
Of the contender teams, do the Dodgers have the most question marks? Sure seems like a lot can go right or wrong there.
Jeff Sullivan
10:08
They definitely have the most injury question marks, although they've worked to address that by accumulating a whole crapload of depth
BBFan
10:08
What do you think of the Tigers offseason? Have they filled the holes or not?
Jeff Sullivan
10:09
Yeah, they filled a lot of the holes for 2016. Age remains an unanswered question, and then as always you have to wonder about 2018. But they don't operate like other teams do in that regard
James
10:09
Who do you like more, Puig as a bounce back or Heyward hitting in Wrigley?
Jeff Sullivan
10:09
Heyward
James Paxton
10:09
I'm in the best shape of my life, you know...
Jeff Sullivan
10:09
Cool! Can you throw strikes?
FireDrayton
10:10
Fister, Astros: seems like a nice, cheap, low-risk move. You betting that he pays off or nah?
Jeff Sullivan
10:10
I think he'll be fine for the money, but I think we've probably seen the last of Doug Fister being particularly good
Prich
10:10
Do the fangraphs writers read each other's chat transcripts? Better, do you ever get on with fake names and f*** with one another?
Jeff Sullivan
10:11
Speaking for myself, I don't participate in other chats because I'm writing, but I do read a lot of the transcripts. And Kiley used to come around and leave insulting questions sometimes
Ruby
10:11
Any concerns about possible new shift rules in the new CBA? A while ago I heard Manfred was looking to disallow, or at least limit, certain shifts. Haven't heard anything in a while — has this gone away?
Jeff Sullivan
10:11
Nothing is going to happen there. Doesn't make sense, and I think Manfred acknowledged that in his Q&As a week ago
The Dude of NY
10:12
Christian Yelich has just hit 1 IFFB in his 1458 career PA, back in 2014.
Jeff Sullivan
10:12
Christian Yelich has probably just hit one fly ball in his 1458 career PA
Chris
10:13
name the #4 best Astros position player based on this list; 1.Correa 2. Springer 3. Altuve 4. ? would I be wrong to say Rasmus?
Jeff Sullivan
10:13
I think it's gotta be Gomez
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