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Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 11/2/18
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Jeff Sullivan
9:08
Hello friends
Welcome to Friday baseball chat
Usually I'm late to start because of a pre-chat podcast. Today it was a pre-chat phone conversation with the boss! Always something
9:09
First Friday baseball chat in a while with no active...baseball. Weird feeling. Also weird that it already feels normal
Bork
9:09
Hello, friend!
Jeff Sullivan
9:09
Hello friend
Rays fan
9:09
Your last few chats have kinda got me drinking the Realmuto kool-aid, do you think an offer of Jesus Sanchez, Nick Solak, and Lucius Fox gets the Rays close?
Jeff Sullivan
9:10
I kind of feel like each one of those prospects would have to be one letter grade better
9:12
Sanchez hasn't yet done anything good at Double-A. Ditto for Fox. Solak had a strong year at Double-A but he's still thought of as a lower-ceiling guy. Marlins would aim higher
9:13
Wonder what would happen if you swapped Fox for Baz. That would yield some progress
stever20
9:13
Nats started the offseason really well with Rosenthal and Barraclaugh.  How much more pen help do you think they need?
Jeff Sullivan
9:14
I think they need at least one more clearly good reliever. Barraclough has trended downward, and while I like both Doolittle and Rosenthal, they very obviously have some elevated injury risk
Brodie Van Wagenen
9:15
What position players, if any, should I be targeting in free agency?
Jeff Sullivan
9:17
You can look at just about every position on the Mets and conclude that they could be settled. It requires you assume Peter Alonso is close, and that Jeff McNeil is good enough to stick
9:18
Perhaps they could stand to upgrade on Guillorme. And they'd probably prefer not to be banking on a Jay Bruce rebound. But if I were them and if I were looking to spend, I'd err toward spending it on the pitching side of things
Like everyone else, I don't know why the Mets wouldn't be interested in Eovaldi
Expect to hear a whole lot about Eovaldi
Rick
9:20
If a free agent needs off-season surgery, where does he get the procedure performed?  I assume his former team does not provide it, but do they refer him to someone else?  And does the player just pay out of pocket at that point?  (This latter point obviously isn’t a big deal for players who have already struck it rich, but it seems like paying for a significant surgery would be a substantial burden for minor-league free agents, non-tender candidates, etc.)
Jeff Sullivan
9:20
So, firstly, I'm not sure -- I'm going to text some people right now to try to find out
9:21
"Garza's agent, Nez Balelo of CAA Sports, confirmed Garza will go under the knife with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the same surgeon who repaired the torn labrum of another Brewers right-hander and CAA client, Jimmy Nelson, in September. After Nelson's surgery, Brewers GM David Stearns said Nelson would miss a "chunk" of next season. Because Garza's injury occurred while he played for the Brewers, head team physician William Raasch signed off on the procedure, according to Balelo."
The last sentence being the important one
9:23
Still doing some googling in the meantime
9:26
"If Mets pitcher Matt Harvey has Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, it will be paid for, partly, with workers’ compensation insurance. A partly torn ulnar collateral ligament like Harvey’s is considered a workplace injury, just as if he were a truck driver hurt on a loading dock.

The basic agreement between major league owners and players requires that teams pay the cost of injuries."
9:27
That's probably enough for now. Should move on to other questions
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe
9:27
Jeff Sullivan
9:28
I can't stand the official MLB twitter account
In fairness, I don't know what it's like to be young anymore
Mike
9:30
Hi Jeff! If you had to guess, which kind of contract do you think Corbin ends up with?
Jeff Sullivan
9:30
Spitballing here, I could see something like 4yr/$80m. Maybe with one of those fifth-year vesting options where it kicks in if he doesn't have an elbow injury
9:31
He's put a lot of room between himself and Tommy John surgery, but he also doesn't have a previous record of his 2018 performance level, and some teams are still going to be spooked by that inexplicable velocity drop
9:32
But, boy, you look at those strikeouts and you see a very good pitcher
AK
9:32
What was your favorite article you wrote during the 2018 season?
Jeff Sullivan
9:32
Going to be completely honest with you here: I don't know. I don't have very good recall for the things that I've published. Even September feels like ancient history. It's all gone
Trent
9:34
Does Sanchez for Realmuto straight-up make sense?  They were closely ranked in Fangraphs' 2018 trade-value rankings, but perhaps Sanchez's stock has declined enough lately that the Yankees would have to add something?
Jeff Sullivan
9:35
I think it would make more sense for the Marlins than for the Yankees. If you're the Yankees, there are obvious reasons to prefer Realmuto, but I think it's still so difficult to forget about how good Sanchez was even just a year ago. And Sanchez provides two extra years of team control. I don't think the Yankees are in a position where they need to act so urgently
9:36
Right now, as of this moment, Sanchez and Realmuto project to be almost the same in 2019. Maybe you think that isn't making enough of what happened in 2018, but the track records matter
9:37
Keep in mind that the biggest problem with Sanchez was a .197 BABIP
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