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Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 2/24/17
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Jeff Sullivan
9:30
I think of Eric Hosmer. If he could ever generate more lift, why couldn't he be a 140 wRC+ type?
Dave
9:30
What would the Sox have to include with Robertson to get Robles from the Nats?
Jeff Sullivan
9:30
Jones?
Robles is valuable. Robertson, given his salary commitment, is far less so
9:31
I suppose if the Sox took on the entirety of Robertson's salary, then they'd be close
Raindog
9:32
Jeff, as an O's fan, every day that goes by without me reading a headline "Orioles sign Fister and/or Lewis because obviously Vidal Nuno doesn't count as depth" makes me a little crazier. Any idea why this isn't happening?
Jeff Sullivan
9:32
Well I mean, firstly, those pitchers aren't very good
9:33
But I do imagine the Orioles are still thinking about rotation depth, as they evaluate Tillman. Might just want a little more time to evaluate their own internal options. And for whatever it's worth, I do think Nuno is modestly interesting as a potential back-end arm. He stays around the strike zone, which is a good starting point
Slamboni
9:34
If Tyson Ross puts up 2015 numbers this year when he returns, are the Rangers going to win the AL West?
Jeff Sullivan
9:34
I think they'd still be a few games worse than the Astros, but they'd be in the playoffs for sure
And then they'd go in with Darvish/Hamels/Ross. Fun! If you ignore what happened just last October, I guess
Zonk
9:35
I didn't realize until yesterday that the White Sox have acquired both Geovany Soto and Giovanni Soto. Is it weird to really want both of them to make the 25-man, for an all G. Soto battery?
Jeff Sullivan
9:35
Not at all. Saw a clip on Twitter the other day of Soto pitching to Soto. Made me feel warm on a cold February afternoon
9:36
And then I was reminded by Grant Brisbee that Chris Young is 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts against Chris Young
Jeffrey
9:37
Do you think Dan Straily takes another step forward in Miami or what his year in Cincy was in 2016 the best we can hope for?
Jeff Sullivan
9:37
I think this is what he is
Jack
9:38
The Sports Devil pays you a visit, and he wants to make a deal. He says he can guarantee you that you'll see multiple Mariners World Series and Senators Stanley Cup victories in your lifetime, but he's a cruel, sadistic demon, and there's a catch -- until the first championship one of them wins, you need to have Colby Rasmus's beard. If you agree to this deal and then shave it off before one of them has won, both teams will be cursed to never win a title. While the Sports Devil can make sure the championships happen in your lifetime, he can't control exactly what years they happen in, so you don't have to worry about him waiting until you're 100 to let them win. Do you do it?
Jeff Sullivan
9:39
Absolutely not. Both teams will probably win during my lifetime anyway, and for whatever fleeting happiness I'd experience with a title, I would experience daily, constant disappointment in myself having that god-awful neckbeard. My girlfriend would leave me and I'd never be able to find a suitable replacement. Plus my neck would itch all the time. The hairs would get tangled in buttons and caught on zippers
A championship is just not that important to me. Not neckbeard-important
Rickey O'Sunnyvale
9:39
What's up with Blanton? Amazingly quiet for such a strong pitcher. Think he has something lined up, like with LA?
Jeff Sullivan
9:40
The popular speculation is that, at this point, he's just waiting on some important reliever to get injured. I think his own history as a disappointing pitcher is being held against him to some extent. But he will get a job and he'll be pretty good at it
Connor
9:41
I'm finding I wait till the later rounds to draft 1st basemen this year. Are there any good late round pickups at 1st? Right now, I'm mostly drafting guys like Tommy Joseph and Kendrys Morales right now. Are there any guys earlier that I should target instead?
Jeff Sullivan
9:41
This is a good opportunity to issue a reminder that I don't play in any fantasy leagues. So I'm not really equipped to offer useful fantasy-baseball advice. I don't even know what stats are counted in your league :|
Andy F
9:43
Any idea to what degree teams use the WBC as an international scouting grounds? Are almost all of these players already known to teams?
Jeff Sullivan
9:43
I know I already addressed the first part of this but you added a second part, so I'll just say I'm sure the best players on every roster are already known to teams, but I doubt the Twins have a file on, say, Israel's Shlomo Lipetz
9:44
So there's a definite opportunity here for off-the-radar players to get a foot in the door
BL27
9:44
do you think Tyler Glasnow will start the season in MLB or AAA ?
Jeff Sullivan
9:45
My gut says MLB, but if it's Triple-A, I'd get it, since he's working on changing his delivery. No matter what, he'll spend most of the year with Pittsburgh
Steve Zissou
9:46
Jonathan Villar, to me, is one of the more interesting ascensions of 2016. He was top 5 in MLB for BABIP at .373. Is this a reflection of a lucky year, or a player leveraging his speed to beat out close plays, and that his BABIP is sustainable?
Jeff Sullivan
9:46
Over the past 20 years, there are 523 players who have batted at least 2,500 times. The highest BABIP in the group belongs to Mike Trout, at .360. Joey Votto is at .359
9:48
Jonathan Villar is not Mike Trout, and he's not Joey Votto. He hits a few too many pop-ups and he just doesn't have that off-the-bat zip that the better players do. He's pretty good, and his career mark so far is .347, but I wouldn't be surprised if last season ends up being the best offensive season of his career
Q-Ball
9:50
Maddon says they will bat Kyle Schwarber leadoff. What do you think about that specifically, and I guess using slow-footed sluggers to leadoff generally?
Jeff Sullivan
9:51
Carlos Santana led off for the Indians last season about half the time. Schwarber isn't close to that slow
I think having good at-bats is more important than being fast, in that role, and I also think the Cubs consider Schwarber more athletic than the average fan does
Rickey O'Sunnyvale
9:53
Kopech or Y Alvarez as your favored pitching prospect?
Jeff Sullivan
9:53
Kopech
libre
9:53
Why is it more likely that the Dodgers will use a lot of starters than a team like the Padres who don't have any real MLB arms in their 1-5?
Jeff Sullivan
9:53
It isn't
9:54
It's more likely that the Dodgers will use a lot of *talented* starters, because the Padres don't have any
Raindog
9:55
The 8 lowest walk rates last season all belonged to middle infielders. This is a pretty weird coincidence, right? And it's not like they're all slap hitter that nobody is scared of - 5 of the 8 hit 20+ HR. Do you have thoughts on this?
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