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Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 3/24/17
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Jeff Sullivan
10:21
Haven't you ever seen someone toss a pizza?
Use your head
Matthew
10:21
Are you more or less of a fan since you started working in Baseball?
Jeff Sullivan
10:21
Less of a fan of the Mariners, more of a fan of the sport
Ed
10:21
What's the deal with Dan Vogelbach? Do you think he spends much time in AAA, or is this just a ploy to let the Mariners run eight relievers out there for the first few weeks of April?
Jeff Sullivan
10:22
He's not very good, and they would like for him to be better than that
YKnotDisco?!
10:22
Should positional adjustments vary depending on park? I was thinking of Fenway as an example. Isn't RF considered 1 of the toughest to play? And LF one of the easiest? What about turf vs grass for IF? Does that make a difference? Better yet, do I make any sense?
Jeff Sullivan
10:22
I don't think LF in Fenway is easy -- it's just smaller. But it has its obvious unique quirks. Hanley Ramirez would tell you it's incredibly hard
JTT
10:23
With the new QO rules are we going to see a return to teams being able to massively upgrade with a single free agent spending spree?
Jeff Sullivan
10:23
Still going to be limited by the reduced number of quality free agents, and by the luxury tax
Evil Goatee Jeff
10:24
Which aggregate outfield do you like better in 2017: Padres or Twins?
Jeff Sullivan
10:25
Rosario is kind of a lot like Renfroe. Jankowski is sort of a Kepler equivalent, overall, with more glove but less bat. So then you're left with Buxton and Margot. Margot feels safer; Buxton feels like he has more upside
I'm a safety guy, myself, but I could totally understand preferring the Twins here
Robin
10:25
Since the article on Brady Anderson came out, I've heard a couple of folks I trust comparing how similarly dysfunctional the M's were under Jack Z. Do you have any insights or thoughts on how poorly run the organization was from top to bottom during that period?
Jeff Sullivan
10:26
It was very bad
Mixed messages all over the place. Horrible working environment. It was an organizational catastrophe
Jake
10:26
Realistically what do you expect to see out of a full year of Dansby Swanson?
Jeff Sullivan
10:27
Marcus Semien-style reliability, with more stable defense
English Bob
10:27
who's the young, developing hitter (not quite established) who you are most excited to watch in the early part of the season?
Jeff Sullivan
10:27
KEONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN BROXTON
Kyle
10:28
Ignore the Twins’ “elephant in the room” pitching situation for a moment. I’m worried about their position players, with the exact same question marks, concerns, and uncertainties as 2016: Buxton and Sano strike out a ton. Mauer is a platoon player at this point. The DH-types have been underwhelming and injured. Kepler had a nice rookie season but faded in the 2nd half, so he’ll have to re-adjust to the league. Polanco is expected to start at SS fulltime, will have growing pains, and has defensive questions. Rosario is a good defender with serious plate-discipline concerns that tanked him last year. And then there is Brian Dozier, everyone’s favorite candidate to regress in 2017. There are serious “everyone is going to bust” vibes a-plenty. Are my concerns legitimate, or should I just relax and enjoy these guys as they evolve toward their potentials? (Primarily Sano into peak-offense Adam Dunn and Buxton into Mike Cameron)
Jeff Sullivan
10:29
I'd just be happy the team is so young. It's going to be a while, probably, before the Twins emerge from all this, but you don't have to look far for upside at most positions. Of course there are numerous discipline or contact concerns, but, say, Sano's contact problem is offset by his elite raw power. Buxton's contact problem is offset by his outstanding other skills. The Twins don't have it so bad here
You're just conditioned to be negative because, Twins
Sonny
10:29
The Padres don't need to win 70 games this year they just need to keep the green light permanently on like last year. Lose 100 if you want but do it in style
Jeff Sullivan
10:29
Priorities!
Evil Goatee Jeff
10:30
When is the last time you thought about Aaron Sele?
Jeff Sullivan
10:30
Talked about him literally two days ago for some reason
Ghost of Greg Maddux Past
10:32
If for some inexplicable reason the Angels forced Mike Trout to be a catcher, starting now (so he'd have the rest of Spring Training to learn the position), how much WAR would you guess he'd be worth for the 2017 season? Assume he's on the 25-man roster the entire season.
Jeff Sullivan
10:33
He'd lose probably...1 WAR on performance, and then most of another WAR just from reduced playing time. And he'd probably be even less valuable than that, but our WAR presently doesn't include game-calling or pitch-framing
greg
10:33
There was that report that this might have been the last WBC, but Manfred said that he intends on keeping it around. Are you pretty confident that it will continue?
Jeff Sullivan
10:33
Yes. This year's was very popular
Ben
10:33
You know that most, if not all, of the "What do you think of Player X for this year" questions are fantasy questions, right?
Jeff Sullivan
10:34
For sure. But I'm happy to answer fantasy questions when they aren't asked in fantasy-specific ways. I don't know how to answer those
Walt
10:35
NL game, away team, 5th starter on the mound, why not put your 4th bench player in the 3 hole, then replace him with your 5th starter after the top of the 1st? Just too much effort for a tiny increase in WPA?
Jeff Sullivan
10:35
You're making yourself worse in the first inning so that you can avoid a fraction of one pitcher plate appearance
10:36
Doesn't seem worth it
Owen
10:36
Chris Carter. Will he be a yankee this summer? Will he be playing ANYWHERE this summer?
Jeff Sullivan
10:36
He'll be there on the bench. Still not sure Bird can reliably hit southpaws
Not Jeff Sullivan
10:36
what is your favorite type of volcano?
Jeff Sullivan
10:36
Nearby
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