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Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 9/21/18
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Jeff Sullivan
9:07
Hello friends
Welcome to Friday baseball chat
squeeze bunt
9:07
Why is anny Margot so bad at stealing bases?
Jeff Sullivan
9:07
Why is Rougned Odor even worse?
9:08
Margot wasn't particularly bad last season. Been worse this year. Stolen bases are about a lot more than raw foot speed. He might just somewhat struggle to get good reads of first moves
WP41
9:10
How much value would you guess Javy Baez being able to play multiple premium positions has provided to the Cubs this season?
Jeff Sullivan
9:11
WAR never really feels like an appropriate construct for this
9:12
He's relieved Zobrist at second, he's relieved Russell at short, and he's relieved Bryant at third. Obviously, it's helped the Cubs that they've had a quality replacement across the board. But Baez is far from the only versatile infielder in the game. It's not like his is a unique profile
9:13
Let's figure the Cubs would be something like one win worse if Baez couldn't play as many positions as he does
Jack
9:14
Tommy Pham has a 179 wRC+ and 1.6 WAR through 29 games with the Rays and has three more seasons of team control. That trade still mystifies me. Do you think that was one of those trades where other GMs saw it and were like "What, he was available?!"
Jeff Sullivan
9:14
I doubt many teams out there were unaware that Pham and the Cardinals didn't exactly see eye to eye
9:15
I imagine it was a function of a couple things -- Pham is already 30 years old, and he has his eye problem that is, at the very least, a yellow flag. Pham has suggested it shouldn't be much of a problem for him anymore at all, but it's still something that's going to make more than a few executives hesitate
Derek Jeter
9:16
Okay, maybe I got greedy demanding Robles AND Kieboom AND more from the Nats for Realmuto. Let’s make this simple: Realmuto for Soto straight up. Fair deal, right?
Jeff Sullivan
9:16
Nationals would never do it at this point
A prospect like Soto is only ever available until he reaches the major leagues. And Realmuto has just two years of team control left
1060 West Baddison
9:18
If we consider only on-field performance, would the Cubs actually be worse if they just send Addison Russell home for the rest of the year?
Jeff Sullivan
9:18
Doesn't matter. He should be suspended indefinitely
9:20
Now, Russell has his own rights and he can't just have his career on permanent hold, so these allegations should be investigated right away. But in the wake of the Astros' Osuna trade, teams have to take these incidents far more seriously. The Cubs don't have to wait for MLB to step in
Ross
9:21
Is Brandon Lowe the best rookie who's getting no attention?
Jeff Sullivan
9:21
He's one of them, but he's not the only one. I mean, he's getting only a little less attention than Joey Wendle
9:22
Jace Fry deserves some praise for what he's done. Jose Castillo. Ji-Man Choi. Nick Martini
9:23
Fun rookie class. They usually are, but this year is no exception
Bork
9:23
So the Rays.
Jeff Sullivan
9:23
Pretty bad loss yesterday!
squeeze bunt
9:23
Is there a scenario where the Padres could package their rule 5 eligible players for a talented lower level player?  Seems like the Rays may be open to this type of deal.
Jeff Sullivan
9:24
That's kind of what the Astros did when they traded Ramon Laureano for Brandon Bailey
Laureano was Rule 5 eligible, and Bailey was not
9:25
The Rays, though, don't seem like an ideal match, because they'll have their own roster crunch to deal with. Lots of talent in the upper levels of that system
Tim
9:25
You see that Kovalchuk goal last night? How excited are you for hockey?
Jeff Sullivan
9:25
I was more excited before Ottawa traded the best player I'll ever have a chance to root for
Happened the day after I paid to renew my Gamecenter membership!
Bobby Bradley's 40-time
9:26
AL MVP is going to come down to "the Red Sox are very good and the Angels are not" isn't it
Jeff Sullivan
9:26
Not entirely, but of course it'll be a factor
Ramirez, Lindor, Bregman, and Chapman also stand to get legitimate support
Airport Banana
9:27
Are there reliable ways to assess how vulnerable specific umpires are to pitch framing? If so, how much value is there to teams in knowing this, and how could they use this information to gain an advantage?
Jeff Sullivan
9:28
In theory you could probably examine the degree to which an umpire's zone changes based on the identity of the catcher, but I don't think there would be much for teams to do with that data. You only have two or three catchers on your roster at a time, and the umpire assignments are always rotating
Some Thoughts on the Pod...
9:29
Listened to the Pod that you and Ben recorded with Michael Schwimer. The most amazing thing to me is that DePodesta is involved. I mean, that guy profited from taking advantage of minor leaguers in the beginning and is now cashing in on the back end. And for what it is worth, Schwimer went to a $50,000/year private high school. His folks are in the 1% of the 1%. If the guy was reffing basketball games in the offseason, it is because he was looking for tail.
Jeff Sullivan
9:30
Based on feedback we've received, it's obvious that Schwimer is a divisive guy. What is clear, at least in general, is that there's room for a good-faith actor to be doing what BLA claims to be doing. There's nothing wrong with the idea. Could be something wrong with the execution. And, ultimately, it's shameful that MLB has left room for this kind of business to exist in the first place
Bob
9:31
Analytically, is there any reason to treat knuckleballers differently than regular pitchers?
Jeff Sullivan
9:31
They seem to have the ability to suppress BABIP
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