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Klawchat 1/24/20
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Keith Law
1:00
It can't all be wedding cake. Klawchat.
Krontz
1:00
Taylor Trammell ever hit enough for a Jacoby Ellsbury comp to be reasonable?
Keith Law
1:00
I don't see them as similar players, really. I believe Trammell will hit, though.
Keith
1:00
Clay Davenport's preseason win projections really like the Mets (96 wins) in the National league behind only the Dodgers (102). What have they done this offseason to improve so significantly, and do you buy into it?
Keith Law
1:01
I would bet the under on both win totals there.
Keith
1:01
Who do you project as the White Sox starting rotation in July 2020?
Keith Law
1:02
Giolito, Keuchel, Gio Gonzalez, Cease, Kopech. I wouldn't rule out seeing Stiever in the majors before the season ends. Obviously I'm putting Lopez in the bullpen, which I've always thought was his ideal role.
addoeh
1:02
With Terry Jones's passing, what was your favorite Python sketch?  Upper Class Twit of the Year has to be mine.
Keith Law
1:03
That's a contender. Argument Clinic. The Piranha brothers. And the entire show built around the Michael Ellis gag is probably my favorite thing they did, although that's a series of sketches. It's hilarious and also wonderfully paranoid.
Keith
1:03
Hey Keith, thanks for the chat. Does Dylan Carlson's breakout last year fit is profile? His BA was 50 points higher than his career average and his slg perctange was .150 points higher. He did do part of this at AAA in his age 20 season. Thanks and good luck at the Athletic.
Keith Law
1:03
Not sure about your question but I'll say I think the breakout was real.
Dee Arby
1:03
Klaw, I really enjoy how you speak up regarding domestic violence.  My question is, how do you deal with the issue that because these athletes are so rich, their accusers can have ulterior motives? For example, how would you have done with the Brian Banks issue? He was the USC linebacker who spent six years in prision because he was falsely accused? Genuinely curious, not being snarky.
Keith Law
1:06
The "ulterior motives" thing is kind of bullshit. Most abuse/assault victims don't report. Of those who do, nearly all are telling the truth. There's a substantial social and often financial cost to coming forward. Just because every once in a blue moon there's a case of a false accusation - which gets over-reported, of course - doesn't mean we can or should generalize and think that many more accusers are lying. They're not. The data say so, and ignoring that is classic base-rate neglect.
Lyle
1:06
In BA's 2023 Opening Day Lineups for the Mariners, they had Tom Murphy at catcher. (I know, I know, not your list.) Can you come up with any legitimate reason other than a trade as to why Cal Raleigh would not be the starting catcher by then (especially wrt Murphy)?
Keith Law
1:06
No, I'd put Raleigh there.
bartleby
1:06
Keith, your comments on the Clemens/McReady relationship were interesting- what do you think of Woody Allen?
Keith Law
1:06
He's canceled, appropriately. (I only saw ... three of his films, I think, the last being Midnight in Paris whenever that came out.)
Michael
1:07
Your thoughts on the Metz Hiring Louis Rojas?
Keith Law
1:07
I wasn't really kidding with my tweet the other day - the process ended up with them hiring a highly qualified manager, one with ~1000 games of managing experience, a bilingual guy who's considered forward-thinking, comfortable with data, and good with players. Their second choice was the better candidate.
Buckner 86
1:07
Is Balazovic‘s upside a top 25 SP?
Keith Law
1:07
That might be aggressive but I'm a big fan.
Mike
1:08
You may have covered it in a previous chat, but are you going to be doing any podcasts with the Athletic or elsewhere?
Keith Law
1:08
Yes, with the Athletic, starting later this spring.
Tyler
1:08
Congrats on the move to The Athletic. Will you still be holding chats here regularly or moving to a different platform (presumably theirs)?
Keith Law
1:08
Klawchats will continue here for the foreseeable future.
Del, Venice CA
1:09
Whenever anyone talks about the Mets the consensus seems to be that Dom Smith is the odd man out and he should be traded. Since JD Davis' value could never be higher after his 2019 season AND he fields multiple positions like a DH shouldn't he be the one of the two to be shopped?
Keith Law
1:09
The assumption built into those statements is that Smith would have a higher trade value because he's younger and a plus defender at 1b.
John Olerud
1:09
Full disclosure, I have posed this question to other baseball writers I respect, as I am truly interested to see if there are different perspectives on this subject. Based on the numbers, I'm surprised there hasn't been much discussion (at least none that I've seen) about how Larry Walker's career is truly a lot closer statistically to Jeter's than impressions would imply. Indeed, Jeter has the milestone numbers that are important with HOF voters. And he was especially good when it 'mattered', but that has a lot to do with who and what teams he was lucky enough to play with and for. Indeed, this is not so much to disparage Jeter, but more a reflection of the "fame" element inherent to the HOF. Whatevever the reasons, do you personally find it at all strange that there seems to be this prevailing feeling that somhow Walker doesn't breathe the same air as Jeter? Or maybe you disagree entirely with this premise? Thanks.
Keith Law
1:10
Jeter is a clear HoFer, but benefited from playing for the team that gets on national TV most often, and from having great teammates that helped him appear in the playoffs almost every year and in six World Series, and from announcers falling all over themselves to praise him even for things he did poorly (coughdefensecough). He was a great player and I voted for him. I just don't understand why we have to inflate his accomplishments rather than respecting him for exactly who and what he really was.
Moe Mentum
1:10
I know you favor board games that involve strategy and puzzles (e.g. Carcassone), but do you ever play more mainstream “party” games that reward creativity with words? I think it would be fun to play games like Balderdash or Wise & Otherwise with a man with your wit and flair for language.
Keith Law
1:11
Wise & Otherwise is cool. I like Taboo as well, and there's a game from about two years ago called Trapwords that works similarly but where the opposing team picks the words you can't say. When I'm in a group setting and we want a party game I'll usually suggest One Night Ultimate Werewolf (since it requires almost no instruction to play) or Codenames.
Craig
1:12
The only way I can make sense of the Brewers offseason is that they want a bunch of interchangable parts at 1B, SS and 3B in the hopes that with platoon splits and pinch hitting, they can be league averagish at those positions and have Yelich/Huira carry the team offensively. Is this accurate?
Keith Law
1:12
I don't like assuming any team is done at this point in the offseason. Still some decent FA out there and a lot of trade chatter.
The Sloth
1:12
KLaw, are you attending any Phish concerts on the summer tour?
Keith Law
1:13
My girlfriend pulled up the schedule last night ... decent chance we'll go to one of the two mid-Atlantic venues in August.
The Sloth
1:13
What are your thoughts on the upside and most likely outcome for Brennan Davis?
Keith Law
1:13
That's a question I'll answer in the top 100, which will run the week of February 24th on the Athletic.
Joe
1:13
How does the Beltran news affect his HOF candidacy?
Keith Law
1:13
My guess is not at all.
Sammy So-So
1:13
If you're a GM trading for a player like Nolan Arenado who has an opt-out after two years, are you offering assets in return to the other team just for those two years if a new arrangement with the player can't be reached before the deal is done?
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