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Klawchat 10/7/22
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Keith Law
1:24
I have a feeling he's going to end up getting in given enough time. Vizquel was probably going to get in, with a worse case than Molina, until the stories alleging domestic violence and sexual harassment came out. Prior to that, I thought they were similar players - very good but not HoF-worthy, overrated by specific subsets of writers who could be swayed by comments from other players, coaches, managers, etc.
Champdo
1:24
How worried should we be about Torkelson
Keith Law
1:26
He's 22. I didn't love him the one time I saw him as a underclassman, because I didn't see great bat speed or athleticism, but all he ever did from that point until his debut this year was hit for average and power. I'll defer to the long history of performance here.
Paul
1:26
Do you like the draft lottery? Seems a fair bit more punitive than other lotteries in other leagues with the worst teams potentially falling to the bottom of the top ten rather than the middle of the top ten if they aren’t lucky.
Keith Law
1:27
I do think it'll deter some tanking, and reduces the chances of a team drafting #1 overall three straight years like Houston did. I would prefer to see a system that pays the very best 5-10 players in each class more fairly, with some sort of modified free agency for them, but that's probably never happening.
Patrick
1:27
I feel like a lot of people still sort of view Ohtani playing both ways as sort of a novelty, where the main pull is the *uniqueness* of it. His pitching especially didn't seem to get the respect it deserves this year, when he is a legit Cy Young candidate. Am I wrong in thinking that?
Keith Law
1:28
You are correct now that he's finally pitching like the guy he was prior to signing with the Angels. He became a CYA contender this year, really.
Troy
1:28
Burnes/Yelich/Mitchell for May/Lux/Vargas/Miller who says no?
Keith Law
1:29
Why would the Dodgers do that? Yelich's contract is an albatross. And the Dodgers seem quite able to draft and develop pitching.
Ted
1:29
Just wanted to recommend Iain Reid's new novel "We Spread." His previous novels have been very entertaining, both are quick reads and I can understand why they were both turned into films. The new one packs a genuine emotional punch, though. Worth checking out.
Keith Law
1:29
Not familiar with his work - thank you.
Owen
1:29
What do you make of Andrew Heaney’s season? Is it projectable going forward?
Keith Law
1:29
Yes.
Devon
1:30
Hi Keith! Thanks for the chat! I was wondering how you feel about Wander’s power? Hamate bone might have been bothering him for awhile…
Keith Law
1:30
Yeah, write off his 2022 completely for that reason.
Ryan
1:30
How concerned are you about Alek Thomas going forward? Great defense but it seemed like he wasn't able to pull anything with authority in the second half
Keith Law
1:30
I was extremely surprised and disappointed by his low contact quality. I never thought he was a big power guy - average at best - but he didn't hit the ball hard at all in the big leagues this year, and that is a concern.
frank
1:30
Sean Hjelle had some good appearances for the Giants at the end of the season.  Is he anything more than a back of the rotation starter?
Keith Law
1:31
I don't think so, but I think he's capable of being a 4th or 5th starter.
Jay
1:31
Why is it that, every time I watch "The Godfather" (I & II only, of course), Diane Keaton gets more and more annoying?  Forget about offing Fredo, Tony, you're better off whacking Kay!
Keith Law
1:31
Yes, she's a poorly written character, to put it mildly. That's a movie written and directed by men about men. She's a prop.
Baseball: It's Fun!
1:31
More interesting division/divisional race going into 2023: AL East or NL West? The Diamondbacks seem poised to at least take a step forward and the Giants are bound to look better than they did this year, plus the Orioles, Sox and Rays should be much improved on the AL East side. What do you think?
Keith Law
1:32
I think the AL East. The Dodgers are still a juggernaut, and the Rockies are not going to contend next year. But the AL East might have five legitimate contenders next year, and I don't think any team is head and shoulders above the rest there like the Dodgers are in the West.
Steve
1:32
Re: Boston and Bloom - I mean Boston hasn't been to the ALCS since....2021
Keith Law
1:32
It's a drought.
Pat
1:32
Every prospect ranking had Victor Robles as pretty much guaranteed as at least a league average regular- if not signifcantly more.   What happened to him, and is it too late to find it?
Keith Law
1:33
He is what will happen to Alek Thomas if Thomas doesn't start hitting the ball harder.
Leites
1:33
Hi Keith!  Curious what you see as the upside for Elehuris Montero and Michael Toglia at this point . . .
Keith Law
1:33
I still give Montero a chance to be a regular. I don't see it with Toglia.
Benji
1:33
If you were Scott Harris, how aggressive would you be this offseason? Lots of roster turnover is coming, but would you expect that to be filled with more interesting AAAA players and spare vets or legitimate middle to upper class FAs? Long ways to go or with the perpetually weak AL Central does it make sense to push sooner?
Keith Law
1:34
I think you have to fix whatever's going on internally - lack of development + lot of injuries - before you go externally.
Roger
1:34
Thoughts on the debuts for Ryne Nelson and Drey Jameson? They seemed to get hit pretty hard in AAA but had great outings in the majors. I don’t want to be the box score guy but I haven’t been able to watch actual tape of their MLB starts yet.
Keith Law
1:35
Bear in mind that their AAA club is in Reno, about 4000 feet above sea level, and plays a ton of games at other extreme hitters' parks. I mostly disregard all of their stats from there as I do with Albuquerque.
Appa Yip Yip
1:35
Have you gotten any looks at Addison Barger?
Keith Law
1:35
Yes and I wrote about him here: https://klaw.me/3wAuQpa
Lorne
1:35
Is Baltimore an “attractive” FA destination since the future is/at least looks bright? What once was a great baseball city has suffered through some tough decades (?) and it’d be nice to finally see a rebound
Keith Law
1:36
I absolutely believe any team is an attractive destination for free agents if they offer more money than any other club.
JR
1:36
Was a little surprised you had Judge as MVP. While clearly you laid out the rational reasons it's just hard for me to comprehend how a guy like Ohtani that does so well as a hitter and pitcher isn't an auto win for the MVP. I figured the Judge rhetoric was media trying to talk itself out of Ohtani so I appreciated you laying it out with the numbers to back it up.
Keith Law
1:36
I talked about it on my pod yesterday with Stephanie Apstein. I was surprised (but am not disagreeing) that she thought Judge would win it in a rout - I thought Ohtani would get more of those he's-a-novelty votes. But she probably has a better feel for this than I do.
1:37
BTW, thank goodness they didn't overturn that HR call. What a shitshow that would have been.
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