JotCast | Klawchat 2/20/24

Klawchat 2/20/24

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Keith Law

2:20

Catch him every day. I'd be surprised if he really was the backup behind Grandal - I haven't heard/read anything about that, and Grandal was below replacement level last year.

Matt

2:20

I thought it was funny the 49ers didn’t know the rules of overtime. Imagine that happening in the 10th inning of Game 7 and the closer didn’t know the game would be over if he gave up a hit.

Keith Law

2:20

Same.

Aaron

2:20

The Oceania expansion mechanics updates are very nice and go a long way to balancing actions on the board. Egg spamming is not quite as viable

Keith Law

2:20

And Asia has a two-player mode I'd love to try.

Ryan

2:20

Speaking of Padres and Luis. Is Campusano just another example of catchers needing more time to develop?

Keith Law

2:20

I think so.

Gsteve27

2:20

I know u often remind the listeners/readers that baseball is hard but what do you think was the cause for Gavin Stones and Miguel Vargas disappointing season after having a lot of success in the minors? Are you still believing in Vargas as you are in Stone?

Keith Law

2:21

Read what I wrote about Stone in the top 100.

James

2:21

Hunter Goodman from the Rockies just a guy? Could he be a GUY?

Keith Law

2:21

He's 1b only, maybe, and swings and misses way too often. I don't see it.

James

2:21

Are you surprised more teams haven’t used the Braves strategy more of locking up young players to long deals early?

Keith Law

2:21

Oh I think a lot of them try.

James

2:21

Does the transfer portal influence the way you look at a player or not or are baseball evaluations mostly immune to that?

Ryan

2:21

What's a reasonable MLB peak for Ethan Salas look like, assuming he gets past the inherent teenager catcher risk?

Keith Law

2:22

Transfer portal doesn't affect player evaluations - I have no issue with players moving to another school for NIL $ or playing time or any other reason.

Salas looks like a monster, could be ++ defense with power and patience. We haven't had a prospect this young with this performance since Harper.

Brian

2:23

Can we expect more Klawchats soon?

Keith Law

2:23

I plan to, travel permitting.

Caleb

2:23

Cards fan, and they have the #8 pick this summer. I'm going to guess this year's top 10 isn't as loaded as last year's, but how does it compare to an average draft?

Keith Law

2:23

Right now it looks below the norm because the high school hitting class is very weak.

Adam

2:23

Hey Keith. Thank you for all your work. It’s always a fun time when your lists come out. Have you ever thought about compiling a ranking of your sleepers that you do for each team? Would be interested in the their order of where you see them ranked against each other.

Keith Law

2:23

All 30 sleepers ranked? I had never considered that.

2:23

Vlad Jr. settling in as a .270, 30 HR guy would be a bummer after what he did in 2021. Do you give him a mulligan for the last 2 years? Or did he just have his career year early? Troy Glaus style

Keith Law

2:26

A two-year mulligan is a lot. Kind of stunned by the low BABIPs. Not like he doesn't hit the ball hard. His actual stats were well below what you'd expect from his batted-ball data, so there's some reason to hope he'll bounce back beyond just a .270/.340/.460 line.

Jay

2:26

Who would you take 1.1 in this year's draft as of today?

Keith Law

2:26

The most honest answer is that I don't have enough feel for these guys yet. If you really, really want a name, I think it's Wetherholt, who also left last night's game with a hamstring injury so I may have to wait a bit to see him.

Shodai

2:27

Last year there were a lot of negative opinions out on Miguel Amaya, did his MLB stint help answer any of those questions for him going forward? Also do you ever randomly wonder what Junior Lake is up to these days? #callback

Keith Law

2:28

Last year, I wrote this: "he could end up the Cubs’ catcher before the year is out as a 20-homer type with some patience and better defense than Willson Contreras offered." Probably too high on the power, but I think the rest is going to turn out to be right.

Steven

2:28

Any thoughts on Jason Benneti moving to Detroit broadcast team?

Keith Law

2:28

He's one of the best. Glad he found a good spot.

Ryan

2:29

Only two years for Crawford? That surprises me because like you said, he has barely pitched. Thanks for the work you do!

Keith Law

2:29

I imagine they'll try to get him 15-20 starts this year for 60-80 innings, then bump him up some more in 2025, and in 2026 hope to get him to the majors - unless they want to make him a straight reliever before that.

Of course that assumes he performs well. Has the stuff, certainly.

Guest

2:31

When talking to people, why do they value prospects over actual MLB talent. One guy told me he likes Jackson Holliday over Bo Bichette…isn’t Bichette Holliday’s peak??

Keith Law

2:31

I think Holliday can be better than Bichette, but how I value the two would depend on the team. Are you trying to win in 2024? You'd rather have Bichette.

2:32

I think Holliday will be better than Bichette, to be clear.

David

2:32

What should the Red Sox starting OF be this year if you had your pick?

Keith Law

2:32

Abreu, Rafaela, Duran, with Yoshida DHing?

Richard

2:33

Excited that we get to see Yainer Diaz catch most days (so long Maldy!). What kind of output do you think is reasonable for him as an everyday guy?

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