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Klawchat 3/7/19
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Nick
1:44
How many teams are still heavily working in Venezuela? Seems like employees could really be at risk with current events.
Keith Law
1:44
Maybe 6 to 8?
Thomas
1:44
Not a Harper hater by any stretch - the guy has talent and he plays hard. I just can't believe a guy who's been worth 1.5 WAR or less in 3 of his 7 seasons just got a $330M contract.
Keith Law
1:45
Except Fangraphs has him worth quite a bit more, so your premise doesn't hold.
Ben
1:45
Thoughts on the moving-back-the-mound experiment?
Keith Law
1:45
Oh hell no, Karen.
JC
1:45
Klaw, thanks for another chat. I am as frustrated as anyone about the rule for bringing up players, but is there any reason the players union would make this a top priority? The union has only seemed to care about the stars and not the rank and file. Is there a way to connect this issue to the interests of current players so they would fight for it. Kris Bryant seems to be the only one preaching about it.
Keith Law
1:46
Bryant talking about it will help - the union's motivation is that such players would get to free agency (or even arbitration) faster and, because they're likely to be premium players, push the upper bounds even further when they get there. Harper and Machado got to the majors at 19, and both just hit the top end of the all-time salary scale as free agents. That's good for the union as a whole.
Rick
1:46
Oops - hit enter by accident before. Anyhow, maybe I'm in the minority and I couldn't appreciate the "art" of it all, but I thought Roma was horrid to the point where I couldn't even finish watching it. Not that I was a fan of Green Book but those calling it the worst BP winner in recent memory apparently didn't see last year's winner which may be the worst movie ever made.  I'd rather suffer through another Avengers movie with my 7 year old than watch that garbage.
Keith Law
1:47
The Shape of Water was the worst movie ever made? Wow. I didn't have it at 1 - that was The Florida Project, which didn't get a nomination - but I thought it was good, beautifully shot, with a dumb antagonist, and a great lead performance by Hawkins.
Eric
1:47
My 3 yr old son loves cooking with me and my wife. When did you get your daughter involved in cooking with you, how did you keep her interested and what tasks are best as they are this young?
Keith Law
1:48
At 3 she was just sort of standing nearby, making kneading dough or something simple like that. Now when she wants to help she can man the stove - she'll do anything but cut or chop, really.
Danny
1:48
Do you listen to the Arctic Monkeys and if so, what albums would you recommend?
Keith Law
1:48
Yes. Whatever You Say I Am ... and AM are my favorites.
Adam
1:48
What have you seen in Braxton Davidson? Anything stand out that he needs to change? Power and recognition seem to be positives.
Keith Law
1:48
Recognition is a negative. Also seen velocity eat him up in the zone.
Jared
1:48
Do you think Jimmy Nelson can get back to his 2017 form?
Keith Law
1:49
I do not have any inside info on him at all, but I would generally bet against guys who have shoulder surgery regaining their old form. A few will, the majority will not.
Mike
1:49
I have been trying to make the point to some friends on the right that we are already have socialism in our country in that we are not pure capitalist by definition.  Programs like unemployment insurance, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. are by definition socialist policies.  In a pure capitalist society it’s every man for himself.  Why doesn’t the left stand up to the nonsense political messaging the right is clearly setting up for the 2020 campaign?
Keith Law
1:50
We are not pure capitalist - no country is - and nobody in the popular sphere is proposing pure socialism. People are proposing a stronger social safety net, which does not require any government ownership of industry. But if you say "socialism" 30% of the country will use the flag as a loincloth and vote for you.
Steve L.
1:50
Why can't  both parties admit that what Omar has stated is anti-Semitic yet there is an underlying point that is worth discussing? Or is this just grandstanding to each parties base?
Keith Law
1:51
What she stated was not anti-Semitic; what she stated was anti-Netanyahu, and perhaps anti-Israel, but Israel the nation-state is not Judaism the faith.
Dylan
1:51
Guy I know told me with a 100 percent straight face that he doesn't get the flu shot because it gives him the flu. Instead, the vaccinate himself against the flu, he eats expired leftover meats, which helps his immune system. I kind of just backed away slowly to avoid whatever super germs he was carrying. I know people are scared of the big science words that are in vaccines but this was a new level of bonkers.
Keith Law
1:51
Yeah, he's not very bright.
Mac
1:51
Will you be seeing Priester this spring? If so, he’s only going 1-2 innings until May.
Keith Law
1:51
He's on the list of guys I'd like to see, but I was unlikely to see him until late April or early May because it's cold.
Tom
1:51
Would you put Jake Lamb or Christian Walker at first this year?
Keith Law
1:52
Lamb. Never thought of Walker as anything more than a bench piece.
Stats
1:52
wRC+ or OPS+?
Keith Law
1:52
wRC+ is better, in my opinion.
Daniel
1:52
Can we not call people illegal aliens? I mean many of these people are asylum seekers fleeing violence that is in a large part due to US Foreign Policy.
Keith Law
1:53
The term is meant to demean them by 'othering' these immigrants - they're not humans, they're aliens! Just like in that Genesis video. (Don't watch it. Really.)
Chris
1:53
Hi Keith, what can we expect from Jack Flaherty this year? He struck out a ton of guys last year and has looked good this spring (though that can mean nothing) but can we expect him to really take a step forward on his peripheral stats?
Keith Law
1:54
I may have missed a step here - is there an expectation he'll take a step forward? I think last year was great, kind of what I thought he'd be a year or two down the road, so I'm not projecting improvement.
Jon
1:54
Keith, thoughts on Cabello please? I'm reading a 55 hit tool with 50 PWR and 60 SPD, but not sure I'm sold on that. Thank you.
Keith Law
1:54
Happy to try to answer questions like this but if the surname is common I need a first name.
Tony
1:54
Klaw, no question but just wanted to say that in 2018 I cancelled all my subs in an effort to see what I really needed.  Here we are in March 2019 and the only one I've gone back to is ESPN+ to read your work.  So tell your boss you're more valuable than Netflix or Amazon Prime to at least one person.  Thank you!
Keith Law
1:54
Wait till you see my one-man rendition of In Search of Lost Time.
(Two Proust references in one Klawchat!)
Matt
1:54
RE: Jerry's question about small government, free market conservatives -  we still exist, we just are no longer republicans.  Socially we have long agreed with the democrats.  Now, everything we disagreed with the democrats doing economically the republicans are championing.
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