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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat - 1/29/18
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Meg Rowley
2:00
Hello, and welcome to the chat!
Well-Beered Englishman
2:00
If every team in the MLB offered you identical $300M contracts, which team/city would you choose, and why?
Meg Rowley
2:02
The following represents a list of places I personally would not mind living. It is not a list meant to denigrate any other city, or your preferences for them. But:
2:03
1) Seattle 2) Denver 3) San Diego 4) Phoenix
Gaslamp Gary
2:03
How much of an upgrade at 3B would Moustaksa be compared to Machado? I  mean, either one would be an obvious upgrade. But is Mous THAT much worse, considering the price?
Meg Rowley
2:06
These projections are early (they don't yet fold in ZiPS) but Machado is projected for 5.1 wins; Moustakas is projected for 2.7. Kiley's estimated AAV for Machado was $31 million; Moustakas was $22. Granted, that deal would be much shorter, but you know who would be a really big help on a very good, young Padres team? Manny Machado.
James
2:07
Would you agree that the Angels will not be making the playoffs if they are counting on Pujols contributing anything significant this year (above 0 WAR)?
Meg Rowley
2:07
I feel less sure of their pitching. The Pujol situation is not good, but honestly, I don't think that is the thing that does them in.
Jordan (South Dakota)
2:08
I'm sitting here waiting for Bryce and Manny to sign. What's more likely to happen first? Both sign, or the Twins add Wander Javier to the 40 man? The Twins can't be lost forever wandering the frozen midwest here. The answer is in the system!
Meg Rowley
2:09
I think Machado goes before Harper, and I remain thoroughly indifferent to Wander Javier, though I wish him well as a human person.
thebearproofsuit
2:09
Does Roy Halladay's first ballot election give any hope to Felix Hernandez's HOF chances?  There's still a chance, right?   I could imagine him getting in through a veterans committee.  Then again, I could see Todd Zeile getting in through a veterans committee....
Meg Rowley
2:11
I think we shouldn't discount the very circumstances that surrounded Halladay's election. Which isn't to say that he isn't worthy of the Hall. To get at the heart of your question, I think he is a really interesting test case for how the modern starter profile is and needs to evolve. Sadly, I also think he is an increasingly less useful comp to Felix, who really needs to regain some ground, shifting standards or no.
Corey Seager
2:11
How concerned are you about me offensively and defensively? Was 2016 my peak?
Meg Rowley
2:12
A little, but not in a way I expect will persist past spring, and a little, but mostly because I think you are likely to move off short at some point, though I think that more because of how your lateral quickness is likely to age than because I am concerned about the injuries lingering.
Corey is really good, and I expect him to be again.
Bigredlives
2:12
The M’s need another catcher right? Who is left? Do they get one through FA, or trade, or waivers?
Meg Rowley
2:14
I would not be comfortable going with Narváez and Freitas' defense, but also, what does it really matter this year? I imagine they'll be opportunistic (it is Jerry after all) but at least publicly, they've indicated another bullpen move is likely more forthcoming.
2-D
2:14
The Indians and Marlins have made two trades in the Marlins' existence. Purely coincidental I'm sure but I want to believe it's tied into Major League somehow.
Meg Rowley
2:15
This is one of those fun things that is impossible to prove and does no harm to believe, so run wild with it, I think.
AAR
2:15
Do you prefer 1 or 2 spaces after ending a sentence?  What about a colon?
Meg Rowley
2:16
There should be one space after either. We mostly don't use monospaced fonts or typewriters anymore.
Sam Miller once said that every two-spacer will accidentally slip a three-spaced sentence into every draft, and like most things, he was absolutely write.
Junior
2:17
Do you think the Marlins are leaking trade details to the media as a negotiating tactic?  There seems to be much more rumor activity when the Marlins are involved.
Meg Rowley
2:17
I know there is some variation across front offices-- there are orgs that really don't leak much, but the Marlins don't strike me as particularly aggressive on that score. I think it is likely mostly a function of them having this very good, intriguing player they've been trying to trade for an age.
Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes
2:18
The O's top prospect is...a just-drafted prep lefty whose name is "DL"? Please tell Eric and Kiley that subtlety is important in humor.
Meg Rowley
2:18
Sometimes life gives us little presents.
Rox Fan
2:18
Daniel Murphy can't actually be the lone move of the winter for the Rockies, can he...?
Meg Rowley
2:18
They remain just one of the most confusing organizations in baseball.
Truly confounding at times.
Gaslamp Gary
2:19
Meg, I live in Olympia, WA, in Mariners country but I am also a Padres fan (native San Diegan). Is there a way I can restart my baseball fandom? I think I did it wrong...
Meg Rowley
2:19
You are always free to root for whichever team brings you joy, however you define it. Life is too short to not enjoy things, although sometimes baseball offers us a low-stakes way to feel sad about stuff.
Curlin
2:20
Any idea when Kikuchi will be added to player pages, depth charts, etc?
Meg Rowley
2:20
It should be soon- there is a specific bit of info necessary from this process. We're on it, and appreciate your patience.
Nicholas Strauss
2:21
In Cincinnati in the late 60s and early 70s players like Benc  and Rose insisted that money for pre-and post game shows be shared equally among all the players not just stars.  Players who are unlikely to appear on the show often if at all shared and the money awarded for appearing on the pre-and post game show.

Why don’t current players try to do something along the same lines for the minor-league players?
Meg Rowley
2:23
I think we are seeing more major leaguers come around on this issue, and give voice to the plight of minor leaguers. I think it's also useful and important to distinguish between players as individuals with views and opinions and sympathies, and players as a bargaining unit. Minor leaguers aren't in the union, but have at times been leveraged to secure benefits for union members. I think the union is likely (hopefully?) more clear eyed about how good (both strategically and morally) of a strategy that is.
Anthony
2:24
Minor-league pay is a travesty and a borderline human rights concern, so I completely understand the attention devoted to that. I don't get why I should care how MLB players and owners distribute revenues, though, since everybody involved is extremely well-off. Why does it matter if it's 56-44, 50-50, or 44-56?
Meg Rowley
2:28
For one thing, that split represents a tremendous amount of money. These are not trivial differences. For another, they are related concerns. Think about the avenues players have to make money now. There is a hard cap on international spending. Domestic players enter a draft, and are unable to have all 30 teams bid for their services. In the minors, most aren't paid a living wage. Teams regularly employ tactics to maintain additional years of control. And when they promoted, their salaries are kept low for years, irrespective of their actual contributions on the field. And unless players hit the market quite early, teams are increasingly unwilling to balance out those suppressed earnings in free agency.
2:29
I don't think anyone is wrong to say that there is a great moral urgency to the plight of minor leaguers, but I think it misunderstands the issue to decouple them from one another.
Join me, friends, in being mad about a bunch of stuff at once!
More than just a Gift Basket
2:29
Which is worse for baseball in your opinion- big/biggish market teams not making a push for Harper/Machado, or "smaller market" teams like Miami keeping payroll well under $90 million? Feels like we hear a lot more about the former, but the latter seems as bad or worse to me.
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