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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat - 11/20/18
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Meg Rowley
3:13
There are lots of ways to fan, and as long as you aren't making other people feel bad in your fandom, I'm not here to judge. I will speak for myself and say, as a Mariners fan, that I used to feel that way, but don't any longer. I want players to get paid. Teams who pay players are good imo.
Rick
3:13
Wait, you said Harper gets the *LEAST* guaranteed money of the FAs who declined QOs?
Meg Rowley
3:14
Again, clarified this that I misread the question. The most. He'll get the most! So many dollars, indeed, the most dollars of those on that list.
This Author
3:14
How many creative writing MFAs are working at Fangraphs now?
Meg Rowley
3:15
Zero, as far as I know. My master's is in political science. I was in a PhD program, but didn't finish. Like a big ol' drop out.
Brewster
3:15
Given NO team has broken the bank for a competitive advantage and the one team that kind of tried didn't get over the hump and appears to be pulling back, isn't there some circumstantial evidence to suggests teams aren't hiding 8 and 9 figured under their mattresses?
Meg Rowley
3:16
Spending doesn't guarantee you a playoff spot by any means.
But it helps.
3:17
I'd also point out that we don't really know what most teams are capable of in specific terms. Players' salaries are disclosed; team profit isn't, and there aren't a ton of sales that fill in the gaps.
Brewster
3:18
Yes it does, but maybe the top teams are closer to their break-even point than we're quick to assume as distant observers.
Meg Rowley
3:18
Perhaps. The galaxy brain answer to this is, maybe you should have to have the resources to run a payroll if you're going to own a team then.
3:20
There are a lot of ways to construct a competitive roster, and the most reliable is going to be good drafting and player dev. But at some point, teams are likely to have to supplement that with free agents, or offer extensions to young, core pieces.
3:21
I agree that the Rays are in a different spot than the Dodgers. But as I said, I think we ought to push back on, and not take as given, the spending limits of teams.
This Author
3:21
Abandoning a Ph.D program is the surest proof that you possess common sense and reasonable priorities.
Meg Rowley
3:22
I miss grad school a lot sometimes. But the prospect of not being able to control where I lived wasn't worth it to me on balance.
Now I just quote Foucault at length when writing about Ryan Braun.
Brewster
3:23
Us pushing back doesn't seem to be turning any tides. It might be shouting at the rain ... and maybe even in ignorance.
Meg Rowley
3:24
It isn't even about that as much as painting a complete picture, and identifying what we are taken as given to ensure that we are comfortable with those assumptions.
3:26
Perhaps you think the Rays can't afford $100 million on Corbin, or $300 million on Harper. But we know they, along with every baseball org, could pay their minor leaguers a living wage, and choose not to. That is an active decision. What other active decisions are being made, not out of true necessity, but out of preference or in service of profit? You, we, me, may decide we don't object to those preferences, but I think it behooves us as analysts to make sure we know what is what, and which is which.
3:27
On that note, I am bound for more editing!
The site will be dark on Thanksgiving and on Friday, so that we may spend time with our families.
3:28
We'll resume our regular schedule on Monday. Until next time, I hope everyone has a great day and a great Thanksgiving, and my apologies for what I didn't get to.
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