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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat - 2/24/2021
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Meg Rowley
4:01
Hi everyone, and welcome to the chat - thanks for hanging out and for tolerating my absence last week during Prospects Week.
Let's get started.
LLW
4:01
You are given ten pills, each of which will increase the baseball talent of the person taking it by 1 win over the course of the 2021 season. Do you allocate all ten to Mike Trout so we get to watch the greatest offensive season of all time, spread them out among guys you like who are struggling, or something other strategy?
Meg Rowley
4:02
What if I gave one to Mike Trout and the remaining nine to the Angels rotation, so that we see both Even Better Trout and Even Better Trout in October.
My other answers involve Nolan Arenado and Francisco Lindor, but they are overly mean, so let's stick with the thing everyone actually wants.
Jeremy
4:04
Thoughts on Kelenic's open dissatisfaction? I think he has every right to be upset, but shouldn't he have to prove it in Spring Training first before saying he belongs on the team?
Meg Rowley
4:06
I can't begrudge him for saying that he thinks he belongs on the Opening Day roster when the team basically granted that premise and would have had him up if he had agreed to an extension that almost certainly would have been in the team's favor.
4:07
The Mariners shifted the terms of this discussion, not Kelenic.
4:10
There are prospect folks who think he could use a little time. Others think he's ready now (I'm of that same mind). Absent an admission of service time nonsense, that would have been the issue in question, and I think despite his obvious skill that Seattle could have gotten away with keeping him down for a bit. But Mather said both that he would be up in April and that he wouldn't be up right away. That if the team had had a COVID outbreak that his clock wouldn't have been started even though they lacked other players to fill in the gaps. That the team offered him an extension, but he turned it down to bet on himself.
Moose_Bolton
4:10
Hi Meg. I loved hearing Luis Scott-Vargas on Fangraphs Audio last week. Two of my favorite things in one podcast. I'm hoping to tell Eric as well on Friday how great that interview was. Can you give any insight into any other potential upcoming guests that might be a bit unexpected like LSV was for me?
Meg Rowley
4:11
I'm so glad you liked it! As someone who started learning to play MTG during quarantine (I'm just really deeply cool), I thought it was really great, too. No one quite like LSV comes to mind, but we're always happy to hear suggestions for FG Audio if there's someone listeners think we should be talking to.
Interested Reader
4:11
Has FanGraphs hired a FanGraphs writer from the January 27, 2021 job posting?
Meg Rowley
4:13
We aren't quite done reviewing resumes. We really appreciate everyone's patience as we've navigated a big server migration and Prospects Week. We're hoping to update everyone on where they are in the process soon.
Benintendi
4:13
How do you feel about Fangraphs taking such a political left turn in recent years?
Meg Rowley
4:18
I don't grant the premise of your question. If what you mean (in my experience, this is what folks mean when they level this charge) is that the site, like sports media more broadly is trying to grapple with where baseball and society overlap and influence one another, and that we've more critically engaged with the claims of ownership on the economic side, I think that's true, though as you note, it's not a new phenomena. Culturally, I think we've come to understand that that stuff isn't distinct from the game; indeed, it is impossible to imagine the game without it. We famously live in a society! There's plenty of bread and butter stats analysis on the site, and I'm really proud of the work we do there, just like I'm proud of the work that taking a more expansive view of what is baseball allows for.
Cherington
4:18
Could it be beneficial for the Mariners to swap some prospects after for a fresh start? What would it take for me to acquire a vexed Kelenic or Rodriguez?
Meg Rowley
4:20
What it normally would: a whole lot. Nothing about their value to the organization, or on the trade market, has changed.
BringBackDeSpanielHair
4:20
Please tell me I can survive till they start showing spring training games!
Meg Rowley
4:21
May I interest you in some college baseball?
Jarred Kelenic
4:22
If I’m not on the opening day roster, how good are my chances if I file a grievance against the Mariners?
Meg Rowley
4:25
This remains a difficult question. I have to think the candor with which Mather spoke, and the combination of his comments about the team's top prospects not coming up regardless of the circumstances on the active roster with Kelenic's refusal to take an extension that almost certainly would have cleared those issues up is pretty compelling. I'm still inclined to think he won't prevail - not because he shouldn't but because even Bryant didn't, but this is the loudest an exec has said the quiet part, so maybe.
Bill
4:25
Does JBJ lower his demand to two years only, thereby perhaps getting some offers from Houston or Boston? Can’t see Astros sticking with Straw as their CF, can you?
Meg Rowley
4:27
I'd imagine he and his reps are waiting for a camp injury or two to move the market, or as you suggest, someone to really falter. I still can't believe the Mets are satisfied with their outfield configuration.
Mather's Mistake
4:29
Meg Rowley for Mariners CEO? 🤔
Meg Rowley
4:29
I am not qualified to do that job.
Bill
4:29
Are Addison Russel and Roberto Osuna effectively bring blackballed by MLB (to quote Seinfeld “not that there’s anything wrong with that”)?
Meg Rowley
4:33
I think Addison Russell wasn't all that good in the KBO and has long had an underwhelming bat, so you're banking on his defense to carry him, which is probably less appealing at 27 and a position that has better options. There are baseball reasons to go "eh" and that's before you get to his history off the field. Osuna's elbow caused him to be shut down in August and the initial recommendation was TJ, though I think there was a second opinion, and I'm not sure where he stands now.
4:34
Which is likely enough for teams who don't want to bring him into their clubhouse to say no thanks.
resumeman
4:34
Any idea if/when we'll get the usual fantasy summaries on player pages this year? And can you confirm if you'll be hosting SaberSim again? Thanks for a great website
Meg Rowley
4:35
My understanding is no fantasy summaries, but that we'll likely have SaberSim again (Appelman is confirming). Thanks for reading!
GenericDodgerFan
4:35
Meg! Hope you and Ben discuss the Mather sitch on Effectively Wild
Meg Rowley
Space Ghost
4:35
How upset are other owners/presidents/CEOs about what happened with Seattle?
Meg Rowley
4:36
I'd imagine very - not because they take such different approaches in their own orgs but because they're gearing up for a contentious CBA negotiation and now there's this out there.
matt
4:36
Are the Mariners upset about what Mathers said or the fact that people heard it? Did he really just say the quiet part loud?
Meg Rowley
4:37
It very much depends who you ask. I imagine the ownership group is mostly peeved he said the quiet part out loud. I think a lot of folks who work for the org and really want the team to win and its players to succeed and be treated with dignity view what he said as genuinely offensive and disheartening.
Lukas
4:38
What are the chances that the NL has a DH This year?
Meg Rowley
4:38
Well I assigned myself the DH blurbs for positional power rankings since there are only 15 of them, so at least 90%
(I don't think they will)
Halo fan
4:39
It's hard to believe the Callaway investigation is still ongoing.  Seems very possible that it ruled in his favor, hence the silence.  Is it just a matter of him either resigning or getting fired, or are the Angels in a tough spot if it did rule in his favor?
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