JotCast | Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat

Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat - 4/14/2020

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Meg Rowley

2:24

Gotta get the Rangers list out the door first.

2:24

As a pretty introverted person who works (worked, now) from home - the first few weeks of this thing were manageable with some semblance of optimism we’d see any sport by July. Now, gosh has this thing just taken a severe toll on my mental health and place of optimism. But, joblessness certainly doesn’t help with that either.

Meg Rowley

2:25

I'm really very sorry to hear that. I don't know how much of a help it is to hear, but you are not alone in struggling. I do think we'll see some kind of baseball this year, if it helps.

Julian

2:25

Do you think fans will be able to attend games before a vaccine is widely available? I wonder if the 2021 season is in jeopardy if not

Meg Rowley

2:25

I think that will widespread testing, yes, or if we have more successful therapeutic interventions. I think the real question is, what will the appetite for it be?

brad

2:26

if they play 100 games in 2020 for arguments sake, how much do players get paid? how does that affect the luxury tax? I assume they get paid 100/162 times their contract.

Meg Rowley

2:29

It's prorated for the number of games played in that case.

per Passan and Kiley: When determining which teams have exceeded luxury-tax thresholds, the league will base it on what full-season salaries were supposed to be, not prorated salary payment. The taxes paid, however, will be on a prorated basis. And if there is no season, there will be no taxes owed, implying every team would reset to the lowest competitive balance tax threshold.

2:29

Hi Meg, thanks for chatting! 3 related questions for you: Do you think the Red Sox investigation was completed, or still ongoing and suspended? If there is a 2020 season, when would be the right time to announce the results? Does the timing of that announcement depend on whether or not they are found guilty?

Meg Rowley

2:31

Yes, it appears so, based on the league's response to court cases that allude to the results. Give it to us now? Right now? Let my baseball site talk about it right now? And no, I don't think so.

Big League Choo

2:31

How about every other inning the batters must run the bases clockwise? This isn't NASCAR, these are athletes that can handle right turns! Would make fielding more interesting too with infielder handedness.

Meg Rowley

2:31

I think we can keep a lot of normal baseball intact. I think it is important to do that.

2:31

Thanks for all you guys do!

Meg Rowley

2:31

Thank you so much for reading!

Jeff

2:32

Hi Meg, thanks for the chat. Is there a timeline for when teams, particularly Tampa and Oakland right now, will get their free relief stadiums?

Meg Rowley

2:33

Unsure what the current state of affairs is for Tampa. Oakland was conducting an environmental impact assessment on the proposed ballpark site. But I'd imagine all of that is on hold at the moment.

Faithless Friar

2:34

Which current contenders do you think will be sellers within a year or two?

brad

2:36

any word on a star player possibly refusing to play a season in Arizona separated from his family especially if they have a baby, like a Trout or Harper star level player? Roman reigns refused to participate in the main event at WrestleMania...

Meg Rowley

2:38

No. The time spent away from family is absolutely a consideration (though it's probably worth noting that a lot of international players deal with that under normal circumstances), but I haven't heard anything like that.

2:39

Given how quickly things are changing, and how far from final these "plans" are, it is hardly a surprise.

BarryBondsJuicedForOurSins

2:40

I appreciate everyone's desire for baseball and don't mean to be Debbie Downer, but there's not going to be any baseball this year, especially in Florida. Just look at the response of the federal government and Florida government. It's been (gestures wildly) not great, Bob.

Meg Rowley

2:40

I think everyone acknowledges the challenges - I also think they have to try to find something workable.

Rich

2:40

Hi Meg. Do you think the Arizona-only plan or the Arizona-Florida plan is more likely to be adopted by MLB and the players' union (assuming they adopt one or the other, of course)?

Meg Rowley

2:41

I think the Arizona-Florida plan is more workable, despite the distances between facilitates, because it puts less pressure on facilities like Chase, and allows for a much more workable broadcast schedule.

HappyFunBall

2:41

Given the general lack of sports content at the moment, I think the LAST thing MLB wants to do is release the Red Sox report. Maybe they'll use the NFL draft as media cover, or maybe we just never see it.

Meg Rowley

2:42

I know what they want, I'm saying what I, the managing editor of FanGraphs dot com wants. (The commissioner did commit to releasing the report, so we'll get it eventually.)

Derek Smalls

2:43

Do you know if MLB is talking to other sports, like say the PGA? IMO golf should be the easiest to reboot...except for the travel, both to different locales and the international makeup of the participants--so maybe not so easy. But I still think we'd see golf before baseball. Also, I can't believe any sport wants to be first one back, money be damned. Though maybe I'm underestimating the money factor. Thoughts?

Meg Rowley

2:43

I think the travel is a much greater barrier than you're giving it credit for.

2:44

Also, while they certainly want to be safe, I think if they're within spitting distance of that, baseball would love to be the first sport back. I

imagine they all would.

2:44

How is Fangraphs doing?

Meg Rowley

2:45

The response to our initial request for membership was incredible, and the support since has been wonderful. We are so grateful for this community.

That said, we still have some pretty ambitious membership goals.

2:46

We know this is a crummy time to ask for help, but we don't know when baseball will be back or what the advertising landscape will look like when it does.

Chochoclate milk mustache

2:46

What is your preferred type of milk?

Meg Rowley

2:46

I take half and half in my coffee and then whatever the recipe calls for when cooking?

The Masked Dancer

2:47

You obviously can't play games while maintaining social distancing. Batters/catchers, holding runners on 1B, players in the field going after a fly ball, etc. But if you somehow could, what would a final-out World Series celebration look like on the field? Would all players and staff spread out all over the field and start dancing?

Meg Rowley

2:47

I hope so!

2:48

I love the idea of them choreographing something in advance, and then getting to see how that choreography holds up given the emotion of the moment.

Faithless Friar

2:48

This was posted without a response:Which current contenders do you think will be sellers within a year or two?

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