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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat - 6/27/18
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Meg Rowley
12:01
Good morning! As you might have guessed, I am not Kiley. We will return to our regularly scheduled programming next week, but for now, a Wednesday Meg chat!
yojiveself
12:01
imagine if you could start MLB all over again.  No history, no records.  How many games a season do you want?  To me, a 100 game season would be perfect.  Start mid-April, WS in late September.  Thoughts?
Meg Rowley
12:02
Dropping all the way down to 100 feels very drastic. Now you might say, hey, that's because you're used to baseball as it is, and this is meant to be a question about baseball as it should be.
To which I would say, well yeah, but 100 is too few.
I think something in the 150s allows you to skirt some of the really yucky weather on the front end, but keeps October the same.
12:03
There's something about crisp air during playoff baseball I'd be loathe to do. Also, the sample size is nice.
Jeries
12:03
When Paul Spider does a chat, does he have a keyboard for each of his 8 legs or does he just use one?
Meg Rowley
12:04
He has eight legs but just the one brain. At some point, you can't think quickly enough to do all that typing. Even as a spider who knows how to use a computer.
David
12:04
Despite hoping it would go better, I feel pretty good about how the mariners did during their brutal stretch. What do you think?
Meg Rowley
12:04
I think that I could have timed writing about them almost for sure totally making the playoffs a little bit better!
But generally, I agree with you.
12:06
Stretches like that are going to show the issues with the team. There are issues! But their ability to stay afloat and maintain their distance from the next WC contender is why I still think I think they'll be in that WC game.
12:07
I wonder who we'll assign to cover that game? I'd like the Mariners to be in the playoffs for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is just to see what and how much I feel about it.
Georgie
12:07
What are your opinions on what the Rays have been doing? A lot better than what most in media were saying and pitching numbers look impressive last month and a half against brutal schedule.
Meg Rowley
12:08
I think that as a strategy of playing baseball, it has worked better than I thought it would. And if you're a fan who is invested in weird stuff or strategies, you might think this is all very cool! But I also think that we all exist at least a bit on the lunatic fringe of baseball appreciation. So I also worry that this is bummer and a half for a lot of their fans.
Outta my way, Gyorkass
12:08
Brewers at the trade deadline: Big splash, or marginal upgrades, and bank on Jimmy Nelson returning and providing the SP boost they crave?
Meg Rowley
12:09
I could certainly see them making a big move. They have pieces to do it. And they've demonstrated a willingness to do so in the past.
12:10
We have their playoff odds at about 58%. I'd want to tighten up the rotation.
James
12:10
Why doesn't Alex Bregman get more talk? He is on pace for a 6 WAR season and has more walks than strikeouts.
Meg Rowley
12:12
I think it is purely a result of the embarrassment of riches that team has and his relative newness compared to guys like Altuve
But we should talk about him. We should talk about him a lot!
12:13
I think the other thing is that the AL has other very good third basemen. But Bregman is the fourth most valuable 3B in baseball by our WAR.
Bork
12:13
Will Sergio Romo be the next pitcher injured by punching an inanimate object? Dude's a moron.
Meg Rowley
12:14
We would all be happier as people if we were capable of letting petty slights go. The problem is, petty slights are easier to do a little something about than big slights are. So sometimes we fail at doing what is best for us.
2-D
12:14
Is Jose Ramirez going to end up with 40+ jacks this season? He had 13 in 335 minor league games!
Meg Rowley
12:16
There is a compelling argument to be made (which I don't have to make-- congrats Kiley!) that when we do our trade value series that he ought to be at the top.
But yes, he thumps now. He's been thumping. He thumps!
Cool
12:16
The Erie Seawolves recently were promoting a hot dog with a cotton candy bun and Nerds as a condiment. What would Nietzsche have said about this?
Meg Rowley
12:16
That we don't deserve to persist as a species.
Formerly the Smasher
12:17
Comment on how Dayton Moore makes players watch seminars on the evils of porn but is defending Luke Heimlich?
Meg Rowley
12:19
I think that trial balloon went as well as it deserved to. I think for him to falsely claim that this is an issue the family has "dealt with" shows an indifference to Heimlich's victim's experience and wellbeing that Moore should feel very badly about personally.
This isn't the biggest problem with what Moore said, but if I were Jarrod Dyson, I would be pissed as hell that my minor league PED suspension was mentioned in the same conversation as Heimlich's child molestation conviction.
12:20
I would encourage you to read Jeff Passan's piece from today: https://sports.yahoo.com/luke-heimlich-case-one-baseball-teams-pursuit...
It's an excellent example of how to responsibly and compassionately report on a very difficult subject, and is particularly important coming from a man with such a big platform.
Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes
12:21
Having two relievers on the field makes for great GIFs and Fangraphs articles, but yesterday's top of the 9th for the Rays had three pitching changes, which I need to run by Sheryl but I think is outlawed by the Geneva Convention. Should Manfred take away warmup pitches your second time pitching in an inning or is this going to be too infrequent to matter?
Meg Rowley
12:21
I think the time limit we already have for changes is fine, and you are doing a different physical activity.
12:22
I don't think it happens so often as to matter a whole lot.
Vslyke
12:22
The A's went into this season with obvious holes in their rotation, and did... basically nothing. Is that ownership team ever going to spend real money?
Meg Rowley
12:23
In their defense, they did have a few guys they were counting on seeing get hurt. In your defense, yeah, it's annoying. It's amazing how they always seem to hang around. Imagine what they could do if they spent more!
Outta my way, Gyorkass
12:23
Twice this year, we've seen relief pitchers get switched to other positions so as to bring them back onto the mound later in the same inning. Does this have any recent precedent? I can't remember a time I've ever witnessed this happening to begin with, but it's entirely possible I just haven't paid close enough attention.
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