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Mark P
5:13
The weekend chat is upon us, let's dive into some questions!
Guest
5:14
What do you think about Roderick arias
Mark P
5:14
By all accounts, seems like a very solid player.  You can never tell with a player so young, but he certainly looks like a good future prospect for the Bombers
Tiger Fan
5:15
So glad the Tiger review is up! What do you do to get them into the 84-87 win range?
Mark P
5:17
Right now, I wonder if Detroit might be able to snag 84 wins based on the improvements they've already made, and the relative weakness of their division.  The Tigers did win 77 games last year, after all.  

But in general, they could definitely use another solid pitcher for the rotation.  Their outfield could also need another proven bat, just to guard against Greene (or Torkelson in the bigger lineup picture) not being good right away.  And, if Baddoo has a sophomore slump
Guest
5:17
I used to hate the DH, but now I am warming up to the idea of a NL DH full-time. What is your opinion of the DH in the NL and has your opinion changed at all as well?
Mark P
5:18
I grew up a fan of an AL team, so I'm quite used to the DH and generally prefer it to having the pitcher hit.  That said, I can certainly understand why NL fans would prefer the traditional style of play, and my answer might well differ if I'd grown up a fan of the Pirates, Phillies, Reds, etc. instead of the Blue Jays.
5:19
I think for a lot of NL fans, actually seeing the DH in their lineups in 2020 was the icebreaker needed to get them used to the idea.  And for some fans, I'll bet they liked having more room for a quality bat in their team's lineup
Whosurred
5:20
Wouldn't have just extended the existing CBA for another year been the smart move? Especially for the fans? the game?
Mark P
5:20
Why would the players agree to a one-year extension of a deal they feel is blatantly tilted against them?
Cardinal fan
5:21
Do we have “enough” pitching. I know you never have enough
Mark P
5:22
Then, you already know my answer!  The Cardinals are relying on a lot of pitchers who were either not great or were injured in 2021, and their ace could suddenly decline due to age alone.  Getting Matz is a good move to help solidify the rotation, and if Liberatore is ready to roll, that will be a further boost in-season
5:23
Shorter answer: if everyone is healthy, then sure, they have "enough." But injuries are inevitable.
Die Hard White Sox Fan
5:24
What do you think of a Kimbrell for DeJong trade? He can play 2nd base and has good defense plus St. Louis can use bullpen help
Mark P
5:25
This one would be an interesting fit in terms of pure needs, but it's a big salary bump for the Cards in terms of just 2022 payroll.  Moving DeJong would seem to imply that STL is either very keen on Sosa/Edman at shortstop going forward (and having Gorman for 2B), or they have another shortstop acquisition in mind.
5:26
The Cards' bullpen is also good enough that they might feel they can just sign or acquire some other reliever who might not have Kimbrel's ceiling, but could be had for much less of a cost
BerthaPalmer
5:26
Are the Red Sox going to stay under the luxury tax or make some moves and go over it? Or are they going to rework contracts for Xander and Devers and make their big moves next year?
Mark P
5:28
It depends on what becomes of the tax in the next CBA, but the Red Sox seem to be taking the position that they'll only exceed the tax line every once in a while, or under special circumstances.  Basically, they always want to retain the ability to quickly pivot back under the tax line (and avoid their repeater penalty).

Adding both Devers and Bogaerts on major extensions would make it harder to achieve that goal, and yet for a team with Boston's resources, it shouldn't be that difficult.  Plus, JD Martinez is coming off the books after 2022, creating more payroll flexibility
Alex R
5:30
Why would a team not spend their international pool $$? Seems like one of the cheapest avenues to landing talented youngsters and if a team doesn’t spend it to “save money”, it just screams we don’t wanna compete.
Mark P
5:31
Pretty much every team does spend its pool, unless they feel that trading a $500K increment to accommodate another trade is better to help a team win now (or gets them a player closer to the majors).

The Orioles were the only team that went out of their way to avoid the int'l market, but that has changed under Mike Elias
Bartolo Colon
5:32
What, in your opinion, is the greatest home run of all time?
Mark P
5:32
As a Blue Jays fan, I'm naturally partial to Joe Carter's WS-winning walkoff
Derek Falvey
5:33
Any chance Kris Bryant is my starting left fielder this year? Is he going to be interested in a 2-3 year deal?
Mark P
5:34
(Falvey = Twins chief baseball officer)

Bryant isn't going to take that short a deal unless his market totally collapses, or unless it's one of those Scott Boras "swellopt" deals with options on either side.  Furthermore, while the Twins will be opportunistic, I'm not sure they'd necessarily be targeting a Bryant type of player.  A pitcher, sure.
AJ
5:35
Been seeing a lot of Suzuki/Rangers talk here. What percentage likelihood would you give to Suzuki landing with any given team? I think the Red Sox have a good chance at landing him.
Mark P
5:36
It's tough to really forecast Suzuki's market since there haven't been any reports about any preferences he may or may not have about his next team.  We can presume he wants to play for a winner, for a team that can offer him an everyday role, and a team that will offer him a big contract.  Beyond that, however, we don't know if Suzuki wants to play for a team on the West Coast, a team in a specific kind of ballpark, etc.
Jimmy
5:37
Thanks for the chats Mark! There is a lot of talk about the Cards infield prospect Nolan Gorman but they have another infield utility player Brendan Donovan who is better defensively at 2nd and had a 885 OPS at AAA vs Nolan Gorman's 785 at AAA. Gorman likely has the higher upside but Donovan is MLB ready. Why do the later draft picks tend to get overlooked?
Mark P
5:40
Later draft picks generally need to "prove it" to a greater extent than first-rounders, though obviously scouts and evaluators can usually tell pretty quickly if a later-round player is actually a hidden gem.  Given how the Cardinals have consistently produced good minor leaguers through their pipeline, it wouldn't surprise me if Donovan did become a good big leaguer
You are too young
5:40
Bobby Thomson, bill mazoroski and Roy Hobbs all had bigger blasts
Mark P
5:41
  1. Maz, absolutely a good argument to be made
  2. Thomson's homer only won the Giants a pennant, not the World Series
  3. Roy Hobbs shouldn't have been playing, given that his stomach wound was so severe that it was openly bleeding through his uniform.  Also, you know, the whole "fictional character" thing
Luke
5:42
with the lockout, would the MLB draft still happen?
Mark P
5:43
First of all, let's all hope that this lockout doesn't somehow last so long that the amateur draft is affected.  Based on my understanding of the lockout rules, the amateur draft should be able to proceed as per usual since the players involved aren't professionals yet, and would be considered minor leaguers (and not part of the MLBPA) once signed
Kaci
5:43
How long can the Regs let Moose and Geno play if production is similar to last year
Mark P
5:44
The answer would I guess just be to platoon them and hope for the best, though that would be a real disappointment given all of the salary involved.
What cost
5:45
Is there a calculation about how much pr value baseball is losing with the lockout? Seems to me that is there is no buzz there is no buzz.
Mark P
5:45
The fact that it's happening during the offseason mitigates the damage to some extent, but once we get creeping into the territory of Spring Training games (let alone the regular season) being in jeopardy, there will be a lot more public outcry
ER
5:46
Why can’t players still interact with the trainers of organizations if they’re injured?
Mark P
5:48
Apparently they can, except via a third party.  For instance, as per Ken Rosenthal's recent story on Nick Madrigal, Madrigal's trainers and doctors get in touch with the Cubs' medical staff, and then any information is relayed onto Madrigal
So it's a little bit of a case of broken telephone, but probably not all that different than it would be under normal circumstances.
Mr. Creosote
5:49
If MLB adopted a hard salary cap (unlikely, I know), what are the chances that the owners would use the saved money to reduce prices for fans?
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