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Joe

4:12

BBREF the baseline is 48 wins (https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/war_explained.shtml), so similar to Fangraphs.

Jeffrey Todd

4:12

In reference to above re replacement level.

Travis

4:13

Is 'Let's kill all the lawyers' really your mother?

Jeffrey Todd

4:13

No, only b/c we have already had that conversation many times so she doesn't need to ask.

AngelsFan

4:13

Why don't the angels spend money on the rotation? And to put more talent around Trout. What are they waiting for?

Jeffrey Todd

4:15

I don't know ... Arte Moreno (owner) said this winter that he always sets a budget and then ends up authorizing spending a bit higher than what was in the budget. They did add two veterans for at least reasonably significant salaries. Obviously didn't want to commit too much in terms of years. It's a tough situation, b/c you can see why they are doing it this way with so much invested in other areas, but it's also obviously frustrated to see the same story year after year.

4:16

It seemed reasonable to go ahead and add Harvey and (especially) Cahill at those prices, but ... why didn't they go after a bigger pitcher - Keuchel??? Maybe they'd point back to spending on Upton and Cozart last year, but you could argue that they should've chased pitching instead.

Mike White

4:17

It is only a matter of time before the Red Sox return to their winning ways. Agree or disagree?

Jeffrey Todd

4:18

Yes, in that I expect them to be better than .500 the rest of the way. But getting out of that hole in that division will be a challenge, given some of the issues that have popped up.

Bartolo

4:18

It's over, isn't it??

Jeffrey Todd

4:19

You know damn well Bartolo is coming back and trying to pitch at age 50.

It would be awesome if he reemerged with a beach body pumping 95

DONUTS

4:22

How did you pay for law school? If you're working solely at MLBTR, I'm assuming no student loans.

Jeffrey Todd

4:22

I paid for it all myself ... 5 years at a law firm and no profligate spending. First priority was knocking out the loans!

Aggressively mediocere

4:23

The Reds should pull an try an albies style extension on senzel while they still can

Jeffrey Todd

4:23

But he banked a big signing bonus in the draft, so probably doesn't need to settle.

Shaps

4:23

Not one question about when Vlady is called up?

Jeffrey Todd

4:24

There were questions. I bypassed them. Fact is, they already decided to take the PR hit. The team isn't going to win this year. So ... really just a question whether they go ahead and do it early or really drag things out to keep him from Super Two eligibility in the future.

BravesBull

4:24

Must not have seen Sobotka today....

Jeffrey Todd

4:25

I was joking and referencing the company line we keep hearing from the Braves/Braves reporters.

Cashman

4:25

How high is the asking price for MadBum going to be in July?

Jeffrey Todd

4:25

It'll probably be an auction, not a situation where they set a price and hold him if it's not met. Pending free agent and it's hard to see it making sense to extend him.

4:26

Gotta head out here shortly ...

wfgodot

4:27

On a scale of one to ten, with one being an ordinary Golden Girls half-hour with Rue McClanahan and ten being Ophelia's use of the word in her over-the-top floral discourse in Hamlet, how much will the Cardinals come to rue moving OFs Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty (and getting little in return)?

Jeffrey Todd

4:27

I don't think I understand this but if you are implying anything negative about the Golden Girls then PLEASE LEAVE THIS CHAT NOW

4:29

Thing about the Cards is they have so many solid players always filtering up ... hard to see Piscotty as an irreplaceable guy and I guess I can see how they tired of Pham. But I think Pham is more likely to make it hurt. And all that reasoning makes it harder to understand why they spent so much on Dexter Fowler.

Ugh

4:30

Why do so many writers keep ignoring the fact that the Angels were in on Corbin, Eovaldi, Robertson, and Britton? The, "should have gone after someone bigger" is so lazy.

Jeffrey Todd

4:31

Yeah but "in on" doesn't necessarily mean they were a remotely competitive bidder. How much did they offer Corbin? They weren't even one of the 3 finalists.

4:33

Look, there's validity to what you're saying. But the fact is that they didnt get it done. In some cases, you do have to go beyond your valuation to sign a guy. I didn't say they were necessarily wrong here, just stated that I understand why there's frustration and can see arguments for why they should have stretched on pitching.

Dave

4:33

You mentioned that Soroka pretty much is already a permanent member of Atlanta’s rotation Folty,Teheran,Gausman,Fried,Touki and Soroka. That’s six. If Soroka stays when Folty comes back then who goes? Thanks.

Jeffrey Todd

4:35

What I mean is that he has a full opportunity to just grab that spot and keep it. But as I said, they're going to probably hold back his innings regardless. The point is that there's really no such thing as a permanent staff member with the way they are running things. They'll be swapping guys out all year long ... the older guys would be at risk except they can't be moved off the active roster unless they are hurt.

4:37

I realize I'm kind of writing in circles on this point now ... it's just, the whole approach the Braves are taking to the non-veteran portion of their rotation is sort of outside the usual experience. I think the plan is just to mix and match as circumstances dictate. Soroka is very good and is in the majors. So long as he stays good and is healthy he should remain there ... probably moreso than Touki. And though Fried has certainly earned some leash and has been really really impressive, he's not ironclad either.

4:38

Innings will also be an issue for Fried, fwiw.

4:38

Would I rather trade for a relief guy or give Kimbrel 3/$40

Jeffrey Todd

4:39

In some respects that's a false question because there isn't necessarily a reliever of that quality available. But it's a valid consideration, too, in that they could prefer a) to keep the draft pick and b) not to commit long-term, preferring instead to give up some of their volume of upper-level players (who come with 40-man roster pressures).

Super fan

4:40

If there is a MLB team you are least familiar with, which one would it be?

Jeffrey Todd

4:41

Probably the Marlins b/c have you seen their current roster? Or the Twins b/c I just assume Steve has them covered.

Geoffrey Todd

4:41

Did you like the Heyward signing at the time it was offered?

Jeffrey Todd

4:41

Yes, I did.