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Jeffrey Todd
3:32
Hi all ... sorry for the scheduling change here. Steve and I decided to switch as he has been sidelined with a bout of food poisoning.
Eric
3:34
Hey Jeff, which of these players will end up in the Hall of Fame when all is said and done: Ryan Braun, Dustin Pedroia, CC Sabathia, Joe Mauer, Prince Fielder
Jeffrey Todd
3:35
Hmmm I would guess CC is likeliest since he turned up at the back end of his career. There are cases for Mauer and maybe Pedroia but the opposite is true there. Not sure I see much of a path for the others.
MLB Draft
3:36
When do you forsee Farhan making his first "significant" trade? (i.e. one of the bullpen/ SP pieces?
Jeffrey Todd
3:36
The Giants are probably not going to be eager to sell early, just since they are already dealing with (relative) fan apathy and some seem to be operating under the impression that there's hope for competitiveness this year.
3:38
So I expect up until early July, they'll be putting outlandish prices on most of these guys. All bets are off thereafter. Maybe that'll change if they end up being buried in the standings. As of now, they have the right pieces for early trades but perhaps aren't positioned for it in the way some other teams with poor immediate outlooks are.
The Show
3:38
Should I be concerned about Vlad?
Jeffrey Todd
3:38
Nah
team friendly players
3:39
Coming from a person who doesn't have the guarantee of making $86 mm in the next four years like Jason Heyward, why don't players like him who took a discount to come to Chicago, opt-out and resign for less? He already has a substantial amount earned and could help build his relationship with the fans in Chicago not to mention maybe help Tom find some of his money.
Jeffrey Todd
3:40
You want him to give the uber-rich Ricketts family money?
To make this fair, let's have the Ricketts agree to contribute 10x of what Heyward gives back, then drop it all from a helicopter over the city of Chicago.
Dave P
3:41
If Giants bring up Williamson, Solano and a pitcher, who gets sent down besides Gerber and Vindette?
Jeffrey Todd
3:42
Kind of feels like Solano is a replacement for Solarte, but I guess we'll see.
curious stat question
3:42
Something I've always wondered is why a RBI groundout counts as an out against a batter, but a sac fly does not. Any insider information on what that is?
Jeffrey Todd
3:43
I'm sure there was a riveting debate in 1909 or whenever they cooked up the rules on this sort of thing. But ... really, it's arbitrary, right? Which is why we tend not to pay much heed to some of the traditional stats. (Batting average still is worth knowing and understanding but needs more context to be illuminating.)
jay
3:44
talk mets - anything positive? i'm depressed so please help
Jeffrey Todd
3:44
In better shape than the Nats? No runaway team in the division?
3:45
It's all still reasonably bunched up in the NL East. I wouldn't lose faith just yet.
Depressed A's Fan
3:45
What in the world do we do with Profar? And has the front office completely botched any hope of Barreto making the jump?
Jeffrey Todd
3:45
Buck up everyone, we're talking about baseball!
3:47
I'm not real sure what they can do but just maintain patience and hope. They kind of have to have the courage of their convictions given the market limitations. So unless they just look at him and think their true talent evaluation has completely changed, gotta keep running him out there for now.
Jeff
3:48
Thoughts on Dallas Keuchel "not settling". Isn't it just the new economics of the game?
Jeffrey Todd
3:49
I read him to be saying, "I get the new economics and still felt I was getting screwed." Hard to assess without knowing details, right? But when we guessed he'd top $80MM, we were doing so knowing full well that he doesn't throw hard (never has of course), lost some of his groundballs, wasn't in top form, etc. We still thought that in this market he was worth a big salary.
3:51
Now I will say that when we did that, we felt he'd get that b/c some team would sort of pinch its nose and pay it, or that an owner would intervene. And we also may just have been a bit high. But I think it goes to show that ... dude, this guy is still a highly valuable asset. Pitchers truly capable of 200 innings of 3.6 ball aren't just sitting around for nothing. Teams still pay for durability and aren't afraid to invest in low-velo guys (see Hendricks, Kyle).
Again, without details on offers, I can't say "he's been screwed" or "he's screwing up." But I can imagine him having a valid complaint if he's getting lowball 2/30 or 1/18 type offers.
Santa Maria!
3:52
Hi Jeff. With all the recent extensions for young players, do you think there will come a day when free agency once again holds more appeal than signing an early extension? Or is this the new status quo?
Jeffrey Todd
3:53
FA is still more desirable, it's just that guys are paying more heed to the risks and seeing less downside. I think there's also a pretty strong undercurrent here: players and agents are afraid of a work stoppage or further degradation in the market for older players. They got a bit spooked and blinked hard.
3:54
I hope for their sake that the MLBPA is working hard on a plan for boosting earnings of young guys and protecting the downside for guys that are considering extensions. They should have ways of improving their bargaining power.
cus
3:55
Is Jacob deGrom the most underrated pitcher of the decade?
Jeffrey Todd
3:55
Who is underrating him? He won the Cy Young Award (as well he should have) despite a masterful season from Scherzer.
Mike Rizzo
3:55
What can I do to improve our depth before we fall too far out?
Jeffrey Todd
3:56
They had depth on the active roster, at least on the position player side. But the injuries have really started to bite into that and most teams only have but so much of it available to call upon.
3:57
Obviously injuries aren't the underlying cause of the malaise, but they have exacerbated things quite a bit of late.
Dale Murphy
3:57
What would the market be for Ender Inciarte?  Seems like the Braves have some options on the bench and down on the farm....
Jeffrey Todd
3:59
He still fits too well as a glove-first, left-handed-hitting CF. Even if you want to give Duvall or Riley a shot, you can't just sort of shrug and dump a player with his background. Odds are he's still a better all-around player than those two right now and he fits the rest of the unit better. I can imagine things progressing to where a deal makes sense, but it seems much likelier as an offseason thing.
4:01
hang tight one moment please ...
4:03
Sorry ... got caught up with getting a post on the site.
4:04
So the Angels just pulled off a line change ... Ohtani, Cozart, Allen all back.
Bye bye Petey Bourjos and Chris Stratton.
David
4:04
Hey Jeff, Tim said he’s does not the OPS stat yesterday and doesn’t necessarily reflect hitters as it just combines two stats. I mean, there’s so many new stats now; which stat do you think is most indicative of how well hitter is?
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