You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
The Scorecrow MLB Chat - Smith Brickner
powered byJotCast
Smith Brickner
1:00
HELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO FRIENDS
I'll let some questions filter in, then we can get right into it
Murph
1:03
Who won the 2018 World Series?
Smith Brickner
1:03
Ugh
DBacks Fan
1:03
How likely is a Zack Greinke trade this season?
Smith Brickner
1:04
45%-ish. Word is, he has zero desire to be traded. He can veto a trade to half the teams in the league, has a huge salary, and is in his mid-30's. Arizona would need to eat a huge portion of his salary to get the conversation going
Peter S
1:05
Are you going to Spring Training?
Smith Brickner
1:05
Unfortunately, no
#CollegeStudentProblems
scouting guy
1:05
Is there anywhere scouts could probably assess more?
Smith Brickner
1:07
JUCO colleges and Asian leagues stand out as the largest markets to find hidden gems. I know some teams have focused extra resources in these areas for a couple of years now.
EBaker
1:08
Why are Nola and Severino selling themselves short with these extensions?
Smith Brickner
1:10
Perhaps, but consider this: both are young players right now. In signing these extensions, they get some security in $40-50 million deals, with the opportunity to make future money in free agency. Regardless of how talented you are, the future can be a scary place, particularly for flamethrowers like Sevy. It's hard to pass up that kind of money given those circumstances.
1:11
Having said that, I would've thought Nola could get *way* more than what he did. But all power to him for landing a life-altering contract. No player has an identical thought process to another player.
MarlinsManJr
1:12
You touched on Monte Harrison in one of your previous articles. Regarding his k%, is it an approach issue, or is his swing flawed?
Smith Brickner
1:17
You could say it's a combo of the two. He's got a really long swing and hasn't made the necessary adjustments in a few years, now. He's made zero progress in identifying breaking balls, too.
mike
1:18
any chance phils get both harper and machado?
Smith Brickner
1:18
Uhhhhhhh no
1:19
Well, maybe a .5% chance. Can't rule anything out with Middleton
1:21
It would really limit their flexibility in future years. As we've seen in recent years, flexibility on the field and in the payroll is huge
Hater of Hader
1:22
I just can’t wait for Albert Pujols to hit .305/.410/.560 this season and make everyone feel stupid for discounting him
Smith Brickner
1:23
Don't forget Chris Davis!
Guy at Work
1:23
Any prospect not in the top 50 that could make a big jump this year?
Smith Brickner
1:24
Jose Suarez of the Angels stands out. Anywhere from 75-110 in major publications, really good year last year. Athletic, chance for 3 average-or-better pitches, plus command.... lots to like
blahhhhh
1:24
How important is spin rate in evaluating a pitcher in the minors?
Smith Brickner
1:25
The industry has clearly placed a large emphasis on it as pitch tracking technology has evolved. But it doesn't tell the whole story...
1:26
Take Ian Anderson, for example. I was reading somewhere that he had some of the lowest spin rates ever on a curveball, yet it still flashes above-average.
1:27
I guess what I'm trying to say is, high spin rate is almost always good.... bad spin rate doesn't mean it's a below-average pitch
Bauer Outage
1:28
Driveline seems to be a place where a lot of guys rejuvenate their careers. I know they recently had a big showcase where nearly all teams visited. Was there a guy from that showcase who really stood out?
Smith Brickner
1:29
Obviously, I did not see this showcase live, so I'll refer you to an article FanGraphs posted not-too-long ago: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/a-dispatch-from-the-driveline-pro-day/
They seemed to really like Kevin Kelleher, who was a no-namer even last year
Confused
1:30
Are you normally this sarcastic, or just in these chats?
Smith Brickner
1:31
Qué?
No entiendo
Tribesman
1:31
Any update on Bradley Zimmer? Could be huge for Indians if he comes back healthy, no?
Smith Brickner
1:33
The initial timeline for his recovery was 12 months, and it'd be safe to assume that's still the case, being that we haven't heard anything which contradicts that
1:34
He's never really been a thumper in the bigs anyways, not much of a power threat whatsoever. So most his value will come from the basepaths and with the glove
hidalgo
1:34
in all seriousness, do the angels have to listen on trout offers if they’re out of it come the trade deadline?
Smith Brickner
1:35
Billy Eppler would be crazy to not at least open discussions with other teams.
1:36
If they have a losing season this year, I'd give them a >1% chance of re-signing him. So you might as well get a huge return for him while you can
Load More Messages
Connecting…