JotCast | FanGraphs After Dark Chat

FanGraphs After Dark Chat - 12/20/16

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Paul Swydan

9:47

Or, at least, enough of an upgrade to justify making a trade.

Jaime

9:48

What would be considered best case scenario for this Yankees pseudo-rebuild? Maybe Sanchez and Torres are stars with other above average regulars?

Paul Swydan

9:48

Yes, I think that is the realistic best-case scenario, Also, that Torres has a great season and is ready to contribute at the major league level by mid-August, giving the Yankees the boost they need to grab a Wild Card spot.

Tom

9:49

Rays and Athletics seem tough to predict for next year. Do they move Gray and/or Cobb? And where do they finish in their divisions?

Paul Swydan

9:49

I don't think they are tough to predict at all. Neither has done enough to merit inclusion in the Wild Card races, and neither has anywhere near enough to win their division.

9:50

At this juncture, I couldn't see picking either to finish among the top 3 teams in their division.

John

9:50

How much of Yasmany Tomas's contract would the Diamondbacks have to eat to trade him? Seems like he could be a legitimate MLB player as a DH

Paul Swydan

9:50

All of it.

Tom

9:50

Does a Puig for Braun deal still make any sense for LA?

Paul Swydan

9:50

No, I don't think I would want any part of Ryan Braun.

Brad

9:51

I watched return of Jedi for first time since it was first released in movies. How does Luke get captured by ewoks yet beats darth Vader in a fight?

Paul Swydan

9:51

A) There was like 800 of those Ewoks. B) He ALLOWS himself to be captured by the Ewoks. He didn't want to kill the furry little Ewoks, they were too adorable. There had to be a better way!

Tommy

9:52

What books would you recommend for someone relatively new to fangraphs?

Paul Swydan

9:53

I generally don't like to recommend baseball books, because honestly, we could do that all day. But I'll humbly suggest the THT Annuals, as well as the Bill James Baseball Abstract and the BP Annual.

The old BP Annuals too, in case that wasn't clear.

AMC

9:53

Kevin Pillar for Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson, with Mets eating 8M total?. Win Win right?

Paul Swydan

9:54

No, I don't see why the Blue Jays want to do that. You're just transferring the "we don't have a center fielder" problem to the Blue Jays, who would be forced to play Granderson's subpar D in center or Pompey's subpar O.

John

9:54

So who starts for Boston now when E Rod struggles and Wright gets hurt?

Paul Swydan

9:54

Pomeranz

Lisa Vanderpump

9:55

Lol. You're probably right. One more, please. Do you see Eugenio Suarez breaking out next year? I feel he had a solid year in 2016, sans May.

Paul Swydan

9:55

Alas, Steamer doesn't see further development in his immediate future, and I am inclined to agree.

Myster E. Mann

9:55

What's wrong with granderson/lagares in CF?

Paul Swydan

9:56

Because you'd always be playing one flawed player. Granderson on D, Lagares on O.

9:57

The idea is to find a player who can be at least average at both. That COULD be Granderson, but you'd rather have him in an OF corner.

TengoPreguntas

9:57

Why do people try to compare the braves' rebuild to the cubs'? They are taking rather different approaches in which type of talent to amass

Paul Swydan

9:57

Because people like to be optimistic.

AMC

9:58

Pompey's O by default is probably better than Pillar's

Paul Swydan

9:58

Look, I'm not much for appeals to authority, but if the Jays really believed that, don't you think Pompey would have more than 148 PA on his major league resume?

I was bullish on Pompey a couple of years ago, but it hasn't worked out that way.

TengoPreguntas

9:59

How many terrible trade proposals do you get in a normal chat?

Paul Swydan

9:59

Not too many. You guys are pretty sharp.

Myster E. Mann

9:59

Regarding Jay bruce, can the Mets expect to get more/less/the same value prospect that the bosox got for buchholz?

Paul Swydan

10:00

Probably a little better, but only if they're willing to eat a little money. And I'm sure the Mets would prefer not to do that.

Eli

10:00

Aoki is an Astro... Why is he listed as a free agent?

Paul Swydan

10:00

Will notify our contracts person. Thanks.

Tom

10:01

I understand the Indians budget constraints, but didn't they get pretty lucky this season? Yes they lost their #2 & #3 in the final weeks but what are the odds that a team like that wins 10 of the first 12 playoff games? Are they resting on their laurels a bit too much this off-season?

Paul Swydan

10:02

Every team needs a little luck to get to the World Series. As for resting on their laurels, I harped on the Indians doing too little all of last offseason, and I'm not going to make that mistake again. They're probably never going to make flashy moves in free agency, and there is still plenty of time left for non-flashy moves.

Jim

10:03

Superman pitching. Consider, you have to throw it slow enough for the catcher to catch it, otherwise you have alot of dropped strike 3's that the batter gets first as the catcher finds the ball.

Paul Swydan

10:03

That's a good point. There is probably an upper bound on not only that but also how fast you can throw it and still have the umpire get a good enough look at it to call a strike.

10:04

OK everyone, on that note, I am going to call it a night. Thanks as always for hanging out. I hope you all have/are having a wonderful holiday season, and have a happy New Year. Back in January!

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