JotCast | FanGraphs After Dark Chat

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Hand Fan

9:15

Do the Padres eventually lower their price on Brad Hand or hold him and try to trade this off season? Is he "hands down" favorite to close if they keep him?

Paul Swydan

9:15

I don't think they'll lower their price because they'll get their price now at the trade deadline.

9:16

Relievers aren't the kind of commodity you want to hold onto for the offseason. Look at David Robertson. Everyone assumed the White Sox would trade him last winter, but the market wasn't there, and so they dealt him this July.

Rainier

9:16

How do you balance the stats with the more subjective aspect of analysis? Fulmer has quite the ERA-SIERA gap again but Eno mentions he has three pitches (maybe four if you split the fastball into 4seam and 2 seam). Is he a 4 ERA pitcher, 3, in between?

Paul Swydan

9:16

Well, I certainly don't weight the number of pitches in a pitcher's arsenal as heavily as Eno does, I know that much. Having said that, I don't think I have one way of balancing that stuff, it's a case-by-case basis.

Grayson

9:17

Devers or Acuna for 2018 and beyond?

Paul Swydan

9:17

Well, Devers is up now and Acuna isn't, so I'll say Devers for the time being.

Noel

9:17

Who's more valuable? Betts for $50, Devers for $3, or Pollock for $40 ($260 budget, 12 teams OBP)

Paul Swydan

9:17

Betts

Derek

9:17

Anywhere I can find minor league split stats?

Paul Swydan

9:18

You can get some at MiLB.com, I believe.

weezy

9:18

Would you trade for Kershaw? Thinking about buying for the playoffs (I have a solid, albeit not insurmountable, lead)

Paul Swydan

9:18

If it's just for the playoffs this year, then no, that's not enough time to justify it. If it's for more than this year, then yes, absolutely.

Jacob h cornhole

9:19

I love seeing your first poll have significantly more votes than your subsequent polls before these chats start. Like did people lose interest as they scrolled down the chat? Are they too busy to answer more than 1 poll 2 hours before a late night baseball chat? I've gotta know.

Paul Swydan

9:19

I think it's a combination of 1) people losing interest and 2) people knowing that the matchup poll will ALWAYS be there, so there is familiarity with it.

Scott

9:19

What are your thoughts on the idea that the Astros need a frontline SP? I am more inclined to think they should try to add a LH reliever instead.

Paul Swydan

9:21

I think that we're picking nits either way. Between Keuchel and McCullers, they have a duo who can match up evenly or better in the majority of games in a 7-game series, and that Fiers/Musgrove/McHugh/Morton/etc are all good enough to be good in 1-2 playoff games.

Apply the same logic to the bullpen and Giles/Devenski/Gregerson/etc. They are in a much better position heading into the trade deadline than just about every other team.

9:22

If they can get a starter or Loogy without overpaying, by all means. But they don't *have* to get either one.

one sec

Oddball Herrera

9:23

What is the trickle down effect when teams like the Sox acquire eleventy billion minor leaguers at the trade deadline? Are there guys in AA/AAA being given their walking papers for every player acquired? Is AA/AAA really filled with that much chaff?

Paul Swydan

9:24

Triple-A is, certainly. And Double-A has plenty of it too. I think we found in our piece last week on Francisco Mejia that 6 of the 9 starters on Mejia's team in the Double-A All-Star Game were 25 or older.

Seff Jullivan

9:24

Thanks for not giving us a choice to say *I don't care* in the Comic-Con question Paul!

Paul Swydan

9:25

Too many good choices, I didn't even have room for Supergirl! Abstaining was how you show you don't care on that one.

Andrew Triggskaidekaphobia

9:25

Where will Jose Ramirez be drafted in 2018? Is he a 2/3 round guy?

Paul Swydan

9:26

Yeah, he might be. He is quite good, and in a lot of leagues/almost all leagues, he'll have 2B *and* 3B eligibility, which is huge.

Troutmaggedon

9:26

Is Austin Barnes worth a stash in deep keeper leagues given how thin catcher is these days?

Paul Swydan

9:27

Depends on how many keeper slots you have and who your other keepers are. I'm leaning no. I may keep him in Ottoneu, but only because we can keep all 40 players if we want to.

Joe

9:27

how can someone have a positive WAR # but a negative Wrc+? may be elementary but trying to figure that out.

Paul Swydan

9:27

Be really good at defense and baserunning?

Joe

9:28

When do you think fangraphs will add catchers framing to the war calculations? Obviously a lot of teams already do this, but would love to see fangraphs lead the way. Thoughts?

Paul Swydan

9:28

I believe it's on the docket, but the docket is usually chock full of projects, so I can't promise anything.

Yoyoma

9:28

Your thoughts on the Eck & Price issue?

Paul Swydan

9:29

I think it's a good reminder that baseball players are overgrown children and that 99% of them are people you should only respect professionally, and who you wouldn't really want to spend any time with.

It's hard to single out Price for his childish, schoolyard bully act when the other players are cheering him on.

James

9:30

Will we ever get a writeup on Whit Merrifield? Dude is raking

Paul Swydan

9:30

Never say never.

Hunter

9:30

What happened to Well Beered Englishman?

Paul Swydan

9:30

http://www.hardballtimes.com/author/well-beered-englishman/

9:31

Since Brian writes for us at THT sometimes, when he comments on FG, his comments now appear as his given name, Brian Reinhart.

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