JotCast | FanGraphs After Dark Chat

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Paul Swydan

9:16

They showed a segment on NESN recently where Remy talked with the Sox assistant hitting coach about fixing Xander's swing. Since then, he has hit better.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:16

Some major 2H contact issues. Looks more to do with his eye than swing

Yanks

9:17

There was a recurring discussion in August's chat yesterday regarding Robinson Cano's Hall of Fame chances, specifically compared to his elite 2B peers, Kinsler and Pedroia. The three are in the same ballpark according to fWAR, and August's contention was that all three would be borderline cases assuming a standard aging curve.

Paul Swydan

9:17

Realistically, Pedroia is going to have a leg up on them. One, he won an MVP award. Two, he's played his whole career with one team. No matter what we think of the analytics, those soft factors will always come in as tiebreakers.

9:18

Oh, and Pedroia has the most World Series titles as well.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:18

I think Cano and Pedroia will get more love with more Boston and NY HOF voters. Kinsler is borderline right now for me

Paul Swydan

9:19

Jeff do you mean Pedroia and not Kinsler? I don't understand why Kinsler would get love from Boston voters...

Jeff Zimmerman

9:19

Yes, I put the wrong name ... try to correct

Paul Swydan

9:19

:-)

Jim Lonborg

9:19

Are we sure that Moncada is better than Shaw at this point, considering both offense and defense? The metrics think Shaw is decent at 3rd.

Paul Swydan

9:20

As I wrote today at Boston dot com, Travis Shaw has a 69 wRC+ since June 1. He's a bench warmer who had a good two months.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:20

He may not be right now, but it is close IMO. Moncada is the future so go ahead and play him

Paul Swydan

9:21

My thoughts exactly. Shaw isn't a guy you put in front of Moncada, even if he might be 5% better right this second.

Jawn VanBenschoten

9:21

What could the Twins reasonably get for Dozier in the offseason? What is a likely landing spot?

Jeff Zimmerman

9:22

Top 20 prospect probably. I am not sure of his contract details, but something useful, but not great

Paul Swydan

9:22

Kansas City could be a good fit.

Guest

9:23

Red Sox vs. Blue Jays to end the season... is Paul going to have a heart attack when Bautista and Donaldson come to town and sweep the carmines and miss the playoffs?

Paul Swydan

9:23

Nope. While I still root for the Red Sox, I don't get nearly as down about losses as I used to. Realistically, no loss could ever be worse for me personally than Game 7 in the 2003 ALCS. I was catatonic for that whole weekend.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:24

I don't think the Red Sox vs Blue Jays will kill Paul, my money is on beer and cheese

Paul Swydan

9:24

Cheese is *definitely* the frontrunner.

Jim Lonborg

9:24

If either of you knows: where's the best place to sit in Wrigley and in Comiskey (or whatever they call it now)? I'm going to both either this month or early next season.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:24

I have never been to either one, sorry.

Paul Swydan

9:25

I have never been to Comiskey. The one game I went to at Wrigley, I sat in the left field bleachers, and it was awesome. Sammy Sosa did the kiss and point thing to my friend and I because we stood up and yelled his name, and a group of drunk Wrigleyville firefighters kept buying too much hot dogs and beer, and kept just handing them to us, which was great, because we weren't 21 yet.

9:26

The firefighters told us they were on duty. Incredulous, we said "what if there's a fire during the game?" And they looked at us and said, without a hint of irony, that no one would dare call in a fire in Wrigleyville while the Cubs were playing.

It was a great time to be alive.

Rick

9:26

Who is in the Royals' rotation next year?

Paul Swydan

9:26

One for Jeff.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:26

What a mess

9:27

Duffy and Ventura. Kennedy. Pull names out of a hat for the rest. The minors are bare. Strahm will get a shot

Paul Swydan

9:28

Jeff is as optimistic and effervescent as ever!

Phil

9:28

Hi Paul, is Sandy Leon high on your list of biggest surprises of the season?

Jeff Zimmerman

9:28

He should be

Paul Swydan

9:28

The highest, yes. He literally had six extra-base hits coming into this season.

another bad dynasty manager

9:29

A little while ago, there was an article in FG that provided a link to the best players, as measured by WAR, that have ever played baseball. But that link also showed defensive values (DRS, UZR) for players like Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson and Arky Vaughn, among others. How was it possible to assign defensive values to players who played in an era when there was no videotape? Were the numbers created on the basis of testimony of old players, newsreel footage or some other means?

Paul Swydan

9:29

It is done so using Total Zone, or TZ. You can read up on TZ here - http://www.fangraphs.com/library/defense/tz-tzl/

Jeff Zimmerman

9:29

Was it just a position adjustment?

9:30

OK, guess not

Jeff Fassero

9:30

Do you think the Cardinals deploy Reyes as a starter next year or do they end up tantalized by the heat and use him to solve the bullpen?

Paul Swydan

9:30

I would never underestimate the stupidity of Mike Matheny to ruin a perfectly good starting pitching prospect by making him a reliever before he fails at being a starter. They did it to Trevor Rosenthal, after all.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:31

I think they will limit his innings and go with bullpen and then starter, but I haven't heard anything.

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