You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 10/6/17
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Dookie Howser, MD
9:21
How sick is Jose Altuve of answering questions about his height?
Jeff Sullivan
9:21
He was probably more sick of it when he was younger
Blizzard of Oz
9:22
What's your take on Albies for next year, and did he surprise you this year?  A real speed/power threat up the middle?
Jeff Sullivan
9:23
I like how quick his hands are, and of some note is that, over the course of his debut, he hit just one single pop-up. Line-drive kind of hitter with well-rounded skills. Hell of a skillset for a guy who isn't yet 21
Colin
9:25
On Bill James' website yesterday, he responded to a pace of play question from a reader by postulating an idea to reward teams monetarily for playing games quickly, to quote James: "Then let's say you have a $200 million reward for pace of play.    Each game is scored 10, 9, 8. . .etc.; if the game is very quickly played, 10 points for each team.   If it is very slowly played, no points for each team. Total up the points at the end of the year, and divide up the reward fund based on the points.   With a $200 reward fund, each "point" would have a value of about $8,000.   It creates economic pressure not to waste time." What would you think about such an idea?
Jeff Sullivan
9:25
You can also create economic pressure by issuing penalties like automatic balls and automatic strikes for pitchers or hitters who take too long to get ready
9:26
If you tell players they have X amount of time between pitches, then guys couldn't violate that too often without their numbers suffering
And when numbers go down, so do salaries
Outta my way, Gyorkass
9:27
Convince me that the Brewers will not suffer a frustrating backslide ala the '16 Astros or Twins next year. I don't know if I'm just being irrational, but I see disappointment all over this team next year.
Jeff Sullivan
9:27
Well, I'd feel a lot better if I knew they could count on Jimmy Nelson
9:28
I think they're pretty solidly something like a .500 ballclub but it would take a few breakthroughs to get up to 90 wins. I'm not really worried about a backslide; I feel more like improvement will be hard to achieve
Bork
9:29
Hello, friend!
Jeff Sullivan
9:29
Hello friend
Outta my way, Gyorkass
9:29
Joe Mauer - probably not a real HOF candidate yet, right? What additional production does he need to register to make it?
Jeff Sullivan
9:31
I don't think he's there. He needs a few more years like the one he had this season. The biggest thing will be voters evaluating his defensive position -- he will have played first base for a while, but he was a solid catcher for several years, and in theory that should lower the bar he has to clear
Matt
9:31
I miss Bork. Where's Bork?
Jeff Sullivan
9:31
Good news!
Nick
9:31
What do you enjoy about podcasting vs. writing and vice versa?
Jeff Sullivan
9:32
Podcasting is easier and it allows for a little more humor. Plus, everything around the podcast is helpful in terms of idea generation. What I like about writing is actually crystallizing thoughts, because I'm not very good at explaining things off the top of my head without all the data
Llewelyn
9:32
I know everyone questioned the Bauer thing ahead of the game, but he had a lower second half era than even Kluber. So they weren’t exactly starting a mediocre pitcher
Jeff Sullivan
9:33
Well, it essentially came down to: is Kluber better than Bauer? Everyone in the world would agree the answer is yes. But, correct, it's not like it was Kluber vs. Ryan Merritt
TKDC
9:36
Before MLB made rules to suppress international players' signing bonuses, you didn't see any 16-year olds signing monster deals. But now there is a thought that Maitan, 17, could fetch $20 million-plus. Why weren't there these huge signings before the rules went into place?
Jeff Sullivan
9:36
Maybe I'm too much in the dark but I haven't seen that number thrown around re: Maitan. The same international rules would still apply to him
9:38
In general, baseball has made it more difficult over time to spend money wisely on non-major leaguers. So when teams see an opportunity to spend for value now, they might be more likely to seize it
Outta my way, Gyorkass
9:38
Why hasn't MLB been more aggressive in marketing Trout as (one of the) face(s) of baseball? Will they try to do this with Judge if he keeps going gangbusters for another few years?
Jeff Sullivan
9:38
Judge is probably well on his way. He's got everything working for him
9:39
I don't think Trout *wants* to be heavily marketed. And he doesn't exactly ooze with charisma
Zach
9:40
Did you see anything sustainable in the season that Scooter Gennett put together? His BB/K/BABIP/LD rates were all in line with the back of his baseball card.
Jeff Sullivan
9:41
I don't see a breakout there, if that's what you mean. I just see a guy particularly well suited to the current HR-friendly environment. He's exactly the sort of player who would benefit most from what's going on
9:42
Probably good for something like a 100 - 110 wRC+ moving forward
Mariner Moose (VP, 1996-2000)
9:42
Of the 8 playoff teams left, how would you rank them in terms of the enjoyment you derive from watching them play baseball?
Jeff Sullivan
9:43
Not really a team thing for me at this point. I guess Arizona feels the most fresh, but there are individual players on every remaining team that I love to watch play
Tom
9:43
Best food to bring to a Playoff game party?
Jeff Sullivan
9:43
Fried chicken
Eric
9:43
With Kluber going tonight, the Yankees Cinderella story seems to be just about over, doesn't it?
Jeff Sullivan
9:43
No
Patrick
9:43
What do you think of the rain?
Jeff Sullivan
9:43
Nourishing
Pip
9:44
How surprised are you to see that Victor Robles made it onto the Nationals NLDS roster?
Jeff Sullivan
9:45
Seems like Dusty is banking on leaning pretty heavily on his starters. That's not a shock. Just generally, I do think players with skills like Robles' make sense in a short series
Connecting…