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Klawchat 3/23/17
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Keith Law
12:59
Bring on the new Messiah. Klawchat.
ssimo02
1:00
Is a September call-up (by necessity, on the 40-man at the time) who starts the subsequent season on the disabled list assigned to the MLB or the MiLB disabled list?
Keith Law
1:01
It depends on when he got hurt, and whether he was still in big-league camp. After a certain date (March 15th?) such a player hurt in big league camp would have to start on the major league DL. I think. It's been a while since I ran into this.
Niklas
1:01
We don't have a lot of baseball talent from Sweden so I'm kind of grasping at straws here. Is there a greater than 0% chance that half-Swede Antoine Duplantis (whose younger brother Armand competes for Sweden and just broke the world junior record in pole vault) of LSU gets drafted and makes it to the majors in the future?
Keith Law
1:01
I don't know anything about him, but I found the question fascinating so I'm posting it anyway.
Josh
1:01
Is the White Sox's Charlotte affiliate the most interesting team in AAA?
Keith Law
1:02
That's a low bar to clear. Triple-A rosters are usually awful.
Clay
1:02
Been disappointed for the last couple years that the Twins drafted Jay over Benintendi, even if he becomes the next Andrew Miller, this is bad. Why was the plugged pulled so early?
Keith Law
1:02
I think the new Twins brass had already decided Jay was a reliever, or was unlikely enough to work out as a starter, so they moved him. I don't agree with it, although there was clearly reliever risk with him going forward.
Chris
1:03
You and I finished The Underground Railroad at around the same time, and based on your review had similar feelings about it. It was terrifying and relevant and worthy of its accolades. But I've since read at least two reviews, the one most prominent from The New Republic, taking it to task for its fantastical elements, calling it escapist and trivial and minimalizing its relevance to today's social and political scene. This is garbage right? How can this take be anything but a gross misreading of the text? I have an MFA in fiction and teach writing at a university. Normally I'd discuss this with colleagues, but we're on spring break. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
Keith Law
1:05
I haven't seen that review, but that sounds rather contrarian to me, and if anything misunderstands the value in its fantastical elements (e.g., the titular Railroad is an actual, physical railroad, operating in subterranean tunnels). It gives new interest to a setting and story that's been covered quite heavily in American fiction. It allows Whitehead to move the main character quickly to new states. It avoids the need for long passages about the hardships of flight, which, while historically accurate, don't tell the story Whitehead wanted to tell. It's not like this is some Paul Theroux travelogue of an escaped slave enjoying a leisurely train ride through the antebellum south.
Ben (MN)
1:05
Top Chef announced the next season will be in Denver. Any potential challenge or restaurant visit you'd be excited to see in Colorado?
Keith Law
1:05
If this season doesn't have a "cooking with weed" challenge I'll be very disappointed, especially because Stoned Padma would be epic.
Exexposfan
1:06
Yesterday you said you knew codeified racism from working in baseball for many years from the Kinsler tweet. Assuming that comes from witnessing several events can you elaborate on an example? Not that I doubt you but I am curious and want to know such an event that goes on behind closed doors. If you can't name names that's fine.
Keith Law
1:08
I won't give specifics that might affect people working or playing in the game, but I can point to two examples at a general level. One was the use of the phrase "winning player" or "not a winning player," applied along almost exact racial lines. I think I only heard a white player called "not a winning player" once, because he was on the DL, as opposed to at least ten players of color called that. The other is one you've all heard before: "Athletic." Black players are presumed to be athletic, and, in my opinion, are unfairly dinged when they aren't. White players who are athletic are given excessive credit for it, because the presumption is that they're less so - and that they're smarter or more instinctive. Sorry I can't be more specific.
WarEagle
1:09
Thoughts on Alex Faedo, Brady singer and Schwartz at Florida? Has Faedo's stock been down due to the rough start? I also took your recommendation a couple weeks ago and saw that Keegan Thompson is someone. Also saw the other two talented pitchers Davis Daniel and Casey mize who sat at 95 according to the stadium last weekend at the Florida series so also wanted to know about them too
Keith Law
1:11
I think Faedo's stock is down just slightly, in part because people are concerned his knees are still affecting him. Schwarz appears to have no position and hasn't hit the same since his freshman year. Singer is a future reliever for me with a great arm. Thompson is a back-end starter prospect. Daniel was on my top 100 last June but declined to sign; he, Mize, and Singer are all underclassmen and not draft eligible this year.
Garrett
1:11
Daniel Norris' fastball jumped 1.2 MPH last year and his slider velocity increased from 83 MPH to 88 MPH. Those velocities have continued this spring. You've discussed in the past the importance of velocity in relation to Norris' ceiling. As of today, what do you think his ceiling is?
Keith Law
1:12
Potential #1 starter for me. You asked on Twitter if he was "close" to my breakouts list; there's no close or not close on a binary list like that, but I will say Norris was too good in the majors last year for me to project a breakout. I would expect him to just continue to do as well over a full season - 150-160 innings, ERA in the low 3s. That would probably make him a good buy for fantasy players.
CB
1:12
I'm no Rangers fan, but I can't help but note that Adrian Beltre has 90.2 bWAR, and has not had a less than 5 bWAR season since 2009. When he retires, don't you think he'll have overtaken Mike Schmidt as the best 3B of all time?
Keith Law
1:12
He will probably do so in fact, but not in reputation. First ballot HoFer, though.
Paul
1:13
Keith - great list today; lots of guys I'd like to see do well. Curious if you considered Mike Foltynewicz? I know you've been a fan. He's trended the right way in K-rate, BB-rate, and GB% every year; lots of HRs though. What sort of expectations do you have for him this season? Thanks!
Keith Law
1:13
Command remains the big question mark and I had no real basis for saying his command will be much better this year. I do still believe he's best suited to starting.
Joe
1:13
Jonathan Schoop didn't clear a 300 OBP last year. Did he really break out?
Keith Law
1:15
I'm not going to argue the semantics of who 'broke out.' It's a nebulous term to begin with.
Paul
1:15
I have been intrigued by the demise of the Oakland's As, and nobody is really writing about it. They use to be the darlings of the sabermetrician community, but all the moves they have made in the last few years don't make much sense and the roster really sucks. What is going on over there? Is the front office to be blamed? thanks
Keith Law
1:16
I think they're chasing different inefficiencies, but ones that are less obvious to us on the outside. And they've made some moves I don't understand.
TC
1:16
Is Brendan McKay a guy who can go top 3 in the draft? If so, as a hitter or pitcher?
Keith Law
1:17
Yes. I think if the draft were held today, which fortunately it isn't because I'm not ready, the top 3 would be McKay, Greene, and Wright in some order. I know one team up top that likes McKay more as a hitter, but the consensus is still very much that he's a LH starter. The 15 K outing didn't hurt.
Derek
1:17
Thoughts on Koda Glover? Spring results have been impressive but have come against middling competition. Does he have top 10 reliever potential?
Keith Law
1:17
I think he does and I think he'll end up leading the team in saves.
Mac
1:17
Keston Hiura is clearly the best hitter in college baseball but does his elbow injury make him too risky to pick in the top half of the 1st round?
Keith Law
1:17
Clearly? I'll dispute that. I think he's a back of the first round guy. And I know more than one scout who'll argue that McKay is a better hitter than Hiura.
Evan (Canada)
1:17
Hello, can you tell us what you've seen/heard about Tim Mayza from Toronto organization? Thank you.
Keith Law
1:18
Seen him. Big stuff, below average command, reliever ceiling.
JR
1:18
Just wanted to say you're the only reason I pay for my insider sub. If you go, I go (and I still may), but thank you for your content.
Keith Law
1:18
You're welcome. I'm flattered you find my work worth the cost.
Andy
1:18
We have a USA baseball player saying that he hopes kids watch the US players because of the way they play the game, unlike those kids from the DR or PR. We have a GM saying he wants gritty, working class players.
In a couple weeks we'll get hand wringing about how minorities aren't choosing baseball, instead liking a sport in which a guy nicknamed Swaggy P, who dated a "rapper", makes crotch gyrations after a game winning shot.
Keith Law
1:20
I had to look up who Swaggy P was, which shouldn't surprise anyone here since you all know I don't watch basketball. But yeah, Kinsler's comments were out of line. Another player celebrating isn't affecting your life or your game, and regardless of his intent, it came off as blatant dog-whistling.
Andy
1:20
Any word on Brady Aiken's velo?
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