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MLBTR Chat With Mark Polishuk
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Mark P
7:02
Welcome to the Sunday night draft chat!  I'm your humble* host, ready for another round of baseball questions

* = citation required
Tommy La Sort of
7:03
Think Will Smith ends up in Atlanta as closer?
Mark P
7:04
Braves will definitely ask about Smith, but the same will be said of over half the league.  Atlanta would have to give up significant prospect capital to outbid everyone else, though the Braves have more minor league depth than most
Boneless Wings
7:05
What do you think of using analytics on th ground floor? Like how it impacts clubhouses and how players directly receive it? Do you think there’s a way to communicate this so players buy-in, or is this something most will not seriously adopt, and therefore just ridicule it? I’ve heard stories of friends working in college ball trying to help guys adopt ideas, but have had zero luck
Mark P
7:08
There are absolutely ways to effectively get analytics across to players.  A lot of players are already very open to such ideas, and embrace them.  At the end of the day, if a coach, manager, teammate, etc. is giving you a tip, having the tip stem from a specific reason ("you should use your curveball more because XYZ") is, if anything, more concrete than that same tip coming from someone else's gut feeling.
That said, some players are just resistant to change up things that have gotten them this far in their careers.
keuchel
7:09
How important is keuchel's performance this season for his chances at a multi-yr deal next off-season? Will teams overlook a shaky performance and attribute it to the lack of spring training? Seems like he could end up in a 1 yr deal death spiral pretty easily.
Mark P
7:11
He'll definitely need to pitch well, no question, though Keuchel's market should slightly improve next winter simply due to the lack of a qualifying offer.
7:12
The issue could be, however, if he pitches well (or at least at his 2018 level) and still only gets one-year offers.  This seems unlikely, yet it can't be ruled out given how the market has turned against veteran players in recent years.
James
7:12
Do you think the Yankees will look at signing a major free agent in the next year or two with jacobys contract coming off the books
Mark P
7:13
Absolutely.  The Yankees are hardly done with big signings forever.  It's just that they, like virtually every other team, are taking a more measured approach to free agency.  In the Yankees' case, it was also become increasingly important for them to stay under the luxury tax threshold
7:15
Plus, to be fair, the Yankees did spend $140MM on free agents like Happ, Britton, Ottavino, Sabathia, and the steal that was DJ LeMahieu. You don't need to make a big splashy signing to add a lot of value in free agency.
Mozman
7:16
Whats wrong with Goldschmidt?
Mark P
7:17
He hasn't really started hitting up to his normal levels yet, though he's still an above-average bat.  Keep in mind that Goldschmidt got off to a legitimately poor start for the first two months of 2018, and then caught fire to end up with basically his usual numbers
Valdez
7:18
Keuchel and Kimbrel were not unsigned due to draft pick compensation, they were asking for too much money, right?
Mark P
7:19
A little from column A, and a little from column B.  Their initial contract demands seemed far-fetched, but those can always be negotiated down.  (Kimbrel reportedly dropped his ask to three years in late March/early April.)
The fact that both pitchers were signed so quickly after the draft, however, tells you where teams stood on those signings.
Rick Hahn
7:20
Should I trade Jose Abreu
Mark P
7:22
By all accounts Abreu wants to stay with the Sox, and the team wants him to stay.  So there's a much better chance at a contract extension than a trade....

.....UNLESS the White Sox deal Abreu at the deadline to let him chase a ring, with the idea that the Sox will still be Chicago's first choice come the offseason.  It would be a bit of a risky move (Abreu might fall in love with his new team, want to play for a more consistent winner, etc.) but it would be a canny one
Rick Hahn is the White Sox GM, btw
Jc Cape Coral, FL
7:24
Hey Mark. Any chance the Giants would trade W. Smith to the Dodgers so we can see Will Smith pitch to Will Smith and show Will Smith in the front row? Please it would make my year.
Mark P
7:24
Your year would get flipped, turned upside down?
7:25
Despite Farhan Zaidi's ties to the Dodgers, I'd still hesitant to predict any sort of Dodgers/Giants deal given the depth of that rivalry.  But I guess anything can happen in the wild wild west.
Joe Blow
7:25
Stroman getting dealt a foregone conclusion?
Mark P
7:26
Barring injury or a sudden downturn in performance, it definitely seems like Stroman will wearing another jersey after July 31 (if not sooner)
Jack of Trades
7:27
Would an underdog team take a chance on Miggy at the deadline?
Mark P
7:27
If you mean Miggy Cabrera, absolutely not.  That's probably the most untradeable contract in baseball.
Trader Joes
7:28
Should Nats trade A Rendon?  He would command a lot.  Schwarber and Russell for Rendon enough?
Mark P
7:28
It would take way, way more than that to get Rendon away from the Nats if they decided to sell at the deadline.
Ricky
7:29
Would it be smarter for giants to bundle Will Smith with MadBum?
Mark P
7:31
Look at all these Will Smith questions!  He's killing it at the box office with Aladdin and killing it in the MLBTR chat this week!

The Giants could explore a package deal if one team is willing to pay what would be a very big price.  There should be enough of a market for both pitchers individually, however, that SF probably feels it can get more overall in two separate trades
Neal Huntington
7:32
Will I be getting calls on Felipe Vazquez by July31st?
Mark P
7:32
I'd be surprised if the Pirates weren't getting calls on Vazquez already, even if they're just due-diligence, "keep us in mind if you want to move him" type of messages
Josh F
7:34
Do the Twins wait until the deadline or do they go after help for the pen now, and who are their targets?
Mark P
7:36
Probably closer to the deadline to fully access the market. The Twins may have a big enough lead by July 31st (there's a sentence I didn't think I'd be writing this season!) that they might feel they have the division wrapped, so by point they're making upgrades specifically for a postseason run.  That shift in focus* could make them more likely to jump earlier on a trade target they specifically like, or perhaps they'd still be more prone to wait

* = also a 2015 Will Smith movie
TheKingRoyal
7:38
Can you give three things a Royals fan can look forward to, it's been a rough year so far.
Mark P
7:40
1. Mondesi looks like a real building block
2. The Ian Kennedy/closing experiment seems to have revived his value, giving KC a legitimate chance of trading him maybe as early as this deadline
3. Hunter Dozier has opened a lot of eyes this year
4. I haven't been, but by all accounts the Royals' ballpark is a nice place to watch a game!
Josip Tomic
7:41
that's more like 4 things not 3 things.
Mark P
7:41
Bonus time!
Giolito
7:42
Should contenders offer up some big time deals for me?  This is the franchise that dealt Sale and Quintana, right?
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