August Fagerstrom FanGraphs Chat — 1/5/16

august fagerstrom: i’m not *THAT* late!

august fagerstrom: chat soundtrack, in honor of one of my favorite bands getting back together to announce a tour, is LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

oblig:

august fagerstrom: this is what he tried to post:

august fagerstrom: which I must say, is an excellent start to the chat.

Zonk: What QO-eligible FAs, in your opinion are most likely to get “Drewed”, meaning end up with a contract less than the $15.8 mil they would get if they took the QO?

august fagerstrom: Ian Kennedy seems like the obvious choice here

Cory S.: Dan Farnsworth article today, which is incredible might I add, has the Red Sox’ top 4 being Benintendi, Moncada, Espinoza, and Devers. Any qualms with this ranking?

august fagerstrom: I don’t know jack shit about prospects outside of the top 50 or so names or Indians guys. Certainly not enough to quibble with someone’s rankings. Look fine to me

Copp: Everyone’s been talking about a Freeman trade, although I keep shutting down the rumors. Just out of curiosity, what could I expect in return?

august fagerstrom: depends, are you dealing with Dave Stewart again?

Q-Ball: So, the Braves want to unload Bourn and Swisher. What kind of $ value would you peg for Bourn? Is Swisher even worth a roster spot?

august fagerstrom: neither one has any trade value whatsoever and no, Swisher’s not worth a roster spot

august fagerstrom: if they get moved it’ll be a salary for salary dump like last year’s Chris Johnson move

Q-Ball: ZIPS doesn’t love the Cleveland offense….and that’s with an optimistic projection on Brantley’s playing time. Are the Indians waiting now for Mid-season, to see how the AL Central shakes out before dealing prospects?

august fagerstrom: could be. wouldn’t rule out a trade happening yet this offseason

Zonk: As a Cubs fan, I am asking you to please tell your fellow Fangraphs writers to stop calling the Cubs favorites, or a juggernaught, or whatever. As an Indians fan, you of all people should know how much of a curse that is…

august fagerstrom: curses aren’t a real thing and there’s no reason to believe the Cubs aren’t the best team in baseball IMO

Q-Ball: Several NL Clubs are clearly in rebuild mode. But every AL club is acting as if they are contenders. Are any of those clubs deluding themselves? Is there one or two you think should be in rebuild mode?

august fagerstrom: in the AL? the Rays and A’s stick out to me as probably the worst 2 teams in the AL, but neither is constructed in such a manner that a rebuild is necessary

august fagerstrom: and when I say I view those 2 as the 2 worst teams in the AL, I could also totally see either of them making a Wild Card

august fagerstrom: which is why, no, they shouldn’t rebuild

Jaime: Is there any hope for a Josh Hamilton reboot?

august fagerstrom: you never want to rule it out with someone as talented as Hamilton, but boy is it hard to see

Eric: Thoughts on Gerardo Parra? Was last year a career year, or can he repeat?

august fagerstrom: eh I mean he still only had a 108 wRC+ and he made tangible changes to his approach at the plate, pulling and lofting the ball for more power, so sure, why not. but the defense looks to be in decline so I’m not sure the overall package should get much better

Zwibi: What are your thoughts on Mazara and Bradley Zimmer? Do we get to see them this year? Indians have an obvious need, while the rangers have a brittle OF. How effective do you plan on these two being?

august fagerstrom: I wouldn’t expect to see either in the bigs this year, no

Corey seager?: What do you expect from me this year? Top 100, will my power translate over the full season.

august fagerstrom: I don’t see why you couldn’t hit .275 with 20+ HR for a 120 wRC+ or so

Frank: I always get excited to read these chats, but then i just read stupid questions that are too generic or have nothing to do with baseball? Can we stop with the “what do you think of the mets”, whats your fav kind of candy bar? Questions and answer some good jammies. Thanks.

august fagerstrom: FWIW I really enjoy answering the non-baseball questions so

Q-Ball: What clubs still have the biggest war chest of money to spend?

august fagerstrom: probably the Dodgers

august fagerstrom: always a safe bet

Bork: What can the HoF and BBWA do to be, well, relevant again? The last week alone has pretty much made it look it’s a bunch of old men who wish it was still the 1960s.

august fagerstrom: it’s getting better

august fagerstrom: and it’s never gonna be perfect

Biscuit: Does Mark Appel or Mike Foltynewicz make a meaningful contribution to their respective major league starting rotations this year? Who do you see as the better player long term?

august fagerstrom: Folty probably more likely to make a 2016 impact

august fagerstrom: I’m not very high on either one being anything but I guess Appel would still have to have the higher ceiling

Slew: The Indians: 84 Wins. Over or Under?

august fagerstrom: sounds close

august fagerstrom: If I have to take an over or under I guess I take the over because I like the rotation soo much but they’ve gotta hit

august fagerstrom: and I take the over by like .5 wins

Howardtheduck: Mookie betts, starling marte, or aj pollock for the next 5 years.

august fagerstrom: Betts/Pollock over Marte

august fagerstrom: probably Bett

august fagerstrom: s

Ryan : T/F: The Cubs would be best served being the team that bets on Jorge Soler’s variance given the strength of the rest of the roster.

august fagerstrom: F

august fagerstrom: think it makes sense to trade him right now

David: Do you think Cleveland could get Gallo for Zimmer and Perez? Would they if they could?

august fagerstrom: I’ve considered Gallo as a good fit for Cleveland but they wouldn’t do that

Q-Ball: What kind of contract do you predict for Austin Jackson? I would love for him to return to the Cubs on a 1-year, but feel like he’ll get a starting opportunity somewhere

august fagerstrom: I really thought he’d get 3/30ish but it looks more and more like he might have to settle for 1 year

august fagerstrom: also I told someone on Twitter a couple months ago that they were crazy for saying he’d get 1 year and I think I’ll have to eat my words here soon

PS: Knowing the tribe like you do, and the fact that you’re the smartest ever (please answer my question), what would it take from the Yankees for the tribe to give up carrasco or Salazar?

august fagerstrom: nice sell job there

august fagerstrom: it would have to include Bird IMO, which is where most Yankees fans hang up

august fagerstrom: Bird and Gardner seems like a starting point

What: You remind me of a lazy writer who ignores questions i actually want answered and answers easy ones

august fagerstrom: probably

Derek: If Daft Punk was playing at your house, how upset would your neighbors be?

august fagerstrom: i wouldn’t care how upset they were

Julio Pepper: Independent of cost, who would you rather have for next 5 years, Greinke or Carrasco?

august fagerstrom: Carrasco

Curtis: What do you generally consume at a MLB Ballpark, aside from fresh air?

august fagerstrom: cheap beer

august fagerstrom: I try not to do ballpark food. If I eat at a park it’s likely because there’s some sort of unique food stand there

august fagerstrom: Progressive Field renovated their food options this year and it was a huge plus. I went to go get chorizo tacos from Barrio before games a handful of times and it’s so worth it

EC: Would Scherzer have signed for a Price-esque contract had he been a FA this offseason?

august fagerstrom: I mean, Price pretty much signed a Scherzer-esque contract this season

august fagerstrom: and Scherzer was awesome last year

Jimmy: Is seems like there’s a trend of clubs staying on the sidelines of the free agent market, either to avoid the luxury tax, giving up draft picks, or internal budget constraints. Is it premature to suspect this might prompt some disagreement in the upcoming CBA negotiations? Given this might change with a wave of big $ deals, but the big bats settle for short term deals, I just can’t imagine the players are happy about seeing the free agent market stall for top end talent.

august fagerstrom: Yeah, this offseason seems like something of a turning point. The QO structure already needed re-worked, and luxury tax seems to be holding teams back more than we’ve seen in the past too

EC: Which current FA outfielder has to settle for less than they should be worth?

august fagerstrom: I’d guess the top-end guys still get close to what they want and guys like Fowler and Parra end up getting hosed

Bork: Jay Bruce recently changed his no-trade clause to make it easier for the Reds to deal him. What kind of return could they even get for him?

august fagerstrom: a weak prospect or a couple low minors guys

Oneear: Are the Marlins going to put Edwin into the rotation? If so, are they trying to tank?

august fagerstrom: my initial response to this was to make a not-funny joke about how the Marlins just learned about xFIP and think Edwin Jackson is due for a bounceback

august fagerstrom: because that’s been Edwin Jackson’s entire career

august fagerstrom: but now I’m looking at his player page and I see that his peripherals tanked last year and he actually had a 3.07 ERA

august fagerstrom: granted, it was out of the pen, so a 3.07 ERA and 3.82 FIP isn’t exactly dominant. but it’s a major leaguer

august fagerstrom: he’ll be in the pen, for sure, and I guess they’re hoping to build on that with a strikeout boost

Jim: Starlin Castro or Dustin Pedroia..who has the better next two seasons?

august fagerstrom: Pedroia

Matt: In 2014/2015, Scott Kazmir looks like he’s had a pretty significant first-half/second-half split, where his performance has dropped off considerably in the second half. Is there any way to know whether this kind of split is just random, or if it signifies a durability issue that will get worse with age?

august fagerstrom: no real way to know with any significance in one specific case like that, but given Kazmir’s history, I don’t think it would be too irresponsible to put two and two together there

Jake: Any chance the Astros do something crazy like sign Upton/Cepedes and deal Gomez? And move Springer to CF?

august fagerstrom: seems way more likely they’d just sign Chris Davis

Zonk: I personally think the Phillies are going to be a freight train. Good TV money, good stadium, good farm system, all the dead money goes away after this year, and they are committed to rebuilding. Am I right in thinking they could dominate the East in 2018+?

august fagerstrom: yeah, you are

august fagerstrom: Phillies are gonna be really good really soon, methinks

Bork: Orioles are deluding themselves, no? They want to contend, but don’t quite have all the pieces and refuse to go all the way but at the same time refuse to rebuild.

august fagerstrom: yeah, I considered bringing them up earlier when I was asked about an AL team that should rebuild. if they go get Davis back though you can squint and see a .500 team which is really all most teams are shooting for nowadays I think, so I can see it from their side

august fagerstrom: at the same time, that team probably reminds me of the Reds/Brewers from a couple years ago more than any other

FTF: Loved your piece on Kazmir, Dodgers and Health. Why do you think the White Sox are always at the very bottom in terms of pitchers’ injuries ? And by a pretty large margin when we look back at the 15 years back.

august fagerstrom: no idea. it’s truly one of the great mysteries of the game, and it gives the White Sox a pretty sizable competitive advantage

august fagerstrom: part of me thinks that information should have to be shared with the rest of the league though. if every team were able to prevent injuries like the White Sox, it would be better for the fans, the teams, the owners, the players…

Curtis: Which player were you most disappointed in (all time) – where you were hoping/expecting them to be great and they turned out meh (or worse)?

august fagerstrom: this is a weird name to come to mind because I probably haven’t thought about this guy in a decade but I remember being bummed that Alex Cintron never built on his rookie year

august fagerstrom: the real answer though is Grady Sizemore

august fagerstrom: he was a sure-fire first-ballot HoFer after his first 4/5 years in the league

august fagerstrom: closest thing we had to Trout

august fagerstrom: and then nothing

august fagerstrom: couple tweets I sent out a few months ago:

august fagerstrom: Four-year peaks:Grady Sizemore: 25.8 WAR Willie Stargell 25.6 Pete Rose 25.4 Tony Gwynn 25.4 Brooks Robinson 25.3 🙁

august fagerstrom: In Grady Sizemore’s first 5 MLB seasons he had 28.3 WAR and seven years later he’s at 28.9

august fagerstrom: heartbreaking

Ryan: Do you crap your diaper

august fagerstrom: been a while

Aaron: How many teams do you think would rather have the “Free Agent Team” from your post today than their current team?

august fagerstrom: well

august fagerstrom: the teams that are really bad wouldn’t take it because they’re really bad for a reason, right?

august fagerstrom: the tanking teams don’t want a .500 team

august fagerstrom: and then, while it’s a good team, it isn’t a real contender

august fagerstrom: so the real contenders wouldn’t want it

august fagerstrom: maybe like the A’s or Rays or Padres or something but they wouldn’t have the payroll. don’t know if we’re considering that or not. in fact almost nobody would want that payroll, and if they did want the payroll, they’d want a better roster

dom: the Browns just hired Paul DePodesta!

oblig: what are your thoughts on depodesta jumping sports to the browns? thats certainly gotta be unique, eh?

august fagerstrom: yeah, this is fascinating

august fagerstrom: I’d imagine it’s something DePodesta’s been thinking about for a while and has probably done research on football analytics that are maybe so far untapped?

august fagerstrom: he’s achieved about as much as there is to achieve in his field in baseball, so why not try and become an all-time front office legend by helping revolutionize two sports?

august fagerstrom: from the Browns side, why not? nowhere to go but up, and they seem to going all-in on analytics, with every other approach having failed over the past 15 years

august fagerstrom: I do think it’s pretty funny that the Indians were basically the first analytic team in baseball 25 years ago

august fagerstrom: and now the Browns are not only trying to do the same thing in football, but are using the SAME GUY

Oneear: What does Fagerstrom mean?

august fagerstrom: beautiful river, in Finnish

Derek: To spite Frank: What is your favorite kind of candy bar? I’m always partial to Milky Ways.

august fagerstrom: I’m not a huge candy bar fan to be honest

august fagerstrom: I like fruity candies like Skittles and Starburst, or pure milk chocolate

dom: Do you like the NBA?

august fagerstrom: yeah, to an extent

august fagerstrom: used to like it a lot more than I do now, but I still follow the Cavs pretty closely and keep up on stuff around the league. I like reading new-age (FG-style) basketball writing

TKDC: Should teams that are out of it by August just shut down all of their good starting pitchers (that they control going forward) to avoid the risk of injury?

august fagerstrom: The amount of risk you’d (maybe?) avoid by doing this wouldn’t be enough to outweigh the negative PR and attendance hits you’d take

august fagerstrom: even if it was in the best interest of the future of the org, which I’m not 100% sure it would be, it’s not worth the risk of alienating your fanbase

Tony: Why hasn’t Mike Napoli officially been announced and added to the 40 yet by the Indians? It’s been weeks now…

august fagerstrom: yeah, this is odd

august fagerstrom: at first I figured physical issues (think Boston a couple years ago) or that Antonetti was on the verge of completing a trade that would affect the 40

august fagerstrom: but it’s been too long for either of those to make a lot of sense, so I don’t know. it’s puzzling

Tony: Since you said you know Indians prospects: how would you rank Kaminsky, Clevinger and Sheffield at this point?

august fagerstrom: in terms of overall future value? I’d probably go Clevinger, Sheffield, Kaminsky

august fagerstrom: like them all. Kaminsky doesn’t seem to have great upside though

august fagerstrom: Clevinger I think could be a real gme

august fagerstrom: gem*

jtt2856: What do you think cistulli is doing right at this exact second?

august fagerstrom: having a beer with lunch

august fagerstrom: or maybe having a beer while recording a Dayn Perry podcas

august fagerstrom: he’s probably drinking, is the point

Jim: Bobby Bradley Jr..who is an MLB comp and do you see him being a star?

august fagerstrom: he’s far too one dimensional to be a star

august fagerstrom: I’m sure I could come up with a better comp but the first name that came to mind was like Jon Singleton

august fagerstrom: somewhere inbetween what Jon Singleton’s actually been and what people thought Jon Singleton would be

TKDC: Would it make sense for the Braves or Phillies to look at Justin Upton if the price fell enough, even though they likely won’t compete this year? Another bigger free agent?

august fagerstrom: hmmm this is actually an interesting thought, especially for the Phillies

august fagerstrom: like I think they could be good next year, so it would make sense from that standpoint

august fagerstrom: would be tough to convince him to come on board though if he was the only big move they made this year

august fagerstrom: he won’t want to play through trash for a full season to *hopefully* have a bunch of prospects pan out

Derek: As a Phillies fan who was so high on Carrasco only to see him flourish years later with the Indians, can you tell me what exactly he’s done to become so successful? I’m still biased and think it’s all just a fluke and he still sucks (sour grapes, I know).

august fagerstrom: well he was always supposed to be an ace, so he’s just gotten back to doing the things that made him so hyped in the first place

august fagerstrom: he’s healthy, for one

august fagerstrom: in a better headspace than he was in for awhile when he was moving back and forth between minors and majors, hurt and healthy, bullpen and rotation

august fagerstrom: the big one though was when he went to the bullpen in 2014, he started a) pitching out of the stretch exclusively, b) limited his repertoire to ditch his meh curveball and throw his nasty slider/change combo more and c) started pitching with more intent, as guys do when they transition from the rotation to pen. then, when he moved back to the rotation, he just kept doing all that same stuff

august fagerstrom: it’s definitely not a fluke. he’s a top 10 pitcher in baseball and the best pitcher in Cleveland, IMO

Jordan : I get the feeling the Jays are heading into a rebuild that could start as soon as the trade deadline but I imagine latest next off season, would you agree?

august fagerstrom: yeah if they’re falling out of contention at the deadline this year Joey Bats and/or EE could definitely be moved

Tony: Should the Indians sign Steve Pearce? He seems like a perfect fit for a 3 men bench (with Jose Ramirez and Roberto Perez) that Tito prefers

august fagerstrom: definitely thought so at the start of the year, but after the Davis/Napoli signings I’m not so sure. he’d probably be taking Collin Cowgill’s roster spot, and he’s better than Cowgill, but the Indians value Cowgill’s defense and vs. LHP split, so they might not think upgrade would be worth the cost

Oneear: What park has cheap beer?

august fagerstrom: $4 beers at Progressive Field!

JZ: In the Cleveland clubhouse, Bauer and Moss always gave interesting baseball insight. However, Kipness and Lindor seem to say more dull things. Anyone else who seems particularly engaged in there?

august fagerstrom: Lindor is one of the best interviews there just not with super technical baseball stuff, though he’s great when you ask him about defense

august fagerstrom: Roberto Perez is awesome for pitching stuff. Salazar is really in-tune with the advanced/”art” side of pitching however you want to call it. and Cody Allen is a big sabermetrics guy who’s great to talk to about pitching

august fagerstrom: it all comes from Mickey Callaway, though, who is the absolute best

Derek: LCD Soundsystem question: How do you feel about bands (cough, Grateful Dead, cough) that put on such a huge farewell concert that fans shell out hundreds if not thousands of dollars for, only to keep doing more shows later? I’m kind of okay with it because who wouldn’t love more live music, but it’s still kind of hokey.

august fagerstrom: yeah, I’m on the side of more live music is better as long as it’s not forced

august fagerstrom: also very possible that those bands totally intend to do one-offs and then get overwhelmed by the experience or fan reaction and have a new fire lit to do more

Josh: Best fit for Gordon, Cespedes, & Upton.

august fagerstrom: Angels, Giants, White Sox in that order

oblig: do you get annoyed with people who complain about free things?

august fagerstrom: yeah I mean it doesn’t ruin my day or anything but it’s kind of a silly endeavor

EC: Could Austin Jackson be a good 1 year fit for Nats?

august fagerstrom: yeah, he could serve as a decent fallback option for the handful of contending teams that could use a little boost in CF

august fagerstrom: also entirely possible that Nats evaluators would prefer Taylor

mtsw: Does the fact that Chris Davis used to play 3B and can still play fairly cromulent corner OF indicate he might age better than a typical slugging 1B?

august fagerstrom: could give him a little boost

august fagerstrom: but also you have to wonder how much of Davis playing those positions was a product of his ability or his team’s roster construction

Oneear: I enjoyed your article on Heyward in CF. If it was your team would you stand pat or try to bring in another CFer?

august fagerstrom: in a vacuum I wouldn’t mind Heyward in center

august fagerstrom: that he’s being flanked by Schwarber and Soler gives me some pause

Ernie Camacho: Tribe pitching had the AL’s lowest wOBA-against and a low BABIP-against last year, and will pitch in front of what looks like one of the AL’s best defenses. Are you skeptical of ZiPS’s projection that almost all of the team’s 2016 pitchers will underperform their FIP by a significant spread?

august fagerstrom: yeah I would bet on the ERA’s being closer to their projected FIP’s

august fagerstrom: but I can totally see why ZiPS projected the way it did

august fagerstrom: Kluber, Carrasco, et al have underperformed peripherals due to defense, but ZiPS can’t know it was due to defense that’s since been improved, so it has to bet on those guys just being peripheral underperformers

august fagerstrom: which could be the case, to an extent! Kluber does have something of a hard-contact issue at times

Jim : Would Calhoun Skaggs besrosian and coward net arenado and dickerson

august fagerstrom: no

Mike: If the Cubs trade Soler, who do you see them signing to play center? Fowler? Span? Jackson? Other?

august fagerstrom: yeah you probably just ranked them in order of likelihood

Steve-O: Do the Cubs “need” a true CFer or can they get by with limited range ?

august fagerstrom: one thing worth considering is the tweet Ben Lindbergh sent out the day of Heyward’s signing that Wrigley has the second-smallest (i believe) center field in baseball by square footage

august fagerstrom: don’t know how much that actually matters, but

Shaunhan: What stadium should the Free Agent team play in?

august fagerstrom: Polo Grounds

oblig: FWIW – Jimmy Haslam said in a relase that “DePodesta will be responsible for assessing and implementing best practices and strategies” so the team could make “optimal decisions.”

august fagerstrom: “HELP US NOT FUCK UP ANYMORE PLZ”

anon: How do you feel about certain players being rushed up the minors and allowed to develop in majors

august fagerstrom: depends on the player honestly

august fagerstrom: in situations like this I think a lot of it boils down to makeup and we have no idea about makeup for the most part

anon: I forget what the research says, but is there anything to the idea that teams that coast into playoffs do worse than the ones who have to fight to get in?

august fagerstrom: pretty sureno

FTF: I know you like Aphex, Ambient and Electronic Music, I recommand you that mix : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiAkdoETqNA

august fagerstrom: Aphex Twin is one of my all-time favorites. will check it out, thanks

oblig: have you traveled in finland?

august fagerstrom: I have not been overseas. Would love to visit the homeland one day, even though David Laurila told me I wasn’t a true Fin at the winter meetings this year

oblig: do you like runts?!

august fagerstrom: i *love* runts

groucho: Who’s on your HOF ballot??

august fagerstrom: won’t have one for another 10 years but it would be:

august fagerstrom: Bagwell Bonds Clemens Edmonds Griffey Martinez Mussina Piazza Raines Schilling

Jon: Do you think the Rockies destroy John Gray just like all of their other pitching prospects or am I right in thinking that he will be different?

august fagerstrom: no he’ll probably get destroyed

Bork: Conspiracy theory time: Napoli has an involvement with the police of some kind that hasn’t been made public. Indians are trying to decide what to do and hoping it doesn’t get exposed like the Chapman story.

august fagerstrom: it’s gonna be announced later today from what I understand

PS: What do you think is Luis Severino’s Peak? Could he put up a 5WAR season?

august fagerstrom: yeah I don’t see why not

august fagerstrom: with the way pitching is going today, when you see a guy come up at 21 with prospect status and the kind of stuff he’s got and pitch well right out of the gate, there’s no ceiling on how good they can get

Chris: Would Jerry Dipoto do Paxton for Ozuna if Miami offered it up? Or do you think he prefers the rotation upside/depth?

august fagerstrom: seems like a fair trade in terms of value

august fagerstrom: no idea where his preferences currently lie though

Torcosign: Are there any teams currently using their minor league affiliates to test any forward thinking game strategies? (Interesting shifts, bullpen usage, 6 man rotations) I would think this would be a great place to workshop new ideas but might also impede development.

august fagerstrom: yeah

august fagerstrom: I know the Indians do some out-of-the-box stuff in their lower minors

august fagerstrom: I’m sure they’re not the only ones or even the most progressive

Shower Thoughts: What is more likely? Orioles resign Chris Davis or the bargain hunting continues (i.e. Dom Brown, Mike Minor)?

august fagerstrom: I guess Davis

august fagerstrom: though that wouldn’t stop them from signing guys to minor league deals

Meowmix: I don’t know why, but I would imagine with a name like Yohan Flande, his scouting report would include the fact that he eats his fries with mayonaise. Thoughts?

august fagerstrom: i have no idea what this means but i like it

John: You think Dipoto is successful in Seattle long-term? He seems like if given baseball decision making authority that he’s smart and will make great decisions.

august fagerstrom: yeah, I see no reason to bet against Dipoto. he’s clearly a smart, aggressive baseball mind and he inherited a team that wasn’t a disaster

Phil: Are the big FA hitters at this point just waiting for someone to bite and then they all sign in a flurry? It clearly wasn’t Zobrist they were waiting on… but given the market seems to not be exactly what they anticipated, do they just now need to wait for someone to set the price?

august fagerstrom: kinda seems like it, but like you said, we all thought it was gonna hinge on Zobrist and look what happened

august fagerstrom: I don’t think Gordon will set off a chain of moves because he’s kind of his own case

august fagerstrom: Upton/Cespedes could get things going though

august fagerstrom: will at least trigger the other one signing, I’d imagine

Total Clown: Yo August! Was thinking about Tulo’s defense numbers last year with his two teams. Obviously sample size is the probable answer. Is there a way to look at average exit velocity for grounders at Coors vs Rogers, or home/away defense numbers for Jays and Rockies?

august fagerstrom: you should be able to do the exit velo one on BaseballSavant if I’m not mistaken

Chuncey Wiggins: What team would win more games…a team of minotaurs or a team of centaurs?

august fagerstrom: Centaurs would get wrecked

august fagerstrom: they have hooves

Zonk: The Cubs are the only team in the NL Central that has so far improved; Reds and Brewers are not trying to contend anymore, Cards may have some moves, but Pirates are barely treading water. How do you see this division?

august fagerstrom: Cubs -sizable gap- Pirates/Cardinals -even more sizable gap- Reds/Brewers

Picayune: Any thoughts on Joey Gallo and his defensive value? What do you think the prognosis is there?

august fagerstrom: seems like a future first baseman but I’m also probably underqualified to make that assessment given how much I’ve actually seen of Gallo

Bork: Why are the D’backs so open to media about their plans and moves? Seems odd we get a play by play from the front office themselves rather than insider rumors.

august fagerstrom: I gave up on trying to decipher the logic behind the Dbacks front office long ago

august fagerstrom: just enjoy the ride

Nick: The Royals 2016 outfield is Cain, Dyson, and who?

august fagerstrom: Gerardo Parra?

Derek: Where is this elusive Fangraphs-style basketball writing you speak of?

august fagerstrom: read everything Mike Prada writes at SBNation

august fagerstrom: he’s amazing

august fagerstrom: also Kirk Goldsberry and Zach Lowe are must-reads

august fagerstrom: then the Cavs have a great base of analytical writers that I really enjoy following reading. David Zavac is great

august fagerstrom: oh and Ethan Strauss is fantastic for non-Cavs stuff too

Eric Weinstein: Wait so Carrasco is better than Kluber? You said Carrasco best pitcher in Cleveland just there.

august fagerstrom: I think so

august fagerstrom: pretty much a coin flip though

Q-Ball: Thoughts on Johnny Manziel?

august fagerstrom: football should be low on his list of priorities right now

Eric Weinstein: Why Edmonds instead of Sosa? They’re within about 1 WAR of each other which is just a rounding error over a full career. And Sosa pretty obviously beats Edmonds in the fame/impact part of the equation. Is it the Steroids?

august fagerstrom: preference. Edmonds was actually the better hitter over the course of his career and was clearly the superior defender in CF

august fagerstrom: Edmonds arguably had the more impressive sustained peak, too

Jack Glasscock’s Cup: You mentioned a sandwich you got before a chat a few weeks ago, the Philadelphian. Where did you get it from? I work downtown and am tired of my food options in and around tower city.

august fagerstrom: I actually got that today too! ate it at the start of the chat

august fagerstrom: I currently live in Kent, though, I don’t move to Cleveland until next month

august fagerstrom: if you’re ever in Kent, though, head down to Franklin Square Deli

august fagerstrom: that’s my spot

JZ: How do you drink 1-2 beers a day and still maintain an athletic and hip body?

august fagerstrom: work out and eat reasonably OK

august fagerstrom: also I have a pretty good metabolism

august fagerstrom: also while I’m pretty in shape I also definitely have a beer gut so it’s not like I’m a pillar of fitness or anything

oblig: will larry walker ever be thrown a HOF bone?

august fagerstrom: he’d be No. 11 on my hypothetical ballot

Bruce: Will Edgar Martinez get enough votes to get elected in to the HOF before he’s off the ballot in 2020?

august fagerstrom: yeah

Q-Ball: Who emerges from the AL Central scrum as the winner?

august fagerstrom: Royals or Indians I think are the most likely

august fagerstrom: though I could honestly see anyone taking it

august fagerstrom: I’d probably go like 30% Royals 25% Indians 20% Tigers 15% White Sox 10% Twins

jtt2856: and here you are berating carson for drinking beer at noon

august fagerstrom: berating?!

august fagerstrom: was simply assuming! he has a beer for lunch every day

august fagerstrom: and it’s lunch time-ish

Brandon: Do you have any cats?

august fagerstrom: one! Mr. McGinty, he’s a 12-year-old orange tabby that weighs like 25 pounds and has diabetes

august fagerstrom: he’s the man

Bill Heywood: Napoli killed Kennedy

Bill Heywood: Napoli has deep ties in the Manitowoc County Sherrif’s Department

august fagerstrom: uh oh

august fagerstrom: guess that’s a good time to sign off

august fagerstrom: i might get wrapped up in a murder case soon