August Fagerstrom FanGraphs Chat — 8/5/16

august fagerstrom: Friday chat!

august fagerstrom: Friday soundtrack! El Grincho – Alegranza!

august fagerstrom: did I type Grincho just now? because I sure meant to type Guincho

august fagerstrom: it sure is Fridy

august fagerstrom: and then I misspelled Friday. welp. this is sure to go well.

august fagerstrom: Allow me to now heat up a bowl of lemon chicken and rice and we can begin.

august fagerstrom: I was advised by my orthopedic surgeon yesterday to receive a second opinion on my left shoulder. I finally feel like I’m living out my dreams of being a professional ballplayer! Only the injured kind, and also the kind that’s making a blogger’s salary.

august fagerstrom: OK! Lunch ready. Chat ready.

Bork: Hello, friend!

august fagerstrom: Hello, Bork!

R+L=J: With your extensive Cleveland knowledge- what do you think of Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield?

august fagerstrom: I think Frazier is going to be a beast. That strength/bat speed coupled with his plate discipline improvements over the last year or so are really exciting

august fagerstrom: Word on Sheffield seems to be more of a mid-rotation, high-floor type guy. Doesn’t nearly possess Frazier’s upside, but a valuable piece to have

august fagerstrom: Yankees got a haul. Indians got the most valuable reliever in baseball. A sensible swap, I’d say

Bork: Eno is doing a meetup in Toronto, but Toronto sucks. You should do a meetup in Ottawa and upstage that fro freak.

august fagerstrom: I reject the premise that Toronto sucks

august fagerstrom: I love Toronto

Gary: Why are the Red Sox platooning Benintendi? He had no splits in the minors.

august fagerstrom: Just letting him get accustomed to big league pitching, hopefully experience some success early on vs. RHP while keeping guys fresh. It’s not a long-term plan or anything

AFon: What underlying value does WAR not incorporate? Other than like pitch framing.

august fagerstrom: I think the biggest thing is no secret — the goal of any WAR model (rightly, IMO) aims to strip context out of evaluation, but in doing so, fails to accurately credit teams whose roster construction lends itself to sustainable success in high-leverage situations that the model doesn’t treat as such

august fagerstrom: In other words, bullpens

Jack C.: Off the top of your head, do you know who the only 20-20 guy in MLB is?

august fagerstrom: Last I checked, Trout only had 17-18 steals, so I don’t think it’s him

august fagerstrom: My first thought was Betts, but now I’m leaning toward Altuve

august fagerstrom: Final answer: Altuve

august fagerstrom: Answer key time!

august fagerstrom: 19 homers for Altuve! drats

august fagerstrom: Wil Fucking Myers?!?!?

august fagerstrom: wow

crystal pepsi: is this your favorite month?

august fagerstrom: It is, by far, my least-favorite month.

august fagerstrom: The July-August-September stretch is just awful. So many misguided instances of thinking people are speaking to me

Dan: MANDATORY: HOW’D YOU GET YOUR NAME (Grandfather, Olympian, link to Wikipedia page)

august fagerstrom: mandatory

Whats that Odor: What type of pitch should I add to my softball arsenal? I already throw a mean backspinner and a nasty cutter

august fagerstrom: Our pitcher throws a pretty nice knuckler. No idea how effective it is, but he sure enjoysit.

Fugust Aagerstrom: hell friend

august fagerstrom: not yet

Joe: If a player saw 10 pitches every PA but never got on base, would he be valuable enough to put in the lineup? Assume avg defense.

august fagerstrom: no

august fagerstrom: Debatable whether running up pitch count is even a good thing

LarryA: Why would the Indians trade the farm for a good hitting catcher, when they already have the best hitting catcher in baseball on their roster: Mike Napoli. Tell him to throw the old equipement on!

august fagerstrom: Well they definitely didn’t try to trade the farm for Lucroy. To be honest, I was surprised at how light the Lucroy package was

august fagerstrom: And as for Napoli catching……. no

august fagerstrom: That’s not happening for so many reasons

Bork: The Mets told Cespedes to stop golfing as he’s supposed to be nursing his injury. I guess he didn’t realize he can golf all he wants in October.

august fagerstrom: *FireEmoji* *FireEmoji* *FireEmoji* *FireEmoji* *FireEmoji*

Alex: Do you think Liriano in Toronto will be produce closer to 2013-14 Liriano, or what he has been producing so far this year in Pitt?

august fagerstrom: This year

j6takish: Cigarettes, gorging yourself on seafood, binge drinking and golfing. We could all learn something from Cespedes about how to live life

august fagerstrom: anyone know if John Daly liked to play baseball in his spare time?

Maxamuz: It’s been a rough week. I lost Salazar, McCullers, Nola and Story.

august fagerstrom: been a far rougher week for Salazar, McCullers, Nola and Story

Alex: What is the greatest pitch of all time? Pedro’s changeup?

august fagerstrom: Chapman’s fastball or Rivera’s cutter

j6takish: It isn’t even noon yet, who do you think you are? Cistulli?

august fagerstrom: I said lemon chicken not beer

Sam: I’ve asked this question several times over the last 2 years in various chats. Can someone PLEASE explain to me why Jeff Locke still is allowed to make starts in MLB?

august fagerstrom: I wrote a couple years ago about how he essentially embodied the prototypical Pirates pitcher in his approach. My guess is, as a guy they developed, they thought he was one tweak away from being the guy they want all their pitchers to be

august fagerstrom: Never got there

august fagerstrom: Have to imagine this year is the last straw

joseph: August! Give me you hot take on the Toronto – Sanchez situation!

august fagerstrom: If the take has to be hot, I guess I’ll go on record as saying I find it sill

august fagerstrom: silly*

august fagerstrom: There’s just no evidence that what they’re doing makes Sanchez any less likely to be injured

august fagerstrom: At least, public evidence

august fagerstrom: Maybe they’ve got some, IDK. But I think teams are still just doing this because it seems right, or because it’s what other teams have done

august fagerstrom: And if they’re taking their best starter out of the rotation during a pennant race based on an *assumption* that it will keep him healthier, well

august fagerstrom: oh, shit!

august fagerstrom: They’re keeping him in the rotation now?

august fagerstrom: Wasn’t paying attention to baseball last night! That changes things.

Nick: What did you think of Lucroy outright confirming that he vetoed the move to CLE because Antonetti wouldn’t guarantee him the starting catcher spot this season? Man, it seems pretty ill-advised to lose Lucroy and bet on Gomes again to rebound after he’s been awful since 2014 now. T_T

august fagerstrom: Still don’t totally buy all that, but it was *next* season, right? Not this one?

august fagerstrom: Because I could see the “no promises” thing being true for next year, because they probably just couldn’t promise they wouldn’t trade him again

Dan: Do you answer fantasy questions?

august fagerstrom: negative

august fagerstrom: worth a reminder every now and then I suppose

RJ: Will Jose Ramirez be the Indians’ starting 3B in 2017? In 2018?

august fagerstrom: Yes/Who knows

Borxa Dork: What do you make of the recent Astro prospect flops (Reed, Bregmen, White)? Are they victims of the Yankeeesque over-hype syndrome or just being rushed?

august fagerstrom: those guys already flopped?

august fagerstrom: that was quick

Brett W: Tigers: back in the race, or closest they will get?

august fagerstrom: Definitely back in the race. Playoff odds up to 50%.

august fagerstrom: Could see them making the WC, don’t seem them taking the division

Max: Are most relievers in the bullpen because they don’t have the endurance of starters or don’t throw enough pitches?

august fagerstrom: More skewed toward the latter, I’d think

Richie: Wow! You’re on time for once. I wasn’t ready for this, so excuse me for a bit while I think up some volcano question.

august fagerstrom: Don’t think of a volcano question!

august fagerstrom: You’re confusing me with Jeff Sullivan!

august fagerstrom: We switched chats this week.

august fagerstrom: You’re be sorely disappointed with my response to any volcano-related question

j6takish: August, whats up with your shoulder? Mine is also all screwed up. Going in for my 4th appointment Tuesday.I may legitimately have thoracic outlet syndrome, just like the pitchers!

august fagerstrom: Dislocated it playing third base last month. Second time in as many years. My labrum is shredded and apparently I have a stress fracture in there too. Getting surgery later this month at the ripe age of 25 🙁

Sportsnut61: Hello son … Glad to see you are eating well … Considering his second half meltdown a year ago, should Indians fans be concerned about Trevor Bauer?

august fagerstrom: Hey, it’s my Dad! Say hi to my Dad, everyone

august fagerstrom: Last year’s second-half wouldn’t be my cause for concern. There’s not much to the consistent first/second-half performer stuff, and with Bauer’s arm strength/conditioning, he’s one of the last guys I’d expect to wear down over the course of a season

august fagerstrom: That being said, last seven starts: 13.2% walk rate! Almost double from his first 11 starts! Not good. He’s still getting the grounders, so he seemingly hasn’t abandoned his new approach, but the absolute lack of command coming back is troubling

august fagerstrom: Could just be a rough stretch. Velocity hasn’t dipped either

Guest: Do you think NYY wanted to TAKE Frazier, or CLE wanted to KEEP Zimmer

august fagerstrom: the former

august fagerstrom: Frazier usurped Zimmer’s prospect status over the last calendar year. Zimmer’s strikeouts are starting to get concerning

Rahul: Rays got two interesting prospects in Mejia and Fox. What do you think about them?

august fagerstrom: Probably about whatever Eric Longenhagen thinks about them: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/scouting-the-prospects-in-the-matt-moore-deal/

august fagerstrom: I’m not a prospect guy

august fagerstrom: I’m a guy who reads and talks to the prospect guys

august fagerstrom: I know extensions of whatever they know, and nothing more

Josh: What is your take on Miguel Sano? Word is that the Twins might demote him when Plouffe is activated on Monday. Good move?

august fagerstrom: Seems short-sighted and silly

august fagerstrom: Sano is a 23-year-old with a 131 wRC+ over 156 career games and is one of the two or three most important people currently in the Twins organization

august fagerstrom: Trevor Plouffe means nothing, and neither does the Twins current record

Bork:

august fagerstrom: Bork delievers.

august fagerstrom: Bork always delivers.

Avi: Frazier is already embracing the NY scene. He’s trying to take Jen Selter on a date.

august fagerstrom: He’s got the kind of personality that seems like it will thrive in New York’s spotlight

august fagerstrom: I hope he has a great career. He’s a lot of fun to watch and seems like a great kid by all indications

Dave Kingman: Is this improved J.A. Happ the new normal going forward? Is his recent success (last year plus) sustainable for the foreseeable future baring injury?

august fagerstrom: 2.57 ERA and 3.35 FIP dating back a full calendar year now: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2016&month=10&season1=2016&ind=0&team=&rost=&age=0&filter=&players=

august fagerstrom: Same WAR as Scherzer and deGrom

august fagerstrom: He’s legit

Henry C: Is it just me, or are the D-Backs’ uniforms absolute fuego?! Among the best in the MLB, imo

august fagerstrom: I find them repugnant.

CamdenWarehouse: Mark Teixeira is retiring. I think it’s quick obvious that he’s not a hall of famer, but he’s got to be near the top of best players not in the hall, right? Excluding those who will get in and the “special cases”.

august fagerstrom: That’s the thing, there’s soooooo many guys in that 45-55 WAR “best to not get in” class

august fagerstrom: That’s what makes the actual Hall of Famers so special

august fagerstrom: Teixeira’s no different than the other hundreds of guys who had really, really awesome career that are nowhere near being legitimate HoFers

august fagerstrom: Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still celebrate and appreciate him

A. Reitz: What are the Mets doing? I feel like they’re semi-lucky w/ the way injuries have happened w/ their roster. Wright gets hurt, they keep Herrera in the minors. Flores on fire, they pick up Reyes. Conforto in CF? Granderson in CF? Why trade Herrera for another OF’er when you don’t need an OF’er!!

august fagerstrom: I wish I had a better answer for you

old cranky man : Wasn’t there a time when batters were required to make a good faith effort to avoid getting hit by an errant pitch? It seems to me there was. Nowadays I see so many batters make no attempt to prevent getting hit. Has something changed?

august fagerstrom: Can’t say for sure, but always has seemed like one of those things that’s “technically” a “rule” but has never been enforced

august fagerstrom: Which is funny, considering how keen baseball players are on enforcing rules that aren’t even rules to begin with

Mr People: Who would you rather have as the 25th man on a roster: a 55 field/40 hit guy, a 40 field/55 hit guy, or a 45 field/45 hit guy?

august fagerstrom: Depends almost entirely on the first 24 guys, but probably the first one

Bork: Is your chat going to go for 2 hours like Jeff’s usually goes? You have big handsome shoes to fill.

august fagerstrom: Jesus, he usually chats for 2 hours?

august fagerstrom: Why did you tell me this?

CamdenWarehouse: so you agree with Sullivan that August blows?

august fagerstrom: absolutely

Jim Lonborg: Schoenfield says J. Bradley could be traded this winter. As a RS fan, I don’t see that as making sense (plus JBjr is a favorite). Your thoughts?

august fagerstrom: Anyone could be traded. Red Sox would get a haul. Have many other very good players. If they think it makes their organization better, they’ll do it

august fagerstrom: That’s no different from anyone else, though

Tim: The average baseball fan is vociferously attached to their favorite team. I, since getting all #sabr’d six or seven years ago, am way more interested in baseball as a whole, rather than any strong partisanship. Based on what you can tell from FG readers, to what extent, if at all, would you say they are in that second (arbitrary) bucket rather than the first?

august fagerstrom: I’d say you’re in the minority as someone who doesn’t work in baseball. I find that the majority of baseball writers lose their fandom naturally. I haven’t actively rooted for a baseball team in 3-4 years. I’d say probably 95% of readers pledge allegiance to a franchise though

Daniel: Corey Seager looks like he’s going to be a 6+ WAR player this year. Was this expected? Do you think that this is his ceiling or does he improve with age?

august fagerstrom: It’s so rare for anyone to be *expected* for 6+ WAR

august fagerstrom: That being said, he was the consensus No. 1 prospect entering the year, and major league ready

august fagerstrom: His ceiling is probably a handful of 7-8 WAR years, which is about as high as a non-Trout ceiling can realistically be

Matt : Is there any hope for the Twins under Paul Molitor? Buxton has been a complete failure so far, Sano has regressed and might be in AAA by next week, and Berrios really struggled in his initial call up. Is it just a case of guys not being as ready as we thought? Or are there huge problems with the way the team manages/develops/evaluates its players? Kepler seems to be the only guy who’s adjusted. Even the vets/free agent singings have been huge busts

august fagerstrom: I see no reason to believe Molitor is the reason for the struggles

august fagerstrom: Sano’s been a really good player so far. Berrios has barely had a chance. Kepler looks good.

august fagerstrom: Buxton is the only guy that really looks like an issue

Guesto: If Francisco Mejia breaks Joe DiMaggio’s hit streak record, do we care?

august fagerstrom: Been wondering this lately

august fagerstrom: I don’t think so?

Tom A.: David Robertson is (a) having some bad luck and a bad stretch or (b) no longer an elite reliever

august fagerstrom: closer to the latter than the former

Patrick: Mike Zunino been doing pretty well since coming up. Increased walk rate, seems to be hitting the ball better. True improvement or SSS?

august fagerstrom: I’ll buy it. Nice thing is he doesn’t have to do much to be an immensely valuable catcher, what with his receiving abilities

Guest: What’s the reason Fangraphs hasn’t implemented stats like K/9+ (league adjusted and standardized to 100) for all similarly rate based stats (GB%, LD%, Hard%, Z-Contact, etc.)?

august fagerstrom: Not sure the exact reason, but it gets talked about often and is still a definite possibility for the future

Tom A.: Hector Santiago could have been traded for something really valuable, no?

august fagerstrom: Not much more than what he did get traded for, no

Jake from State Farm: What do you think of the impending MIF situation in Texas? Profar wants to play short, Odor at 2B, Elvis ‘ contract is going to be hard to trade.

august fagerstrom: Profar could be a fine LF

dudeOfTheWorld: Do the Rangers have the rotation necessary to win the West? Advance far in October?

august fagerstrom: With last week’s roster I didn’t think so. With this week’s roster, I think they’re good enough at the positions and in the bullpen to make up for the lack of depth in the rotation

august fagerstrom: Darvish and Hamels both have to be healthy though

Jonathan Lucroy: Why don’t more players say “When I signed the contract, I gave up millions of dollars for a no-trade clause. Don’t criticize me for expecting something in return for waiving it.”

august fagerstrom: Because they shouldn’t need to say it

Rick: Are you a fan of any particular team?

august fagerstrom: I grew up an Indians fan, and certainly still pay more attention to them given I covered them the last two years and am still around the ballpark, but I’ve lost my rooting interests

Maxamuz: What if it has to do with a different *type* of fantasy?

august fagerstrom: different type of chat

Flash: Will Kevin Gausman ever take the next step and become a top of the rotation arm?

august fagerstrom: Starting to become harder to see it

august fagerstrom: Might even see Bundy before Gausman at this point

Alex: Do you see anything in Marco Estrada that could cause him to continue the 0.9-1.3 FIP-ERA heas maintained the past 2 years?

august fagerstrom: Insane deception, high-spin fastball, changeup that plays perfectly off said fastball, excellent command

august fagerstrom: weak fly balls and pop ups

august fagerstrom: If you were to build a pitcher who could sustainably beat their FIP, you’d just build Marco Estrada

Tom A.: Is Fernando Abad a good pitcher?

august fagerstrom: are you trying to bait me into a pun

Covelli: wont know if Sano is demoted til Monday, but have to pull the trigger on Gurriel by tomorrow to lock him up. Not sure what to do. Its a OBP keeper league, but I’m out after this year and want to win a title before I leave.

august fagerstrom: is this a question

Slamboni: Is it too early to label Byron Buxton a bust? he just looks lost at the plate

august fagerstrom: Bust? Too early. There’s definite cause for concern though

JD15: What do you think JBJ’s real skill level is bc I don’t think it’s last seasons and I don’t think it was the start of this season either.

august fagerstrom: 120 wRC+?

august fagerstrom: He’s 141 over the past year, projections are still at 107

august fagerstrom: Somewhere between there seems about right

mike sixel: Were you surprised Detroit didn’t make a move? I was, though I’m not sure what move would have been ideal for them….or if they have a farm left…..

august fagerstrom: Yeah, I think they may have finally felt the restrictions of having 0 prospects

Bork: Hi August’s Dad I’m Bork your son’s best friend. Also secret lover.

Bork: I’ll see you at Thanksgiving dinner!

david bowie and bing crosby: Hi Mr. Fagerstrom!

JP: Hi August’s Dad!!

Justin: Hello, Dad-friend!

JD15: Do you think Kyle Hendrick’s performance this season is sustainable with his soft contact ability and the Cubs defens?

august fagerstrom: Yep. He’s really good.

august fagerstrom: Hendricks might be the new Quintana, where it takes people like 3 years to realize how good they are

dudeOfTheWorld: Why didn’t Milwaukee refuse to let Lucroy go without Gallo in the package?

august fagerstrom: Maybe they preferred Brinson?

j6takish: Was that really your dad?

august fagerstrom: yep!

august fagerstrom: He tried to sneak a question into last week’s chat but I didn’t believe it was really him

Jimmy: I know you dont answer fantasy Qs but looking for outside opinion on the matter. It’s not about players. Last place team, mathematically eliminated, makes trade, albeit fair in terms of value, with first place team in redraft league. Should this be vetoed by commish? I say yes – commish said no bc the trade was fair on the surface.

august fagerstrom: If it’s a fair trade (i.e. first place team isn’t getting demonstrably better) then I don’t think it matters who it’s coming from

Josh: Who’s the most underrated player in baseball? Brandon Crawford? Adam Eaton? Someone else?

august fagerstrom: Literally think it might be Mike Trout

Nick: No Frank Ocean album release, again!! Are you disappointed?

august fagerstrom: very

august fagerstrom: He re-started the stream at like 11:55 last night with brand-new visuals! How the hell do you not then drop it at midnight!

Minty: Moncada in June of 2017? How crazy is that for a debut?

august fagerstrom: Realistic

Make WAR not Love: August doesnt blow, but torn labrums do. I had a SLAP tear and Bankart tear at the same time. No bueno.

august fagerstrom: Don’t exactly know what those two things mean but any tear is a bad tear

august fagerstrom: I hate my shoulder so much

august fagerstrom: I just wanna play fall ball 🙁

InSpades: Sorry about that…meant to add. Blue Jays rotation 1-5 as good as anyone right now. One of the best closers in MLB. Great lineup. Everyone talking about Indians and Rangers, but Toronto might be making some noise this postseason.

august fagerstrom: Considering how underwhelming Storman’s been, it’s pretty remarkable how great Toronto’s rotation is

Guest: Is David Ortiz a Hall of Famer?

august fagerstrom: Yep

august fagerstrom: He definitely gets voted in

august fagerstrom: I think he should definitely be in

august fagerstrom: Other disagree with the latter

Rob: What do you think the White Sox do this winter with Sale and Quintana: trade both, trade one or keep both?

august fagerstrom: Either keep both or trade both

Dan: Hellllloooo, August. Thank you for what you’ve done to your body. Also: Yasiel Puig improves his play in the remainder of the season and makes LAD look silly for cutting bait, after being claimed/traded to ‘Team X.’ True or false?

august fagerstrom: Funny thing is, he already had improved his play

august fagerstrom: 131 wRC+ over his last 105 PA!

august fagerstrom: with well-above average right field defense and plus speed!

august fagerstrom: Yasiel Puig is a good baseball player

august fagerstrom: There’s got to be underlying circumstances

Zock jr: How surprised would you be if Bork was actually a host of different people, each taking the identity on a different day based on whether Bork had appeared yet?

august fagerstrom: There are definitely Bork imposters

august fagerstrom: He is literally the first question in the chat every day, though

august fagerstrom: That one is #TrueBork

Bork: Can I have a custom made Fangraphs onesie made for Bork Jr? Need it by March. Thanks.

august fagerstrom: Will pass along.

Josh: Cubs seem much better at getting guys acclimated to the majors than the Twins… would it make sense for them to go after Buxton with some high floor postion players and a sweetener… would Albert Almora, Jeimer Candelario, and a high upside arm in short A, or low A (like Jose Paulino) for Byron Buxton work?

august fagerstrom: Doubt Twins have much interest in giving up on Buxton just yet, certainly not for a handful of other unproven players

tommylasagna: when you’re sliding into third…

august fagerstrom: Funny thing is, I didn’t even dislocate the shoulder sliding! All I did was jump for a ball thrown high by our catcher after a baserunner overran the bag on a throw home from the outfield. Jumped, fully extended my arm and the shoulder just came out mid-air

august fagerstrom: It was awful

Toasty: what am I supposed to do with all of my volcano-related questions now???

august fagerstrom: Should’ve got ’em in on Tuesday!

august fagerstrom: Or wait until next Friday!

ApplePie: What impact do you think the writers of FGs have on industry trends? Think any analytics team reads the articles and applies the knowledge, or even just reads it?

august fagerstrom: Front offices definitely read stuff on here daily

august fagerstrom: I doubt we have much actual impact. They know most everything we know and so much more

august fagerstrom: Would assume more than anything our articles serve as reminders or refreshers

august fagerstrom: to FO types

Joe: Does Elvis get SS over Profar because he has better defense? Or b/c incumbent?

august fagerstrom: moreso the latter, I’d assume

Dylan: A couple of weeks ago there was a question about who has the most WAR this season with a wRC+ under 100. Who has the most war all-time in that category?

august fagerstrom: great question!

august fagerstrom: Ozzie Smith!

august fagerstrom: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2016&month=0&season1=1871&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=&filter=43783&players=0

august fagerstrom: should’ve known

august fagerstrom: the modern era leaderboard is a bit more interesting: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2016&month=0&season1=1921&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=&filter=43783&players=0

august fagerstrom: Almost Jimmy Rollins! Vizquel is up there

august fagerstrom: “almost” is an overstatement. Smith has the lead over Rollins by 18 wins

Hanzo: My fagerstrom chat soundtrack: Dr John’s Atco albums…

august fagerstrom: Excellent choice! I saw Dr. John play with the original Meters lineup at Bonnaroo (whose namesake he coined!) a few years back

august fagerstrom: Great show

Crystal: even tho you don’t answer my questions, I still love you August

august fagerstrom: sorry Crystal! I promise I don’t discriminate by name. I don’t even pay attention to the names, really. I just read the question and submit if I like it

august fagerstrom: Unless it’s Bork

august fagerstrom: I can’t ignore Bork’s name

Jim Lonborg: Most underrated player is Beltre, now and forever.

august fagerstrom: Yeah, he’s up there too

Jack C.: Frank Ocean, eh? You a 2-Chainz kind of guy? He released his mixtape last night.

august fagerstrom: very very meh on 2 Chainz

august fagerstrom: occasionally surprises me with an entertaining verse but I never listen to him

Eric: Is Felix still a top 10 starter? If not, where would you put him today?

august fagerstrom: Comfortably outside the top 10 for me. 25-30 range probably

Terry: Joey Gallo or Joc Pederson for 2017 and beyond?

august fagerstrom: Pederson

Dylan: Have you read The Arm? Seems to predict what the Jays considered doing with Sanchez and call it ridiculous

august fagerstrom: Yep. That’s mostly what informed my opinion from earlier, tbh

august fagerstrom: I’m pretty willing to concede to Jeff on that kind of stuff

Kyle: Is Kolten Wong ever an all star again?

august fagerstrom: was he ever?

Carey: Yasiel Puig over under 20 home runs in 2017?

august fagerstrom: over!

august fagerstrom: I am such a believer

Steve: Does the Fangraphs staff play fantasy football together?

august fagerstrom: I think Swydan is the only full timer who cares even one iota about football?

august fagerstrom: Wait no Jeff is a Seahawks fan I think

august fagerstrom: answer: no we don’t

tommylasagna: is it lame for a middle-aged man to play in a mixed softball league?

august fagerstrom: not at all!

august fagerstrom: do what you like

august fagerstrom: I intend to play softball for as long as my body allows me

august fagerstrom: It might be my favorite activity

Eric: How would you rank these 3 over the next few seasons: Dahl, Kepler, Benintendi?

august fagerstrom: reverse order

Carl Crawford’s Pet Brontosaurus: Not saying the SSS is relevant, but 2 major prospect flops (so far) in a year from the Stros seems like a fair question. Especially when you look at a team they are often compared, the Cubs and who have flopped what? Soler out of probably 5 guys in the last year? I think the guy asked a fair question.

august fagerstrom: I don’t think it is at all fair to use the word flop regarding Bregman and Reed, who have *combined* for fewer than 100 major league plate appearances. That’s silliness

august fagerstrom: And White wasn’t even a prospect

Josh: If Ortiz is a HOFer, then Edgar Martinez has to be in too, right?

august fagerstrom: Yep

august fagerstrom: Should be

ZMP: What’s the Reader’s Digest version of how you became a FG/BBWAA writer at such a young age?

august fagerstrom: Worked hard which put me in a position to get lucky and meet the right people at the right times

crystal pepsi: fangraphs boxers with the writers faces on the crotch and rear?

august fagerstrom: nightmare fuel

Matt: You guys a FG should have custome made Bork onesies for your children. You’d all be a big happy Bork-graphs-family

august fagerstrom: lot of FanGraphs clothes talk in this chat!

All Betts Off: Hey Aug,

august fagerstrom: Hey, Betts

Kyle: How good will Edwin Diaz be for the rest of this year and 2017? Top 5 closer? Does he ever start again?

august fagerstrom: Top five is aggressive but he is a legitimate high-leverage reliever moving forward and he’s there to stay

Erik: What does Yasiel Puig’s bad clubhouse behavior actually look like?

august fagerstrom: Haven’t been around the team so obviously speculation but it seems less like antagonistic behavior *toward* his teammates and moreso just not being the kind of professional athletes players are expected to be

august fagerstrom: In terms of body care, timeliness, work ethic, etc.

august fagerstrom: You’ve got to sacrifice a lot to be an athlete

august fagerstrom: The stories seem to indicate Puig isn’t that interested in self sacrifice

mookie best: Is McCutchen coming back this year? His exit velo and peripherals are terrible lately. He’s probably injured right?

august fagerstrom: Hard to ignore that possibility

Joe: Why did I think Jimmy Rollins was an above avg hitter?

august fagerstrom: Because he was for nearly as many seasons as he wasn’t, and more importantly even when he wasn’t, he was still a tremendously valuable player, overall

Bork: August is pretty good at determining the #truebork. No fake Bork questions/comments today!

august fagerstrom: #TrueBork

Bork: What types of questions do you generally not like to answer?

august fagerstrom: Fantasy ones and fake trade ones, pretty much

august fagerstrom: Both because I feel like I have no authority answering them

j6takish: Michael young is underrated, and what I mean by that, he was so over rated for so long that it became a meme and people forgot that he actually WAS a pretty good player and was therefore under rated

august fagerstrom: the dreaded meme death

Thor: What does Clayton Kershaw need to do to somehow win the CYA this year?

august fagerstrom: come back and make like 4 more starts

Steve: too bad – it would have made me laugh if the baseball guys played football together like any other office

august fagerstrom: When a sport becomes your job, it makes it a lot easier to tune out the rest of the sports as hobbies

august fagerstrom: Last thing I want to do with my free time is pay attention to other sports at this point

august fagerstrom: unless it’s the Cavs winning a championship. I can make time for that

Dave Cameron: What MLB player would make the best fangraphs writer?

august fagerstrom: Brandon McCarthy?

august fagerstrom: Cole Figueroa?

august fagerstrom: Votto? Not sure how his writing/internet chops are though. That’s what makes me lean toward McCarthy

tommylasagna: is that slow or fast-pitch? i’m afraid of the ball…

august fagerstrom: slow!

Steve: Wow! they shamed you into a 2 hour chat, didn’t they?

august fagerstrom: sure did

j6takish: Did you make that lemon chicken or is it leftover? I’d make an allusion to a local Cleveland eatery but I’ve only ever been there once and I was too drunk to go to a restaraunt

august fagerstrom: Both! Leftover that I made a couple nights ago

Bork: I would pay good money for boxers with August’s face on the crotch.

august fagerstrom: I would do everything in my power to prevent that from happening

uru: How legit is Max Kepler? Do you see him as a 130-135 wRC guy going forward?

august fagerstrom: No, but he sure looks like a legit major league bat. Something clicked a couple years ago

Jake: what does tbh mean?

august fagerstrom: to be honest

Don: Is it even possible for Tim Anderson to improve his walk-rate to a league average rate? If not, can he ever be a league-average playeR?

august fagerstrom: I’m incredibly skeptical

august fagerstrom: I’m also really fascinated by guys who didn’t start playing baseball until later in their lives

august fagerstrom: Have no idea whether to take that as, (a) Anderson didn’t start seeing pitches until he was 17 and missed out on that crucial pitch recognition abilities while his brain was rapidly developing in early childhood or (b) because he started late, he’ll just develop late and he’ll need more reps

august fagerstrom: Would love to see an analysis on that, but not sure if it’s possible

august fagerstrom: For now, I’ll have to see it before I believe it

Guys who played: Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Matt Harvey

august fagerstrom: oh yeah! Where’s Eric with our “guys who played baseball in the 90’s and early 2000’s” list?!

Bork: Who’s future is the more grim. Tigers or Orioles?

august fagerstrom: Tigers

august fagerstrom: Orioles not burdened with late-career Verlander and Miggy money

Dylan: Trevor Bauer would be a great fangraphs writer, dude is just a straight baseball nerd

august fagerstrom: Shit. How did I forget Trevor

Matt: What MLB player would make the best Beer Graphs writer?!

august fagerstrom: Got a few answers that I’m not at all comfortable sharing

Hodge: Does Willson Contreras turn into a top-five catcher within two years?

august fagerstrom: Defense would have to come a long way

You Better You Better You Betts: A good example of guys who didn’t start playing baseball until later: Lorenzo Cain. Perhaps guys like that are late-bloomers.

august fagerstrom: Yep, he’s the most famous example

august fagerstrom: He came up through the minors with great walk rates though

august fagerstrom: So it seems like that part of the game came more naturally to him

august fagerstrom: I’m more interested in knowing whether Anderson’s late start makes it more or less likely he develops better pitch recognition/discipline

EvanC: Would you surmise that Beltran will be inducted into HOF as a Royal or a Met?

august fagerstrom: I’m not certain he’ll get in, for one

august fagerstrom: Though he should

august fagerstrom: He seems like the classic case of the Jim Edmonds guy that gets brutally undervalued by HoF voters though

august fagerstrom: Amazing defense amazing baserunning with a good but not great bat

august fagerstrom: Amazing baserunning obviously doesnt apply to Edmonds in that scenario and defense less-so to Beltran but you get the point. The “all-around” guys like Beltran who don’t obviously jump out as elite all-time players due to their bat get undervalued. I’m afraid he doesn’t make it

august fagerstrom: To answer your question — I’d lean towards Mets because those Royals years were brutal, but it’s all personal preference really

august fagerstrom: Could be he just has a soft spot for KC as the org who drafted/developed him. Impossible to know

Jay Z: I live in downtown Seattle but I was in Cleveland for a bachelor party and caught the last two tribe games. Why do people mock the city of Cleveland? We stayed at the Drury, ate dinner at Butcher and the Brewer, and loved everything about the downtown.

august fagerstrom: Downtown is awesome! It really is.

august fagerstrom: It gets mocked because the sports teams have been so bad for so long, and there’s some ugliness around downtown

august fagerstrom: What’s downtown really is great though. The city definitely gets an unfairly bad rep

august fagerstrom: Also — Butcher and the Brewer is one of my favorite joints downtown. Good call. Glad you enjoyed

ApplePie: Are you a Future/Thugger kinda guy?

august fagerstrom: Love love love Future. Enjoy Thugger but don’t listen to him nearly as frequently

Steve: How do you feel about Yadier Molina’s HoF chances? Does he really stand out numbers wise?

august fagerstrom: Will be the most fascinating case

august fagerstrom: Personally think he should be in.

august fagerstrom: Could honestly see him getting bounced on his first year, or being like second-ballot inductee

august fagerstrom: One thing’s for sure: 15 years ago he wouldn’t have even been considered

august fagerstrom: It will be fascinating to see what the makeup of voters looks like when it’s his time, and how far we’ve come with evaluating catcher defense

august fagerstrom: ok, I’ve gotta jet

august fagerstrom: Hopefully this came close to meeting Jeff’s Friday chat contributions

august fagerstrom: my Dad will sign me off

Sfagerstrom: Hello everyone … Thanks for chatting with August!

august fagerstrom: peace