Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a day late but certainly not a dollar short as Chin Music returns with guest co-host Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports, who joins me to talk about baseball and other stuff. We begin by discussing awards week, or more accurately, the reaction to awards voting and the weird emotional energy some devote to it. Then we move on to actual baseball news with some big deals for pitchers, the Mets finally getting a GM, and the success and failure of some of the experimental rules being tested in the Arizona Fall League. After that, we’re joined by special guest Evan Drellich of The Athletic, who updates us on baseball’s labor negotiations, with all three of us setting odds on where things go from here. Then it’s your emails on private workouts, trade targets and some changes in the game, which allows Hannah to talk about her ridiculous concept of Total Bases Ball. Finally, we finish with some Sumo and Project Runway talk before leaving you for the week.

As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

Music by Model Home.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Warning One: While ostensibly a podcast about baseball, these conversations often veer into other subjects.

Warning Two: There is explicit language.

Run Time: 2:27:51

Podcast (chin-music): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The General Manager Meetings, which are taking place this week in Carlsbad, California, are generating this offseason’s first free-agent rumors, but here’s a little advice for you: Don’t read too much into this, at least not yet. I’m coming to you from a position of experience, as I used to attend these meetings when I worked for the Astros, with the specific task of organizing, scheduling and frequently conducting tête-à-têtes with agents, and they mean very little.

I’ve spent numerous November days and nights at various bougie resorts in Arizona and California, and while I’d love to tell you exactly what happens at the GM Meetings, I’m not in a position to do that. There are a number of actual meetings that occur, discussing arbitration, overall finances of the game, and the labor situation, but other than various social events with open bars and yummy snacks, along with the occasional informal roundtable to brainstorm on rules and processes, I never attended any of them. I had a very different assignment, but quite frankly, meeting with agents is a hell of a lot more fun than sitting in a ballroom staring at Power Point slides presented by the commissioner’s office.

The process begins in the weeks leading up to the meetings, as teams spend their Septembers and Octobers preparing for the off-season, sometimes in parallel with the work that is involved for a team that’s in the playoffs. Free agents, both real and potential (based on non-obvious option/opt-out decisions), are lined up and prioritized. Player agents are frequently just known, and if not, are accessed via MLB’s internal eBIS system. The week before is spent drawing up a schedule for your team during the meetings themselves. Texts are sent and times are set throughout the week for what will be the first sit-downs of the offseason. Read the rest of this entry »

For reasons explained during the intro, it’s a brief, one-segment, guest-only edition of Chin Music. I hope you enjoy an informative and entertaining discussion with free agent pitcher Collin McHugh.

As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Warning One: While ostensibly a podcast about baseball, these conversations often veer into other subjects.

Warning Two: There is explicit language.

Run Time: 36:37

Podcast (chin-music): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The season is over, but Chin Music rolls on, as FanGraphs’ very own Ben Clemens joins me to talk about baseball and other things. We begin by reviewing the 2021 World Series, including both teams’ in-game strategies, before moving on to the offseason. We touch on this year’s free agent class and the looming labor strife, before finishing the segment with a tribute to Buster Posey. Then, we’re joined by special guest Robert Ford, the Houston Astros radio play-by-play man, who discusses the World Series from his unique point of view, while also touching on his fascinating career path and his involvement with The Black Play-by-Play Broadcaster Grant and Scholarship Fund, which is working to bring greater diversity to broadcast booths. Then it’s your emails on player consistency, team complexes in the DR and why baseball is the best sport, followed by some talk of trashy television and the first installment of Ben’s Recipe Corner.

As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

Music by Dr. Colossus.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast (chin-music): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

There will be no Game 7 this year. We’ve only had two in the last five World Series, so it’s far from a safe assumption. I attended a pair of them during my time with the Astros, including the last World Series (and Houston) game I went to, just over two years ago: Game 7 in 2019. It was a miserable experience at the time, and only exacerbated by the things to come, both publicly and privately. At the same time, the last two minutes of the game reinforced my love of baseball.

The World Series is incredibly stressful for teams, and that stress is magnified greatly by the time one reaches the finale. Between exhibition games, the regular season, and the playoffs, teams are approaching their 200th game of the year, and with all of that, it still comes down to nine innings. Win the game, and your team is part of history. Lose, and you are little more than the answer to a trivia question.

The stress of the day is overwhelming, and it feels like game time will never arrive. My wife, who had been traveling with me since Game 3, decided to drag me away from my nervous energy by finding an afternoon movie to help distract from the importance of the evening to come and pass the time before we headed to the ballpark. She suggested something popular on the indie film scene at the time: Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse.

If you know the film, you are likely already laughing at the thought of it serving as a stress reliever. While it is quite excellent, it’s a claustrophobic, incessant doomfest about a pair of lighthouse workers, isolated during a storm, as they spiral into insanity, or maybe just more into insanity, given that they arrived there already well on their way.

Beyond striking visuals and a pair of incredible performances from Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, what stands out most about The Lighthouse is the sound design, which is among the most memorable I can think of. Sound plays a massive role in the film; the music and ambient noise are constant and always foreboding, but the most iconic sound from the film is a frequent foghorn (as heard in the beginning of that trailer) that acts as an indicator of things ramping up. That foghorn stays with you, and it still enters my headspace at times of high stress.

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »

History is made on this week’s episode of Chin Music, as FanGraphs Managing Editor and Effectively Wild co-host Meg Rowley becomes the first former guest to serve as a co-host. Meg joins me for two hours of talk on baseball and other stuff to help you waste another afternoon. We begin by reviewing the first two games of the 2021 World Series, including a discussion on postseason pitching strategies and the wildly different reactions neutral fans have had toward the Houston Astros as a whole as compared to their manager, Dusty Baker. Then we get into Rob Manfred’s unfortunate comments on fan behavior in Atlanta, as well as an update on the sport’s potential upcoming labor impasse. Next we are joined by special guest Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News to talk about what the hell is going on with the New York Mets and their GM/POBO search. Then it’s your emails, including a discussion of Jeff Luhnow’s baseball future (if any), followed by Meg’s literary plans and a few podcast, book and YouTube channel recommendations.

As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

Music by Winterhawk.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast (chin-music): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

With a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the 2021 World Series, the Atlanta Braves had their biggest win of the season. In the third inning of the same game, they suffered one of their biggest loses.

The game started with arguably the most exciting three-batter sequence this postseason, and that excitement, along with the increased adrenaline of the World Series being underway, masked what was causing the Braves’ early rally. On the third pitch of the game, Jorge Soler cranked an up-and-in sinker for a no-doubter home run into the Crawford Boxes to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. On the fifth pitch of the game, Jose Altuve made a tremendous defensive play to his right in order to rob Freddie Freeman of what looked like a sure single. The next batter, second baseman Ozzie Albies, beat out an infield single and stole a base to give everyone in the country free tacos — bad tacos, but free ones nonetheless.

Behind all of this, Framber Valdez couldn’t command his sinker, often missing locations in the zone, and couldn’t control his curveball, often missing the zone entirely. He threw 21 pitches in the first inning, only 11 of which went for strikes, and found himself behind in the count against three of the first four batters. Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »