8:00	Dan Szymborski: And here we are as the clock strikes 8.

8:00	Dan Szymborski: Not that I have an actual clock anymore.

8:00	Dan Szymborski: Not even my grandfather clock because my grandfather did not have one.

8:01	Dan Szymborski: DAN IS NOT SMART ENOUGH TO IDENTIFY THE QUESTION

Read the rest of this entry »

Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract-crowdsourcing project this offseason, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2019-20 free-agent market.

Below are ballots for eight of this year’s free agents — in this case, a group of outfielders. Numbers are prorated to full season where noted. Projected WAR figures from final the update of the 2019 Steamer forecast.

Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract-crowdsourcing project this offseason, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2019-20 free-agent market.

Below are ballots for seven of this year’s free agents — in this case, a collection of infield/utility types. Numbers are prorated to full season where noted. Projected WAR figures from final the update of the 2019 Steamer forecast.

Read the rest of this entry »

Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract-crowdsourcing project this offseason, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2019-20 free-agent market.

Below are ballots for eight of this year’s free agents — in this case, all catchers. Numbers are prorated to full season where noted. Projected WAR figures from final the update of the 2019 Steamer forecast.

Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract-crowdsourcing project this offseason, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2019-20 free-agent market.

Below are ballots for nine of this year’s free agents — in this case, a collection of infield sorts, primarily first basemen and second basemen. Numbers are prorated to full season where noted. Projected WAR figures from the final update of the 2019 Steamer forecast.

Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 872

Ben Clemens makes an appearance to discuss the implications of reported changes to MLB’s ownership rules that would make it easier for investment funds to buy minority stakes in teams, before we shift our attention to the postseason. We contemplate the changed baseball and how it has affected our viewing experience, what we have enjoyed most from the playoffs so far, the Astros’ slumping offense, and a bevy of intentional walks.

Ben on changes to the MLB ownership rules
Ben on intentional walks, Parts One and Two
Ben on the Astros’ offensive woes
Jay Jaffe on the changed postseason baseball
Rob Arthur on the changed postseason baseball, Parts One and Two

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @megrowler on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximate 44 min play time.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

8:05

Jay Jaffe: Hello folks, and welcome to the FanGraphs ALCS Game 1 chat. I’ll be joined by Dan Szymborski shortly and we’ll get this thing up to speed. For the moment, here’s my ALCS preview: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/postseason-preview-new-york-yankees-vs-hou… And here’s Dan’s ZiPS-driven game-by-game odds. https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds/post-season-zips?seas…

8:10

Jay Jaffe: I’m hesitant to call any single game outside of an elimination game a must-win, but obviously, the Yankees’ road to four wins is more difficult if they lose tonight, and the likelihood that they can beat both Verlander AND Cole in back-to-back games would mean that they’re almost certainly playing from behind.

8:12	Jay Jaffe: Thanks, it’s good to be here. I previewed this series and I’ll be covering the New York leg of the series on-site, so I thought it would be worth chatting during it as well. Emma and I are home watching baseball anyway

8:13	Dan Szymborski: Good evening!

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »