Author Archive

FanGraphs Audio: Michael Baumann Goes Back to the Future

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August 29, 2019

Episode 869

I welcome Ringer staff writer Michael Baumann to the program to discuss his recent piece on the Cleveland Browns and football’s burgeoning analytics revolution. We discuss the insights offered by erstwhile baseball executive Paul DePodesta on the lessons he took from the rise of empirics in baseball and the mistakes from sabermetrics early days that he’s keen to avoid in a football front office. Plus, Michael shares the things he’s most keen to watch in the final month of the regular season.

You can read Michael’s Paul DePodesta Browns piece here. You should also check out his recent deep-dive on Shane Bieber. And be sure to follow him on twitter @MichaelBaumann.

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 51 min play time.)

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Time Has Come Today

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August 29, 2019

Last Thursday, the Red Sox and Royals resumed a game from August 7 that had been previously suspended due to rain. The original contest took its pause knotted up 4-4; it resumed in a 2-1 count in the top of the 10th. It was a strange viewing experience. With the game still tied in the home half of the inning, Andrew Benintendi came up to bat. The chyron showed his season stats entering this day, August 22, but marked his batting line from a day when he was two full weeks younger:

It was a testament to a few things — the surprising rigidity of baseball’s schedule, the allure of a chance, however small (entering the day, our playoff odds had the Red Sox with a 1.7% shot at playing October baseball), the grip of a discounted hot dog on the hearts of children. But the whole ordeal also made me think about how we think about time — how we sometimes consider it banked, or free, or very precious, or, when we’re mad, or tired, or perhaps inconvenienced, something we’d just like to hurry along. The Red Sox played the Royals for about 12 minutes, and in that span, they showed us time in four different states. These are those four. Read the rest of this entry »


Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 8/27/19

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August 27, 2019
2:00
Meg Rowley: Good morning and welcome to the chat.
2:00
Meg Rowley: What a nice day for a chat — allow me a moment to fetch a seltzer.
2:01
Aaron: After watching the A’s last week, if they had this year’s team with last year’s bullpen performance, they might we a top-3 team in MLB. What on earth happens to bullpens when they plummet like this? Why does bad relief pitching seem to snowball so much?
2:02
Meg Rowley: For any one reliever, it isn’t a ton of innings, they have more limited repertoires than starters do, which makes it harder to adjust if things go badly, and if more than a couple are ineffective for a while, you get other dudes pitching more than might be advisable. It’s just a recipe for volatility.
2:03
Lucas: Has David Appelman ever done a chat about the business of Fangraphs? I would enjoy that, and I’m sure others would as well.
2:05
Meg Rowley: David’s not much for chats, but (and my delay has been in trying to find the episode) he did a guest spot on Effectively Wild that might be of interest

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FanGraphs Audio: Eric Longenhagen Rejects Line Dancing

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August 21, 2019

Episode 868

I welcome FanGraphs lead prospect writer Eric Longenhagen back to the program. We contemplate surprisingly expensive adult hobbies before Eric details his recent amateur scouting trip through various Southern California showcases, including Area Codes and the Perfect Game All-American Classic, while I share some take aways from a weekend spent at SaberSeminar. We close with a discussion of the Arizona Fall League, and a quick draft of Fall League logos.

For prospect-related tweets, be sure to follow Eric and the FanGraphs Prospects account. And as always, you can find the guys’ latest rankings, reports, and updates on THE BOARD.

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 1 hour and 3 min play time.)

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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 8/20/19

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August 20, 2019
2:00
Meg Rowley: Hi all, and welcome to the chat — allow me a few minutes to schedule a piece and then we’ll get started
2:09
Meg Rowley: Ok, I am back.
2:09
Meg Rowley: Thanks for your patience
2:09
Lunar verLander: Do you think baseball players (on average) have more fun at their jobs than non-baseball players (again, on average)? I know it’s their job & they get evaluated based on their performance just like non-baseball players, but they ARE doing something they’ve wanted to do since they were a kid, so that has to contribute to it somewhat, yeah?
2:11
Meg Rowley: I think probably, yes. I think all jobs have things that are not fun (I love my job very, very much and I have weeks where a beer on Friday evening is quite welcome) but the highs of getting to do a thing you’ve worked toward forever have to be pretty great. Now, I’m sure there is variation year to year. I don’t imagine anyone playing for the Orioles is having as much fun as anyone on the Astros. But it’s a pretty great job, even though it is a deeply weird job, and a hard one.
2:12
Ryan: I know they can’t really discuss their jobs, but do you get the feeling that Carson and Jeff are enjoying what they do?

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FanGraphs Audio: Craig Edwards Reverse-Jinxes Baseball

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August 15, 2019

Episode 867

I welcome FanGraphs writer Craig Edwards back to the program to detail the current playoff landscape, check in on some tight (and not-so-tight) division races, and assess the October chances of Craig’s beloved St. Louis Cardinals. We also, though neither of us were aware of it at the time, engage in a series of reverse jinxes, before I force Craig to make several too-early predictions concerning year-end award recipients.

Be sure to read Craig’s recent pieces on José Altuve and José Ramírez, and to follow him on twitter.

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 43 min play time.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 8/13/19

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August 13, 2019
2:00
Meg Rowley: Morning all, and welcome to the chat.
2:01
Meg Rowley: I have returned from Boston, and most of my summer head cold.
2:01
Meg Rowley: Pro-tip: don’t get sick and then have to fly to a conference across the country. It is not fun.
2:01
Reminder!!: Meg doesn’t answer fantasy baseball questions!
2:01
Meg Rowley: Promise.
2:01
Lunar verLander: Everyone should strive to find someone who loves them as much as Gleyber Torres hates the Orioles.

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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 8/7/19

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August 7, 2019
2:00
Meg Rowley: Hello, and welcome to a Wednesday Meg chat.
2:00
Meg Rowley: This one isn’t likely to go overly long, as I have a pretty gnarly head cold and have to head to the ballpark later.
2:01
Meg Rowley: But for now, a chat! Let’s get started.
2:01
Rich K: Hi Meg.  Hope you feel better soon.  Are you chatting on Wednesdays now?  I thought you were on Tuesdays. . . .
2:02
Meg Rowley: I normally am — Dan had a conflict on Monday, which pushed him to Tuesday, which pushed me to today. I don’t know how, but eventually this ends with someone at FanGraphs being next in the constitutional line of succession. Should be back to normal next week.
2:02
Nahtan: If the season ended today, would you vote for Yelich or Belli as NL MVP (and why)?

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Trade Deadline Chat with Jay Jaffe, Kiley McDaniel, and Dan Szymborski!

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July 31, 2019
3:02

Avatar Dan Szymborski: Good afternoon!
3:02

Anj: Does Mancini move in the next hour???  If so, for what?
3:03

Avatar Dan Szymborski: I believe no.
3:03

Anj: Do the Orioles sell anything, or stand pat?  Everyone pretty controllable, can afford to wait.
3:03

Avatar Dan Szymborski: They could theoretically trade Givens or Villar, though I haven’t heard anything.
3:03

Avatar Dan Szymborski: Though stuff tends to pop up super quickly.

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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 7/30/19

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July 30, 2019
2:00
Meg Rowley: Hello and welcome to the chat!
2:01
Meg Rowley: With a little over 24 hours to the trade deadline the most of exciting move of the season is Stroman, and the Phillies trying to talk themselves into being excited about Jason Vargas!
2:02
Meg Rowley: What a time to be alive.
2:02
Theo Epstein: Do I need to do more this deadline than sit and hope Hamels, Zobrist, and Morrow come back healthy?
2:05
Meg Rowley: Some reinforcements would be nice. Whether ownership let’s you do more… that I’m unsure of. The Cubs aren’t in terrible shape. If you look at our projected WAR totals for the rest of the season, they aren’t languishing at the bottom, and are the best in the Central. But I like insurance. I am perhaps inclined to being overinsured.
2:05
Meg Rowley: That bullpen seems like an obvious spot, though that is also an obvious spot for a lot of teams with more to offer.

Read the rest of this entry »


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