Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat – 11/19/18

Dan Szymborski: GOBBLE GOBBLE

ChiSox2020: If White Sox don’t get Machado or Harper, should they pursue Grandal? How much should the loss of a 2nd round pick factor into any FA signings?

Dan Szymborski: Honestly, I think the White Sox should be in a go big or go home mindset. Unless they get players who are build-arounds that will be around for the rest of the rebuilding process, I think they should mostly chase deals. Those mid-market FAs are better fits for the actually competitive teams.

Tony Kemp is religion: Would you ever make your long-term forecasts available? I’m sure a lot of people (including myself!) would pay a small sum to access them. Free is also OK! I really want to see Soto’s long-term forecasts with “really really big numbers!”

Dan Szymborski: I’m a bit of a data hoarder. You’ll start to see more things come out at FG, but still figuring out what’s best to make public and what’s best to greedily save for articles and such.

Jackson C.: Mondays start to get a bit depressing for me as winter approaches. Any tips for remaining sane in this cold, baseball-less time?

Dan Szymborski: Alcohol

Joe: Any reason to think Hedges improvement at the plate in the second half of last season is anything other than SSS? Any hope he develops into an average hitter?

Dan Szymborski: I’m cautiously optimistic, there were periods he hits in the minors, too. He’s been all over the map though, from solid to terrible, a bit like Zunino.

squeeze bunt: I’m curious of the trade value of Thor.  What do you think fair value would be from the Padres?

Dan Szymborski: A fair Syndergaard package would be around the level of the Sale trade, I think. Both had three cost-controlled years remaining (Sale because of a cheap deal, Thor because he’ll just be in arbitration)

Dan Szymborski: Kopech was generally 5-15 at the time, if memory serves.

Dan Szymborski: So Gore would be the obvious comparison. Maybe him and Morejon filling in for Moncada (the Padres aren’t likely to give up Gore *and* Urias after all), then maybe Naylor and an interesting a-baller?

Dan Szymborski: I’d obviously have mixed feelings about such a trade. The Red Sox were far more competitive in the now at that time than the Padres are now.

Dan Szymborski: Though Thor is terrific; it’d be worth considering of course.

Dan Szymborski: But I think I’d want a window to agree on an extension

Slingsby : Does a Syndergaard trade make sense for the Mets? Could they work in a third team to make a guy like realmuto part of the haul?

Dan Szymborski: I think that makes too many moving parts.

CamdenWarehouse: It only took a few months at Fangraphs for you to defeat Carson. I sure hope I don’t become your enemy.

Dan Szymborski: He had to flee the COUNTRY

Maker Bayfield: Highest to lowest trade return for Indians starting pitchers is Bauer, Kluber, Carrasco, right?

Dan Szymborski: Not sure Bauer gets more than Kluber. Remember, you get 3 years of Kluber and Bauer’s a FA after 2020

Dan Szymborski: And while Kluber’s not making peanuts, anybody who wants Kluber doesn’t care about 13 per

Dbo: Any Thanksgiving recipes that you want to share with us?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think I have anything particularly interesting

Dan Szymborski: I just make the turkey

Dan Szymborski: Which I brine and then make in the rotisserie

Kristen: Thanks for doing these chats!  What could rebuilding TEX get for Minor?

Dan Szymborski: They could likely snag a second-tier guy. I know of a few organizations who have interest, his name’s popped upa  lot.

Dan Szymborski: Also, I’m saving the off topic ones for the Lightning Round.

The final boss: Do you foresee a similar glacial pace for veteran FAs this offseason? How many Adam Jones types sign disappointing one year deals?

Dan Szymborski: After the top stars, yes.

Dan Szymborski: Not wanting to pass the luxury tax threshold was a factor last year, but far from the only one.

Dan Szymborski: There’s still not much of an incentive to overpay for middling talent, so it’s more like going to the store than an auction

Dan Szymborski: And some guys will have very disappointing years. I think Moustakas falls short of his one-year mutual option

Dan Szymborski: And I sense that tension from agents I’ve talked with.

Dan Szymborski: And you see some data points – I don’t think you see Escobar signing for just $7 million per if there wasn’t some concern there.

Dan Szymborski: And

Dan Szymborski: And

Dan Szymborski: I gotta stop that

CamdenWarehouse: Elias is basically the best possible hire for the Orioles right? How shocked are you that they managed not to screw it up?

Dan Szymborski: They still could figure it out!

Kiner’s Disembodied Hands: Over/under on Buccos wins this upcoming season: 83.5

Dan Szymborski: I’d say slightly under, but it’s not a bad opening number.

Gumby: There’s no doubt teams will ask the Astros about Whitley and Tucker first in trade discussions- who is most attractive after those two to other teams? Is Alvarez most likely to headline a trade, or might teams be more attracted to Bukauskas or others?

Dan Szymborski: Given that he’s already shown some success, you’re going to have teams wanting to ask about James when Whitley is shot down

Dan Szymborski: There is enough risk around Bukauskas that he can’t headline a big trade on his own.

Russell: Would the Nationals would trade Victor Robles for Kluber/Carrasco, with some other minor league players in the deal?
Are Cleveland actively looking to trade these guys, going out and making offers, or just waiting for offers?

Dan Szymborski: It’s hard to say about the Nationals because the whole Harper thing puts a lot of their future in the air.

Dan Szymborski: If they can’t bring back Harper, then Robles is filling the team’s largest need in all likelihood

Dan Szymborski: I also think the urgency about Cleveland trading is overblown in the media generally.

Dan Szymborski: They’re not doing a Marlins-type fire sale, they’d just like eto generally be cheaper without hurting the present team *too* much

The final boss: What happens to Goldschmidt? Trade now, trade mid season, or extension?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll be traded.

Slingsby : You wander into the Dodgers locker room, Yasiel Puig’s there. Who

Slingsby : os

Dan Szymborski: I use Windows 10 no matter who I encounter in a clubhouse.

Maker Bayfield: Should the Indians’ main trade goal be to maximize talent for 2019, or to extend their competitive window? My feeling is the latter, given the weak division and strength of Astros/Red Sox

Dan Szymborski: If they get cheaper, I think they’ll be more interesting in players closer to the majors rather than higher-upside moon shots

squeeze bunt: If the Padres gave up the farm (but kept Tatis Jr.) to add Thor and Suarez, do they make the playoffs next year?

Dan Szymborski: No.

Dan Szymborski: They’re more than 8-10 wins from the playoffs.

Dan Szymborski: They’re not quite at that point where everything falls into place yet.

Dan Szymborski: San Diego is still sorting through their pitching prospects.

David Sansone : jeff McNeil is small but they say big things come in small packages. With that being said, Is Jeff McNeil’s package bigger than the package we can fetch by moving syndergaard?

Dan Szymborski: <sigh>

Dan Szymborski: Let’s assume this is a trade question.

Dan Szymborski: And no.

Captain Moonlight: Do you favor pace-of-play initiatives? Any that strike you as particularly useful or not worth it?

Dan Szymborski: I think they’re useful. Long baseball games are great when things are happening.

Dan Szymborski: Not so much when it’s 8 to 1 and there are a billion crotch adjustments.

Dan Szymborski: I tend to think that most sports or games improve with a time pressure element.

Dan Szymborski: There’s a lot of give and take of course exactly what form it shoudl be.

Captain Moonlight: When considering how much wood a woodchuck chucks, which stats do you rely on?

Dan Szymborski: Oops, saved

Hey offseason its me ya boy: What is Jake Fraley’s ceiling if he stays healthy?

Dan Szymborski: Well, his defense is a real thing, he may very well play Kiermaier like defnese in the majors

Dan Szymborski: It’s an open question how much he’ll hit as he moves up, he’s been old for his levels

Hey offseason its me ya boy: Odds that David Robertson goes to Boston?

Dan Szymborski: There are worse fits

Gob: Brock Holt went kind of nuts in the last portion of the season after he started using one of Mookie Betts’s magic bats. Is there a possibility that he’s having a Justin Turner-style transformation?

Dan Szymborski: He’s a bit old for a real transformation, he’s had good runs before

Brodie Man: If you (or ZiPS) had to pick one catcher to commit to, would it be Austin Hedges or Francisco Mejía?

Dan Szymborski: Mejia

cheese: Isn’t Josh Donaldson a perfect Dodger signing to play 1B?  Likely to be low risk as a result of short contract most are projecting, with huge upside.

Dan Szymborski: I think he’s a better fit for a team with fewer resources.

Dan Szymborski: And he’s not as exciting as a 1B.

tb.25: “O baseball, o baseball, wherefore art thou baseball?”

Pete: Nats just took themselves out of the Realmuto sweepstakes. Is it time for the Marlins to get a deal done, lest other teams move on?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think there’s a particular urgency. The mid-market catchers coming off the market removes a contender for Realmuto, but also removes options from the remaining.

Dan Szymborski: Now, they won’t get their pipe dream return for Realmuto, but they should get one unless they prove intransigent.

HappyFunBall: Kurt Suzuki = first catcher off the board. Just like we all predicted!

Dan Szymborski: Jeff Mathis

Matt: Just read the Hardball Times article on improving MLB The Show. If you could make one or two changes to improve the game, what would they be?

Dan Szymborski: I’m a few years behind on it as I don’t own a PS4.

Dan Szymborski: This was sorta on-topic, which is why I didn’t hold it.

Dan Szymborski: Console gaming interests me less and less, I rather play games on a PC and it’s hard to justify getting a PS4 *just* for MLB the Show.

Stove Top: On a scale from 1 (cold frank & beans) to 5 (set-off the smoke alarm) how hot will the stove be from now through this year’s winter meetings?

Dan Szymborski: 2

Sneaking in a break at work: Does it makes sense for the Reds to trade minor league assets for pitching that is controllable for 1-2 seasons i.e. Sonny Gray, James Paxton, Marcus Stroman?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not crazy about the idea. I don’t think the Reds are *that* close and have too many pitching prospect setbacks.

Dbo: Mookie Betts is my new favorite player for getting me a free taco after the world series

Dan Szymborski: But it was a Taco Bell taco.

Dan Szymborski:

Ryan: What do you think of th Elias hiring?

Dan Szymborski: I’m cautiously optimistic.

Dan Szymborski: Not because of anything wrong with Elias.

Dan Szymborski: But because, well, Orioles

KD: I was a bit surprised to see Toronto move Diaz.  Godot will return before Tulo to SS and is Gurriel going to stay at SS?  Toronto seems like they have a bunch of 2B-types now (Drury, Travis, etc.)  Your thoughts?

Dan Szymborski: I think Diaz was brought in because of the uncertainty from last winter and was less useful now.

GSon: Hu’s not on first..he’s in the bullpen?

Dan Szymborski:

PT: Trivia for first team ZiPS release or random all the way?

Dan Szymborski: First team release contest was earned last year.

Dan Szymborski: The Indians are first as a result.

Dan Szymborski: It’s an odd year, so the order will be randomly generated otherwise.

Dan Szymborski: And 2020 will be the reverse except for the Indians, who will get reversed based o nwhere they “should have” been in 2019.

GSon: Does the Dan Szymborski Show go to the front office of a ML team next?.. Any preferences on which team?..

Dan Szymborski: No.

Dan Szymborski: Reds

Dan Szymborski: I don’t see myself as a full-time team employee, I enjoy working in media so somethign would have to be really compelling.

Dan Szymborski: And I’m also not interested in moving or changing my lifestyle in any way.

Dan Szymborski: Like I’d be willing to fly in more (or drive in the case of Cincy), but I’m not moving.

AngelusNovus: Mike Elias seems like good news for Baltimore. Here is a very specific question that you could not possibly know the answer to but I’m interested in your thoughts: there’s been a lot of sensible talk of building an international pipeline, analytics team, etc, but it seems to me there are some obvious innovations in player usage on the immediate 25-man that could improve player value. For example, Bundy shouldn’t be pitching on 5-day rest (credit: multiple fangraphs articles over the years) and probably shouldn’t be facing teams the third time through the order. Do you think the Orioles will begin to innovate more in how they use current players?

Dan Szymborski: If they don’t get on the bleeding edge, it seems like a waste of effort, no?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think you’ll see a ton until the team’s better – I think the focus will be the farm system.

Dan Szymborski: Dammit, I’m up to 12:05.

Dan Szymborski: Sorry guys, I never have the proper bar and end up being more selective the second half of the chat

JohnEdie: Can we discuss the BBWAA’s complete disregard of statistics when it comes to Javier Baez’s 2018 season?

Dan Szymborski: In what manner? There wasn’t really an obvious #2 after Yelich once you’re determined not to vote de Grom #1

Slamboni: Grienke trade rumors confuse the hell out of me. Last year his name was thrown around with the like of Shin Soo Choo. Especially in today’s market, can’t the D-Backs get actual value without eating any o the contract? Like at least a top 100-125 prospect!

Dan Szymborski: Not with eating nothing.

Dan Szymborski: We’re talking over $30 million a year, after a ll.

Mets fan: I want Tatis Jr. for Syndergaard.

Dan Szymborski: I think it ends the conversation though.

Dan Szymborski: I want a gold house witha  rocket car.

Chris: It’s $17K per for kluber now I think as he’s hit all the cy young escalators.  not that that changes your point

Dan Szymborski: Thanks, I forgot those, I was working off the cuff!

Dan Szymborski: Still, not likely to change things too much

Kristen: Could TEX deal Leclerc given how volatile relievers are and his trade value could be at his peak?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure this is hte ideal time.

Bubba Trammell Shrimp Co. : Does MLB (when it comes to managerial hires, front office, scouting, etc) have an age discrimination problem? If so, what should be done?

Dan Szymborski: This seems more a question for Sheryl than me, if we’re talking about a legal issue.

Dan Szymborski: Generally speaking, I don’t think t here’s an age discrimination problem. It’s just there are a lot fewer 60-year-old analytics gurus out there.

Dan Szymborski: If you want to talk gender, it’s a different story, but it’s slowly getting better

Tim Tebow’s Thunder Thighs: Also, the Mets’ biggest addition in 2019 will be Tim Tebow.  This is more a reflection on the Mets than Tebow’s level of talent.

Outta my way, Gyorkass: Grandal a sensible Brewers target?

Dan Szymborski: Yes

The Old Buccaneer: Is this the year the Reds finally move Hamilton?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think they ever do.

A cat: If a Sale extension seems too expensive (or risky) during discussions this off season, do the Sox move him to get chips for a SP deal or let it play out over the season?

Dan Szymborski: They’re going to let it play out I think

Dan Szymborski: If he’s too expensive for the *Red Sox* an acquiring team would likely have the same issue

Chuck: If the reds were to consider trading Suarez for TOR pitching, what could a reasonable package look like? He would be an overpay for an individual arm (straight up) out there with 7 years of cheap control, right?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think it’s a great fit

PD: What’s the baseball equivalent of a Condi Rice Cleveland Browns HC hire?

Dan Szymborski: Brad Ausmus? <ducking>

RotoLando: Wait, you have a rotisserie?  What’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever rotissered?

Dan Szymborski: HIPPO

Dan Szymborski: OK, that’s a lie.

Dan Szymborski: I just remember Homer building the fire pit

Hey offseason its me ya boy: Daniel Murphy a fit for 1B in the Bronx?

Dan Szymborski: That’s a bit risky for a team in their position

Gob: Justin Turner was 29 when the penny dropped for him. Holt was 29 last summer.

Dan Szymborski: Good catch, I sometimes forget how old Turner actually is

Ryan: Do you like cranberry sauce?

Dan Szymborski: IDammit, hold on, saving

Dan: If your child was good enough to get drafted might it make sense to move out of the US to avoid the draft?

Dan Szymborski: Not anymore really

Dan Szymborski: And you can’t just move to Canada

Lawrence: The Giants ownership apparently has a mandate that the team not tear down the roster and fully rebuild.  With that in mind, can they spend their way out of their current mess?  Their roster is old and not especially healthy, but given the strong FA class and the money they have to spend, it seems like they could wrestle their way into contention by signing, e.g., Harper, Corbin and another piece (not unlike the Yankees signing Sabathia, Teixeira, and Burnett to recharge their own aging roster in the 2008-09 off-season).

Dan Szymborski: I think the Giants are a bit screwed

Dan Szymborski: Wait, what?

PD: Suzuki’s reported terms seem a bit low in the salary department.

Dan Szymborski: He’s a mid-30s catcher, nobody’s offering him 3/45

Matt: Dan, I keep forgetting about you chats. Can you shoot me a reminder text next week?

Dan Szymborski: SAME TIME EVERY WEEK AND I HAVEN’T MISSED ONE IN MONTHS!

The Old Buccaneer: Which team has more fans in Columbus, the Reds or Indians?

Dan Szymborski: I honestly don’t know

John Kodera: PS4 has some great exclusives though.  I’d get one before The Last of us Part 2 comes out at least.

Dan Szymborski: Sorry, keep clicking post instead of star for later

James: Is a Greinke/Goldschmidt package possible, or would the PR hit be too big?

Dan Szymborski: I think that’s too big a package.

The final boss: Move. Hader. To. The. Rotation.

randplaty: Is it bad to play for .500? I think for some teams, reaching .500 would energize the fanbase as much as reaching playoffs for other teams.

Dan Szymborski: It depends.

Dan Szymborski: How are you reaching for the .500?

Dan Szymborski: If you’re just slapping together various old veterans to get to .500, I think there’s no real energizing factor.

Dan Szymborski: But say you’re the Padres (I assume that’s who you’re talking about given you’re a Padres fan). If the reach for .500 is aggressively promoting big parts of their future rather than trying to squeeze out every little arbitration benefit, I think you *can* create fan interest.

Dan Szymborski: But you’ll never do it with acquiring Freddy Galvis and you likely won’t (sorry) signing Eric Hosmer.

Addie Joss: What’s your favorite Dayton area brewery?

Dan Szymborski: Warped wing

Dbo: Does anyone actually eat cranberry sauce? It’s the coleslaw of Thanksgiving, there’s way more at the table than anyone wants

Dan Szymborski: That’s kinda the problem. I like it in isolation, but I don’t really want to put it on things.

Dan Szymborski: I’m not putting it on turkey.

Dan Szymborski: And mom already includes cranberries in the stuffing.

Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: Artifact has added a free draft mode with no rewards. That’s pretty compelling for $20, no? I can’t deal with games like Hearthstone with dailies and their desire to get me to log in every day.

Dan Szymborski: Oh, did they add that? I just saw all the panicking.

Matt: Did you just pull the equivalent of the DOJ and the Assange indictment on that Rosenthal-shaving question?

Dan Szymborski: I didn’t read the whole Q and it got creepier as it went on.

Matt: How old is too old to still laugh when I hear the word “package”?

Dan Szymborski: 46.

IndyMets: I didn’t realize you lived in Ohio.   You should definitely schedule a Fan Graphs Reds game

Dan Szymborski: That requires organization!

Dan Szymborski: And you don’t have a ready source of FanGraphers.

Dan Szymborski: At least before, you could perhaps theoretically coax Travis down.

John: You mentioned once that OPS needs to double-count average for the numbers to line up or work or something like that.  Why is that?  Thanks.

Dan Szymborski: It’s just that we know OPS works on a rough level and it double counts BA, which is the majority component of both OBP and SLG

Dan Szymborski: You can think of OBP as BA+walk rate and SLG as BA+isolated power

Dan Szymborski: (and HBP of course

Mandy is 92% Fresh: Which fan base do you suspect has the lowest percentile of regular Fangraphs readers?

Dan Szymborski: Marlins?

Dan Szymborski: I mean there’s already a ceiling of about 5 readers there.

HappyFunBall: Question: When can a team trade a recently signed free agent?  Is it at least hypothetically possible, for example, that the Nats could send an affordable Suzuki to MIA as a secondary piece in a larger prospect deal for JTR?

Dan Szymborski: No-trae until June

Matt: Dan, I don’t want to think of anything as anything. I’m paying you to do the thinking, brainiac.

Dan Szymborski: OK, let’s start the Lightning Round!

Dan Szymborski: The rules are simple, I have to answer every question, no matter how stupid, so long as it’s off-topic. With the usual exceptions (politics, work-related, personal, or now I seem to have to add, really perverse sexual scenarios involving other writers)

Gub Gub: Do you throw away a sock when it gets a hole in it, or do you wait for another one to form a hole and throw them away in pairs?

Dan Szymborski: Yes

Ozzie Ozzie Albies Free: Carlsen or Caruana?

Dan Szymborski: Carlsen, I like guys who like Ruy Lopez

Mandy is 92% Fresh: Dumbest feature at a ballpark?

Dan Szymborski: People.

Dan Szymborski: Or The Wave

Dan Szymborski: Does that count?

Dan Szymborski: Beer service ending.

RotoLando: This may not be your cup of tea, but there’s a new James Bond comic, which features his first encounter with Oddjob.   It’s only one issue in, but if Oddjob doesn’t karate chop someone in the chest, I’ll be pretty disappointed.

Slingsby : If you bumped into Gabe Kapler at a McDonalds, would you assume he’s just there to use the playpen?

Dan Szymborski: Who doesn’t want to play in a ball pit?

Dan Szymborski: There’s a great ball pit at the City Museum in St. Louis

Dan Szymborski: Last time I was there, we were there for a friend’s pre-wedding party and we were loaded and a group of each other were drunk in suits wrestling each other in the ball pit

Dan Szymborski: I also hurt my knee crawling through a tunnel there

Dan Szymborski: I figured that I’d ignore it and it would go away.

Dan Szymborski: That was 2012 and my knee still pops, so I assume that’s just something I have for now on.

Hey offseason its me ya boy: Netflix recommendations?

Dan Szymborski: This is the point of the year with baseball over that I’m just starting to figure out all the thing I’ve been missing.

AngelusNovus: Have you ever considered doing nanowrimo? I know the idea of writing 50,000 words in a month sounds daunting, but it can be a fantastic way for mass incubation of ideas for later harvest. (obviously the writing doesn’t actually have to be a ‘novel’)

Dan Szymborski: 50,000 is a lot!

Dan Szymborski: Does George RR Martin have something similar? Then you only have to write 50 words a month.

greg: Cat update please

Dan Szymborski: Galileo’s not down here yet, so he must be slowly adjusting to the end of Daylight Savings Time

Dan Szymborski: Mercutio wants something but as usual, he’s not sure what. He’s meowing, rolling around, and headbutting me, but he’s kinda dumb and it’s hard to figure out what he wants ever.

Dan Szymborski: Cassiopeia lost her hedgehog again, so she’s been carrying around a catnip bee all day. She was demanding me play with her a couple of hours ago and I threw it a few times but then she picked it up and went upstairs.

Dan Szymborski: And that’s t he last I saw her.

Mandy is 92% Fresh: Turkey chili?

Dan Szymborski: Honestly, if it’s just turkey + chili peppers + spices, I t hink it’s closer to chili than beef chili with beans

Mandy is 92% Fresh: Who is Theo Epstein having Thanksgiving dinner with this year?

Dan Szymborski: I dunno, turkey? I didn’t think Epstein was that observant, but I’m not really sure

Dan Szymborski: Is there kosher thanksgiving?

Dan Szymborski: My grandfather stopped keeping kosher after his grandmother died, which was like 1925.

Gub Gub: Whatever happened to that King Conan movie that was going to be made?  That Arnold Schwarzenegger guy is getting pretty old. They might want to get in on that sooner rather than later.

Dan Szymborski: Dunno, I wasn’t aware.

Mandy is 92% Fresh: How about physical feature like the Green Monster but not necessarily the Green Monster?

Dan Szymborski: What about Wherever Hawk Harrelson Is Sitting?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not a fan of PNC’s press box which is at the very stop of the stadium

Mandy is 92% Fresh: Testing of ball pits have found them to be as hygienic as playing in a toilet.

Matt: Dan, I don’t appreciate your anecdotes of debauchery. This is a Christian Conservative baseball statistics site.

Dan Szymborski: It is?

Unlce Rico: Favorite brand of adult diapers?

Dan Szymborski: Not sure

Dan Szymborski: Whatever’s on sale? I hae no experience buying them.

Dazed and Confused: Was Alex Smith’s injury yesterday the worst you’ve ever seen?

Dan Szymborski: It was ugly.

Dan Szymborski: Jason Kendall?

Matt: As the saying goes, Dan – “50,000 is greater than 49,999”

The final boss: Did you remember to rake your yard to prevent forest fires?

Dan Szymborski: I have not. Everything’s muddy anyway, so haven’t brought out the leaf blower yet.

Matt Y.: What’s your Myers-Briggs personality type?

Dan Szymborski: INTJ

Ozzie Ozzie Albies Free: If you’re black, how do you defend the Ruy Lopez?

Dan Szymborski: If there’s no trade, I like 4…d6

Dan Szymborski: But I’m *way* behind what’s hot

Ozzie Ozzie Albies Free: I think Mercutio is clearly demonstrating what he wants, he thinks his dumb owner just can’t comprehend.

Dan Szymborski: No, if you pet him or give him food, he’ll look like he still wants things

Matt: How’s it feel to be known as the most wrong man in America, as it relates to chili?

Dan Szymborski: Wouldn’t know.

Dazed and Confused: Why are you here? I came in looking to ask August a question!

Dan Szymborski: I stole this timeslot back from Travis!

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Why haven’t we heard anything about Kakie Bryan this offseason?

Dan Szymborski: I think Wander-based questions are the new meme.

Purple Mays Haze: How many clubs have approached you to either buy ZIPS or hire you to consult? Or pay you for a projection of a single player?

Dan Szymborski: I can’t name teams, but sold something ZiPS or ZiPS-related to about half the teams in baseball.

Dan Szymborski: And a number of agencies.

Dan Szymborski: I can’t offer any advisory opinions, only data that I have no input in.

Gub Gub: If I opened an adult ball pit, I’d just claim that we washed our balls every night.

Q: gentlemen, a short view back to the past. Thirty years ago, Niki Lauda told us ‘take a monkey, place him into the cockpit and he is able to drive the car.’ Thirty years later, Sebastian told us ‘I had to start my car like a computer, it’s very complicated.’ And Nico Rosberg said that during the race – I don’t remember what race – he pressed the wrong button on the wheel. Question for you both: is Formula One driving today too complicated with twenty and more buttons on the wheel, are you too much under effort, under pressure? What are your wishes for the future concerning the technical programme during the race? Less buttons, more? Or less and more communication with your engineers?

Dan Szymborski: I think you should always have more buttons.

Dan Szymborski: I think less communication is better. In sporting competitions that are continuous like that, I don’t like too much coaching.

The final boss: Do you think billy Joel goes for DUI #4 this holiday season?

Dan Szymborski: Not sure, but let’s see if I can find a good Billy Joel image.

Dan Szymborski:

Dan Szymborski: Very underrated meme.’

Ken: Any word on what happened to Dusty Colorado? I can’t find a trace of him anywhere, and I can’t help but wonder if Wander Javier has some enemies…

Jay: I dont know if you’ve gotten this question so I apologize but what’s with the exodus of analytics dept. guys from Houston? Kiley said something to the effect some things circulating from there last week or so.

Dan Szymborski: Kiley knows more directly than I do, I have some suspiciouns

Dan Szymborski: suspiciouns?

Dbo: Wait, are you saying that turkey chili isn’t chili either?

Dan Szymborski: It’s got a better argument than beans tomato.

Gub Gub: Fill in the blank: You have the physique of a Greek _________.

Dan Szymborski: fatass

Blinkin: You’re black?

Dan Szymborski: I am not.

Dan Szymborski: Though I appreciate the Men in Tights reference.

Mandy is 92% Fresh: What is the next Sport of the Future?

Dan Szymborski: Dippin’ Dotsball.

Matt: Dan, I’m beginning to doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.

A real guy from Texas: What’s this malarkey about chili?

Dan Szymborski: People are putting beans in.

Sum: do you ever fill the queue yourself, on another browser, on slow chat days?

Dan Szymborski: No, I usually fall horribly behind.

RotoLando: I have in my lunch bag, an apple and two clementines. What order do I eat the three pieces of fruit in?

Dan Szymborski: Clementine, apple, clementine

Matt: Dan “The Most Wrong Man in America, as it relates to Chili” Szymborski

Dan Szymborski: Does Michigan Dan Szymborski use beans?

Q: How long until we get blernsball?

Dan Szymborski: Long after we’re dead.

Hello: What’s the male version of a cat lady?  A cat gentleman?

Dan Szymborski: Fancy Cat Boy?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t have the Crazy Cat Man achievement in World of Warcraft yet though.

Dan Szymborski: There are a few cats I haven’t collected.

Kyle: What’s is the great rosenthal shaving controversy of 2018?

That Guy from Detroit: worst booze at thanksgiving is . . .

Dan Szymborski: The post got dark quickly!

Dan Szymborski: Wine.

Dan Szymborski: I’ve just never been a wine guy.

Dan Szymborski: I like fortified wins, but I have no palette for wine.

Dan Szymborski: fortified wine

Gub Gub: I was fishing for compliments, and you just called me a Greek fatass.  🙁

Dan Szymborski: “You pressed you, referring to me, that is incorrect. The correct answer is you.”

That Guy from Detroit: Flipside — best booze at Thanksgiving is . . .   I’ll say pretty much any kind of porter

Dan Szymborski: I enjoy sherry, port, etc.

Btownfritz: Where do you see James Paxton ending up? What kind of return would you be looking for?

Dan Szymborski: Yankees

Dbo: How do you feel about Springfield, Illinois calling chili “Chilli”?

Dan Szymborski: Now that I know this, horrible.

Matt: All the boozes.

Dan Szymborski: OK, caught up!

Dan Szymborski: Thanks for joining me everyone.

Dan Szymborski: See you all next week and have a great Thanksgiving! Unless you don’t live in the US, in which case have a great..uh..>Thursday!