Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat – 4/28/14

Dan Szymborski: And ZimChat has returned. Courtesy of the fact my lungs are no longer trying to escape my lungs with the intensity of Hurricane Katrina.

Dan Szymborski: First thing first, our weekly business – the Electoral Brawllege.

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Comment From zack
Will BJ Upton ever stop sucking?

Dan Szymborski: I keep waiting for Upton to come around and I remain mildly optimistic, but the longer it goes, the less likely it is to happen.

Dan Szymborski: He was never a super scientific hitter or anything, but it’s unusual for anyone’s skills to fade that fast at that young an age. Even Edgardo Alfonzo cliff-dived slower than Upton. Even Baerga had a mildly useful season or two after he stopped being a star.

Dan Szymborski: Fact: cheese is delicious. Fact: Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. Fact; Neil Armstrong did not eat the moon. So Fact: Moon is not made of cheese.

Comment From Steve
What’s this moon not being made out of cheese business?

Dan Szymborski: that’s the question – it sounds very odd without it

Comment From Awake in Seattle
Fast forward a month from now, will Abraham Almonte and Brad Miller be playing in the majors or AAA?

Dan Szymborski: Miller’s more likely to be OK than Almonte is. I didn’t quite get the allure of Almonte, seemed like a case of springtime love.

Dan Szymborski: Miller will have some more rope – he’s a very good prospect and it’s not like the Mariners other SS options have been weighed down with laurels this year.

Comment From thornton mellon
Marte is a black hole. Drop him for Eaton? Brantley?

Dan Szymborski: I’d still hang onto Marte, unless you’re in an OBP league, in which case I’d prefer Eaton.

Comment From Michael
How concerned should I be about Harper’s thumb

Dan Szymborski: Being described as a sprain, but only mildly. If we start hearing descriptions that are …. DARKER… then re-evaluate.

Comment From gregory
Is Jose Abreu the most dangerous rookie hitter in recent memory?

Comment From Glass Half Empty White Sox Fan
Jose Abreu’s plate discipline is kind of awful. That has to be a little concerning, no?

Dan Szymborski: Abreu’s a very dangerous hitter and he’s smack-dab in the middle of his prime. Very quick adjustment (I have an ESPN piece on Abreu and the HR rookie record)

Dan Szymborski: No, his plate discipline ain’t great. It’s one of the things that will keep him from being a star.

Dan Szymborski: Abreu’s kind of a one-tool player, but it’s the best tool.

Comment From Michael
I have heard rumblings that Polanco could be called up within the next 2 weeks?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t know, have you?

Dan Szymborski: Presumably, you would be the foremost expert on things you heard and best equipped to answer the question.

Dan Szymborski: But the Pirates really ought to. Screw super-two, the season is starting to spiral out of control for them and he’s got an 1100 OPS in AAA.

Comment From Jays Fan
Thoughts on what to expect from Marcus Stroman should he be called up in the coming days?

Dan Szymborski: Still think he’ll be a solid 3/4.

Comment From American League Hustle
Hi Dan. Hope you had a great weekend. Are there any American League players you’re genuinely concerned about now that April is coming to a close?

Dan Szymborski: Ubaldo Jimenez. His stuff isn’t fooling anybody this year. And in the NL, Trevor Cahill, who looks absofuckinglutely lost out there, even if his FIP isn’t atrocious

Comment From Steve
Feel like you really put Jefferson at a disadvantage here… he’s wrestling a man the size of a gorilla!

Comment From Mike who should be working
Rhymer Liriano’s floor and ceiling?

Dan Szymborski: Can’t get too specific there, but I’ve never really been on the Liriano bandwagon, even before his elbow issues.

Dan Szymborski: He’s really struggling early at AA too.

Comment From Michael
With Bryce out I have the option of picking up Leonys Martin, Adam Eaton, or Yellich. Who would u pick up

Dan Szymborski: Probably martin, though all 3 have merit.

Comment From Mad Monk
Garrett Richards? For reelz or for lulz?

Dan Szymborski: I think long-term, Richards still has the tendency to go through too many stretches of really mediocre command.

Dan Szymborski: I’d probably take the under in his ZiPS ROS, but not by a huge amount

Comment From Mike who should be working
Not much patience for Kolten Wong?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll be fine.

Comment From Harper top 50?
Would you move Harper for Abreu? It’s a 10 team dynasty league with 35 man rosters with OBP and OPS instead of AVG. .

Dan Szymborski: I would not.

Comment From Jon
S. Souza, R. Grichuk, Tyler. Moore. Any of the three you like to maybe luck into regular/semi-regular playing time?

Dan Szymborski: Honestly, none of them.

Comment From Steve
Long term… carlos correa or corey seager?

Dan Szymborski: Correa.

Comment From Michael
Which pitching prospect would u grab to have a big impact this year?

Dan Szymborski: Jonathan Gray or Eddie Butler could go Wacha on the league in the second half. I still expect Syndergaard to force his way into the majors very soon.

Comment From nel
Yordano Ventura: wait on him or sell high with all the hype?

Dan Szymborski: Depends what selling high entails. I’m not of the belief he’s about to turn into a pumpkin

Comment From Adrian
At this point should I be stashing Andrew Heaney over Archie Bradley?

Dan Szymborski: Not too soon, unless you’re *really* obsessed about a high floor.

Comment From Phil
Too early to give up on Ackley given the strides he made last season?

Dan Szymborski: April

Comment From DLowe
Hey Dave. With the Braun / Segura ‘incident’, how come nobody is talking about how stupid and careless Braun was being by swinging a bat in the dugout? Even if he WAS on the steps, he swung the back behind himself INTO the dugout, and didn’t look behind him first – it’s one of the stupidest things I have seen a player do on the field, and it shows a complete lack of concern for his teammates…

Dan Szymborski: It was stupid, but people accidentally do stupid things all the time.

Comment From Yo-Yo
Matheny and his team have continuously said Wainwright is a different pitcher this year. To me, he looks like the same awesome guy with a little good luck sprinkled in. Have you seen anything to the contrary?

Dan Szymborski: Honestly, he looks like classic, normal Wainwright to me too.

Dan Szymborski: The thing about Wainwright is that he’s looked awesome for years. It’s not like he was Trevor Bauer last year or something.

Comment From Sup
Freddie Freeman a top 10 hitter?

Dan Szymborski: Well, so far this year he is, but that’s a little aggressive for me.

Comment From Andrew
Did the Cardinals make the right move sending Wong to Memphis?

Dan Szymborski: Honestly, I don’t think they did.

Dan Szymborski: A lot of times when teams suddenly demote talented young players during a slump, it just means that they’re not getting the after-slump performance after getting the slump performance.

Dan Szymborski: Though on the bigger picture, it won’t have much of an effect on the team.

Dan Szymborski: Short-sighted, but Ellis is still a dcent and underrated player.

Comment From Jays fan
Jose Bautista is near the league lead in OBP and OPS but watching him I feel like there is another gear…

Dan Szymborski: Greedy.

Comment From Norm
Did STL promote Grichuk so Taveras could spend more time at CF in the minors?

Dan Szymborski: Grichuk’s not being called up to get a bunch of at-bats, they rightly place an organizational priority on Taveras and Piscotty getting full playing time.

Comment From Red Birds
So why did the Cards call up Randal Grichuk and not Piscotty or Tavares?

Comment From GianMarlo Stanfield
Traded Belt for Shields in a keeper. I have Jose Abreu and Goldy along with Cobb, Latos, Minor. Right move or is this the big Belt breakout?

Dan Szymborski: Right move considring your 1B depth.

Comment From zurzles
at what point is george springer going to become george springer?

Dan Szymborski: Soon. It’s April. And Springer hasn’t even been up for the whole April.

Comment From Benji
Frieri lost his job and now I need to salvage one of my RP positions. Stick with Frieri or get holds with David Carpenter or Dellin Betances?

Dan Szymborski: I still think Frieri eventually gets the job back. I’d be more concerned about Frieri if he was in one of his Walk Everybody phases.

Comment From Awake in San Francisco
What are your thoughts on Brandon Belt so far? Higher power numbers, but lower OBP & higher K%. I personally would rather have 15 HR/.370 OBP Belt over 30 HR/.320 OBP Belt.

Dan Szymborski: I do too, but the team’s wanted him to be aggressive at the plate.

Comment From Baseball Brospectus
Candid assessment of Tanaka so far? Will the K/BB rate come back to earth?

Dan Szymborski: His splitter is nasty – the one he threw to David Ortiz looked like it was done with CGI.

Dan Szymborski: I’m very optimistic on him.

Comment From Jeff
Is Scooter Gennett a reasonable replacement for Jedd Gyorko?

Dan Szymborski: Reasonable, though I’d probably hang onto Gyorko. One thing about Gyorko is that he’s in a park that will always hurt his straight-up stats.

Comment From Benji
Who would you rather have for the rest of the year. Allen Craig or Melky Cabrera?

Dan Szymborski: Probably Melkington, especially in fantasy.

Comment From Guest
Is there any concern about Mike Minor and his crappy games in aa ball?

Dan Szymborski: whiel there’s always concern, you shouldn’t be too worried about rehab starts.

Comment From chris K Mets fan
More likely to happen to Mets in May: The hitting turns around and they go on a tear, or starting pitching tanks and they end up below .500? I’m optimistic considering the very difficult schedule they’ve faced so far

Dan Szymborski: In the middle, though I’ve been a Mets optimist.

Comment From Nostick
How much patience would you have with Santana while a better fielding and currently a better hitting Chisenhall is waiting in the wings. How do you hide a guy while he needs to play out of his slump

Dan Szymborski: A lot. Hiding a guy in a slump misses the point a little – it’s not like players actually “ramp up” out of slumps historically.

Dan Szymborski: Santana needs to be in the lineup.

Dan Szymborski: Trying to get too cute and finessing a star in a slump usually just results in you missing out on some good performance

Comment From Cotton Eye Joe
Where did I come from?

Dan Szymborski: The depths of hell. I hate that song.

Comment From Michael
Should I sell on Myers or will he bounce out of this funk?

Dan Szymborski: April.

Comment From QuestionBot
Have you seen of enough of Springer to tell you he won’t do much this year?

Dan Szymborski: No.

Dan Szymborski: Overreacting to a small sample size is a classic mistake.

Comment From Guest
Regular Cream cheese or whipped?

Dan Szymborski: Whipped.

Comment From LAAxitive
Trout’s Zips update has him finishing the season with 10.5 WAR. Holy bejesus he is good.

Dan Szymborski: Trout’s not made of person.

Comment From Michael
Is there any reason to be particularly pessimistic about Nolan Arenado due to some bad plate discipline numbers?

Dan Szymborski: Not really – his plate discipline is baked into the projection pie after all.

Comment From Sam
Worth noting I went to Washington & Jefferson College

Comment From Andrew
What needs to happen in Baltimore for a Kevin Gausman call up?

Dan Szymborski: Probably they need to tire of Miguel Gonzalez. Ubaldo Jimenez likely has a loooong leah.

Dan Szymborski: leash

Comment From hogwagon
Is there any potential sustainability for Colin McHugh in Houston?

Dan Szymborski: Not really. A couple great starts.

Comment From Ervin Sanatana
I’m pretty good for coming to the party late

Dan Szymborski: The whole Braves staff has been ridiculous.

Comment From Anthony
What’s wrong with Billy Butler? I could have drafted Jose Abreu.

Dan Szymborski: April

Comment From Spit Ball
George Washington had a better bite than Jefferson. Not as much force but he’d leave a nasty infected would splinter behind.

Comment From david
Cingrani’s Change getting better? Who has a better Season – Cingrani or Minor?

Dan Szymborski: He’s been using it more, IIRC, but it’s still not really a plus pitch. He still gets his power by being really deceptive looking.

Comment From Question from weeks ago
When will we see the ZiPS spreadsheet with DMB ratings and stuff?

Dan Szymborski: Was up weeks ago, would have to find the link

Dan Szymborski: http://bit.ly/2014ZiPS

Dan Szymborski: Weird, some of the stuff got deleted. But the DMB disk came out week ago

Comment From Steve
Yelich going to be a solid player next few years?

Dan Szymborski: Yes

Comment From Goat City
Who starts Sept. with the Cubs 3B job?

Dan Szymborski: Bryant

Comment From aj
Dee Gordon looks like a real life ballplayer. Are you convinced that this improvement (or even half of it) is legit?

Dan Szymborski: Not convinced yet, but I’m a cynical guy. Also, April.

Comment From david
TJ would be the win at chess…and other games not called risk. Unfortunately GDubs would win in a fight.

Comment From Wade Boggs
Chances Desmond Jennings “gets it” and brings his game to the next level offensively this year?

Dan Szymborski: He’s had a solid start, but at this piont, he is what he is.

Dan Szymborski: He may have a big career year or two, but ability wise, he’s in the tier he’s going to end up in.

Comment From OReilley
Any chance Kershaw’s injury lingers or returns or can we count on this not being chronic?

Dan Szymborski: It’s not expected to be an ongoing concern and the Dodgers have played it very carefully with him.

Dan Szymborski: Though, of course, as a pitcher, you should always be frightened and concerned every time he moves his arm.

Comment From Johnny Rockets
But seriously…the Twins. Is this sustainable?

Dan Szymborski: Not with that pitching, yeccchh. I still think they end up at the bottom of the division when all is said and done, but the offense is still fun whiel it lasts

Comment From Perry
Team currently under .500 that will most likely turn it around and make the playoffs? What will be the factor that changes?

Dan Szymborski: ZiPS has Boston as the most likely sub.500 team to make the playoffs. Patience.

Dan Szymborski: Because….April.

Comment From SMC
Dave was talking last week that the M’s should trade Cano. If the M’s were to eat $100MM+ of the contract, could they get Taveras/Wong from the M’s for him?

Dan Szymborski: Possibly, but this type of crazy thing doesn’t happen often, so it’s hard to gauge what the willingness would be.

Comment From Bret
From a data/projection standpoint, do you have any beliefs about the draft? I.e. focus on college, avoid high school pitchers, etc?

Dan Szymborski: I think going with a rigid plan is always the way to invite trouble.

Comment From The Stranger
Lucky Segura wasn’t hurt worse. I was hit by a bat in a similar situation in high school and severely concussed. Parents had to wake me up every couple hours that night to make sure I wasn’t dead.

Comment From John
Melky Cabrera, All-Star?

Dan Szymborski: I have to admit to perverse pleasure that Melky, Braun, and Cruz are all playing excellent baseball this year.

Dan Szymborski: And the batting title “controversy” was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever witnessed in my life.

Dan Szymborski: I think baseball-reference actually recognizing that idiotic ruling was one of the low points in its history.

Comment From John
Time to drop Springer in a 12-team league?

Dan Szymborski: No.

Comment From John
Bautista or Pujols?

Dan Szymborski: Still Joey Bats.

Comment From Lars
Justin Upton is having another huge spring. Last year he fell off the map in May. Should we expect the same this year, or has he officially entered his prime?

Dan Szymborski: Way too premature to get excited. Players that are established very young don’t tend to have typical aging curves.

Comment From Jays fan
Not meaning to be greedy on Bautista, I’m not asking for more. Just that it seems like there might be another gear…

Dan Szymborski: Greedy!

Comment From Mike who should be working
Are you the guy who hates fantasy baseball?

Dan Szymborski: No

Dan Szymborski: I just only very sparsely answer those questions in chats.

Dan Szymborski: Mainly because they’re not generally taht interesting to readers that aren’t the person with the fantasy question.

Dan Szymborski: Like “which 4 of this list of 8 players that will look random to everybody should I keep?”

Comment From asdf
So Trout is at 2.3 WAR through 24 games and could be hitting better. He’s on pace for >15 WAR; could we really see him put up 12 or 13?

Dan Szymborski: Probably too aggressive.

Dan Szymborski: The thing about Trout is that he’s so good that *all* the risk is downside.

Comment From Evan
Did you really just say you’d prefer 50 points of obp over 15 more home runs?

Dan Szymborski: 50 points of OBP is quite a lot, though I haven’t worked out the numbers in my head

Dan Szymborski: I assuemd we were talking more specifrically about Belt 13 vs. Belt 14

Dan Szymborski: Belt ’14 is hitting for more power, but Belt ’13 was the more valuable offensive player

Comment From RoyalMan
Given Edwin’s slower start, do you think he will still hit 40 bombs?

Dan Szymborski: I only projected him to hit 30 for the year coming into the season, so I was never inclined to think that.

Comment From ouchmyhead
I went with Segura and Gyorko for my MI. Brutal. Hope for either one?

Dan Szymborski: Both. April.

Comment From yordano
Do you think Yordano Ventura will surpass his ZiPS ROS?

Dan Szymborski: Yup.

Comment From Matt
Will Javier Baez be up before Polanco?

Dan Szymborski: No.

Comment From Gary Gaetti
Belt or Rizzo for this season in an OB% league

Dan Szymborski: Rizzo.

Comment From Dan
The Yahoo snippet on Harper’s injury included the lines “Nats fear ligament damage” and “Doesn’t look good.” It doesn’t get much DARKER than that.

Dan Szymborski: Wait, did this happen this morning? At last read, it was still being described as a strain

Dan Szymborski: The darkening news

Comment From Jheff
Melky Cabrera, comeback player of the year?

Dan Szymborski: He may deserve it, but the voters won’t give it to him

Comment From David
So is Morneau a functional fantasy 1B again?

Dan Szymborski: Even a mediocre hitter in Coors is a functional fantasy player

Dan Szymborski: Now, Morneau’s playing *legitimately* well, but I wouldn’t count my chickens with that.

Comment From Marcus A.
Taijuan Walker probably won’t pitch this year, right?

Dan Szymborski: He may pitch a little, though the Mariners should be cautious.

Comment From The Dude
Tell me why I shouldn’t dropkick Carlos Santana all the way to the waiver wire. Between him and Gyorko, I feel like I’m being violated.

Dan Szymborski: You’ve already taken the bad, so you might as well take the good. You take them both and you get the facts of life. You only take the bad, you get According to Jim.

Comment From Dan
Fun fact: Trout is made of Charlie Blackmon

Dan Szymborski: A few more and then time to go. We’re post-1 PM, so crazy questions are encouraged.

Comment From Seth
When is Hosmer going to hit a home run?

Dan Szymborski: It’s my fault. I refused to be optimistic last year and it kept him playing well. But then I gave in and now his power is gone

Comment From Jheff
Kevin Gausman or Marcus Stroman?

Dan Szymborski: Stroman’s safer in the short-term I think, but Gausman better ceiling.

Comment From Jheff
Dan “April” Szymbroski

Comment From RotoLando
What was the first name of that reporter woman from Ninja Turtles?

Dan Szymborski: April O’Neill

Comment From Matt Kemp
Am I any good? About to turn it on old school style?

Dan Szymborski: Meh, Kemp’s doing it by swinging at everything and he still plays defense in center like something that is not very good at defense.

Dan Szymborski: Weird, now that I look at it, his swing numbers aren’t unusual for him. Certainly looks like he’s been flailing.

Comment From Pumpkin
How come I get such a bad rap? I can think of a lot worse things to turn into…plus i’m a 5-tool food – pie, bread, beer, seeds, alcohol…

Dan Szymborski: Possibly because people are only interest in pumpkin in a very small portion of the year.

Dan Szymborski: It’s bad enough being a seasonal food, but pumpkin is alike a 3 week food

Comment From Luke
George Washington was sickly and lived 16 fewer years than Thomas Jefferson! Come on people!

Comment From US Hayes
Lots of FanGraphsFolks were hot on Marcus Semien. Hasn’t been so fun thus far. Do you think he lives up to or approaching that excitement?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll be fine. APril.

Comment From John
Should I hold Martin Prado?

Dan Szymborski: If he’s really sad and looking for a friend, you should.

Dan Szymborski: Otherwise, April.

Comment From Rated Rookie
What looks April-ish about Dee Gordon? To my untrained eye he seems to have figured out what he is and how to maximize it. Also, I watch the Dodgers games mostly to listen to Vin Scully.

Dan Szymborski: Everybody looks good when they’re playing well. Everybody looks incompetent when they’re playing poorly. There are lots of guys who *look* like they figured things out in April. But the cruelty of April persists.

Comment From John
What’s wrong with Tim Lincecum?

Dan Szymborski: Probably needs more pot.

Comment From Jheff
Is the AL East the best division this year?

Dan Szymborski: In the sense it has the best worst team, yes. But none of the AL East teams really have looked like Top Tier contenders.

Comment From Curious George
I’m totally with you on not overreacting and I thoroughly enjoy your responses of “it’s only April”. That said, what are we going to respond with next week when it’s May?!?

Dan Szymborski: First week of May.

Comment From Nick
Worried about the Pirates at all?

Dan Szymborski: Very. They’re digging too deep a hole and Brewers hot start has complicated matters.

Comment From Dan
PSA: Sullivan and Cameron don’t answer fantasy questions. Szymborski does sometimes. Come to chat Monday, Thursday, and Friday to get your fantasy questions answered. Thursday and Friday are both fantasy-centric chats.

Dan Szymborski: Monday is a terrible-themed chat. That way, the rest of the week, everything looks good because it’s not @#%@#% Szymborski.

Comment From Luke
The guy had diphtheria, tuberculosis, smallpox, dysentry, malaria, quinsy, carbuncle, pneumonia, and freaking epiglottitis!! This shouldn’t even be close!

Dan Szymborski: Quinsy is an awesome archaic medical term

Dan Szymborski: My mom had a case of pleurisy last week and I was initially mildly amused (and obviously very concerned) becuase I was under the impression that that was an archaic medical term too

Dan Szymborski: But apparently it’s still the real term!

Comment From Brad
Dave Cameron is the anti-fantasy guy but he is still great anyway.

Comment From Royal Farm
mmm…potato wedges

Dan Szymborski: Every Baltimore native knows that it’s Royal *Farms*

Dan Szymborski: And you don’t just buy the potato wedges, you get the chicken too.

Dan Szymborski: I bet you put KETCHUP on your pit beef!

Comment From Luke
“A few days later, it got worse, and they thought it might be due to an excess amount of blood. Within 12 hours, they took out about 80 ounces of blood..and finally Washington did die.”

Comment From Jompo Chief Osoyunti
In three more days, is your answer to slow start questions going to default to “May”?

Dan Szymborski: Tune in next week to find out Dan’s cheap answer!

Comment From Steve
What world leader of the past 100 years would give Washington a good fight?

Dan Szymborski: I heard Putin bench-presses bears before jumping up and pulling eagles out of the sky.

Comment From The Dude
Mitch Williams makes me watch MLB Network on mute. I swear he’s worse than Harold Reynolds.

Comment From Royal Farm
Is Dominic Brown good? Do bees smell fear? Are there any other crabs, but blue crabs?

Dan Szymborski: Brown will be OK, he’s not great. Bees don’t smell fear, they smell other bees getting pissed off. And no other crabs that count.

Comment From toot toot
would you rather fight a duck the size of a horse, or a hundred horses the size of ducks?

Dan Szymborski: Duck the size of a horse. You could still trick it with bread, I think.

Dan Szymborski: A hundred horses would swarm you pretty quickly.

Comment From Dhan
I hope Dalton Pompey of the Jays make it to the majors, not because hes from my hometown, but because his name is awesome.

Dan Szymborski: I hope he has a kid named Sextus, even though that kid would get beaten up for the name.

Comment From Trevor Gobble
Did someone really consider dropping Carlos Santana? That’s insanity at this point

Comment From RotoLando
George Washington was like a real life Rooster Cogburn. Jefferson was like W.W. Beauchamp from Unforgiven.

Comment From Luke
Jonah Keri says “it’s not that early anymore”, disagree?

Dan Szymborski: It’s early.

Comment From Rangers Fan
I give Jose Abreu, I get Prince Fielder. Would you do it?

Dan Szymborski: No. Not a fan of Fielder, honestly.

Comment From Levine Yester
Pumpkins or Bunnys in terms of seasonal thing? I hope you don’t eat a bunny…

Dan Szymborski: You’ve never eaten rabbit?

Comment From Guest
Will Polanco save the bucco’s from their tailspin?

Dan Szymborski: Not singlehandedly, but if they have improvement at their fingertips, they should grab it.

Comment From Lars
Were you a Topps, Fleer, or Donruss guy?

Dan Szymborski: Had all of ’em, but my favorite were those 1987 Fleer with the blue front and the rudimentary scouting report on the back.

Comment From J. Levine Gillespie
Seriously though. ZiPS Kentucky Derby projections would be awesome.

Comment From Buck Turgidson
Thanks for the chat Dan! I am still begging to differ with you and Dave re the A-Rod suspension. The PA may have limited the employers rights regarding discipline and PEDs. However, it is unlikely the language would apply to lying, which in almost any ee/er relationship is a terminable offense. I honestly don’t see a leg to stand on there for the PA and why should the Union defend liars anyway?

Dan Szymborski: The MLBPA woudlnt’ be defending a liar, they would be defending the *rights* of one of their members.

Dan Szymborski: For the exact same reason why pedophiles should have lawyers.

Dan Szymborski: They don’t deserve lawyers because they’re pedophiles, they deserve lawyers because it’s their legal right to have representation.

Dan Szymborski: Representation isn’t a function of morality, it’s a function of the established rights that were agreed upon.

Dan Szymborski: And the MLBPA did a terrible job defending A-Rod’s rights. And as I see it, he was morally entitled to the most vigorous protection of his rights from the organization he was a part of and agreed to provide such protections, whether he lied about eating Jeter’s sandwich or he was the one who convinced John Hinckley that shooting Reagan would impress Jodie Foster.

Comment From Larry David
Who do you like more than Fielder?

Dan Szymborski: In the example given, Abreu.

Comment From tori peacock
just got my wisdom teeth out. what do you suggest

Dan Szymborski: Crying. Painkillers.

Comment From Joe Jackson
How much money would it take for you to throw your most competitive fantasy league?

Dan Szymborski: I hope I would not. But someone offers me 10 million, I’d be a liar if I said I wouldn’t consider it.

Comment From Buck Turgidson
Unions only have a responsibility up to a certain point. There’s no good defending shitty workers (which liars qualify for). You guys are wrong about this and you should admit it.

Dan Szymborski: Rights are only rights when they protect those that, on the face, are the *least* deserving.

Dan Szymborski: Nice people that do nothing wrong aren’t generally the ones at risk of being treated unfairly.

Dan Szymborski: Which is why the right to counsel and the right to not undergo cruel or unusual punishment is the most important for the vilest criminals. Why the right to illegal search and seizure is more important for those with something to hide. Why the right to free speech is more crucial for those saying the most hate-filled, disgusting things.

Comment From Buck Turgidson
A-Rods rights were protected. Why do you think he dropped the lawsuit? Because his lawyer told him he would lose, that’s why. Understand labor law. It’s different.

Dan Szymborski: Because he recognized a pragmatic reality. Not that it was just.

Dan Szymborski: The Crimea won’t eventually be recognized as part of Russia by the entire world because it’s the just outcome, but because it’s the practical outcome.

Comment From RotoLando
Jeter’s sandwich is probably an Arby’s Roast Beef. Sure, it looks great on TV, but you see it up close in real life, and it’s been pounded thin and stinks like old cheese.

Dan Szymborski: Arby’s is great when drunk.

Dan Szymborski: And on that note, time to sign off for another week!

Comment From Buck Turgidson
Dan, there is nothing unusual about firing liars. They deserve to be fired. A-Rod had due process which was the arbitration hearing. I love you, btw, in a manly baseball chat sense.

Dan Szymborski: An arbitration hearing in which the arbitrary conduct of the commissioner was never allowed to be addressed.

Dan Szymborski: I love you in a manly baseball chat question sense, but not in a sense in which justice is sought.

Dan Szymborski: And congratulations to this week’s victor, George Washington!