Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat – 6/13/16

Dan Szymborski: Stay awhile and listen.

Zonk: Reports are the Cubs are sniffing around the Yankees relievers. In your opinion, what would the Cubs need to add to Jorge Soler to pry Andrew Miller away? Is Soler alone enough for Chapman?

Dan Szymborski: Honestly, I’m not sure the Yankees are at the point yet at which they’ll really trade one of their No Runs DMC trio without being bowled over and I’m not sure a reliever is worth bowling someone over.

Richie rich: Who’s closing games for Minnesota a month from now? Do either Abad or Kintzler run away with the job or does Perkins come back strong and reclaim his throne?

Dan Szymborski: *If* he’s healthy — a pretty big if — I expect Perkins to be given as much of a chance as possible to get his spot back.

Big Joe Montferrant: Pineda has been MUCH better his last 3 starts with the change in arm angle. Do you seeing him being more typical Pineda ROS?

Dan Szymborski: He’s certainly *looked* better, but I tend to be conservative about declaring problems over.

Astro Boy: As an Astros fan, I wake up every morning now hoping this will finally be the day they call up Bregman and/or Reed…

Ben: Do you expect George Springer or Kris Bryant to have more production the rest of the season?

Dan Szymborski: Bryant

Q-Ball: Pirates appear to be in some trouble. Is it time to promote Taillon and Glasnow for good?

Dan Szymborski: Yes

einstein2u: what the hell is wrong with stanton?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll be fine

Bork: Ubaldo’s gotta be DFA’d…right?

Dan Szymborski: The problem the O’s have is their rotation depth is kinda craptastic.

Dan Szymborski: Ubaldo’s been awful, but I’m not sure, in a “here on out” fashion that they really have any *obviously* better candidates.

Q-Ball: Is the Cubs rotation better than the Mets? Are they the clear top-two in baseball?

Dan Szymborski: I think slightly though an eventual healthy Wheeler could change that. And yes.

Ben: Will keuchel ever turn it around this year?

Dan Szymborski: I remain confident

Outta my way, Gyorkass: Is there any data-backed credence to the theory that the ball flies farther in hotter weather? I know, a sample of N=1 is purely anecdotal, but man did the balls fly out of Miller Park on a 90+ degree Saturday – even SP Wily Peralta bashed a no-doubter!

Dan Szymborski: Warmer air is less dense.

John: If the Cubs play rest of season at 1 over 500, they finish a 94 wins I believe. Over under?? Ok we know you’ll take the over. How many over?

Dan Szymborski: I’d set it about 102-103

Caveman Jones: Any decent pitchers not currently available that you think will be before the trade deadline?

Dan Szymborski: We’re kind of at a really odd situation for pitching availability for a few reasons.

Dan Szymborski: 1. Guys on lousy teams that would likely be trade targets have had things happen that have made them a lot less exciting (Sonny Gray, Tyson Ross)

Dan Szymborski: And second, there actually aren’t any really awful teams that weren’t supposed to be really awful teams. The Angels maybe, but they’re not sellers.

Dan Szymborski: And lastly, free agency stinks this year, so there are fewer “trade before we lose ’em” guys.

Outta my way, Gyorkass: Has Scooter Gennett done anything substantial to alleviate concerns about being able to hit lefties, or is he still strictly a platoon 2B?

Dan Szymborski: I think the team should find that out – realistically they’re not going anywhere.

Dan Szymborski: It’s hard to see what a guy can really do against lefties if you never play him against lefties.

Dan Szymborski: See Ryan Klesko, who when finally allowed to play full-time, didn’t actually have a platoon split worse than the typical lefty hitter

Dakota McKee: Best target for the Mets right now- Danny Valencia?

Dan Szymborski: An interesting one in a market with not a ton of excitement.

Matt: Hey Dan, the 2017 Braves’ farm system has a very good chance at having a top-100 prospect in each of their affiliates’ rotations: Wentz and Anderson in Rome, Allard in Carolina, Soroka in Mississippi late in the year, and Newcomb in Gwinnett. Has that ever been done before? How insane is that?

Dan Szymborski: Can’t say off-hand, but the Braves farm system is excellent and the team has a bright future if stuff goes right.

Dan Szymborski: My Braves jokes on Twitter are referring to the state of the *2016* team, not the state of the organization’s future.

Outta my way, Gyorkass: Any idea on when we’re going to see the post-Super 2 wave of minor league call-ups like JP Crawford and his ilk?

Dan Szymborski: I actually thought it would happen around this point, but it’s a bit of a game of chicken.

Dan Szymborski: The eventual date of Super 2 cutoff is how hard the other guys blink

Jim: Dan, do you think the NL east is going to stay tight or will the Nats pull away?

Dan Szymborski: I think it’ll be a fairly tight Mets/Nats race

Matt: Could Freeman and Vizcaino get a return of Reed, Bregman, and Derek Fisher?

Dan Szymborski: No

Big Joe Montferrant: If a player randomly shows up 5 days before the draft (he is eligible) and throws 105 MPH and spins a good breaking ball at a showcase. How high would he get picked, even though no one saw him vs live hitters or has any stats on him? (Lets assume he showed good command and is 6’4 with a good delivery, and is 19 y/o)

Dan Szymborski: Won’t get picked highly, but anybody with a 105 MPH fastball will be picked.

Outta my way, Gyorkass: What the heck is wrong with the Pirates pitching? Has the Searage magic run out?

Dan Szymborski: Some of the Eiland magic is wearing off too. I think Frodo destroyed Selig’s One Ring and now the the rings given to the elf-pitchingcoachlords are losing their power.

sam son: Do you hear any rumors of Tetsuto Yamada being posted this fall? Guy just keeps hitting, 20 home runs and 16 stolen bases

Dan Szymborski: Certainly interesting, but I’m not connected at all when it comes to NPB sources, so your guess is as good as mine really

Tony: Daniel Murphy finally coming back down to Earth?

Dan Szymborski: Well, it was inevitable

Rob: If the White Sox miss the playoffs, winning only 78 to 80 games, do they blow this up finally and try do a full rebuild this winter? They should, right??

Dan Szymborski: They might need to at that point – even if the White Sox said “OK, let’s add $50 million of payroll this winter” it’s not a good year to do that.

Q-Ball: Cubs and Nationals square off in a series starting today. Are these the 2 top teams in baseball right now?

Dan Szymborski: Not unreasonable, but there are some arguments for Red SOx, Cards at 2

rustydude: Who won the fisticuffs tournament of past Presidents? Did I miss the final coupla rounds or has this been suspended?

Dan Szymborski: I just haven’t gotten around to doing the final four!

TheDudeofNY: Can ZiPS do projections for draft picks?

Dan Szymborski: It can but the error bars are huge.

Outta my way, Gyorkass: Choose one: A) You could never drink another craft beer in your life or B) you had to get plunked by one MLB fastball a week for the rest of your life.

Dan Szymborski: A. I’d actually keep weight off, so it might not be the worst thing in the world.

Dan Szymborski: If I’m not drinking for a month — sometimes happens if my GERD is acting up — I literally drop 20 pounds right there.

Sean P : Were the Cubs doing Coghlan a favor by reaquiring him for Alcantara? Or did they see value in the trade? I would’ve thought Alcantara was worth more than that

Dan Szymborski: Alcantara’s 2015 really cut down his value.

Gerb: Since 2014 Corey Kluber has accumulated the most WAR of any AL pitcher. He is 2nd in the AL in pitcher WAR in 2016 so far. Am I wrong in saying it still seems doubtfull that he will make his first all star game this year?

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, his standard numbers aren’t *obviously* awesome and statheads aren’t picking the teams.

Bork: Is this gonna be a meh year for deadline trades? Biggest names so far are Lucroy and (insert Yankees bullpen pitcher here).

Dan Szymborski: I think a meh year is likely

Big Joe Montferrant: The Braves selected a player named Handsome Monica in the draft… Best name since ___________?

Dan Szymborski: I think Dash Winningham is still better.

TengoPreguntas: Why do you Yankees fans think they are going to get an decent organization’s #1 prospect for Chapman?

Dan Szymborski: Unfamiliarity with their team rebuilding

TheDudeofNY: Adam Warren was a ZiPS darling, but he’s been below replacement level by both fWAR and bWAR. Has anyone used this as evidence that your formula biased towards the Cubs? If not, can I get in on the ground floor?

Dan Szymborski: He was doing so well and then BOOM

Todd: T or F- Jeff Sullivan looks best of all the FG writers shirtless.

Dan Szymborski: Haven’t seen them all.

Dan Szymborski: Though I suspect Carson has the Eye of Sauron when shirtless

Dan Szymborski: Actually, I don’t think I’ve seen any FG guys shirtless

Guest: Ben Revere has 2 stolen bases. JUST 2 FREAKIN’ STEALS! Please explain. Do you expect him to revert back to his career rate?

Dan Szymborski: Well, he’s below his career rate obviously, but he’s also kinda been lousy and not on first all that often

Dan Szymborski: Also dont’ forget he started ht year injured

Chris: Gerrit Cole ? No news is not good news right?

Dan Szymborski: There’s no such thing as good news for an injured pitcher.

Thomas: What do you make of Matt Shoemaker’s recent dominance?

Dan Szymborski: Surprised. He’s a perplexing pitcher.

Dan Szymborski: Eternally in either the middle of a run pitching like a Cy Young nominee or a run pitching like Alfredo Simon

Penguin: Did pitchfx pitch type improve after 2009 to better classify 2-seam fastballs or did pitchers just start throwing 2-seam fastballs more often?

Dan Szymborski: I think it’s tricky simply because pitches can’t always be thrown in a simple bin like that.

Outta my way, Gyorkass: What would a hypothetical trade of Nolan Arenado net the Rockies? Is it kind of in hypothetical Trout trade territory where no team is going to be willing to give up what it would take to make a fair return?

Dan Szymborski: Oh, they’d get a ton, but not Trout-level. It’s plausible.

Joe: Is Ubaldo Jimenez the worst starting pitcher in baseball?

Dan Szymborski: See a few answers ago who’s the worst

Alex: What are the odds that Raisel Iglesias becomes the Reds’ closer when he returns? Do you think his value is greater to other clubs as trade bait as a closer or starter?

Dan Szymborski: Well, if he can start, obviously as a starter.

Dan Szymborski: But the Reds shouldn’t be using him as trade bait, they should be seeing what they have.

Guest: Are you buying Danny Valencia as a legit 130 wRC+ guy at this point? Do you think he gets traded?

Dan Szymborski: Legit 130? No.

hscer: just how unimportant is Twins Closer as a job?

Dan Szymborski: Very

Pie: What kind of market do you see for Fister this offseason? He’s quietly settled into the Astros most consistent starter

Dan Szymborski: He’s still not sexy, but that being said, the market th is offseason sucks so he might get more than is worthy

Jeff: Is Glasnow really a solution at this point? The man has a 4.5 BB/9 rate in the International League…. I guess that would be better than JEFF F’ING LOCKE but that’s a low bar to clear…

Dan Szymborski: He might not be, but you gotta try

P-Money: Is a hitter who goes through torrid hot/cold stretches a la Cespedes, Upton, Encarnacion any less/more valuable than a more consistent hitter with similar production?

Dan Szymborski: No

TheDudeofNY: Who has a better chance of winning the NL Central: the Pirates or the Cardinals?

Dan Szymborski: Cards

Tom: Isn’t the entire umpire system inherently flawed? We have a bunch of old guys relying on their eyesight…

Dan Szymborski: There is no good reason to have umpires determining pitch location in 2016.

Jon: Danny Duffy’s return to the rotation similar to when Carlos Carrasco moved back into rotation after successful bullpen stint?

Dan Szymborski: Hope so. It’s in KC’s interest — and always has been — to see if he can succeed as a starter full-time and stay healthy

machado: When do you think I find out regarding my appeal? Will suspension be lowered?

Dan Szymborski: Not sure and probably not.

Dan Szymborski: Ventura’s suspension should obviously be longer, but Machado has been in trouble before and you can’t let anyone who charges the mound and punches a pitcher — no matter how cool it was — get off without a suspension.

Stenzy: Braun and Jeffries from Brewers to Giants have any legs?

Dan Szymborski: It could. It’s a very interesting possibility.

Zorak: Should the Orioles at least try Ubaldo out as a reliever? Maybe he can find some missing MPH

Dan Szymborski: Might as well

Bryan: Do you think Bregman could push Correa off short? Correa just doesn’t seem that great defensively

Dan Szymborski: I think Correa gets the incumbency

Dinger: Do the Rockies need to bite the bullet and trade Cargo? As a Rockies fan it’s frustrating supporting a rebuilding team that doesn’t even know it’s rebuilding

Dan Szymborski: They needed to last year

Dan Szymborski: The Rockies front office has been run the same for the last 15 years.

Dan Szymborski: As I’ve always said, their team is run like Homer Simpson’s plan to pass his nuclear physics test.

Dan Szymborski: “Wait under a pile of coats and hope everything just works out.”

Ronnie: Lucroy worth a prospect in the 15-50 range & another in the 50-100 range. Braun worth a prospect in the 75-125 range. Am I too hot, too cold or just about right?

Dan Szymborski: That’s a little expensive for Lucroy and I like him

Plis Answer M8: Does Toronto overcome the Red Sox? Why?

Dan Szymborski: They’re underdogs simply because I dont’ think they’re 4.8 (or so) games better on a 162 game basis than Boston.

Stenzy: Now even Nightengale is reporting the Giants and Brewers have now begun discussing Braun. Can you see the Giants taking on that contract?

Dan Szymborski: The Brewers may eat some to get a better prospect. Which they should; it’s the only real way to outright buy a rpospect.

Oliver: Chris Archer. Buy or Selling?

Dan Szymborski: Buy

Big Joe Montferrant: What do you think about MLB having a loan system? (Teams out of it can Loan players under contract to another team for the remainder of a season and get him back afterwards)

Dan Szymborski: Too many shenanigan possibilities

CamdenWarehouse: It was Harper who destroyed the One Ring!

Dan Szymborski: OMG HE BIT OFF MORDECAI BROWN’S FINGERS. I think that would make him Gollum then.

TheDudeofNY: If Dave Stewart went on a rant about you, calling you a nerd and “Digital Dandy” during a press conference and accused you of ruining the game, what would your reaction be?

Dan Szymborski: Glee.

Phil: I love the Mariners taking Trey Griffey in the 24th round as a respectful gesture. I mostly love it because it shows just how little teams value the 24th round that they will use it for purely symbolic means. Any “analysis” done on players after the first couple rounds is silly, but hey, love the dedication of the MLB network.

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, guys that low are just “whatever, we have to fill the rosters”

P-Money: Shohei Ohtani is currently running a 2.42 ERA, 10.4K/9, routinely hits 100MPH, has 9HR and an 1.100 OPS while hitting in the middle of the order. Any updates on posting status/MLB interest?

Dan Szymborski: No updates, but *I* certainly have interest

Blaine: Do you think my Red Sox would have interest in Nick Markakis is the Braves sent cash in the deal? Need a platoon partner with Chris Young, thanks!

Dan Szymborski: Meh. Probably wouldn’t be horrid in a platoon role but I’m nto giving *any* player for him.

Paul: Do you think the Braves could get a top 30 org prospect in return for Markakis like they did with Kelly Johnson?

Dan Szymborski: I certainly wouldn’t. But who knows.

Dan Szymborski: And didn’t you guys ask like a million Nick Markakis questions a few weeks ago and get me in trouble with Braves Reddit?

Joey Gallo: How bad do moreland and fielder have to play before I get more than a 1 AB call-up

Dan Szymborski: I’m a little befuddled at the lack of movement here.

Dan Szymborski: Put Fielder in refrigerator box and leave him outside an orphanage.

976: Carlos Santana is batting .162 in 200 PA in my ZiPS driven sim league. Why do you hate me?

Dan Szymborski: I’d need to know more about you before I can tell you the specific reason why I personally hate you.

Phil: We had another “testicular contusion” injury last night. Besides clearly being the worst injury anyone can possibly have… Haven’t these guys ever watched The Bad News Bears (original)?

Eric: Would Atlanta accept Benintendi alone for both Teheran and Vizcaino?

Dan Szymborski: I think they’d want more than that.

Big Joe Montferrant: Shohei Otani is hitting .337/.427/.673 1.100 OPS in 124 PA… Will an NL team pay more for him due to the extra value of hitting?

Dan Szymborski: They should.

jon: You said previously (at about 25 games into the season) that ZiPS had the Cubs at ~2% odds at 117 wins. Where do those odds sit now?

Dan Szymborski: I haven’t re-run them, but it ought to be slightly lower.

Friend: Thoughts on Michael Fulmer so far?

Dan Szymborski: He’s looked great. The Tigers were very smart to throw in the towel on 2015 and retool a bit.

Loopy: Dae-Ho Lee’s power at all sustainable? It seems like his fb distance is pretty dang far.

Dan Szymborski: Well, his current SLG probably isn’t, but he should still have nice power – he’s not a little dude and he hit well in KBO long before they juiced it up.

Carnak: Alex Reyes will be on the Cardinals major league roster by what date?

Dan Szymborski: I would hope very soon, though the Cards have some difficult decisions to make.

Bad Bill: Speaking of good names among drafted players, how about Cardinals 31st-round choice Jonathan Murders? I mean, you’ve got to pull for that guy being this year’s recipient of Cardinals voodoo magic, right?

Loopy: Hyun-Soo Kim or Robbie Grossman more likely to provide offensive value ROS?

Dan Szymborski: Kim if he plays

976: Hyun-Soo Kim isn’t this good right? What does his second half look like, now that we have some MLB data?

Dan Szymborski: ZiPS had him at 350/400 coming into the season and that still strikes me as reasonable.

976: Evan Gattis is totally getting a catcher rating next year, right? Is this just the Astros drumming up trade interest?

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, he’ll definitely get one on the ZiPS DMB disk

Dan Szymborski: Houston understands value – it’s in their interest to see the most demanding defensive position their players can play at a respectable level

Dan Szymborski: Every move to the easier side of the defensive spectrum lowers the player’s ultimate ceiling, so don’t lower that bar until you really need to

Chad: Doesnt it seem unlikely that Vince Velasquez is just a strain of the bicep and he will be “fine”?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t want to jinx him.

Oddbal Herrera: If you’re the Cubs and your playoff ticket is basically punched, why trade for a relief pitcher early and assume the risk he gets injured? Wait two months, and the prices are a bit higher but you don’t have the risk his arm blows up in those two months…

Dan Szymborski: Agree.

Jenna Haze: What are your thoughts on Maikel Franco’s 2016 season thus far?

Dan Szymborski: He’s below where he ought to be, but people got too hyped on his 2015.

Dan Szymborski: I expect OPS+s in the 105-110 range typically

Zorak: You don’t hear about it much now that they’re a decent team, but are the Mets still broke? Can they afford to take on a big contract to improve at the deadline? I just keep thinking how many of their problems Votto would solve, and he probably wouldn’t cost much in terms of prospects to land.

Dan Szymborski: They did get a bit of a break in the repayment.

Jumbo Problems: Jumbo is awesome in the minor leagues but a disaster every time he steps on an MLB mound. Are his problems mental or is he just a AAA level player?

Dan Szymborski: He was hardly a disaster in 2014-2015.

Erik: Does Vince Velasquez have more value as a closer or as a starter who you can’t trust to go the full season ever?

Dan Szymborski: Well, in this instance, a closer, but you don’t really *know* this yet.

Brian: Do the Braves have without a doubt have the best farm system? They also appear to be favorites to land 6-7 of the top 30 international talents as well.

Dan Szymborski: I don’t like saying without a doubt — there’s a lot of pitching that can break bad quickly — but it’s right up there

Erik: Are people who say they want the “human element” of umps calling balls and strikes aware that they’re basically just saying “I want the occasional mistake”? Or am I missing something there. What do you think they mean by “human”?

Dan Szymborski: Nostalgia.

Danny Almonte: How good is Trevor Story really?

Dan Szymborski: He’s Mark Reynolds that could play shortstop.

Dan Szymborski: Mark Reynolds that could play shortstop would be pretty good.

Big Joe Montferrant: How much do you think Otani would get if he was posted today?

Dan Szymborski: $150 million.

Aladdin Sane: Whoops – finishing Lackey question: What do you make of this? Did ZiPS somehow predict he could unlock that skill, was it just accounting too heavily for his mirage sub-3 ERA in 2015, or what?

Dan Szymborski: Don’t know if I can accuse ZiPS of weighting 2015 “too heavily” considering even ZiPS has been underrating him.

Tito (Brooklyn): Hi Joe, loved your call of the game on Sunday night. Do you think Edinson Volquez is having a better year than Roy Halladay because he has more wins? Which pitcher has been more consistent this year, in your view?

Ellie: So when are my DBacks gonna trade our 1st round pick to Atlanta?

Dan Szymborski: They can after the World Series.

Tim: The Cubs’ run differential so far this season is greater than the run differential that any team accumulated over the course of the entire year in 2014. Do they have a shot at the all time record for run differential?

Dan Szymborski: Maybe – they have a shota t the all time record period after all

Dan Szymborski: But I don’t actually know the all time record for run differential

Q-Ball: Jim Callis thinks the MLB draft should be 20 rounds only, with everyone else FA. All the nepotism picks are evidence that the draft is too long, and teams are mostly just filling rookie league rosters after round 20, or picking unsignable HS players. Thoughts?

Dan Szymborski: I think it’s something not worth worrying about. It’s not like the guys picked in round 43 were going to get into bidding wars

TheDudeofNY: Do Kershaw and Trout both come from the same alien planet, or different ones?

Dan Szymborski: Poochie’s planet.

Bell: Could a 36 year old, injured rental Rich Hill actually net a top 100 prospect?

Dan Szymborski: Not with health concerns.

Markakis Fan Club President: Markakis is a leader, a gritty hard nosed veteran! Any contender would love to have him! He’s not worthless! You think you know it all, and your wrong.

mtsw: Is Hyun Soo Kim basically Korean Nick Markakis?

Dan Szymborski: Kim has a chance to be good.

EbenezerBatflip: nostalgia is such a polite way to phrase ‘fear of change’

Dan Szymborski: If there’s anything you guys should know about me, I’m always gently polite.

Bork: Poochie’s never going to be cool, Dan.

jon: All time run differential: +411 for the 1939 Yankees. The Cubs would need near linear performance extrapolation to surpass this record.

Dan Szymborski: OK, we’re past 1 o clock and since I have work to do, need to be timely.

Dan Szymborski: So let’s get into the Lightning Round to wrap this up.

Dan Szymborski: The rules of the Lightning Round are simple: I am forced to answer every question, even if I don’t know the answer or have any kind of insight or knowledge of the question.

Dan Szymborski: With the usual exceptions (things I deem too personal or work-related)

Dan Szymborski: This continues until I either catch up or I get bored because, well, I have other stuff to do and I’m not doing this for two hours.

Dan Szymborski: GO

Tallow: Had the Oreo Cinnamon Buns yesterday. Ate the entire package while watching GoT 🙁

Dan Szymborski: Red Velvet is the best alternative Oreo.

Tom: I know you dig some indie rock. Have you heard Car Seat Headrest’s new album? Silly band name, but great album.

Dan Szymborski: I have not.

S1CK#1484: Is there any try hard groups? Solo queuing is an emotional roller coaster.

Dan Szymborski: In Overwatch? I’m in a try-medium group with my TF2 team (FITH)

Outta my way, Gyorkass: Ever get into the Dragon Quest series of jRPGs? If so, which one was your favorite?

Dan Szymborski: I did. IV.

j6takish: My friend asked me to see the warcraft movie with him. I thought he was joking but he was serious. It was pretty terrible but not quite bad enough to offer any sort of comedic value. 0/10 would not recommend. Also I am considering disowning my friend

Dan Szymborski: You should know better than seeing a movie based on a video game.

Dan Szymborski: I have no idea why there should be movies based on video games – the video games already tell the stories the best in their chosen medium.

Eric: Hey Dan, hope you had a great weekend! Quick question; my sarcastic comments online are alienating everyone around me, whatever should I do?

Dan Szymborski: Get better people around you. If sarcasm is chasing them off, your winnowing process up to this point hasn’t been sufficiently robust.

976: Why haven’t you read Patrick Rothfuss yet?

Dan Szymborski: I already need to live to be 300 to catch up on all the things I currently wish to do.

Scott: Online Writing question: I recently began writing a few things for a website. The site made it clear that they were looking for content but were not offering a paid position. I don’t mind since it’s a chance to muse about baseball and there are no strict requirements. I’m just curious if that is standard practice or if this particular place is being shady? Do people often start as unpaid contributors and work their way up to a paid position?

Dan Szymborski: It’s fairly standard practice unless you’re starting wiht a real business.

Dan Szymborski: The sad truth is that there are more people who want to make a living writing then there are opportunities to make a living writing.

Guest: i know you not a console guy, but do you think the plan is to release a console every 2 yrs to keep up with pc gaming?

Dan Szymborski: I think we’ll continue to see upgraded consoles like the PS/XBox ones.

Dan Szymborski: I’m historically a PC guy, but just not at this moment.

Kerry: Dan, do you even play any Imagine Sports classic teams (internet version, not DMB disc version)?

Dan Szymborski: I have not.

Jeb: Which class is best for Yogg decks?

Dan Szymborski: Mage. Tempo Mage is already a powerful Mage archetype.

Jeb: What is the ZiPS Dave Matthews Band disk? Is that the one with What Would You Say on it?

Dan Szymborski: Heh.

War2d2: No question, but I wanted to let you know that I had a dream last night that you posted a bunch of pictures to Twitter of your highly inappropriate tattoos.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD SZYMBORSKI

Dan Szymborski: Sweet.

Dan Szymborski: But I have no tattoos.

Dan Szymborski: But don’t feel bad, baseball writers get into my dreams too.

Dan Szymborski: Let me see my most recent ones in my log (hold on a sec)

Dan Szymborski: “
I was playing golf with Ezra Pound and he started getting very angry that we didn’t stop for lunch after the 9th hole and I insistently told him that it was an 8:00 tee time and it would make more sense to get lunch after we finished but he threw a giant temper tantrum so we went to the clubhouse for sandwiches and they had a sandwich named after David Wiers and David Wiers was in the clubhouse too but he didn’t want to order his sandwich because it had horseradish on it and I asked why a sandwich named after him had stuff on it he didn’t like and he didn’t say anything because he got in a fistfight with Ezra. I didn’t see who won because I went back onto the course because I left my car keys next to one of the ball washers.”

Dan Szymborski: “Aaron Gleeman and I started up a company that traded paprika over the high seas using 17th century sailing ships but my mom tried to tell us that paprika was easily obtainable at a grocery store and nobody would pay top dollar for paprika. But she was wrong as we became the official paprika supplier for the NFL.”

Dan Szymborski: “I was arguing with Tom Boswell about the Nats. I was arguing that Cristian Guzman should be playing over either Pete Kozma or Royce Clayton Boswell owned the te
am) or should be getting full-timme play in Memphis because Guzman needed the ABs . Boswell told me that Jeff Torborg says Guzman’s getting enough ABs as a backup.”

Dan Szymborski: “Kevin Goldstein was playing the music from Theme Hospital on an electric guitar.”

The Decadent Moose: You watching any footie, either the Americas or EUFA?

Dan Szymborski: Nope

Jeb: Which class/type did you play with, Deckard? Are you still playing?

Dan Szymborski: Barbarian, but I haven’t played Diablo 2 in years.

Dan Szymborski: I understand SMASHING THINGS

976: You ever hear from Kiley? How’s he doing?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t really know Kiley all that well.

hscer: Thoughts on SMOD’s 2016 campaign?

Dan Szymborski: A big fan this time around.

Bork: Anything at E3 get your jimmies going?

Dan Szymborski: Haven’t watched yet.

Dan Szymborski: I usually see the stuff afterwards

Jack C.: White Sox make the playoffs?

Dan Szymborski: The odds have gone down a lot.

War2d2: According to the Washington Post story I just read, the all time run differential record is the ’39 Yankees with +411. The Cubs are on pace for +496.

Matt: Dan – if you travel to the Midwest, it’s only noon. Boom. Time travel achieved.

Tony: Stone Cold or Goldberg- More entertaining?

Dan Szymborski: Stone Cold

Percy: Bacon or Sausage

Dan Szymborski: Sausage honestly.

Dan Szymborski: Though I love both.

Matt: Do you retype the LR rules every week, or do you have a Word doc filled with regularly used sayings that you copy/paste from?

Dan Szymborski: No, I just type a similar thing.

Scuba Steve: Your favorite readily available IPA? Favorite hard to get IPA?

Dan Szymborski: The Heavy Seas Loose Cannon tends to be widely available for me

Dan Szymborski: Hard to get there are so many

Nate: album of the year so far?

Dan Szymborski: Bowie’s Blackstar was excellent, but my queue is such that I’m not really into the 2016 albums yet

Pete: Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin

Dan Szymborski: Led Zeppelin

Bork: I haven’t seen Warcraft yet but it’s being compared to Battlefield Earth. Is it THAT bad?

Dan Szymborski: YOu’d have to try to be that bad

hscer: Golden Double Stuf all day every day if I could (well, I *could*…)

j6takish: The orc scenes/story actually were pretty not terrible/decently written. the human scenes looked like a sci-fi channel original movie. They look like they were filmed on a camcorder. No idea how that movie had a 160million dollar budget

Oni: What are your current thoughts on Battlefield 1?

Dan Szymborski: Should be fun. I’m tired of 2025 warfare.

rustydude: Are you a fan of doing nothing. In other words, if a problem presents itself, do you consider doing nothing to see if it auto corrects instead of charging in with a solution that might be premature?

Dan Szymborski: I tend to be.

Dan Szymborski: I’m a conservative person by nature.

Dan Szymborski: (not politically)

Dan Szymborski: Temperament.

EbenezerBatflip: ZYMBO!

EbenezerBatflip: modular consoles are the future

Oni: Favorite Overwatch champ?

Dan Szymborski: Junkrat

Bork: As an adult with actual mortgage/bills to pay now. I’m actually really happy about the new upgraded consoles. It doesn’t force me to fork out an ungodly amount for a new console in order to keep playing new games.

Ampersand: Do you follow other sports? If you had to give up baseball, what would you do to replace the time gained?

Dan Szymborski: of the major sports, I also follow football and basketball

976: Is stellaris worth picking up? Or should I finally try CK2?

Dan Szymborski: Yes, though the middle game can kinda drag – they need more stuff.

Dan Szymborski: But Paradox’s games change quite a bit after release

Matt: As a principled libertarian who believes in non-violence, I understand that name-calling is not a violent act. But I’m having trouble classifying the act of turning someone into a frog. Would that be considered a violent act?

Dan Szymborski: Yes, you’ve denied them human agency.

Bork: Paprika is pretty low tier spice Dan. It has no flavour. NO FLAVOUR

Dan Szymborski: Then you haven’t had good paprika

CamdenWarehouse: Does Gleeman know you dream about him?

Dan Szymborski: It’s not like it was a creepy sexual dream. It was a business startup

Sleeper Star: Dude, you just posted multiple paragraphs in the Lightning Round. Poor Form!

Bork: Gilberg or Goldberg?

Dan Szymborski: Gillberg’s only really funny as a short-term joke

EbenezerBatflip: Also I think Otani would get WAYYYY more than 150M. 150 doesn’t even break Tanaka’s record deal, which I think Otani would easily break 7 years/210M, for 30M a year.

Dan Szymborski: I wasn’t including posting

Bleu: Sharp Cheddar or Horvati

Dan Szymborski: A good sharp cheddar

mtsw: Is Matt Kemp now in the “not worth rostering even if he cost nothing” trade value category?

Dan Szymborski: Yes.

Bork: Next April you should use a bot to answer questions with ‘Its April’ instead of actually chatting

Bork: Dan Szymbotski.

Nate: ever watch mike Tyson mysteries? great show, highly recommend

Dan Szymborski: I have not, nor was I aware of such a thing

Matt: More people die each year on drug overdoses than in mass shootings. Wouldn’t banning drugs be an effective way to stop people from dying? Oh…wait…

Bork: Is Greene’s suspension the most obvious sign of NBA trying to extend the finals? He should of been suspended in the Thunder series, not now.

Jeb: What did you do for a living before you were able to write full time?

Dan Szymborski: Consulted and invested.

Brendan: Favorite board game?

Dan Szymborski: Obviously not best, but I’ve still had the most fun playing Monopoly with real money.

Dan Szymborski: And our expanded rule set that allowed very complicated trades.

Dan Szymborski: Such as an options market.

Dan Szymborski: Like if someone had 2 of the 3 reds, you could sell them the option to buy the third if you were to acquire it.

Dan Szymborski: Or you could make a no-compete offer for if you landed on a property

Dan Szymborski: Or sell in-game insurance for the risk of landing on a third party’s property.

hscer: any Cornwallis dreams lately?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t believe so.

Dan Szymborski: This is my only dream involving Charles Cornwallis

Dan Szymborski: “I applied for a small business loan to invest in a Dippin’ Dots stand with Charles Cornwallis. He was very upset when discovering that the ice cream was kind of odd but I explained to him that it was the ice cream of the future. We ran the stand at the Aberdeen Ironbirds game and for some reason Nick Markakis was playing for the Ironbirds (rehab?) so the stadium had a Greek themed night so I wandered off to get some spanakopita but turned out that stadium spanakopita is not very good.”

Matt: You’re not one of those people who refers to “ATM machines,” are you, Dan? The “M” stand for machine Dan. It’s already there!

Dan Szymborski: Correct

Dan Szymborski: There’s no pin number either

Rated Rookie: Were you and Gleeman peddling smoked paprika? That stuff is worth a high seas adventure.

Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure if it was smoked – I type down everythning I can remember in the minute or so after I wake up

Matt: Your Monopoly statement – is this real? It sounds kind of intriguing. How does the real money work? All throw in and then adjust board values based on % of total wealth in the game?

Dan Szymborski: You buy out the bank evenly among all the players.

Dan Szymborski: With some kind of denominator

Dan Szymborski: At the time, it was $15,140 so we would divide everything by 10.

Dan Szymborski: So that we were only playing for $1,514 dollars.

Dan Szymborski: After set time, everyone cashes in the money they have

Dan Szymborski: and split the leftover money in the bank evenly.

War2d2: BTW, good job being the model for the Infant CPR handout my nurse wife brought home.

Jeb: What did you invest in and what kind of strategy were you practicing?

Dan Szymborski: Depends.

hi erix: Pro-tip: Patrick Rothfuss is vastly overrated, in less you like books about how a guy needs to get 12 more bronze knuts to pay for college, in which case you’d like it a lot!

EbenezerBatflip: they are announcing real-life version of GWENT at e3

EbenezerBatflip: a physical card game is the biggest news of a digital media festival

hi erix: Trump or Hillary?

Dan Szymborski: Shoot me

EbenezerBatflip: oh i don’t think its physical, nevermind

a different Matt: Smoked Paprika makes everything taste like bacon

Dan Szymborski: You say that like iut’s bad

Gucci Mane: Best Kanye album?

Dan Szymborski: Not really my thing

j6takish: I work in the automotive industry, I have to hear “VIN Number” several dozen times an hour

Matt: Did you just say you invested in adult diapers as a long term strategy?

Dan Szymborski: lol

Dan Szymborski: OK CAUGHT UP

Dan Szymborski: Thanks for coming everyone! As a reminder, you can find my work at ESPN.com, chats and projections here at FanGraphs, and DSzymborski on Twitter.

Dan Szymborski: Now go away. You should be working. You shouldn’t have even been here at noon.