Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat – 6/6/16

Dan Szymborski: BOOM

Dan Szymborski: MIC

Dan Szymborski: I don’t have one. Because you need one of those boom guys and I’m not hiring someone to stand around my office with one.

Uther: Do you know of a metric that addresses disruption? That is, does having a pesky baserunner like Billy Hamilton (assuming he can get on base) affect a pitcher’s performance?

Dan Szymborski: Generally speaking, hitters do worse in at-bats in which there is a pickoff attempt than when there is not and the more pickoffs, the worse the batters do.

Mark: If Joey Gallo were called up today to play regularly for the rest of the year, where would you set the over/under for his K%?

Dan Szymborski: All the tea.

Gnice: Michael Fiers worth a 2 start pickup this week/ @ tex & @TB

Dan Szymborski: Meh, he’s been so erratic

Hayek: Start the week off good

JP: Arrieta lost a game. Should I be worried about the Cubs’ chances to win it all this year?

Dan Szymborski: Oh, Superman starts the week of good, you start the week off well.

Dan Szymborski: You should panic – Arrieta losing was one of the things that Bill Murray predicted would happen in Ghostbusters along with dogs and cats living together

Dan Szymborski: I always assumed that Cistulli was Gozer the Gozerian, Volguus Zildrohar, anyway.

Andrew: Do you have a general methodology for determining whether or not someone belongs in the HOF, e.g. at least 65 career WAR, or do you take it on a case-by-case basis and consider many different factors?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t like hard and fast rules.

reggie: Which group has the better WAR at the end of 2016: Braves position players or the Reds bullpen?

Dan Szymborski: That’s almost cruel to think about

Dan Szymborski: ZiPS says the Braves position players

Nathan: Over/under: profar starts three games per week, ROS

Dan Szymborski: Over – I think the’ll fit him in wherevere they can

einstein2u: archie bradley? could he be turning a corner?

Dan Szymborski: It’s possible – he actually didn’t walk batters in the minors either this year

Dan Szymborski: Well, for him – his walk rate is still likely to be too high

Erik: What’s the likely future for Tommy Joseph? The projection systems are quite pessimistic, but it’s conceivable that they can’t rate him accurately, as he hasn’t been injury-free for years. Is he something like a 2-3 WAR first baseman?

Dan Szymborski: It’s tough, but I’m not sure he’s likely an above average 1B, but it’s possible given the injuries

Dan Szymborski: But the Phillies are a lousy team that is rightfully (if tardy) at finding out.

Dan Szymborski: Rather than holding a fantasy camp for Ryan Howard.

HomebrewJ: Do you think Iglesias gets another shot at starting this season or is the move to the pen for good?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll eventually be back in the rotation – the team’s concerned about his shoulder right now and there’s no reason for them to be aggressive with him

Oliver: What the heck is wrong with Cutch?

Dan Szymborski: Hey, a great player can occasionally have a bad year!

the kansas city baseball royals: why do we continue to win games?

Dan Szymborski: Blood magicks.

reggie: is Boston’s pitching going to sink them once the offense regresses?

Dan Szymborski: It’s a serious risk, but here’s the thing: None of the AL teams are really all that great

Robbie: How worried should the Dodgers be about Adrian Gonzalez? ZIPS has him hitting 13 HR this year, and that sounds about right. If i were a betting man I’d probably take the under. GB rate is way up and he’s not getting any younger.

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think it’s unreasonable, but he’s definitely on the downswing

Big Joe Montferrant: Do I know you?

Dan Szymborski: Possibly

Erik: Would Freddy Galvis get enough of a return at the deadline to be worth shopping? What sort of return does a light-hitting, solid defense shortstop command? With the imminent arrival of J.P. Crawford, I can’t imagine Galvis will have much value for the Phillies in the future, so even one lottery ticket might be worth it.

Dan Szymborski: Depends on what’s going on at the time – much of trade deadline trades isn’t based on pure value, but the local situation at the time

Zorak: Okay Dealin’ Dandy, we’re gonna pretend you’re the Mets GM. How do you fix their infield? Or do you just try to scrape by with Flores and Loney at the corners?

Dan Szymborski: I think scraping by is their best option right now, especially at third

Bob Dobolina: Love what Villar’s doing, but he’s riding a sky-high BABIP. What are you seeing for him RoS?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think the RoS projections are unreasonable here

Q: Who do you believe are the top 5 outfields in the league?

Dan Szymborski: I dunno, some combo of Pirates, Angels, Marlins, Mets, Cubs?

Dan Szymborski: (Having Trout is super helpful)

Chris: Are you worried about Andrew McCutchen?

Dan Szymborski: Concerned

Avi: Been trying to determine super two cutoffs. When will teams start hitting the cutoff date (as in an actual date)?

Dan Szymborski: That’s almost impossible to determine because you don’t know what everyone’s service time will be in two years.

Dan Szymborski: There’s no magic date – it relies on a whole lot of future decisions.

Miguel Sano: What is my future position? Can I stick anywhere defensively? Or am I career DH?

Dan Szymborski: Doesn’t look like outfield. Still worth trying Sano at multiple locations since it’s in the Twins interest that he stick at a non-DH position

Dan Szymborski: And the Twins season is over yet

Steve: warriors or cavs?

Dan Szymborski: I picked Warriors at the start, so being 2-0 isn’t going to make me switch

Dan Szymborski: Sorry, meant to keep that for the Lightning Round

The Farthammer: John gray is sneaky nice this season. Take out two short outings and hes throwing up great ratios and k/9.

Dan Szymborski: ZiPS has been a fan of Jon Gray for awhile

Ritt Momney: Is Manaea over the hump yet?

Dan Szymborski: Cautiously optimistic, but it was the Twins.

Dan Szymborski: I’m happy he reached the majors so that we got a definitive answer to whether we call him Sean or Seth

Bert: Is Eovaldi developing consistency to settle in as a solid #3 for the Yanks?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’s a #3, but I always expect him to be inconsistent.

Dan Szymborski: At half a run worse than his FIP over like 3000 batters faced now, there’s some real issues there that have predictive value

Chad: Do the Rays roll with Steve Pearce at 2B going forward, since Morrison is hitting now.

Dan Szymborski: The Rays like juggling

greg: Jay Bruce doesn’t necessarily *look* atrocious in RF, but the metrics hate him. Is this just him being slower and not being able to cover much ground?

Dan Szymborski: Well, he’s not fast (but most RFs aren’t). I don’t get too excited over short-term defensive stats.

El Guapo: Are you sold on Greg Bird being the Yankees 1B of 2017 on?

Dan Szymborski: If he’s healthy, sure, though there’s always a risk

Chad: Do you see Justin Turner bouncing back to somewhere closer to the guy we have seem for the past 2 years?

Dan Szymborski: I literally have no idea on Turner now.

The Farthammer: Any insight if we see one of the young PBurgh arms come up this week? If so, which one? Jameson right?

Dan Szymborski: Don’t know this week, but it’s gotta be soon.

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, they don’t want to pay arbitration a year early, but there’s a real wild card race and all their starters have kinda stunk except for Cole and they have two of the best high-minors pitching prospects in baseball ready to go

Erik: Bryce Harper has been slightly disappointing for a while now. Is there any chance the theory that he’s been “walked cold” could be true? Could seeing so many pitches outside the zone lead to him swinging at slightly worse pitches or something like that, for understandably human reasons such as boredom?

Dan Szymborski: I think without something more solid, this is just speculation.

El Berto: Zack Wheeler- are you still high on him for 2017 onward?

Dan Szymborski: Cautiously – even Tommy John is a pretty big deal. That it’s much better than a torn rotator cuff doesn’t mean it’s riskless!

Eric: Is the Villar breakout for real? Do you think he can reach 10/50?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think he’s for real, but 10/50 is at least a possibility

Philosoraptor: Any idea why Stroman has been pitching poorly?

Dan Szymborski: Well, his FIP is about where it should be. Some of the issue was that expectations were unreasonably high for him.

Dan Szymborski: (There’s not enough evidence at this point to call him a FIP failer)

Dan: Someone dropped Felix H in my 10 team roto. Is he a must pickup?

Dan Szymborski: Duh

Bob Dobolina: So, uh, Justin Upton – good things coming?

Dan Szymborski: Well, better than this.

Hector: say something good about joe ross

Dan Szymborski: If he ever becomes a closer I intend to make Glengarry Joe Ross jokes.

Bryan: Correa or Seager? Who moves off short first, if either. Who has the better bat going forward?

Dan Szymborski: I think both stick at short long-term simply because they are both on teams that recognize the value.

Dan Szymborski: I think Correa long-term will be the better defender and Seager a little better at the bat

Art Vandelay: Was the Mark Trumbo trade the best of the offseason?

Dan Szymborski: It’s looking great! Being an Oriole fan and also writing countless times that Trumbo was a must-pick sleeper in fantasy, I can’t say I’m sad about his big year

chase11: it seems like no one is talking about Evan Longoria right now. He seems to quietly be having a return-to-form season after two down years. is it possible this is just a fluke and that’s why people seem to be ignoring it?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think people were really writing him off, just adjusting the expectations somewhwat

Dan Szymborski: He’s not a flashy player and he *is* on a last place team

Mike: Fill in the blank: Jay Bruce nets a top ( ) prospect in trade this summer.

Dan Szymborski: Jay Bruce nets a top (noun) prospect in trade this summer.

Ben: Pick a shortstop from the American and national leagues for the rest of their careers

Dan Szymborski: Machado/Seager

Dan Szymborski: if I’m not allowed to pick Machado, Correa/Seager

Your friendly local Jon: Trading for James Shields and half of his contract. Smart move in your opinion? His Zips numbers don’t look bad ROS.

Dan Szymborski: It’s fine. The Sox aren’t picking him to be an ace or paying for him to be an ace. They just need 200 non craptacular innings a year from him

Rukdnme: Call it recency bias, but I have to feel like the Padres’ current state of meltdown is unprecedented in the post-steroid, somewhat-sabermetric era … Am surprised ownership isn’t turning on the management since the players seem more helpless than half-assed but maybe I’m missing something

Dan Szymborski: The front office is a mess.

Dan Szymborski: But I’ve been calling them that since April of last year.

Dan Szymborski: Their response to a 2015 season that didn’t work out as they planned — sometimes things don’t work out as you plan — was to fire the sacrificial goat and then become paralyzed with inaction.

Dan Szymborski: Even Kemp being a good trade wouldn’t have saved the 2015-2016 Padres once the rubber hit the road.

Dan Szymborski: You see which front offices are competent and which are not by how they react to adversity.

Dan Szymborski: Any general can make a plan before battle.

Tom: Which team that was expected to do poorly yet has remained in the playoff mix would you advise against selling this summer?

Dan Szymborski: Houston

Art Vandelay: Any news on what that knife prank actually was? My imagination is running wild!

Dan Szymborski: Maybe he tried to carve OBP and SLG into his knuckles?

baby bull: How did the Padres pay a chunk of Shields salary and only get a corner inf/OF project who wont see the big league field for 5+ years?

Dan Szymborski: Because Shields didn’t have a lot of trade value

Dan Szymborski: You can argue that you’d sign Shields for that contract, but you wouldn’t *pay* for the privilege of doing so.

Dan Szymborski: So to get something in return, the padres had buy in.

mtsw: Mexico City may one day have a MLB team but it’s at an even higher altitude than Denver (~7500 feet above sea level). Besides playing in a pressurized dome, what could a Mexico City franchise learn from Coors Field in the best way to design a workable stadium at altitude?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure that Denver has figured it out.

TengoPreguntas: The idea that the nats would give up Giolito for Andrew Miller is crazy, right?

Dan Szymborski: I think so

Gaucho: Is Francisco Liriano fixable? He has been rough to watch lately.

Dan Szymborski: I’m still optimistic

mtsw: Now that Shields is off the table, what’s a sensible trade target for Baltimore to strengthen their starting lineup?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure they really have one.

mathenaging ’16: if you were a manager would you utilize the ipad?

Dan Szymborski: I prefer windows.

j6takish: Without knowing anything about me or my skills, what should I go to grad school for?

Dan Szymborski: A graduate degree.

Erik: The Copa America got me thinking: if the USA sent it’s best possible team to international baseball competitions, would they be overwhelming favorites every time? Or would they only be slightly ahead of Cuba/Dominican Republic/Japan/Puerto Rico?

Dan Szymborski: They should be favorites, but short series are always crapshoots compared to other sports

Jack Glasscock’s Cup: Which MLBer is secretly the biggest gamer, the one that hides it so he ‘fits in’?

Dan Szymborski: If it’s a secret, then we don’t know about it!

Pete: Is it time to start worrying about Stanton? If you were one of the Marlins’ brass, how worried would you be about him and that mega-contract on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the most worried)?

Dan Szymborski: 2.

Dan Szymborski: The odds that Stanton is a true .245 BABIP hitter are next to none.

Art Vandelay: Dan, have you been drinking?

Dan Szymborski: Well, if I don’t have hydration, I die.

Dan Szymborski: Though I imagine I could get most of my water through food.

Jim: Corey Seager 4+ WAR through first half a season. He good.

Red Red Saux: With Blake Swihart down potentially for the year, will Rusney get a shot to take that regular position?

Dan Szymborski: Red Sox fans should hope not.

Matt: Does Iglesias become the permanent closer in that awful pen?

Dan Szymborski: If the team’s smart, not until they are absolutely sure he can’t stay healthy as a starter

Shape: Josh Naylor’s stabbing of Stone Garrett actually made be feel better about Miami’s farm system. Just the fact that there was a prank feels like an improvement. Thoughts?

Dan Szymborski: Well, it’s better than an intentional knife injury

Dugg: Teheran for Moncada and lower level prospects?

Dan Szymborski: No

Ryan : Why havent the White Sox brought up Tim Anderson?

Dan Szymborski: He’s not actually playing all that well this year and it’s his initial go at AAA

Dan Szymborski: I don’t have it in front of me, but I don’t think his 2016 translation so far is any worse than Rollins’s performance

Outta my way, Gyorkass: Predict the heartbreaking way the Cubs will exit the playoffs this season short of a WS title.

Dan Szymborski: Arrieta returns to his planet.

mtsw: Any reason to think Carl Crawford is significantly better than whichever corner OF they’d have to cut (Kim, Reimold, Rickard) to sign him?

Dan Szymborski: No

Jack Glasscock’s Cup: If a third Upton brother (presumably Bossman III) existed, would a team sign him to a multi-year deal after his 28th birthday?

Dan Szymborski: Probably, if he’s good

Ave: How many monster dongs does Corey Seager end up with by the end of the year?

Dan Szymborski: <7 year-old giggle>

Hanley: There was talk that Lindor’s .161 ISO from last year would drop… and it did to about .140… his numbers are all very close to last year’s… walking slightly more, striking out slightly less. Slightly less power, but getting on base a little more… Coming up I thought he could be a better version of Vizquel offensively with a chance of an Alomar upside and so far he looks like a mix of the two. Safe to say this is who he is?

Dan Szymborski: Well, the average will come down some. But he’s a damn good player

Rich: Start Fulmer tonight against Toronto? Thoughts on him overall?

Dan Szymborski: I like Fulmer, but Toronto’s a risky play

Otto bout Votto: What’s the deal with Votto this year? Is he a buy low target?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll be fine.

Dan Szymborski: Like Stanton, do you really think Votto is a .260 BABIP hitter? Last time I checked, he had a career high in hard-hit percentage!

Ryan: What do you think of Hyun Soo Kim thus far? Is there some power there or is he more of a high OBP type?

Dan Szymborski: I think power isn’t going to be one of his things – too much a line drive hitter

Dan Szymborski: But man, when he connects.

Sharp: How concerned are you about Freddie Freeman?

Dan Szymborski: Not too.

Matt: Which current closer’s will/might be on the move at the trade deadline??

Dan Szymborski: Well, one of the Yankees gang unless htey’re insane

Chuncey Wiggins: Can you recall any semi-hyped player having a worst start to their career than Hector Olivera?

Dan Szymborski: Oscar Taveras had an awful callup in 2014

Dan Szymborski: (I’m not including his death as part of this)

Dan Szymborski: And poor Profar lost two years

Duke: What do you think it takes for the Royals to become sellers?

Dan Szymborski: I think they really need to crap the bed. I think they’ll hang around the race.

Konnor: So is your fangraphs expert “staff” going to show the Rangers some love now? Especially Dave Cameron? “They’re nowhere close to competing”

Dan Szymborski: Why don’t you ask them?

Dull Ryan: Front offices must have their hands on your hitters-do-worse-during-pickoff-situations… why aren’t they instructing pitchers to up the picks?

Dan Szymborski: Well remember, those stats are from normal play. If you try to take advantage of it in such a known way, it may change the calculus

Oliver: Kang just blasting Dongers this year. Its like with his knee injury and not running 100% he just said, forget this, Im just going to jog around the bases. Think he gets over 25 this year?

Dan Szymborski: 25 might be tough because of the late PA start (he’s not going to keep hitting 1/10 PA), but I think he gets 20

Grabbed by the Jhoulys: Does Ichiro get the 34 hits he needs this season to get to 3,000?

Dan Szymborski: I think so

Seth: do you think teams will be shopping more arb1/arb2 arms this summer due to the impending desert that is the 2016-17 FA market? i’m thinking guys like teheran, eovaldi might be available…

Dan Szymborski: It’s very possible.

Dan Szymborski: Teheran especially

Tony : Given David Wright’s situation, should the Mets trade Noah Syndergaard to get Trevor Plouffe?

Dan Szymborski: If you’re a Twins fan, that’s highly recommended. Maybe they can throw in Matz and Conforto if you throw Nolasco!

Thor: Mazara is another RF that isn’t fast, but so far he’s played excellent defense. Does he have a chance at being a Gold Glove RF?

Dan Szymborski: No, there’s a real seniority bias in Gold Glove awards. You’re actually more likely to win two in your career than just one.

Leif Erikson: DanChat is back, back again. I saw where Toronto school children wrote Manfred to say they didn’t think Odor’s suspension was long enough. So 4th grade children are obviously watching baseball, shouldn’t we teach them that punching and throwing intentionally at people is wrong? MLB should really start putting meaningful suspensions on this stuff. Say Ok, Odor, you get a 7 game suspension and a 5 game post-season suspension. So when he is ever on team that makes the postseason he has to serve that suspension. I think that would make players think twice before sucker punching some dudes. I’m not a Blue Jays fan either, I’m just a fan of grown ups acting like grown ups. JoeyBats slide was intentional and he should be disciplined for that.

Dan Szymborski: Well, if Carlos Quentin only gets 8 for breaking a collarbone, hard to give Odor more than that (the ruling are very precedent driven)

Dan Szymborski: MLB needs to sit down with the MLBPA and work on a better penalty system here — it’s far more important than making PED suspensions more severe yet again — but it won’t happen.,

Dan Szymborski: Where MLB stands, if a player got a suitcase nuke and blew up Washington DC, he’d get a 15 game suspension. Now, if he had been lazy about filing paperwork for a drug exemption he’d had for years, THEN ITS SERIOUS BASEBALL DISCIPLINE TIME TO STOP THAT MONSTER

Darth Vader: Dan, is David Dahl worth stashing for this season?

Dan Szymborski: Depends what the alternative is. Rockies haven’t been super aggressive with here

Dan Szymborski: with him here

Big Joe Montferrant: To elaborate on Eovaldi. You kind of have to look pass the numbers because he made a very tangible change in the middle of last year (he ended extremely well) and he has been rock solid this year. The splitter gave him an out pitch which he badly needed

Dan Szymborski: His problem was never his stuff.

David: Um, any clue as to what has happened to Matt Kemp? A bad player has gone to being an atrocious player…all injury? Guy has drawn two walks this season.

Dan Szymborski: He’s a player that got by on tools but no longer has them to rely on

Chuncey Wiggins: If you could distill the essence of one baseball player’s sweat into an apothecary ingredient, would you sell it over the open market or hoard it for yourself?

Dan Szymborski: Hoard it.

Dan Szymborski: Half the potions in Harry Potter are made with Mike Trout’s various bodily fluids

Ray Searage: Did I run out of magic pitching dust or what? My entire staff is worse than last year.

Dan Szymborski: Magic is a dangerous thing.

Dan Szymborski: After last year, Searage may be feeling thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.

The Decadent Moose: Sorry I’m late to chat. Was watching videos of cats eating Arby’s. How worried should I be about the Cardinals defense? It may well be the worst iteration I’ve seen in my adult life.

Dan Szymborski: Only Galileo had arby’s

Dan Szymborski: Mercutio is too stupid to figure out what it is before Galileo finishes his sandwich

andrewp: anything the O’s should do to shore up SP or just hope they can get by with this all season?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure there’s much they can do. They don’t have the chips for a blockbuster

Chuncey Wiggins: What would get more media attention, handcuffing yourself to presidential candidate or chaining yourself to three senators?

Dan Szymborski: The first obviously

Mike: Are you more excited for Brock Lesnar at UFC 200 or Summerslam?

Dan Szymborski: SummerSlam. If I get excited about him at UFC, they might ban me for life.

hscer: Padres could be worse. They could be the DC Metro

hscer: How weird is going 6-33 with 5 HR over several days?

Dan Szymborski: Rob Deer did that for a decade!

Ombudsman: Is xander bogaerts not on the same level as correa or seager?

Dan Szymborski: He is, just a very slight hair behind

Zorak: my knuckle tattoos are xFIP and wOBA

Gary: Longoria’s a Hall of Famer, yes? I mean not right now, but he will be.

Dan Szymborski: Will? No. Even Rolen’s getting five-percented.

John: So it really was all mechanical for Harvey?

Dan Szymborski: Plus he peed

Matt: So at what point does ZiPS just flat out laugh at you when you ask for a future Kershaw comp?

Dan Szymborski: Kershaw gets mostly Hall of Famers now

Gypsy Father: Shouldn’t the mocking quotes be around “expert” rather than “staff”? Do snark right, man.

Kylo Ren: God these comments are fantastic

Kylo Ren: And I mean fantastically horrible

hscer: Rob Deer didn’t *literally* do that for a decade!

Dan Szymborski: OK, he figuratively did it for a decade. That’s a good point

Dan Szymborski: OK

Dan Szymborski: we’re past one o’clock

Dan Szymborski: Let’s get the Lightning Round going.

Dan Szymborski: The rules for the Lightning Round are simple: I must answer every question, no matter how little knowledge or insight I have, so long as it’s off-topic. The exceptions are of course, work-related things and things I deem as excessively personal

Dan Szymborski: And this continues until I either catch up or get bored. This isn’t a suicide pact, I have other things I have to do!

Dan Szymborski: AND GO

Tom: Who wins the Dem California primary tomorrow and does it make any difference?

Dan Szymborski: Clinton by a hair, no

Art Vandelay: I’m totally down for these endcap expansions for long RPG series, I’m talking about Blood & Wine here, but it reminds me so much of ME3: Citadel. They’re just an awesome thank you to the fans of the series, and a chance for the designers to have a little fun and let loose a bit outside of the constraints of the rest of the series.

Dan Szymborski: I enjoy a little fan service.

Dan Szymborski: I haven’t gotten to sit down with the expansion yet

Dan Szymborski: because Stellaris and Overwatch and Hearthstone and Baseball and going to Baseball

Chuncey Wiggins: Which overwatch character would make the best baseball player?

Dan Szymborski: Reinhardt or Genji

Dan Szymborski: Genji is like cyborg ichiro

mtsw: Thoughts on the Libertarian Party ticket this year? Seems like a lot of room to grow given the major party candidates.

Dan Szymborski: I wish that was the Republican ticket

Dan Szymborski: I’m a small l libertarian. I believe in the general principles, but I don’t like the topdown approach – parties have to win in the trenches.

hare: Why no love for SC2?

Dan Szymborski: Just not big on the setting

Dan Szymborski: Stellaris is unusual for me in that regard

Chuncey Wiggins: Would you rather yell whenever you had to whisper or fart loudly whenever you had to be silent?

Dan Szymborski: Yell

Big Joe Montferrant: With the #1 overall pick the sixers will select?

Dan Szymborski: Simmons?

m_pemulis: Do you play Overwatch? Preferred character?

Dan Szymborski: Yup, I played throughout the closed beta

Dan Szymborski: I enjoy Junkrat because Demo was my best TF2 class, but I play all the classes.

Dan Szymborski: I’m at least slightly competent at this point with everyone but Winston and Mei

Kylo Ren: Holy shit your chats are the best they just never end.

Dan Szymborski: THEY BETTER

hscer: Whatever happened to chess? Not the game that’s having a world champion later this year between a westerner and a Putin shill. Well, yeah that game, but I know it’s around. I mean weren’t we going to play somehow at one time?

Dan Szymborski: I think a lot of the people who grew up and would have been into chess are into esports.

STiVo: Have you read “The Only Rule Is It Has to Work” by Lindbergh/Miller?

Dan Szymborski: I have not yet, only because I’m way behind on my reading queue

Mark: Have you requested a non-Cistuli employee of Fangraphs be the one to setup your weekly web-based chat?

Dan Szymborski: Gotta keep my enemies close

Kylo Ren: If you could sleep with any Game of Thrones character who would you choose? And I don’t mean sleep.

Dan Szymborski: Well, Margaery obviously

mtsw: Should baseball players be allowed “therapeutic” Adderall prescriptions, given that it’s been proven to enhance focus and reflexes? It’s pretty suspicious that the rate of MLB players using Adderall is several times higher than in the general population.

Dan Szymborski: Sure, why not?

Dock Ellis: Existential question that I’m not sure I’m asking a baseball writer: if all things are meaningless but we can choose to create meaning, how can we believe the meaning we created by knowing all things are meaningless?

Dan Szymborski: You can’t. If you think things are meaningless and the thinks you create have meaning as a result, you don’t really think things are meaningless.

the ghost of Luis Medina: but what Trout fluid would be in the Polyjuice potion? what’s that all about, trout?

Dan Szymborski: All of it.

Ringtone Composer: Did you see this sad article about the people’s perception that college-educated people between 25-34 years old have a higher rate of unemployment than those without college degree? Oy. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/03/upshot/up-college-unemployment-quiz.html

Dan Szymborski: I haven’t seen the article

Dan Szymborski: But the thing is: People are stupid.

the ghost of Luis Medina: why does your nose run but your feet smell?

Dan Szymborski: Mucosa and sweat glands work differently

BS: Do you have a Fitbit?

Dan Szymborski: No

Art Vandelay: Do you own any current gen consoles?

Dan Szymborski: I do not yet

Shaun: Favorite Real Housewives of ??? show

Dan Szymborski: The Real Housewives of The Rocket Ship Heading Into the Sun

Brendan: Your favorite final team for Suikoden 2?

Dan Szymborski: Victor, Flik, Georg, Riou, Clive, Valeria

Big Joe Montferrant: Comparing Kershaw to Koufax… Fair or Foul?

Dan Szymborski: Reasonable.

Seth: best mascot: mr red, mr redlegs, or rosie red

Dan Szymborski: Mr. Redlegs

<3 Ichiro: button or zipper fly?

Dan Szymborski: Zipper

John: Brock Lesner: better MMA or WWE?

Dan Szymborski: WWE because he actually helps you suspend disbelief

Al: What will be your favorite movie to come out this summer

Dan Szymborski: the infiltrator

RO: Demi Lovato is back on the market, what are my chances?

Dan Szymborski: mild?

Frank Abignale Jr.: Fav civ to play in Civ 5? Least fav to play against?

Dan Szymborski: I like to pick random

Andy Marte’s Prospect Status: if a bunch of cats jump on each other is it still called a dog pile?

Dan Szymborski: yes

Dan Szymborski: Dog pile is a form, not the participants

Big Joe Montferrant: If you were given 10,000$ to spend on a Friday (you had til Sunday night to spend it ALL). What would you do with it?

Dan Szymborski: Buy something I can easily trade back into $10,000 or as near to it as I can

Shaun: Will Lindsay Lohan be back as a solid actress soon?

Dan Szymborski: No

John: Best Ali quote?

Dan Szymborski: if you even dream of beating me, you’d better wake up and apologize

Nick K: go to summer beer choice?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t have one particular, but I mostly goto IPAs

Vinny the K: can the lebron james / michael jordan comp stop now?

Dan Szymborski: Will never

Big Joe Montferrant: Would you rather… Fart VERY Loudly on a 1st date, or slightly poo your pants on a 1st date?

Dan Szymborski: the former

Dan Szymborski: slightly poo pants will be smelled longer

Dan Szymborski: and I’d have to walk funny

Dan Szymborski: and there’s a chance that it falls down my pant leg

Dan Szymborski: the fart is better

Big Joe Montferrant: P.s.. The poo is quiet

George R. R. Martin: Hey man, I’VE GOT PAGES

mtsw: What baseball implications would there be to discovering we all live inside a giant computer simulation, as Elon Musk hypothesized?

Dan Szymborski: There could be a creator that truly hates the cubs

Zorak: Is there a non-zero chance Trump just gives up before november?

Dan Szymborski: There’s a non-zero chance of anything happening pretty much

Dan Szymborski: There’s a very slight chance that at the convention, if his polling is poor, he declares victory and declines the nomination

Dan Szymborski: VERY small.

Dan Szymborski: But it would be something like that I think

<3 Ichiro: more annoying: pro tracer, pro widowmaker, or pro genji?

Dan Szymborski: Pro widowmaker

Ringtone Composer: Dan Szymborski Chat: Come for the ZiPS questions, but stay for the fill-in-the-blank fart jokes and discussions on Mike Trout’s “various bodily fluids.”

JBJ Fan Club: Favorite Game of Thrones character? Bronn, Denarys or John Snow

Dan Szymborski: Of the three Bronn

Andy Marte’s Prospect Status: more likely to be a real thing: a synthetic biologist or a bionic leaf?

Dan Szymborski: Synthetic biologist first

<3 Ichiro: oooo or pro hanzo?

Dan Szymborski: Widow

BS: Favorite Kardashian woman?

Dan Szymborski: One that exists after I’m dead

dbet: You clearly don’t think its fair what happened to Ariel(the UFC reporter). Would you try and take action against Dana White/UFC for getting him fired off FOX for doing his job?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure it’s actionable, just douchebaggy

The Decadent Moose: Do you watch movie channel shows, i.e. Black Sails? Gawd that show has been awesome the last 2 seasons.

Dan Szymborski: I’m way behind on recenete shows

Nymeria: Kyle Hendricks the next Greg Maddux?

Dan Szymborski: No

@RationalMLBfan: You’ve said that you jog. How far can you get jogging at an even pace before stopping?

Dan Szymborski: Not as far as I used to! lol

Dan Szymborski: I’ve never timed it, I don’t jog as far as I should be!

Big Joe Montferrant: Would you rather… Have Mike Trout for 1 year at 1 mil. Or 20 years at 25 mil per season?

Dan Szymborski: Latter

Uther: Wild or standard, and current favorite deck?

Dan Szymborski: Standard, N’Zoth Paladin

Kylo Ren: Bud Selig is a giant _____.

Dan Szymborski: food shopper?

Enzo Amore: More excited for Punk at 202 or Lesnar at 200?

Dan Szymborski: Punk since I’m curious

Zorak: Excited for the olympics? Excited for the games, or for the sh*t-show surrounding it?

Dan Szymborski: I enjoy the olympics

fbihop: Best SNL cast member of the last ten years.

Dan Szymborski: Don’t think I’ve seen SNL in 10 years.

Dan Szymborski: So I’ll assume Amy Poehler was? That was in last 10 years right?

Kylo Ren: How much do you love Al Yellon

Dan Szymborski: We’ve been acquainted for about 20 years. I’ve never had an issue of him

hscer: you answered a baseball question in lightning mode!

Dan Szymborski: Accident

¯\_(?)_/¯: murder of crows or unkindness of ravens?

Dan Szymborski: Ravens

Matt Shoemaker: Am I for real? Do you take me over Jon Gray?

Dan Szymborski: Wouldn’t go that far, no

Zorak: Will pogs make a comeback? In Alf form?

Dan Szymborski: Neither

Nymeria: Would Trump’s chances of declining the nomination be smaller than his hands?

Dan Szymborski: His hands aren’t a probability

mtsw: If there were a celebrity reading your chats, you’d have no way of knowing. But, can you name a celebrity who has the rough level of fame you’d expect the most famous reader of your chats has?

Dan Szymborski: Star Wars Kid?

John: Who do you think Sansa wrote to?

Dan Szymborski: No spoilers!

mtsw: Think there’s a competitive baseball team to be made from Game of Thrones characters? We know Daario can throw pretty well. Who’s your starting 9?

Dan Szymborski: Making me answer 9 is cruel!

Dan Szymborski: Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun probably has serious power

Dan Szymborski: AND END

Dan Szymborski: Thanks for coming everybody!

Dan Szymborski: As a reminder, you can find my work at ESPN.com on both baseball and eSports, chats and projections here at FanGraphs, and at DSzymborski on Twitter.

Dan Szymborski: And if you’re in New York in two weeks, I’ll be on the panel and the fan meetup on Saturday.

Dan Szymborski: Which details you can find either on FanGraphs.com somewhere or by kidnapping and torturing David Wiers for the information.

Dan Szymborski: END COMMUNIQUE