Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat – 9/12/2019

Dan Szymborski: It’s a’me, Mario!

Pat: Are you always on Thursdays now?

Dan Szymborski: Well, until something else changes or I die or something.

Dan Szymborski: I’m not doing chats after I die.

Dan Szymborski: Am I supposed to be haunted in my grave, my eternal rest disturbed by sasndwich questions?

Joe: If you’re Bob Melvin, how would you use Luzardo coming down the stretch?

Dan Szymborski: Carefully in relief and then work him into higher and higher leverage innings.

Chris: Has anyone ever been the undisputed best player in baseball as long as Trout has been?

Dan Szymborski: Babe Ruth?

CamdenWarehouse: Dan, you know if Thursday chatting goes like the Great Wednesday Chat Experiment, there’s no Carson to blame this time?

Dan Szymborski: Who says I can’t continue blaming Carson?

PD: How much value has Dallas Keuchel provided for the Braves? According to Fangraphs, he’s only been worth 1.0 fWAR. But Baseball-******** says he’s produced 2.4 bWAR, so he’s definitely earned his $13 million salary. I need to know so I can write a blog post making big sweeping generalizations about whether the Braves’ front office is good or not.

Dan Szymborski: I tend to be in the middle. I use FIP regressed towards historical ERA over FIP/defense.

Dan Szymborski: But any clarity obtained by doing more with zWAR will just make the WAR WARS more WARRY

Matt: So, a lobster roll is a taco, right?

Dan Szymborski: Lobster rolls are subs

Dbo: Dan, I’ve been sitting here refreshing the chats since Monday and you never showed up!

Dan Szymborski: Jay was here and has a way more fabulous mustache than I can grow

stever20: what managers do you think are in trouble end of year?  Maddon and Calloway seem obvious, but what others?

Dan Szymborski: Hurdle

Dan Szymborski: Black if the Rockies are smart which they are not

Dan Szymborski: Martinez probably saved his job

Dakota Hudson: How am I doing it? Jeremy Hellickson Voodoo Magic?

Dan Szymborski: Grounders Are Magix

On the basis of soup: Petco had a great clam chowder bread bowl back in the day. Was great.

Padres458: Can Margot put up 2.5+ WAR next season?

Dan Szymborski: Sure he’s not that far from doing it this year and this is his age 24 season

Todd: With today’s sports media landscape how crazy would an expansion draft be?

Dan Szymborski: OH GOD NO PLEASE NO FOUR TEAM DIVISIONS

Scott: Hey Dan who is the favorite for nl cyoung

Dan Szymborski: Ryu’s come back to the pack. I think it’s pretty open – Strasburg/deGrom/Scherzer/Buehler/Flaherty/Castillo/Gray could all see votes, among others

Jack: How soon til Giolito wins a cy young?!?!

Dan Szymborski: I think he gets a fifth place vote at least this year

Dbo: If a sandwich isn’t eaten horizontally (Crust facing walls) but instead is eaten vertically (crust facing ceiling) then would that change the dynamic of if its a sandwich. Its structural integrity is reliant on you holding it together instead of gravity so it would instantly deconstruct

Dan Szymborski: I’m still thinking through all my philosophy.

Wicho, Jr.: Do you buy the Padres as being a playoff team next year? Their young pitching has come along but outside of Tatis they’ve yet to produce any bats (plus they’re wasting a spot on Hosmer forever).

Dan Szymborski: I think they’re a wild card contender next year

sadman: Does the modeling of ZIPS take into account UMPIRES?

Dan Szymborski: It does not.

Dan Szymborski: ZiPS assumes that crappy umpires like West and Bucknor will generally be distributed randomly.

BMD15: Is Forrest Whitley’s 2019 performance cause for concern or a blip on the radar?  The K’s were still there but his walk rates were up as well as his HR/FB % and he never seemed to put it together for more than a start or two at time before being knocked around.

Dan Szymborski: I’d be mildly concerned, but I’m more statty than most prospect watchers

Archer: On Tuesday night, the Tigers beat the Yankees 12-11. The Yankees hit 6 homers. The Tigers had 2 extra base hits in the entire game (a solo home run, and a 0 RBI double). They hit 14 singles to score those 11 other runs. Baseball is weird and fun.

sadman: sometimes, being in the most average shape of your life is the best shape to be in.

Dan Szymborski: I can definitely be in better shape.

sadman: Daaaaaannnn I’m bored and at work. Help me escape!

Dan Szymborski: I can help you escape. All you need is a chloroform-soaked rag and a whole bunch of antacids. Take all the antacids and when they call the ambulance, use the rag to disable the paramedics en route to the hospital. THen hijack the ambulance.

Dan Szymborski: But don’t park the ambulance outside your house. It’s a classic mistake and how people get caught hijacking ambulances.

Dr. Frank Jobe: You know, for all the deviation from this prediction at the beginning of the season, it really does look like the NL East is going to finish as four good teams and the Marlins.

Padres Fan: How long do you think it’ll before the Padres realize that Hosmer is a drain on their lineup?

Dan Szymborski: I think many in the org do

Oddball Herrera: Should the Twins give Kirilloff a shot rather than hope a bunch of randoms in the OF can carry them to the division title? Flags fly forever, right?

Dan Szymborski: I would.

Morbo: Hey, this isn’t Monday

Severino: I was hitting 98 yesterday and I am coming back

J in Round Rock: If you had to take one second baseman for your team for the next 5 years, who do you pick?

Dan Szymborski: It still feels WEIRD to say so, but I think with 2019, you have to take Marte

what in the frick: who the hell is mitch garver

Dan Szymborski: Mitch Garver is the name of Eric Cartman’s hand puppet that impersonated Jennifer Lopez.

Magic Kingdome: What should the Mariners’ general plan be this offseason?

Dan Szymborski: Just don’t do anything stupid.

Ben: I find it hard to care about anything anymore. Why should I?

Dan Szymborski: The trick is to care about things you have no control over because then you don’t have to do anything and can do fun stuff.

Dan Szymborski: I kinda care that the sun will increase in magnitude and incinerate the earth, but there’s nothing I think of that can do anything about that, so I will watch baseball games and play video games and eat tacos

Roger: What do you foresee for Trevor Bauer next year?  Does he regain his pre-trade form and pitch like a Cy Young candidate again?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll be fine, but 2018’s HR rate won’t come again without luck

Matt W: So Jeff McNeil is now up to 20 homers while hitting .325. Is he a star-level player going forward? The only thing separating him from some vintage Altuve seasons is stolen bases and maybe a little defense.

Dan Szymborski: He is, but I’m STILL not sure the Mets actually realize it

Magic Kingdome: Should the Royals trade or extend Mondesi?

Dan Szymborski: He’s the one player you extend unless you get a really great deal

David: What toppings would you recommend on a hotdog?

Dan Szymborski: Not all at the same time, but I endorse mustard, kraut, sport peppers, onions, various hot sauces.

Dan Szymborski: I like putting this on hot dogs

Dan Szymborski: https://www.hotsauce.com/naga-jolokia-10-hot-sauce/?matchtype=&network…

Dan Szymborski: It’s got a little mustard, garlic, pepper in it with the hot stuff

sadman: could you explain the Fip regression towards historical era preference?

Dan Szymborski: After 15 years, we should have more faith in Tom Glavine being able to exceed his FIP than after 1 year.

Soxtober2020: Are you playing WoW Classic at all? Makes me think an MMO based off Hearthstone could be a good idea

Dan Szymborski: I like meta meta jokes.

Dan Szymborski: I’m always amused that there’s a video game Street Fighter that was directly based off the Street Fighter movie that was based off the Street Fighter game

Dan Szymborski: I have not. I have trouble going back to older MMO experiences because I get used to the quality of life stuff.

Dan Szymborski: I tried playing Final Fantasy XI and found it unplayable now

Nick: Should the Dodgers be at all concerned about their recent run of poor play?

Dan Szymborski: Not really

Sam: If you had to choose one offensive measure to judge overall hitting ability (I’m being intentionally vague here), which stat would you choose?

Dan Szymborski: one of the park/league adjusted OBP/SLG measures

Bonds: I was best 97-04 at least

Dan Szymborski: But were you CLEARLY better than A-Rod over that entire span?

sadman: Make the Rockies smart with one move.

Dan Szymborski: The Monforts sell to a smarter ownership group

Surprise Eclipse: If the Rays and Marlins Freaky Friday’d would the Marlins be a perennial contending big market team and how quick would the Rays move out of Tampa?

Dan Szymborski: They might already be in Montreal

Ryan: Following up on managers:  If you’re the Tigers, how do you evaluate Ron Gardenhire?

Dan Szymborski: Meh

Magic Kingdome: Best ballpark food item you ever had?

Dan Szymborski: I like things straight up. Gimme a brat in Milwaukee

stever20: what about Gabe Kapler?  Do you think he’s safe?

Dan Szymborski: I think they’re close enough

stever20: Jets Sam D’Arnoud out with Mono..  You ever hear of a MLB player out with that?  Seems so unusual

Dan Szymborski: Usually they’re out with stereo.

Dan Szymborski: <rimshot>

J: what’s worse: 8 team divisions or 4 team divisions? or are both terrible?

Dan Szymborski: Gimme 8 team divisions

sadman: Dan, how sad is it that Byron Buxton is gone? : (

Dan Szymborski: Very, very

Magic Kingdome: Which player gets the most WTF vote for MVP or Cy Young?

Dan Szymborski: The inevitable DJ LeMahieu first-place vote(s)

Dan Szymborski: Soler and Abreu will get some WTF back-ballot votes

Dan Szymborski: maybe a stray Dakota Hudson vote?

Dan Szymborski: Less WTF Cy since there’s a smaller ballot

R: can milquetoast be used to make a sandwich?

Dan Szymborski: If you serve Cas between two slices of bread

JustCurious: Does Rendon clear $200 million?

Dan Szymborski: Yes

Ryan: How would you assign odds on who takes the second NL wild card spot?

Dan Szymborski: With projections 🙂

J in Round Rock: Do you think my cats think it’s weird that their humans are so obsessed with them?

Dan Szymborski: Probably

Magic Kingdome: The fish taco is still the best Petco item.

JA Happ: Why did I wait this long to be good?

Dan Szymborski: More dramatic this way?

Sean: Considering how important it is to be a division winner due to the BS that is the Wild Card game, wouldn’t switching to 4 team divisions improve competitiveness in baseball?

Dan Szymborski: Just too small, especially with an unbalanced schedule

My name is Judge…: if joe maddon is not resigned by the cubs will he be offered all jobs on the market or has his light slightly dimmed?

Dan Szymborski: He’ll get another job if he watns

Dan Szymborski: IF he leaves

Dan Szymborski: But I don’t think it’ll be a managerial job

Dan Szymborski: He won a World Series with the Cubs, he’s 65. Where do you go from there? I think in his shoes, my next job would be a half-retirement/special consultant type of gig

Dan Szymborski: People forgot how old Maddon is. Earl Weaver was Maddon’s age in *1995*

JustCurious: What is wrong with Marcus Stroman?

Dan Szymborski: .387 BABIP

Dan Szymborski: Luck plus clownshoes defense is a potent combination

stever20: What are your thoughts on Yelich?  I thought it’d be a killer, but they really lucked out with their easy schedule the rest of the way IMO.

Dan Szymborski: I guess the only good thing is that one player doens’t make much of a difference in a week

Dan Szymborski: But it’s brutal to see Yelich go out like this

My name is Judge…: i feel like there are going to be some “chicken and beer” stories that come out about the cubs this october.  not a question, but i think it should be a fun ride this offseason with them.

Morbo: Speaking of shape what is your preferred shape?

Dan Szymborski: Four cubes in a straight line because that’s how you complete a tetris

James: Do the astros need to consider a 3 man rotation in the playoffs? Or at least the first round?

Dan Szymborski: I think it’s a strong possibility

CamdenWarehouse: I read that as “more stately than most prospect watchers” and my entire idea of you started to crumble

Dan Szymborski: Let’s go to the AI

Dan Szymborski:

Dan Szymborski: That clarifies things

My name is Judge…: lucas giolito finishing in the top 5 of cy young (top 7 at minimum) plus a tim anderson batting title.  WHERE IS YOUR ZIPS NOW!!!!!!!

Dan Szymborski: Thankfully, ZiPS is in the shame corner with practically everyone in the world!

Michael: Do you think teams like the Padres should go after a vet manager like Maddon or go young and unproven?

Dan Szymborski: I like young, unproven managers with rebuilding teams.

Morbo: Dan, there is a reasonable shot at 5 100 game winners. Do you see this as a problem, and why is the answer yes?

Dan Szymborski: Mildly, but it’s mostly aesthetics

Dan Szymborski: I’m not convinced people really WANT parity. THey just want their team to be the good one

Morbo: Ben, I recommend eating a sandwich or a taco. Sandwiches and tacos make everything better

TJ: Hey Dan, thanks for the chats!  Trying to get my stream on…preference between Beede vs MIA, Rodriguez vs MIA, or Hernandez @ SF for the weekend slate?

Dan Szymborski: Oof. Probably Rodriguez.

Theo Epstein: Am I still one of the top GM/President of Baseball Ops/Team Leader People in baseball?

Dan Szymborski: I think your’e still upt here

Rod: What would you do about Donaldson if you were Atlanta?  Extending past his age 33 season seems risky, but I’m not sure Austin Riley is a viable replacement.

Dan Szymborski: It really depends on his demands.

Dan Szymborski: If he has an illusion of a five-year deal or something, I move on

Dan Szymborski: I’m more optimistic about Riley

Big Joe Mufferaw: Who is Gio Urshela?

Dan Szymborski: Since this feels rhetorical, I’ll ask the AI

Dan Szymborski:

Dan Szymborski: Alternative answer

Dan Szymborski:

Rod: I just joined the PC Master Race.  Do you have any game recommendations for something not available on consoles?

Dan Szymborski: Crusader Kings 2

sadman: I like ketchup on my hotdogs but I don’t like hotdogs.

Dan Szymborski: If you wanted to abuse hot dogs, ketchup is a good way to do it

Padres458: No cheese on a hotdog?

Dan Szymborski: Not personally a fan

Old school: did you ever play/use “Mario teaches typing”?

Dan Szymborski: I did not. I was already a touch-typer before than came out

Ryan: What NL Central team will be the best from 2020-2024?

Dan Szymborski: I think Cardinals are the safest bet simply becuase the Cardinals have this permanent 84-90 win tier.

Sad Javy: Dan, can you cheer me up about the Cubs?

Dan Szymborski: Flags fly forever or until baseball becomes unprofitable

Padres458: How much did the padres hurt their world series aspirations by signing hosmer

Dan Szymborski: It’s hard to make a % case, but it wasn’t a good use of resources.

Serious question: Strasburg can be given a QO if he opts out, correct?

Dan Szymborski: I believe so but am not certain

Dbo: Dan, my mom says that I’m not allowed to use the internet anymore until I get a job. She says a 31 year old spending all his time in his mon’s basement arguing about sandwiches on a baseball chat isn’t “healthy”. You know anyone looking for a roommate?

Dan Szymborski: You should get a job!

Dan Szymborski: Then you can have your OWN basement

Serious question: Well, Dipoto is still their GM, so someone will be traded

Morbo: who eats tacos at a pet store? THEY ARE JUST FEEDING YOU DEAD PETS!

Matt: How can you say that Mike Trout is even the best player *this season*?!?! Even Adam Wainwright has more wins than him.

Dan Szymborski: ha!

Sean: Why do people keep thinking Zac Gallen is going to regress? He gets a ton of swinging strikes and has four very good pitches. He seems like a potential Cy Young contender, at least in a single season, within the next few years

Sean: Also re: Gallen – his batted ball profile is really, really good, Combine that with great strikeout potential and he has insane upside

Dan Szymborski: I think people are saying he’s going to regress because he has a 2.66 ERA

Spaceman: Do you consider moving this chat to another website since only 10% of it is about baseball?

Dan Szymborski: It’s way more than 10%

Dan Szymborski: I’m not the one asking the questions!

stever20: what are your thoughts on Dombrowski getting let go?

Dan Szymborski: I’m kinda in the middle

Matt: Dan, I ate lunch but I’m still hungry. What’s the next step?

Dan Szymborski: Drink a glass of water?

Matt: Some of the best games are on PC and not consoles. I’m particularly fond of Word Processor. And Calculator.

Adam: Astros and Dodgers or the field… which side are you taking to win the World Series?

Dan Szymborski: Astros

Matt: First you get the khakis, Dan. *Then* you get the job. And then you get the chicks.

Dystopian Future: I’ve noticed you, and the comments section in your article, were quite hard on the Marlins new regime, and I don’t quite understand why. As opposed to the sloppier previous Loria regime, this Marlins FO seems to be much more inclined to investing money in every channel; they’re making better draft choices, better trades, and investing some in J2 players. It’s also kind of handwaved away that the Marlins did pretty good trading Stanton and Ozuna (coming off of peak years, year early rather than a year late, getting out from under Stanton’s albatross contract) and that Yelich and Realmuto forced their way out of Miami. As much as I liked Zac Gallen, his HR/FB% is going to catch up to him and trading a pitcher for a prospect when rebuilding is exactly the kind of thing analysts advocate for when rebuilding. I’m not saying that they’re a good or bad ownership/management group, but give them a chance before you keep burying them.

Dan Szymborski: Let’s see if they invest money when we’re talking about REAL money.

Dan Szymborski: And the way they hatched jobbed Stanton, saying it wans’t about money and that he didn’t want to be a part of things was bush league.

Dan Szymborski: Respect is earned, not granted until proven otherwise.

Big Joe Mufferaw: Babe Ruth led the league in WAR 10 out of 12 years, interrupted by Harry Heilman and … Red Faber?!

James Paxton: I got my ERA under 4!

Appa Yip Yip: If you had 15 WAR to spread across five starters, how would you do it? 3s across the board, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, more front loaded?

Dan Szymborski: I’d want it spread fairly evenly but slightly front loaded for playoffs

Dan Szymborski: but not too much that I have all my marbles in one dude

Kosch: Rockies, Cubs or Red Sox…who has been the most disappointing relative to expectations?

Dan Szymborski: Probably Rockies – neither Cubs/Red Sox are going to miss projections by >10 games

Slothrop: Hey Dan do you ever let the cats outside? Mine stays inside but sometimes I worry that he’s missing out and would enjoy some outside time

Dan Szymborski: I do not.

Dan Szymborski: I do try to give them lots of activities inside.

Big Joe Mufferaw: Mickey Mantle was pretty undisputed from age 20-29 as well. It is FREAKY just how similar their careers have been to date!

Chef Boyardee: How dank are my meatballs?

Dan Szymborski: My advice: don’t eat Spaghetti-O’s as an adult becuase you fondly remember them as a kid

Dan Szymborski: Also: before I kept a spare laptop on the nightstand, I used to keep a notepad. I once woke up and saw that I had written this chilling message sometime during the night

Dan Szymborski:

Rafe: How much of a gap is there between the Dodgers and the Braves?

Dan Szymborski:

Dan Szymborski: OOPS

Dan Szymborski: accidentally dragged the Indians, not the Reds

Dan Szymborski:

Dan Szymborski: Maybe put Brewers in B without Yelich

EL: Should the Giants bring back Pillar? His arbitration salary might be a lot, but they have a hard time even finding average/below average hitters.

Dan Szymborski: Depends where they actually want to go

Did you do any research?: Re: Stroman with the Mets- have you watched any of his starts with the Mets, or did you just reflexively barf “Clownshoes defense” because that was the concern when they traded for him? Yes, the defense isn’t great, but he’s also struggled with control and given up a higher line drive percentage. I feel like you have a narrative that you want to see reality conforming to, instead of looking at what reality is.

Dan Szymborski: How about this: you can include the answer to your question that you want me to give. That way, you can always be happy?

CamdenWarehouse: You should try walking the cats

Dan Szymborski: I tried walking Galileo when he was little with a harness. It consisted of him being on his back and fighting the leash while I dragged a cat through grass.

PS: How much optimism should one have for the Jays’ young core? How likely are they to pull off what the Braves are doing?

Dan Szymborski: Very, but they have a long way to go to have the depth that the Braves do

Daniel : Say “Ight Imma Head Out” instead of your normal outro

Matt: I was reading an old Deadspin article about the purchase of the Cubs by the Ricketts. It was mostly just factual reporting via story telling, but there was a few asides, and one in which the author made a comment saying that rich people who want teams but don’t have money know they can just create new revenue streams and charge the fans. But don’t they have it backward…isn’t that exactly why the teams are increasing in value? Because fans are willing to expand their expenses on these revenue stream that increase the likelihood of increase in asset value thus allowing leveraged buys? I mean, I’d argue its a bubble, but this article seems to have a misunderstanding of basic economics.

Dan Szymborski: I’d have to read the article to say for sure.

Dan Szymborski: I think it’s too hard to draw generalizations from how people got money.

Rafe: forgive my ignorance, what does the “S” stand for?

Dan Szymborski: special

Matt: Dan, I want you to have the correct answer (my answer) to questions, but I want you to arrive there yourself.

Dan Szymborski: THIS FEELS LIKE A TRIAL~!

Bill: Dan who is the most handsome person in this chat? (The answer I want you to give is me)

Dan Szymborski: You are Bill!

Dan Szymborski: Especially if you’re the Bill of Bill’s Donuts near me.

Dan Szymborski: I only get donuts once or twice a year, but man those are great donuts

Adam: Seems like Roberts is transitioning half his staff to pitch multi-inning/piggyback roles in the postseason… and I kind of think it might work?  How worried should I be about the Dodgers’ pen in October?

Dan Szymborski: I think there’s a chance of it working.

CamdenWarehouse: there is about a 2200 mile gap between the Dodgers and Braves

Dan Szymborski: When they’re playing home games. You have to calculate their average positions for road games.

Matt: Dan Szymborski, willing to sell compliments for donuts.

Dan Szymborski: We’re all sellouts.

Klews: Wade Davis is

Big Joe Mufferaw: Why would DJ LeMahieu be WTF vote? He has been great and literally the only healthy yankee all year, and the most valuable player on the best team. It’s understandable based on the criteria of MVP (its not most outstanding or best player award as we have seen with the voting)

Dan Szymborski: Except, of course, that’s exactly what the MVP is.

Dan Szymborski: “The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931: (1) actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense; (2) number of games played; (3) general character, disposition, loyalty and effort; (4) former winners are eligible; and (5) members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.”

Dan Szymborski: .Value is “strength of offense and defense.”

Dan Szymborski: Why would we give LeMahieu an award for Didi Gregorius being injured?

Dan Szymborski: What’s the point of an award like that?

Ryan: I’m here to ask questions and shit on your answers…and I’m all out of questions…

stever20: I think if the Dodgers were to lose in the NL playoffs, it’d be to the Nats in a best of 5 rather than anyone else in best of 7.

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, the series of 5 against a slightly worse team is riskier for a favorite than 7.

Matt: I was thinking about this yesterday when reading a tweet about the age-old “MVP must be on a contender” argument. Are you familiar with Rothbard? I used to believe that the argument was incredibly dumb, but from a Rothbardian economics sense, it might make sense at least that a player on a non-contender needs to be more better to beat out a great player on a contender.

Dan Szymborski: But baseball is a fairly closed system compared to an economy.

Thom: If Cleveland makes the division series, how should they line up their SP?

Dan Szymborski: On the mound would be the best place.

Dan Szymborski: The Hartford Dark Blues tried using them at first, but it just led to a lot of balks.

Matt: I actually didn’t think you were very hard on the new Marlins regime. To me it read as cautious skepticism with a hint of positivity.

Dan Szymborski: I didn’t even make a single joke about the number of fans!

Dan Szymborski: (I don’t think)

Matt: Personally, I think you should cover content appropriate to the site. More questions about fans and graphs. I’ll start. Do you prefer ceiling fans, or computer fans?

Dan Szymborski: They each have their purpose

Big Joe Mufferaw: IF Severino comes back healthy and throwing HEAT next week, how would you utilize him the ROS and PS?

Dan Szymborski: I’d ease him in with the idea of starting him in playoffs

Dan Szymborski: Will finish with an AI answer for “Wade Davis is”

Dan Szymborski:

Morbo: i was about to say my 6 moth old is eating and taking an angry poop in my lap but he had other ideas and sent my previous message

tb.25: How much do you expect the salary be, in lbs. of chili, for the Marlins Data Engineer job posted?

Dan Szymborski: 0. Meat ain’t free!

Morbo: i think that makes him your youngest official chatter

stever20: LeMaheiu is #9 in AL FWAR and #8 in AL bWAR.  how would him getting a vote be a joke really?

Dan Szymborski: I said first place vote.

Dan Szymborski: “Dan Szymborski
12:29 The inevitable DJ LeMahieu first-place vote(s)
vomit 1″

Dan Szymborski: The vomit 1 wasn’t me, someone did the emoji

kevinthecomic: The thing I always get hung up on regarding MVP is the phrase “to his team”.  FanGraphs’ writers (and others) continually advocate for the MVP to be awarded without team context when team context is explicitly stated in the definition!  Assuming team context then, wouldn’t Mike Trout *always* win the AL MVP?  He is a 10 WAR player on an 11 WAR team, thus accounting for 91% of the team’s above-replacement value and therefore, by definition, the most valuable to his team.

Dan Szymborski: ha!

Dystopian Future: Marcus Semien might hit 30 homers this year and has a 132 wRC+. That is all.