Dave Cameron FanGraphs Chat – 2/3/16

12:00
Dave Cameron: Alright, let’s chatty chat chat.

12:00
Bork: Maybe the D’Backs have a copy of the 2024 sports almanac and know that their #39 pick will be the next Mike Trout and lead them onto greatness, thus why they want to keep ti so bad.

12:02
Dave Cameron: They’re basically what the Phillies were a few years ago; the last remaining organization who values tools over performance, and doesn’t bother quantifying the value of various things, rather just looking at things and going with how they feel. It will end the same way the Amaro regime did.

12:02
Jon: Why are the White Sox looking at Either instead of Fowler? Either offers severe platoon splits and bad defense to a team with bad defense and that performed horribly vs. LHP last year.

12:03
Dave Cameron: Ethier wouldn’t cost them a pick, and I wouldn’t be surprised if LAD would pay down a bit of his contract, so he’d be a bit cheaper as well.

12:03
Jack: Does C. Seager have a chance to be better than Correa? – what deffirentiates the two? Gracias my man

12:03
Dave Cameron: Have a chance? Sure. I’d take Correa, mostly because he strikes me as a bit better of an athlete, but Seager’s bat may prove to be superior in the long-run.

12:04
HVC: More likely to be the general manager of a MLB team in 2026: Kiley McDaniel or Dave Stewart?

12:05
Dave Cameron: Kiley, for sure. Though given title inflation and where baseball is headed, GM in 2026 might be equivalent to something like intern now.

12:05
PS: Why are you the only Fangraphs Audio participant that talks baseball

12:05
Dave Cameron: Because I’m not interesting enough to talk about other things, apparently.

12:06
Paul: When you go on MLB Network with that bogus backdrop, is a John Clayton Slayer situation going on?

12:06
Dave Cameron: I’m not sure what the second part of the question is referencing, but the backdrop at the studio is Winston-Salem. Not sure why my town is bogus…

12:06
BigChief: Read the openWAR article yesterday, and though I like the idea of an open sourced version of WAR where everyone can see what goes into it, I’m not sure what to think about the foundation. How do you feel about using RE24 instead of context neutral stats. Also, if context is important, why use RE24 instead of WPA?

12:07
Dave Cameron: I’m with you on that decision. I think, for most of what people care about in terms of player valuation, we want context-neutral.

12:07
Ira: Why did “rebuilding” suddenly become “tanking”?

12:08
Dave Cameron: Because the CBA is up in a few months, and there’s a deep divide between big-revenue owners and small-revenue owners. The teams with money are using the media to try and steer the message, and they’re aiming their sights on changes that would benefit themselves.

12:08
HotGraphs: Who signs Lazarito?

12:08
Dave Cameron: Braves seem like a good guess.

12:09
Nate: Now that Olney has upped the stakes with you in your feud over the industry view of tanking, do you have your own insiders to call the secret anti-tanking conclave a load of malarkey?

12:09
Dave Cameron: Yeah, I’ve talked with a bunch of people in the game who don’t believe anyone is tanking, or that it’s a real problem. The idea that there’s a clear consensus within MLB that this is a huge problem is wrong.

12:10
Me: Does Fangraphs have offices anywhere?

12:10
Dave Cameron: Nope. I think the only cities where we even have multiple writers are NYC and Portland.

12:11
Zak206: Have any big league clubs offered you a job? Is that something you would be interested in?

12:12
Dave Cameron: We’ve never gotten far enough down the line to where an actual offer has been made, but teams have asked me whether I’d be interested in a position, and I’ve mostly deferred. I’ve got a pretty good gig here at FG, and it’d be tough to justify taking a pay cut to move away from my wife’s family, double my work hours, and force her to basically raise our kid by herself.

12:12
Gary: I asked this the other day and got an unsatisfactory answer – why don’t we hear more about teams trying to extend ASAP, when the player has the least leverage. I understand players have to agree too, and there’s more risk to the team, but it makes zero sense to me that we haven’t heard anything about the Red Sox trying to lock down Betts/Bogaerts, the Mets Syndergaard, or even players such as Correa and Lindor. Considering how cheaply Kluber extended for *after* he won the Cy Young, shouldn’t it be possible to get those players’ first few free agent years for quarters on the dollar?

12:14
Dave Cameron: The off-season follows a fairly predictable pattern. The first 2-3 months are for roster overhauls, so mostly trades, free agency, waiver claims, the Rule 5 draft, that kind of thing. January is arbitration. Februrary-March is extension season. Go look at the timing of the past long-term deals for young players; they all get announced during spring training. Give it time.

12:14
JCA CPA CA: The Dodgers are just overflowing with depth right now, any reason why the Yankees and them can’t structure a win win trade around miller?

12:14
Dave Cameron: Yankees asking price for Miller was nutty.

12:15
Meowmix: I assume Dave Stewart and co have access to the same numbers as everyone else and also possess basic reasoning skills. So what’s your best guess as to why they keep doing dumb things?

12:15
Dave Cameron: They value things differently. They have the same information available, but they’re not weighting it the same.

12:15
JBoyle: I’m a Mets fan that is getting nervous about my high confidence level in my team. However, the projected wins being at 86 really brought me back to earth. Is there truly a feeling that the Nats will win the East in 2016?

12:16
Dave Cameron: I wouldn’t say there’s a strong feeling about any team definitely winning that division. Mets and Nationals are on equal-ish terms at this point. It’s probably close to a toss-up, with the Marlins having some non-zero chance too.

12:17
Andrew: Thanks for the chat Dave. Independent of contract, rank the SF infielders (Belt, Panik, Crawford, Duffy) in order of value over the next 3 years.

12:17
Dave Cameron: Panik, Crawford, Belt, Duffy

12:18
Guest: Which team do you think will allow the fewest runs in the AL this year? (So starters/bullpen/defense all considered)

12:18
Dave Cameron: Indians or Rays, probably.

12:19
Skore: Based on current rosters, what team is in the most danger of going full-on Phillies?

12:20
Dave Cameron: Padres. Their few young assets don’t have much team control left, so if either (or both) Ross or Cashner get hurt, they’ll be left with a bad aging roster, a thin farm system, and no real financial flexibility for a while.

12:20
Skore: In a time of parity, would it make any sense at all for a team to tank? It would seem that at least in the AL, there’s some logic to holding out with a mediocre team, as with sequencing/breakout luck a 75-win team could win 85-90 games and make the playoffs.

12:21
Dave Cameron: That’s the weirdest thing about this tanking narrative getting pushed right now; we’re literally in the time of the greatest parity in baseball history. It’s so clearly agenda-driven, and not fact-driven, as to be humorous.

12:22
Poe Cameron: Which team do you think has the largest possible variance in their record? Like, good win a lot, or lose a lot, or anything.

12:23
Dave Cameron: Maybe the Twins. If Buxton, Sano, and Berrios all play up, they could be a contender, but if those kids struggle, that’s a 70 win team at best.

12:23
Jack: Are you on board with what appears to be the clear consensus at this point– that the Qualifying Offer was probably ill-conceived?

12:24
Dave Cameron: I’d say ill-designed more than ill-conceived. It was conceived as a tax to hold down FA spending on some players. It’s doing exactly that.

12:24
Sammy: Why would the Dodgers move Ethier? Do they really believe that much in CC?

12:25
Dave Cameron: He gets 10-5 rights in April, so this is their last chance to trade him, probably.

12:25
Yancy from Fort Myers: Which team do you see as the most likely trade partner for the Rays’ Desmond Jennings?

12:26
Dave Cameron: I could see a fit in Cleveland or Baltimore.

12:26
Graham: Greinke is considered one of the brightest players in the game, but signed a long-term deal with a team making disastrous long-term moves. Does $200 million make that trade-off palatable for him, or did he rush into the marriage and will soon have regrets?

12:27
Dave Cameron: From his perspective, there are probably two options; the team wins and he gets to enjoy that success, or they lose and he gets traded in a couple of years as they rebuild, probably to a contender in need of a veteran SP. Either way, he’ll end up on a winning team and maximize his income.

12:27
Jack: If you’re a DBacks fan, scary to think that even if 2016 ends up a massive disappointment, TLR/Stew figure to have a lotta leash still, right? Reasoning being, Stew is TLR’s guy, and TLR ain’t goin anywhere.

12:28
Dave Cameron: Yeah, the problem goes above those two, though they aren’t helping matters. But the fact that the team had a chance to modernize their thinking of letting Kevin Towers go, and went this route, speaks volumes to the people who are doing the hiring there.

12:28
Yovanni Gallardo: Orioles were a .500 team last year while missing big chunks of the season from Schoop, Weiters and Hardy. With those 3 healthy, modest bounce backs from Gonzalez and Tillman, and improvement in LF with Kim, is it so hard to see them as an improved team?

12:29
Dave Cameron: We’re just going to pretend that Wei-Yin Chen didn’t leave? We’re going to give Chris Davis another +6 WAR season? We’re going to expect Zach Britton and Darren O’Day to run sub-2.00 ERAs again?

12:30
JR: August mentioned yesterday that he thinks Steven Souza is “probably going to start the year in the minors”. Do you agree?

12:30
Dave Cameron: Nope.

12:30
Nelson: Do the Rockies think that Mcgee will have a higher trade value at the deadline than Dickerson? Is that correct thinking?

12:31
Dave Cameron: My guess is that they don’t put a lot of value in Dickerson, looking at him as an injury prone defensive liability who needs to be platooned. The problem is that you could use that same description on Carlos Gonzalez, and they seem to be in love with him…

12:31
Aaron: Re: Laurila’s post earlier today, it seems like all of baseball would love to see David Ross manage when he’s done playing. Who would you like to see manage a big league team?

12:31
Dave Cameron: Yasiel Puig. That’d be fun.

12:31
Yancy from Fort Myers: What are your thoughts on hummus, generally speaking?

12:32
Dave Cameron: It’s fine. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it.

12:32
Jeremy: Are any changes planned for improving the depth charts, and thus the playoff odds, this year? In late August or early September, the Mets depth charts projected a decent number of PA left for players at DH, despite them not having any games left in AL parks. Also, when the Nats would lose, their ROS W% would increase to absurd levels, which seemed like they had a floor for wins from before the season that was never adjusted as the season went on.

12:33
Dave Cameron: The DH spot for NL teams on our depth charts includes PH, which teams still do even in NL parks. And no, there’s no pre-determined win floor that forces a teams ROS Win% up after they lose.

12:33
Dave Cameron: I’m sorry that you didn’t like the forecasts for your favorite team, but that doesn’t mean the system is broken.

12:34
Dave: The Reds have taken a lot of criticism but they seem to be stockpiling a bunch of talented arms, if Jocketty is smart enough to trade the right extra arms for bats could the rebuild go a lot faster then what many people are expecting?

12:34
Dave Cameron: Why are we assuming that Jocketty is smarter than everyone else?

12:34
WillieBloomquistButtCyst: Should the A’s tear it down if things look grim in July?

12:34
Dave Cameron: I don’t know what they really have to trade that would constitute a tear down. Gray, obviously, and Reddick if he doesn’t sign an extension, but I don’t know that beyond those two, there’s a ton of trade-value pieces there.

12:35
Matt: So Dave, I would like to follow up on Julio Teheran. Last week I supposed that Teheran for Benintendi, Vazquez, and Brian Johnson was a fair trade. If we take your cynical view and assume that Teheran posts WARs of 2.5 each year over the life of his contract, at $8M per WAR, he is worth $100M. Subtract the actual value of his contract ($40.6M), and his surplus value is roughly $60. According to your research 2 years ago, the value of a hitting prospect in the 30-50 range (which is where Benintendi is generally ranked) is roughly $20M. Johnson’s value – as a 30-50 ranked pitcher – is somewhere around $18.7M. So Johnson and Benintendi are worth a combined $38.7M. Vazquez is certainly not worth $21.3M to even out those values. So I posit the trade again: Benintendi, Johnson, and Vazquez for Teheran. Even if Teheran is worth 2 WAR over the next 5 years, the estimated surplus value ($40M) justifies the Sox trading Benintendi and Johnson or Vazquez for Teheran. Seems pretty fair, no?

12:36
Dave Cameron: You don’t take a pitcher’s 2016 projection, then assign exactly that performance to him for each of the next five years.

12:36
Dave Cameron: Pitchers get hurt, and get worse even when they don’t get hurt. That Teheran is an average-ish pitcher now means he has little long-term value, even with his below-market extension.

12:37
WillieBloomquistButtCyst: Is Klentak or MacPhail running the show in Philadelphia?

12:37
Dave Cameron: MacPhail is the boss, Klentak is in charge of day to day operations.

12:38
Dave Cameron: That’s the common setup in a lot of places now.

12:39
Rick: How does Lazarito make sense for the Braves? He’d have to wait until July 2nd to sign, or they wouldn’t be able to go all out as rumored in the 2016-17 period. Also, that would go against their strategy of trading for slots for the 2015-16 period so that they didn’t go over their pool.

12:40
Dave Cameron: Well, Jesse Sanchez reported yesterday that they have a private workout scheduled for him this weekend, and he’s expected to sign next week. I was just connecting the dots.

12:40
Portis: Is Verlander gonna be a top 10 pitcher in the AL?

12:40
Dave Cameron: He might not be a top 10 pitcher in the AL Central.

12:41
ZGleftme: Thoughts on Rosenthal’s column – you think Segura can bounce back and help salvage the trade for the DBacks?? Even if he does get close to 2013 levels, is that enough justification for what Arizona gave up??

12:42
Dave Cameron: Well, sure, if he has a +3.5 WAR season, then it’s a good move for AZ. But while I’m sure that personal issues can affect performance, I just don’t see evidence that he has the skills necessary to be a good big leaguer. 60% GB% = no power. His approach = no walks. His contact rate is only slightly above average. That’s not a combination that will lead to offensive production.

12:42
Cardsjason: What team is Lucroy on opening day?

12:42
Dave Cameron: I still think the Rangers make the most sense.

12:43
Hank G.: Would it make sense for the Nationals to go after Tyler Clippard?

12:44
Dave Cameron: Yeah, it seems like a potential fit for a reunion.

12:44
Joe: Is there anything the Orioles can realistically do to be actual AL East contenders?

12:45
Dave Cameron: Hope that BOS/TOR/NYY/TB suffer a lot of injuries.

12:45
Jimmy: Hi Dave, what would it take for someone currently not working in a baseball FO to get a job like the one posted yesterday for the Jays? (Manager – Baseball Analytics). I assume the most qualified candidates are already in baseball FO’s. Thanks

12:47
Dave Cameron: There have been a lot of outside MLB hires into the league this year, since teams are ramping up their R+D departments this winter. Jay Sartori came back from Apple to work for the Tigers. The Phillies hired an analyst from Google. The Angels hired a couple of guys who didn’t have MLB team experience, and had written online mostly. The other day, a GM asked me for rec for an analyst position they have open, and I had to tell him I was running low on names to suggest because the hiring spree has picked most of the low-hanging fruit. So, yes, if you want to work in baseball right now, absolutely apply; there’s a talent shortage at the moment compared to the supply/demand we’ve seen in past years.

12:47
jpg: Why do you see the NL East as a coin flip between the Mets and Nats. Granted I’m a Mets fan but I don’t see how they aren’t clear favorites over the Nats. I feel like I can detach myself and be pretty objective. The Mets have a better starting five, better rotation depth, a better bullpen and significantly better position player depth. Other than having Harper, by far the best player on either team, and a much better defense, I don’t see any other advantages for the Nats. I see a Nats team that needs literally half it’s everyday players – Rendon, Werth, Zimmerman and Ramos to be healthy and bounce back.

12:48
Dave Cameron: I feel like maybe you aren’t detaching yourself as well as you think.

12:48
Bork: Orioles have a chance to go full Phillies in a year or two? They even have a slugging 1B on an enormous contract too!

12:48
Dave Cameron: Machado will give them a higher floor.

12:49
Nightshift: Boy Jonah Keri is very bullish on Tai Walker, thinking he can be better than Felix your thoughts?

12:49
Dave Cameron: Better than Felix next year? That’s possible, if Felix keeps declining. Better than peak-Felix? Nope.

12:49
Whitney H.: in David Laurila’s article earlier today on potential future managers I noticed that David Ross’ name was brought up kind of a lot. Also getting mentions were Dustin Pedroia, and even a Jonny Gomes. Those guys were all part of Boston WS team that seemed to consistently outperform expectations. Pure coincidence or do you think there’s anything to it?

12:50
Dave Cameron: Pedroia’s been on teams that have underperformed more than overperformed, no?

12:51
Urban: Parity in the AL. Not in the NL.

12:52
Dave Cameron: It’s one sport. 24 MLB teams have at least some shot of making the playoffs this year, and two of the ones that don’t are there because they keep foolishly trying to go for it rather than start the necessary rebuild (COL/SD). There are 4/30 teams in MLB rebuilding right now. The idea that teams are seeing the current incentives, deciding that being bad on purpose is better than trying to win, and tearing their teams down, is just not true.

12:53
FA Baseball Lover/Capable Writer: Give me an assignment to write a piece for FG, I will submit Sunday, you will subsequently hire me. Go…

12:54
Dave Cameron: “For my piece, I will provide you with a full, unfettered feed to 2015 Statcast data, with full approval from MLB. Let’s get right to the data…”

12:55
RMR: Dave, re: your comments on taking a job in baseball, do you think that MLB teams are hurting themselves from a front office talent standpoint by refusing to be competitive financially/lifestyle-wise with other industries or is the demand for jobs in the sport is simply so high that MLB teams can get away with it indefinitely?

12:56
Dave Cameron: I think, as teams staff up, the pay will increase to some degree. We’ve already seen that a bit as guys who were at analyst level a year or two ago are now directors or managers, and have gotten pay bumps that go along with the new titles. So the increase in entry-level hiring is pushing up the wages for guys who might have been stuck in those jobs for longer by forcing promotions for the tier of guys hired a few years ago. But I think the requirement in hours will always be there.

12:57
Yancy from Fort Myers: How many times have you seen The Force Awakens?

12:57
Dave Cameron: Once. Well, I saw the original Star Wars movie too, and it was the same film, so twice, I guess.

12:57
The Average Sports Fan: Re: Qualifying Offer. What do you think Players would have to give in next CBA to get rid of it?

12:57
Dave Cameron: International draft.

12:57
Dave Cameron: That’s what Manfred really wants.

12:58
ZS: Considering service time/cost, who would you prefer? Inciarte, Baez, or Soler?

12:58
Dave Cameron: Inciarte.

12:58
Dave Cameron: Though Soler isn’t too far behind.

12:58
Marc: With data becoming a bigger and bigger part of the game, how hard is it to find a real – and valuable – market inefficiency in the game these days. Will we ever see anything again like the Moneyball OBP revolution?

12:59
Dave Cameron: I think there are frontiers to be explored that will bring even larger shifts in the game. Health is the big one. We’ll eventually look back at our current system and think of how many arms could have been saved had we known (thing we don’t know yet).

1:00
TKDC: Without just looking at FG odds, what are the chances that one the bad NL teams (Braves, Phillies, Reds, Brewers, Rockies, Padres) makes the playoffs? Better than 50%?

1:00
Dave Cameron: No, much less. I’d say 5%.

1:01
Dave Cameron: The Braves, Phillies, Reds, and Brewers all have approximately 0.1% playoff odds. Even if they get hot in April or May, they still won’t go for it, since they’re in full on rebuild mode. The Padres and Rockies could luck their way into the NL West somehow, but it would take some extraordinary circumstances.

1:01
MoreCowbell: I don’t think I’ve ever seen an offseason as quiet for the Yankees as this one. Dose Cashman have another big move up his sleeve or are Chapman/Hicks the main additions?

1:01
Dave Cameron: Well they got Castro too.

1:02
Curtis: What does King Felix need to add going forward to ensure enshrinement in the HOF?

1:03
Dave Cameron: Probably needs another ~3-5 high-level years, or the BBWAA to wake up and realize that they aren’t putting enough pitchers in. When Mussina and Schilling aren’t in, and aren’t even that close, it’s tough to argue for any currently active pitcher besides Kershaw to be that close to induction-level.

1:04
TKDC: If you were guessing the maximum WAR value of “clubhouse leadership” for a player, what would say that would be?

1:04
Dave Cameron: 1ish

1:04
the farm: Who is the FanGraphs writer other than Jeff Sullivan based in Portland?

1:04
Dave Cameron: Matthew Kory

1:04
Danny: When you do a TV appearance, does MLBN just find the closest local studio to you and say “go there”? I’m assuming you aren’t doing these from your basement…

1:05
Dave Cameron: I use the studio at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. They used to send me to a Fox studio in High Point about ~40 minutes away. That was a hike.

1:05
TKDC: And on the other hand, what would the maximum negative value for “clubhouse cancer” be, in your estimation?

1:05
Dave Cameron: -2 WAR. I definitely believe a bad clubhouse influence can be more negative than a good clubhouse influence can be positive.

1:06
Brett W: First female MLB player: bullpen, middle infielder, or other?

1:06
Dave Cameron: I would think it would be a pitcher.

1:06
Snarfle: The financial advisor at my bank will set up savings, bonds, index stocks (“the core”) for free, but charges $42 for doing stock trades. I’m thinking of doing that, but first checking to make sure he can’t stop me from doing my own online trading. Sound okay, despite the silly fee?

1:07
Dave Cameron: You can set up all that “core” stuff for free yourself. He provides no value. Ignore him.

1:08
Mick D: SInce Cespedes and the Mets rewrote his contract about the qualifying offer, would it make sense for a team with a mediocre offense to acquire Alex Guerrero from LAD, given a contract modification of his trade clause?

1:08
Dave Cameron: Yeah, he seems like an obvious spring trade guy, and I’d guess his agents will give up the opt-out to get him out of there.

1:10
Mike Rizzo: I just want to talk about Bryce Harper and his chances of re-signing in Washington. Can we do that? First time caller, long-time listener.

1:10
Dave Cameron: I’d call them slim.

1:10
Joe: Back to the jobs question, what kind of salary range do teams have for something like the Mets Analyst position?

1:11
Dave Cameron: It varies by team, but in general, you’re looking at 30-40K as a base for an entry-level job with an MLB team.

1:12
Bill: Does it ever make more economic sense to lease a car as opposed to buying one. I spent more money than I would’ve liked on maintenance for my last car.

1:13
Dave Cameron: If you have a job that requires you to drive clients around (real estate, for instance) and you can charge a higher premium for your services by appearing to be successful by having a nice car, then sure. If you’re just driving to a regular job and parking in the lot during the day, rarely.

1:13
Sad Sam: In your opinion, who’s the best position prospect in all of baseball?

1:14
Dave Cameron: Seager.

1:14
Jeremy: I recall reading (likely here) a former executive say that there’s something that sabermetric fans think is true, that’s absolutely false. What sabermetric “truth” are you most skeptical of?

1:14
Dave Cameron: I think our park effects aren’t that great.

1:14
Dave Cameron: And by our, I don’t mean FG; I mean the entire public’s way of measuring a park’s impact on run environment.

1:15
Rick: Would an international draft really be a concession by the MLBPA? Players aren’t part of the union until they make a 40 man roster IIRC.

1:15
Dave Cameron: It’s something the league wants and they can’t get it without the PA signing off, so yes, it’s a chip for the players.

1:17
Liberty: You can’t even afford to live in NY on that salary!

1:17
Dave Cameron: The teams in big expensive cities do pay a little bit more, but yeah, entry level for a team in a big city isn’t exactly a high quality of life.

1:18
Ben G: Are you for or against the international draft? I think it’ll just shift the player development focus to places where the draft doesn’t cover.

1:18
Dave Cameron: I think it’s a logistical nightmare.

1:18
Moundhill: Best way to attack 100+k in high interest private student loans?

1:19
Dave Cameron: Try to consolidate them if possible. If not, live very frugally for a while and pay them down aggressively.

1:19
vivalajeter: Are you going to any of the Pearl Jam shows in the Carolinas, or did that part of the Seattle lifestyle never float your boat?

1:19
Dave Cameron: Pearl Jam is still touring?

1:20
Dave Cameron: And on that note, I’m going to call it a day. Thanks for hanging out, everyone.





Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.

14 Comments
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cubfanjack
8 years ago

Even smart guys like you have to read the question Dave–“IF JOCKETTY IS SMART”
Dave: The Reds have taken a lot of criticism but they seem to be stockpiling a bunch of talented arms, if Jocketty is smart enough to trade the right extra arms for bats could the rebuild go a lot faster then what many people are expecting?
12:34
Dave Cameron: Why are we assuming that Jocketty is smarter than everyone else?

ashlandateam
8 years ago
Reply to  cubfanjack

Of course the answer to the question is ‘yes.’ That’s implied in the question. If Jocketty is smart – ie he makes good trades of his arms for bats – then of course the rebuild will go quickly. Why ask a question with an implied ‘yes’ answer? You know the answer is ‘yes.’

Dave’s answer assumes that. And also tells the truth that Jocketty has NOT shown an ability to correctly identify what talent to trade (as his trades of EE, Boxberger, Grandal, Volquez and DiDi has shown, to cite three ill-fated trades off the top of my head from his tenure. Which doesn’t mention his widely panned trades of Frazier and Chapman this offseason).

If Jocketty does a better job in 2016 and beyond than he did from 2009-2015, yes, the Reds will be good again soon, and I’ll be happy (since I’m a Reds fan). Is that what you were hoping for?

TKDCmember
8 years ago
Reply to  ashlandateam

If everything goes perfectly, will my team be good soon?