Kevin Goldstein FanGraphs Chat – 2/24/2021

Kevin Goldstein: Hi everyone. Hope everyone is having a enjoyable Monday. Let’s get right into it.

Jon G: Brennen Davis needs more AAA reps, right? I’m already seeing Cubs fan takes that the only reason for him to not be on the opening day roster is service time manipulation…

Kevin Goldstein: Yeah, that feels aggressive. There is plenty of service time manipulation out there, but not every prospect not being on a opening day roster is service time manipulation. Davis had a near 30% K rate at the upper levels. There are things to work on.

Keith: Have you started season 4 of Ozark yet?

Kevin Goldstein: I feel like I’d be lost, and I haven’t started Season 1. I have huge holes in my prestige TV catalog. I’ve never seen The Sopranos for instance. We did finish Yellowjackets a few days ago, and boy was that excellent.

Keith: First thing that pops in your head when asked where Correa signs and the terms?

Kevin Goldstein: 300+ million. Somewhere big like Dodgers or Yankees.

Brian: Any potential stars at catcher from the 2021 draft besides Davis and Ford at the top?

Kevin Goldstein: Well, we will see if Davis is a catcher in the end…..There are some sleepers below them certainly with potential. Joe Mack and Ian Moeller come to mind. I’ll be interested in how Matt Nelson does.

171: Is there a beneficial impact in the front office for teams who have all of their minor league affiliates within a few hours driving distance from the big league club (Orioles for example)? Or is it just convenient for fans?

Kevin Goldstein: Lots of benefits. Great way to get in-person looks without making a full trip of it, and those visits are important to the team staff from a morale sense as well. Also makes moving players around far more convenient.

James: On scale of 1-10, with 1 being a total nothing-burger and 10 being seismic, how big of a deal is it when a player switches agents (especially to Scott Boras)? Most fans seem to be at around a 9.

Kevin Goldstein: 1? Just means you are calling someone else.

BenB: Hey KG, which team prospect list do we have goin’ this week ?

Kevin Goldstein: Eric and Brendan are working on the Rockies. Tess and I are working on the Giants.

BenB: Seems like Eury Perez is getting a lot of hype. How much do you believe he’s real ?

Kevin Goldstein: I certainly believe the tools are real. VERY real. Now we will find out together how they convert into baseball skills.

Platinum Guest: Has the MLBPA ever considered expanding to include the minor players?  seems like that could be a huge bargaining chip.

Kevin Goldstein: They have not, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see a separate minor league player union in the next five years.

Inaccessible Rail: Are HS seniors automatically eligible to be drafted in the amateur draft? Or is there paperwork or something that they need to fill out? Also, if a HS senior goes undrafted, is he essentially a free agent, able to sign with any team after that?

Kevin Goldstein: They are automatically eligible. They have to submit paperwork to pull out of the draft. An undrafted HS senior would be a free agent (Tim Collins comes to mind), but once they go to a school, they then are bound by the college rules.

Guest: Hi Kevin, what should we expect from Jazz Chisholm this year? (Assume 150 gp)

Kevin Goldstein: 256/312/441

Noah: You mentioned on a previous podcast episode that Aaron Judge was the longest discussion you had about a player for the draft. How did you and the Astros feel about him at the time and what about his development has surprised you the most?

Kevin Goldstein: Well, I mean it was the longest discussion because of the widely varying opinions on him. The power was clearly crazy, but I don’t think anyone (including the Yankees) thought he’d be this kind of force or obviously he would have went much higher.

Jeff “Dalton” Wilcox: What are FOs looking at/for if they assign a teenaged SP to a full season club in May?

Kevin Goldstein: Get innings/get healthy/focus on pitches other than the ones that got you to this point.

Momma Jay is a Worried Birdie: What’s the story with Bo Bichette’s defense? Can he stick at SS longterm?

Kevin Goldstein: He’s a 40-45 defender now, and I think Toronto would be best served immediately by finding a better defender and moving him to 2B.

Ryan: Thoughts on Nick Ahmed fit to the Astros/Yankees?

Kevin Goldstein: Feels like a 2nd division starter on a championship level team. Maybe as a backup plan, but shouldn’t be a priority.

Sean: What percentage of regular fans actually understand that Manfred is not a neutral arbiter between the owners and the players? O/U 5%?

Kevin Goldstein: Way over. I do think a lot of people see it wrong, but not THAT money.

Jefferson: So happy they finally killed the stupid Tampa/Montreal split plan. Do you think they will get something settled to stay in Tampa or finally move the team for real?

Kevin Goldstein: That was never going to happen. It was always a negotiating tactic that nobody in the industry saw as realistic. I bet they stay in Tampa long-term.

Moose_Bolton: If you could go back in time and see any single baseball event in person which one would you choose?

Kevin Goldstein: 1986 World Series Game 6. That or the Bobby Thompson home run.

DJ: Compared to this time of year during a non-lockout how different is the current day-to-day for front office members? Are trade discussions still take place to some extent during the lockout?

Kevin Goldstein: Trade discussions are not allowed right now. I’m sure it hasn’t been a 100% reduction, but I do bet it’s 90+%. Teams still have plenty to do. Minor League camps are going to happen, and some mini camps are going on RIGHT NOW, so there’s work to do.

Jefferson: How does a team moving cities feel like in a front office? Will there be a bunch of people relocated with their families? Can they work remote and stay in Tampa?

Kevin Goldstein: Fun question! I’m not totally sure, but I want to look into how things happened with the Montreal to Washington thing.

Zach: What is the ratio of phone vs email communication between GMs? Do they always pick up the phone for trade talks or does some of it occur over email message?

Kevin Goldstein: The overwhelming percentage of it is actually text messages.

Kate: With Strom going to Arizona, do you think we see any fun improvements from a guy like Zac Gallen this year?

Kevin Goldstein: I think you’ll see fun improvements from a variety of guys.

Bruce Dickinson: Hi Kevin! I was honestly expecting Alek Thomas to end up a 60 FV. Plus hit, above average power, plus glove in a corner, near MLB ready. Sounds like a future star to me, no?

Kevin Goldstein: I’m a big Thomas fan, but it’s not above average power, and like you say it’s in a corner, and that’s why there’s pause as to “future star’ status.

Kate: Do you think the Rays will use Kluber as a traditional start this year?  They have to have someone eat some innings, right?

Kevin Goldstein: Yeah, like a 5-6 inning guy, sure.

hombre: Thoughts on Jake Meyers going into the 2022 season?

Kevin Goldstein: Solid every day CF. Impact defender w/ enough offense to be valuable.

Guest: When are the minor league spring trainings scheduled to start? Will there be someone from Fangraphs there to give updates on prospects?

Kevin Goldstein: Games are scheduled to start on 3/18. Travel is TBD depending on the state of the world.

Jeff “Dalton” Wilcox: So the Termarr Johnson hype is building but how is this not the consensus #1? Do you find the draft and prospect meta to be increasingly noisy and messy despite infinitely better info? Its so gd annoying

Kevin Goldstein: I’m not sure what you are annoyed at. People see players differently. Johnson has a special bat, but probably not a premium position in the end.

Sam Palazzo: Does a CBA deal need to get done this week in order for us to get a whole 162 game season in?

Kevin Goldstein: Nah, maybe 2-3 weeks before that happen. I think we’re going to have close to full season, but it’s not going to be 162.

Inaccessible Rail: Sorry I’m asking so many questions today. Really boring day at work today. Not much to do but send you questions.

Kevin Goldstein: It’s cool. It looks like you are on your computer working, so I’m glad I could help.

Matt: If we had only a 150 game season, would they simply cancel play for the first 12 games, or would there be some reshuffling?

Kevin Goldstein: I think you’ll see a compressed spring, but also a compressed regular season.

Fears for Tiers: Hey Kevin. Am I crazy for thinking that Triston Casas could find himself having a career, or maybe a peak at least, similar to Spencer Torkelson? The latter is, by consensus, fifteen or twenty spots higher ranked and one or two FV grades higher as well. But how much would really need to go right for him to perform like Tork?

Kevin Goldstein: I mean, it’s possible, but he’s below because we see it as less likely. I think one could argue that Casas has a better pure hit tool, but not the same power or swing decisions.

Jeff: Kevin,

Kevin Goldstein: Jeff,

Jeff “Dalton” Wilcox: Cubs fans seem in a rush to separate and annoint their many teenaged sensations. What could go wrong? Why are they never this quick to win?

Kevin Goldstein: I’m sure plenty of Cubs fans are realistic about them. Some of them will work out and some of them won’t. That’s prospects.

DJ: Assuming the lock out continues, what is the line of delineation for who will/won’t be present for spring training? For instance will minor league free agents with an invite to major league camp report to spring training event without a resolution? Will a prospect that’s on the 40-man roster, but without any MLB service time report to spring training?

Kevin Goldstein: If they are on the 40-man roster, they will NOT be reporting to spring training. That’s really about it.

Jason: If Jordan Walker continues to develop…where do you see him playing in that StL lineup? DH?

Kevin Goldstein: Honestly, you don’t worry about things like that until they are closer to reality.

Mitch: Just so that us fans can get an idea of what to expect, is there any rhyme or reason to the order in which the FG prospect lists are coming out? They appear to be pretty random so far, but maybe I’m missing something obvious

Kevin Goldstein: There is an internal flow to it based on the location of complexes that makes it easier for us to bug some of our contacts once or twice instead of five or six times.

JC: Rean Schwarzer: 80 makeup? (I’m only partially through CS2 so maybe I’m walking into a big spoiler here)

Kevin Goldstein: Hah. I still haven’t played 4….

Kevin Goldstein: I did 1-3 while I was . . . . let’s call it on sabbatical in 2020.

Danny C: DD oDDwe actually think the NYY will pay Stanton, Cole and Correa?

Kevin Goldstein: I think they SHOULD.

Matt S: May I suggest How To With John Wilson as a moment of culture. It’s a comedy docuseries about the more simple things in life with a heart of gold. And you get to meet some very interesting folks!

Kevin Goldstein: We’ve done it!

Jeff “Dalton” Wilcox: Why is the draft and prospect meta so noisy despite insanely better info? For instance: Rob Moore is a 3 year MIF starter in the SEC, hits and from both sides, was a top HS prospect, but you’ll find him buried in draft rankings. What in the heck is the disconnect? What more do They (the fans? the algorithms?) need to be sated?

Kevin Goldstein: He doesn’t play a premium position. He’s small. He has some swing and miss issues.

Kyle DB: Alright, how many regular season games are we missing?

Kevin Goldstein: 5-15?

Cashman’s burner: Randy Vasquez is ranked #20 on FG’s Yankees Top Prospect list. He’s not in Baseball America’s Yankee top 10 but however Baseball Prospectus has him #3 on their Yankees list in #90 on their top101. Why such a large difference in Rankings between publications?

Kevin Goldstein: Different sources, different biases, different lenses.

Grest: Do you play wordle?

Kevin Goldstein: No. Played it once and thought, “Cool, it’s Master Mind with letters,” and didn’t go back.

Jeb: How do you/Eric/Tess/Brendan split up the list workload? Geographic proximity to farms? Relationships? A little bit of both? Also, even though 2 of you write the article, do you have a 4 person chat when drafting it?

Kevin Goldstein: Relationships/sources is a big part of it. The people doing the list play the biggest role on the actual rankings.

Martin: If a player rates as say a 70 defender at shortstop or center field, can you easily extrapolate that to a higher rating at say third base, second base or right field? Or are there players who rate as a 70 shortstop but a 60 third baseman because of arm strength or other factors?

Kevin Goldstein: Oh yeah. The assumption that Player X will be automatically better in a move down the defensive spectrum is a very dangerous one.

Martin: What is your method of listening to music? CDs? Vinyl? Bandcamp downloads? Streaming? All of the above?

Kevin Goldstein: Yeah, it’s pretty much all digital at this point for me.

Dave Kerwin: I was wondering if you had any insight on how established players on a rebuilding team regard their farm systems top prospects, both while they’re developing and upon arrival with the big league club. I can’t imagine they’d look to a top prospect as savior the way fans might, but was thinking about how they’d form their own evaluation, expectations, etc. and what those relationships are like early on.

Kevin Goldstein: That’s a really fun question, and the answers are all over the board. Some see the prospects coming up as threats to their jobs, and understandably so, and others see them as players there to help them win, and understandably so.

Johnny: I just read an article in The Athletic that the Cub’s are housing their top prospects at the complex in Mesa, AZ all winter as part of a revamped development program. Does something like this make you more bullish on their system or will you wait for the results to speak for themselves?

Kevin Goldstein: I think it’s a very good thing. I don’t suddenly jump up all the prospects or anything from it.

21jbreen: Will there be a team in Nashville by 2030?

Kevin Goldstein: Probably.

John: Can one take if for granted that any halfway decent SS can be converted to OF with say a Spring’s worth of reps?

Kevin Goldstein: Good lord no.

Frodo Baggins: Did you guys scout the Independent Leagues when you were with Houston?

Kevin Goldstein: Not without a reason. A player would have to have crazy performance or metrics before being seen.

Dave: I gotta say, one of the bigger bright spots of my Mondays are knowing I have a Kevin Goldstein chat to look forward to reading during my lunch. Really appreciate you and all the chats at Fangraphs.

Kevin Goldstein: Oh Dave. You are far too kind. I do really enjoy these.

Ken Giles Right Hook: Re: Eury Perez inquiry – what’d you mean by develop baseball skills? What’s he demonstrating now that means his baseball skills aren’t developed?

Kevin Goldstein: He’s got great stuff, and now he has to become a great pitcher from it.

Jeb: Re: texts – plain SMS or is there something encrypted like WhatsApp, telegram, etc

Kevin Goldstein: Plain ol’ text.

171: How formal are these trade talk text messages? I can’t help but picture Preller sitting there in his office sending a text with a few player names and ending it with “this would never happen…. unless?” and then sending a gif of the kombucha girl. Please tell me this happens.

Kevin Goldstein: Yeah, things like that really do happen….

21jbreen: If you had to predict the date that the new CBA is completed, what would you guess as of now?

Kevin Goldstein: March 9th.

Rondy Jahnson: Is Nick Yorke a 70 bat

Kevin Goldstein: He might end up there, but it’s very dangerous to put that grade on any prospect.

Ben: Do you think most teams have different positional adjustments for WAR based on their own data/formulas? How do you think they differ from the public formula, specifically on defense?

Kevin Goldstein: Yes they do. They differ, but not wildly so.

Danny C: You can go back in-time and cure a player or two of injury history throughout their career, who are you choosing? Mine are Griffey Jr & Mark Prior

Kevin Goldstein: Eric Davis and Bo Jackson.

Matthew: How do three team trades typically come together? Two teams are trying to trade and then pull the third in? What’s stopping during a three team trade that two of the teams secretly decide to just trade between themselves?

Kevin Goldstein: Usually a three team thing is because you can access a player that gets you to the third or that a third needs/wants more than you do.

KB: I’m asking this from a place of ignorance, truly curious. Are most American coaches and players competent in expressing basic baseball concepts in Spanish? For example, are catchers able to express pitch type/location or sign information in Spanish if they need to?

Kevin Goldstein: Most speak enough “baseball Spanish” and many are fluent.

L Scott: Were you ever involved in a three-team trade or trade talks?  If so, what was that like?

Kevin Goldstein: Never got one over the finish line, and found them very difficult.

Sam Palazzo: If you had to guess, what percentage of the Yankees revenue is being spent on their major league payroll? Plus, as a Yankee fan should that number make me angry?

Kevin Goldstein: The Yankees COULD spend 300-400 million on payroll and still turn a huge profit.

21jbreen: Does Fangraphs have internships?

Kevin Goldstein: We don’t, but we do have part-timers….

Bob: is the jordan walker hype real?

Kevin Goldstein: I’m certainly a big fan.

Mike: If you had to choose between seeing penguins or hiking Torres del Paine which would you choose? It’s an incredibly difficult decision for me right now!

Kevin Goldstein: PENGUINS.

Ken Giles Right Hook: Pitcher risk and volatility aside, Daniel Espino is a 60 FV prospect after his 2021 performance no?

Kevin Goldstein: That’s a helluva aside….

Guest: Any chance of a Steve Albini guest host spot on a future Chin Music episode?

Kevin Goldstein: Hmmmm. He’s been a guest…..Hmmmm.

Norm Yost: If the salary min jumps closer to 1 mil would this wreck any teams “budget”. Could we see a team pivot bullpen strategy because of this?

Kevin Goldstein: This would not wreck any team’s budget.

>this guy<: what fraction of FO personnel play fnatasy sports do you think? or Players? and is that sort of thing ever implicitly or explicitly discouraged?

Kevin Goldstein: Very very few. No time for it, and frankly, why do it because you are playing real life baseball. It’s not explicitly discouraged but thing that involve money like daily fantasy are not only explicitly discouraged, they are downright banned.

Kevin Silverstein: How easy is it to get a pitcher to throw 95? Are there specific body types needed or specific athleticism traits needed first?

Kevin Goldstein: Ummmm . . . it’s not easy at all.

Random baseball fan: Have you ever heard of a GM accidentally texting trade negotiations to the wrong team?

Kevin Goldstein: Oh yeah.

Guest: why do you think it wont be 162? Can’t they just cut a lot of spring training? Just do it at home stadiums like in 2020? ST doesn’t make anyone much money and cutting regular season games is a big PR and $ hit.

Kevin Goldstein: At a certain point time is time and the calendar keeps moving and you’re just going to run out of runway.

Mac: How much will we learn from the players offer today?

Kevin Goldstein: I’m sure the Passans and Drelichs of the world will be all over it.

Bill: ETA for Casas? Do you think he has a shot at the opening day roster?

Kevin Goldstein: No need to rush him like that.

MM: Favorite arm to click from the Rangers fringe rotation this year: Howard, Hearn, or Allard?

Kevin Goldstein: Howard.

Appa Yip Yip: What grade would you put on your gif game? We’re there any teams whose employees had noticeably better gif deployment?

Kevin Goldstein: 70.

JR: If transactions involving non-40 man players are still allowed in a lockout is there anything to prevent a team from trading pure prospects/minor league guys for a “PBTNL” that ends up being a major leaguer post lockout?

Kevin Goldstein: Yup. PBTNLs can’t be major league players for one.

Phil: How do teams make decisions about non-roster invites? The stakes seem so low I’m surprised there aren’t more of them, but perhaps there are costs (even if just playing time in ST) I’m not thinking of?

Kevin Goldstein: You are usually happy to hand them out. You need a lot of players during the early parts of spring training just to get through everything you need to get thought. The initial number usually approaches 60. You need a ton of catchers just to handle all of the bullpens for example. It is low stakes. Often you are just limited to how many lockers are in the clubhouse on the big league side.

bb: Favorite Altman movie? M*A*S*H has aged very poorly, but I have 3 Women on tap for next weekend.

Kevin Goldstein: The Player.

Guest: Keibert Ruiz  .280/.350/.450  in 2022?

Kevin Goldstein: I’ll take the under. Not crazy under, but under.

Frank F: Hey Kevin, Why isn’t the MLB draft more like the NFL where players and draft picks can be traded?

Kevin Goldstein: Yeah, why isn’t it?

Chaz Borth: Pirates recently hired a new player dev team dedicated to maintaining alignment between top and bottom levels of the org, as well as between dev/scouting/analytics etc – Are they catching up to other teams, or is this a relatively new concept?

Kevin Goldstein: Catching up. Having alignment from the DSL to AAA is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve and maintain, but also essential.

Appa Yip Yip: Zack Greinke once called a mound visit because he wanted to ask about a fantasy football trade.

Kevin Goldstein: Oh man, I was just doing baseball. They ALL play fantasy football.

comish4lif: Kevin, since players not on the 40 man will still be in Spring Training, if the CBA isn’t settled soon, will MLB teams host the  games already on the schedule and play them with minor leaguers?

Kevin Goldstein: No. Minor league games will happen on the back fields. I’m sure some teams will use the stadiums, but they will not be in place of the major league schedule.

Mitch: Do teams have specific documentation about trade discussions from the past even if the trades never happened? For example, could a team come up with some kind of ‘availability’ score estimate for a player based on a team’s trade willingness of said player in prior discussions?

Kevin Goldstein: Sure, they track it. All of a sudden you want to initiate a talk with a team and you know who they’ve shown interest in during past discussions.

John Van Benschoten: Will we ever hear the other version of the intro music?

Kevin Goldstein: I’ve used them at the end of a few shows, actually.

Mitch: While you were with the Astros was there ever a time where your org thought of one their own prospects as ‘overrated’ in a sense that the Astros weren’t as high on him as some other teams, public lists, etc. were? And I guess part 2 of that question is did HOU actively look to trade said player?

Kevin Goldstein: Absolutely and absolutely.

Sullen in San Diego: There has to be a way to trade Hosmer, right?

Kevin Goldstein: There is always a way to trade any player.

Greg: What, to you, would be an encouraging headline to come from today’s CBA meetings that you feel is actually realistic?

Kevin Goldstein: Just any sort of progress on any major issue. I’m not especially optimistic.

NotAA: Do you think the Carlos Correa move of switching agents right before a big payday will create a negative perception of him within the industry?

Kevin Goldstein: No.

Sullen in San Diego: So which team might want Hosmer?

Kevin Goldstein: That’s not the question. So which team would want Hosmer for $X (with SD picking up the rest of the money) gets them some options.

Eugene: What future does Freudis Nova have in HOU? Is he up this year with Correa out?

Kevin Goldstein: He had a really really bad 2021. He’s nowhere close to the big leagues and his stock is plummeting.

Mac: If the universal DH is agreed to it would have to be for the ’23 season, correct?

Kevin Goldstein: Most likely.

21jbreen: Do you expect any changes to the draft in the new CBA?

Kevin Goldstein: Hard to say. The draft is usually one of the last things they deal with.

Mitch: Thoughts on robot umps to be installed in AAA this year?

Kevin Goldstein: I don’t know. It doesn’t bother me and it doesn’t excite me. The technology isn’t ready for prime time yet, but they need to keep real world testing it to get it there.

Coach Maddux: Someone mentioned Strom to ARI, and I know one of the CLE pitching coaches went to SD. Any other impactful coaching changes jump out to you?

Kevin Goldstein: Just because I saw him work in person, but Jeremy Barnes with the Mets is something I’ll be watching.

Legit?: As a Black baseball fan, I mostly ignore baseball befor 47 (or really the 50s). I am deeply aware of the history and stats, but those years feel so much less legitimate to me. Do you feel this is a fair stance to take? I am far less compelled by anti-PED moralizing than this actually-immoral period.

Kevin Goldstein: Totally fair stance to take. There’s a legitimate argument to be made that Major League Baseball in the 20s and 30s wasn’t even the best quality league during that time.

Alex: How do MLB teams scout players in smaller baseball countries like Curacao, Panama, or Nicaragua?  Do they have local guys they trust, or do the players have to go to a “bigger” country to get looks?

Kevin Goldstein: Both. Many teams have part time guys watching those places but most of the really good ones end up in the DR at some point to provide more convenient looks.

B: Black Mirror fan?

Kevin Goldstein: Yeah, sure.

Jim Morris: Shouldn’t the commissioner be a neutral arbiter? Why isn’t there a three person structure? I.e. head of the owners, head of the PA, commissioner

Kevin Goldstein: The commissioner works for the owners.

BJ: Re: GMs communicating via text: Do the GMs get their numbers doxxed and have random people text them? I imagine the phone number of a MLB GM would be pretty sought after. Do you know if that’s an issue for them?

Kevin Goldstein: I’ve never seen that be an issue.

Appa Yip Yip: Do you think the Jays need to make a meaningful upgrade on the Stripling/Pearson combo for their 5/6 starter spots or is it fine Strip will be fine.

Kevin Goldstein: How many teams feel great about their rotation from 1-5? That’s really hard to do!

171: The fantasy football thing was always interesting to me. I can’t imagine it going the other way, there’s no way that football players are playing fantasy baseball.

Kevin Goldstein: Well, to be fair, fantasy baseball takes an exponentially larger time commitment.

Kevin Goldstein: Ok, entering the final minutes….

AREF: What are your thoughts on Jasson Dominguez? Legit?

Kevin Goldstein: Um . . . just wrote them up on our Yankees list!

Harry: When a new member of a baseball analytics department is hired, do they usually have projects to follow or do they have greater freedom to conduct their own research?

Kevin Goldstein: New? Mostly going to work on existing projects but smart teams are open to ideas from anyone.

PCH: Re: Eric Davis. I look up his baseball reference at least a few times a year.

Kevin Goldstein: You and me both.

TT: What recent player/prospect do you find most similar to Julio Rodriguez progress/future?

Kevin Goldstein: I know people like comps, but I don’t. I think they’re usually forced and unfair to the player. Julio Rodriguez is wonderful and just let him be Julio Rodriguez.

Jeff “Dalton” Wilcox: Does anyone in baseball, besides former players, get hired from non-elite schools?

Kevin Goldstein: They do. It’s not enough, but it’s not zero percent.

Danny C: Guaranteed Contracts drive me crazy. What big item would the players need in return for let’s say contracts not being guaranteed beyond 5 years?

Kevin Goldstein: Not going to happen, nor should it.

Appa Yip Yip: If you were the Blue Jays would you say damn the awkward positional fit and hand a big cheque to Mr. Frederick Freeman.

Kevin Goldstein: Sure.

Matt: How many major league games do you think you’ll go to this year?

Kevin Goldstein: TBD. Lots of variables that just aren’t clearly defined yet.

SJ: Counter point: non guaranteed contracts drive me crazy

Kevin Goldstein: There you go.

Damonte Lade: It’s always interesting when a guy like Lamonte Wade takes off in with a new org. Do you fault the Twins? Credit the Giants? Any thoughts on who might do that this year?

Kevin Goldstein: I give more credit to the acquiring club. Some players just click better somewhere else.

Kramer: do you think MLB could easily clean up the mess in the international marketplace but choose not to

Kevin Goldstein: There is absolutely no easy fix to the international acquisition process.

21jbreen: Think we’ll see larger coaching staffs like the Giants had last year?

Kevin Goldstein: I do think that is the trend, yes.

adambulldog: Do you know how to watch the Caribbean Series on TV? It is surprisingly hard to find anything out.

Kevin Goldstein: It tends to be on ESPN Desportes, if you get that . . .

Dave: Have you been able to source a scouting report on Seiya Suzuki?

Kevin Goldstein: A couple, actually. I think he’s going to be good. Above-average performer in a corner.

Kramer: follow up on international market: it seems like the teams are being shady with dealing with handlers. If the teams followed the rules to the letter of the law couldn’t that clean a lot of it up?  What am I missing?

Kevin Goldstein: Could, but enforcing that is an incredible challenge.

Kevin Goldstein: Ok folks, I gotta get outta here. Thanks for all the great questions and have a great week.