Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 10/17/18

Meg Rowley: Good morning, and welcome to a special Wednesday edition of chats with Meg!

Meg Rowley: Who else is tired? I feel tired!

machado: Do you think Machado’s actions the last two nights will impact his free agency value?

Meg Rowley: I do not.

Meg Rowley: I think he should stop being a bonehead, especially if his preferred method of being a bonehead puts him the neighborhood of potentially injuring other players on the field, but in the end he’s very good at baseball.

Meg Rowley: Lot of dudes who get up to boneheaded stuff end up with big contracts.

mark: Could you see a world where the Rays maximize the trade value of Blake Snell this off-season?

Meg Rowley: You heard it here first: I do not think the Rays will trade Blake Snell.

Meg Rowley: He isn’t even Arb eligible until 2020.

Joe: Hi Meg! Hope you’re having a lovely day.

Meg Rowley: Hey Joe? Back at you pal.

J: With the acknowledgment that the unwritten rules are dumb…shouldn’t someone remind Machado he’s almost about to be a free agent and get possibly $300M so he should do what he can to avoid getting baseballs thrown at him?

Meg Rowley: I guess. I would like to think that Counsell will make clear to the Brewers that throwing at Machado would be very dumb, and it won’t be an issue.

Meg Rowley: Someone could remind him that what he’s doing doesn’t seem great on its own, though.

Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: Appropriate punishment for Machado?

Meg Rowley: The appropriate punishment probably would have been getting tossed from the game he was in.

Meg Rowley: What he did was dumb and not cool but I don’t think rises to the level of meriting suspension. The umpires have the appropriate disciplinary tool at their disposal. They just have to have the will to use it.

Doug: How much has Eovaldi boosted his value this postseason? About how much do you think he’ll get as a free agent?

Meg Rowley: Some amount, and honestly I am not sure. Ask me again next week. It isn’t a bad question, my brain just isn’t in that mode yet.

Meg Rowley: Once my brain gets in that mode, I also have to acknowledge the reality of how long my brain and I have to be in Vegas for Winter Meetings.

Dusty: Hi Meg, have you done any research since we last chatted to be able to provide me an updated scouting report on the Twins Wander Javier? It’s several days. A lot has changed.

Meg Rowley: The worst not-racism-or-harassment parts of the internet are, in order: commitment to bits that don’t work, assigning strangers homework, quote tweeting things with “whoa,” fights over food

Hello: Have the playoffs so far made you more or less gRowley?

Meg Rowley: They have made me supremely happy I don’t live on the east coast. Sorry east coast pals!

Omar Linares: Do you expect the Brewers to drill or takeout slide Machado today?

Meg Rowley: God I hope not.

Meg Rowley: We really ought to encourage better modes of conflict resolution.

Rollie: Who benefits more from the dirty play of Machado, the Brewers or Dodgers? The Crew is clearly fired up, but Kershaw might be able to feast on over-aggressiveness.

Meg Rowley: I don’t think anyone benefits, us least of all.

Airport Banana: Should Manny Machado be allowed to play in game 5?

Meg Rowley: Yes.

jkim: Can Dave Roberts learn the concept of game theory and that he shouldn’t burn thru his matchups thinking that Counsell will not counter the move? Thanks

Meg Rowley: I always wonder what percentage of people who ask questions like this have actually taken much game theory. That is a snarky way to respond, but only a little snarky. I am mostly expressing a genuine curiosity.

Professor Ross Eforp: Are the Astros as big of cheaters as everybody seems to think?

Meg Rowley: Obviously we don’t know all the details yet, but this strikes me, at least initially as a ‘dumb enough to get caught’ kind of situation.

Meg Rowley: I think all teams try to walk the line between being savvy and outright cheating, and I’d imagine most tumble over that line occassionally.

Meg Rowley: Occasionally, even.

Billy Beane: Hey Meg, if Seattle were to get a basketball team again, would it capture your attention?

Meg Rowley: If Seattle were to get an NBA team again, I would like engage, though let us not forget the absolutely incredible team we already have. Truly hashtag blessed to get to watch this season’s championship Storm team. They were incredibly fun.

Bernie Brewer: Meg, the benefits of the Mariners never making the playoffs is you don’t have to feel like you’re waiting for 5 hours for the results of a super important blood test every other night in October.

Meg Rowley: I will say that in chatting with Dodger fan friends of mine during the game, playoff baseball seems kind of terrible if you care about the teams involved.

tb.25: Machado. Throwing his bat, claiming he can us hit as a weapon if needed, and now kicking an ankle. Likely won’t damper his market (teams ignore much worse things *cough Astros*), but what do you think of it?

Meg Rowley: I think that fierce competition often brings out unattractive aspects of our personalities and that knowing that to be a somewhat predictable outcome doesn’t absolve us of the responsibility to not be a jerk.

Meg Rowley: In short, I think he should knock it off.

Airport Banana: I have a confession to make: I don’t think Smoltzy has been THAT annoying in the NLCS. Maybe it’s the power of low expectations, but I’ve been able to mostly tune out the “back in my day” crap and I’ve even learned like one and a half things from him.

Meg Rowley: I think it is good to acknowledge that broadcasting is really, really hard and filling that much time seems like an awful thing to ask of people.

Meg Rowley: My issue with him isn’t so much that he has a preference for how the game should look.

Meg Rowley: I also have aesthetic preferences.

Meg Rowley: I think the mistake comes in refusing to acknowledge that other preferences might exist, and assuming that his individual preference should be the universal preferences.

Meg Rowley: I loved the nerdcast. I also acknowledge that the typical broadcast, while it should absolutely use analytics and avoid narratives like thinking that a batting having gone 5-for-8 against a particular pitcher means something, probably shouldn’t be that analytics heavy, because that isn’t how all fans understand the game.

Meg Rowley: You can have a smart, fun broadcast that strikes a balance, and tries to be broadly appealing.

Meg Rowley: Also Smoltz used irregardless as a word. He is dead to me.

jemile weeks: what up, meg? looking for some advice. v interested in applying for one of the QA jobs that you posted a few weeks back. i am currently a senior in college, studying education, which makes me pretty unqualified. will my application be DOA or is it worth at least trying?

Meg Rowley: I would say that the skills involved are more important than the specific degree. If you can do the work, and can demonstrate that, that’s what is important.

Meg Rowley: Now, there tends to be an overlap between applied math majors and people who can build models. But it isn’t impossible to be a competitive candidate with a different degree. You’ll need to make clear why you’re qualified though.

AKA22: Bad Joey Gallo played before the All Star break, and Good Joey Gallo played afterwards. If he replicates his second half he’ll be a fringe MVP candidate. Do you think he’s turned a corner or just got lucky and will continue to repeat the past couple seasons?

Meg Rowley: I think there is just always likely to be a lot of variance in the performance of guys with his profile.

Meg Rowley: Gallo isn’t just the bat – he’s a goodish defender and a weirdly good baserunner for a guy his size – but the bulk of the value is the bat. He’s not striking out 60% of the time anymore but 35% of the time is still a lot of the time.

Meg Rowley: I will say, he can be good and useful without being an MVP candidate. Lots of guys are.

2-D: Scenario- crossed up catcher blocks umpires view from calling ball/strike. Solution- catcher is allowed to ask for an appeal to the second base umpire ala check swing calls. Thoughts?

Meg Rowley: Maybe I’m thinking about this incorrectly, but in order for the second base ump to see, won’t they be off center? I’m not sure we want that angle determining balls and strikes. They don’t have the benefit of the strike zone box.

Dan: Under what circumstances should a batter with 2 strikes intentionally swing and miss and then immediately sprint to first, in the hope/expectation of beating the throw?

Meg Rowley: A batter with two strikes should never try to strike out imo.

Ryan: What is your stance on pumpkin beer?

Meg Rowley: Some pumpkin beers are good, but many pumpkin beers are sweet. I do not like those pumpkin beers.

Lady Grittle: Is there EVER a time where you’d support a retaliatory HBP? I’m steadfastly against beanball wars normally, but Manny Machado is out there literally trying to hurt multiple Brewers and has yet to face any discipline. Best revenge = Living well, and all that, but if he pulls another dirty move…

Meg Rowley: I never support intentionally hitting a player.

Meg Rowley: It doesn’t deter the behavior you want to deter. It just leads to other dumb behavior that can hurt people.

Archimedes: With fewer balls in play these days, we haven’t yet seen much of a decline in consistent (and and often, impressive!) defensive plays. However, do think if the trend continues long term, we will eventually see fielders getting noticeably worse?

Meg Rowley: I don’t think so. There certainly are fewer balls in play, but on a per game basis, it isn’t a huge or even that noticeable shift.

Devil Ray Jay Johnson: How is it that the Royals won the World Series only three years ago?  And how did that happen?

Meg Rowley: They had a really good bullpen, and also time has moved kind of differently since the year after their victory.

tb.25: After the game last night, how much coffee did it take to get up and ready for this chat?

Meg Rowley: Not a ton more than usual. I am normally awake by 7 and I had the benefit of that game not lasting until 2 AM but it certainly felt late.

Lady Grittle: How much freedom do you think the playoff broadcasters (radio or TV) would have to say something along the lines of, “Osuna should not be allowed to pitch right now, and the Astros were bad for making the move.” ?

Meg Rowley: I think they editorialize all the time, so we should find out.

Meg Rowley: Talking about “clubhouse” culture and “controversy” when discussing that trade is just as much an active editorial decision as saying “This trade was unnecessary” and throwing up a graphic showing how good the rest of that bullpen is.

Derek: At least when Machado goes to the Yankees everyone will already be comfortable with hating him.

Meg Rowley: I think “hate” is strong.

Meg Rowley: Personally, I’m more annoyed and disappointed.

Meg Rowley: I love watching Machado play. I wish that he wasn’t acting like a pill.

Warrior: Meg, am I crazy, or does the mainstream baseball media give Kershaw and the Dodgers more of a pass for their postseason failings than they have afforded traditional East Coast team like the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, etc in the past?  Watching broadcasts of Dodger games, you’d think this team has won three titles.

Meg Rowley: The dominant narrative about the best pitcher of the last 5-10 years is that he is bad in the postseason so I’m not sure I know what you mean.

Cody Bellinger: Is the Brewers bullpen dead?

Meg Rowley: No, they’re just a little tired.

Vladdito: Hi Meg, I think it’s shortsighted and frankly nasty the way teams strategically manipulating players salaries. As a Jays fan not getting to see Vladdy Jr this year was a real let down. But I don’t see any team acting better unless it is forced upon them. I keep reading that arbitration uses tradition stats, but are there set guidelines agreed to with the player’s union? And do you think if more ‘modern’ (sabr-friendly) stats were used in arbitration there would be fewer teams considering openers and/or bullpenning? Thanks!

Meg Rowley: The broad categories of stats allowable are defined in the CBA. For instance, there is language in the most recent CBA that says teams and players can use publicly available advanced stats (FanGraphs, BP, etc) but that teams can’t use Statcast data.

Meg Rowley: But generally yes, I agree that absent a requirement, teams will keep acting this way.

Meg Rowley: Acknowledging that the agency is flawed and underfunded but we don’t rely on Goldman Sachs to regulate itself. We have the SEC for that.

Warrior: Meg, is there any chance that the MLB punishment of the Astros offers specific redress to the Red Sox?  Transfer of draft picks or international signing pool money or anything like that?

Meg Rowley: I would imagine low. When the Yankees and Red Sox had their Apple watch nonsense last year, they paid fines.

Mad in CLE: Well.  At least we now know why HOU gave CLE the beating of a lifetime.  Much easier to hit when you know what’s coming.  This seems to give credence to Bauer’s pine tar claim no?

Meg Rowley: Bauer’s pine tar claim is completely separate and the reports I saw said that sources with Cleveland acknowledged that the signs aren’t why Cleveland lost.

James: Who makes the most sense for the Angels: Happ v Eovaldi? Donaldson v Machado? What is most likely to happen?

Meg Rowley: They need pitching, and I don’t know that they are going to want to play in the Machado market.

Mad in CLE: Throwing at players is not dumb.  It enforces the rules of the game and discourages immature behavior.  Otherwise, we’d end up like the NBA or NFL with grown adults acting like 12 year olds.

Meg Rowley: Yes famously, once one player is thrown at intentionally, all conflict ceases and peace prevails.

Christian: Did the Brewers blow their shot last night now that Hader and presumably half the bullpen might be unavailable today?

Meg Rowley: It isn’t great mind you, but the Dodgers were pretty depleted as well.

Meg Rowley: Granted, they’re likely to get more innings from their starter, but everyone is going to be tired today.

Steve: Here’s something that will help pace of play – don’t let hitters step out of the box. Thoughts? These 4-hour 9-inning games are ridiculous.

Meg Rowley: I don’t think hitters stepping out is why these games are 4 hours, but you are absolutely right that they are a huge part of general delay and we should talk about it more.

Ozzie Ozzie Albies Free: Since you’re a Seattlite, what’s your preferred method of coffee?

Meg Rowley: As long as it isn’t sweet, I’m generally on board.

Meg Rowley: Iced coffee is good. Hot coffee is good. Coffee is good.

AngelusNovus: If a Red Sox – Dodgers World Series becomes a thing, I look forward to the Sale-Machado sideshow. Or really, the Red Sox vs Machado sideshow. As a long time Orioles fan, I can personally attest to the extent to which the Red Sox hate his guts. Reasonably so.

Meg Rowley: This kind of narrative is always the same, which means it is always exhausting.

Matt: Wise Mr Owley, do you think we’re starting to see Hader wear down a little bit? Seemed like he was hittable yesterday even if he wasn’t scored upon.

Meg Rowley: [extreme Jan from the Good Place voice] not a Mr.

Meg Rowley: He doesn’t typically pitch back-to-back. I imagine he’ll rest and look less hittable.

Derek: Has there been a notable postseason fight, or even “altercation”or whatever a step down from fight is, since ’03 Sox-Yankees? Like, even the Chase Utley-Ruben Tejeda thing didn’t really boil over in a big way if I remember correctly. Seems like it would be kind of insane if Machado’s antics lead to something more.

Meg Rowley: There are few things in baseball I find more obviously stupid than postseason fights.

Ryan: do you think Alex Cora is more accepting of whatever cheating transgressions the Astros may or may not be committing, given that he was their bench coach last year and likely knows what might be going on?

Meg Rowley: No, though I am sure that Cora probably knows far better than we do how common this stuff actually is.

Sharkarenado: Which player’s talent and joy in playing the game has been the most fun for you to watch this postseason? For me, it’s been Mookie Betts

Meg Rowley: He has been a delight. Alex Bregman has been a delight.

Fjjdnanzk: Is it bad I’m actively rooting against Boston because I’m still extremely bitter about how they ran Terry Francona on his way out and smeared him terribly shortly afterward? Nothing makes me more ill than that ownership group

Meg Rowley: There are worse reasons to not like a team.

Meg Rowley: All teams are bad, but they are bad in different ways. Well, they all fail to pay their minor leaguers, but otherwise they are bad in different ways, and if one of those different ways resonates more with you than others, I think that is fine.

Glenn T : Are you planning to be in Tokyo for the opening games next March? And/or the all-star tour next month?

Meg Rowley: I would love to go. I have never been to Japan, but have always wanted to go. It isn’t in the budget at the moment, but I hear that the Megamillions jackpot is up to $800 million so maybe then.

Scott: This isn’t an isolated incident for Machado. Everyone in Boston remembers his takedown slides in to defenseless second basemen.

Meg Rowley: Yeah no, definitely let pitchers throw at guys, we are really good at moving on from stuff.

PD: It’s a good thing that the game ended in the 13th for the Dodgers and Urias. As the last pitcher on the staff, how many innings do you think they would have let him pitch before they started worrying about his endurance or reinjury risk?

Meg Rowley: I imagine they were watching mechanics and velo pretty closely, but that was probably going to be true regardless.

Seeforman: Hey Meg! Why do pitchers throw so many “warmup” pitches prior to each inning? In a world obsessed with pitch count, do they really benefit from throwing 8 more pitches each inning? Inquiring minds want to know!

Meg Rowley: It is weird given the warmups they do in the bullpen. I imagine it is habit as much as anything else.

Woad Raider: If the Brewers make the World Series, we get to listen to more Bob Uecker. This is a good thing.

Meg Rowley: This is a good take.

Dan: What do you think the plan will be for the reds this offseason?

Meg Rowley: Dan, this is going to sound much ruder than I mean it to, but I have not thought about the Reds as a franchise since like July.

Joe: Thoughts on Osuna dramatically blowing games for the Astros?

Meg Rowley: I will share the following thoughts, which sort of conflict:

Meg Rowley: First, I laughed very hard. Part of that is that I enjoy Jackie Bradley Jr. very much, but not all of it was that.

Meg Rowley: Second, him blowing a game isn’t karma for abusing the mother of his child. To focus on that is to miss the point, which is that regardless of how he pitches, his presence there is gross. That trade was gross. It was gross and bad.

Meg Rowley: Now, it might be a little bit of karma for the Astros.

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: In what other union do union members intentionally try to injure other union members? Shouldn’t pitchers throw at the opponent’s owners’ box?

Meg Rowley: I imagine every sports league with a union deals with this?

Six Ten: Wasn’t it the obviously right move for the Brewers to walk Bellinger and Grandal in the 13th? Two outs, runner on second, a reliever is has to hit, and conceding one run is no worse than three. Surely Bellinger getting to swing is worse than worrying about another wild pitch.

Meg Rowley: I think I agree.

Harmony: Any chance the Mariners sell high by trading Edwin Diaz and/or Jean Segura to fill more pressing needs? Alex Colome could take over the closer’s role and Dee Gordon could move to shortstop where he played passable defense for 65 innings this year.

Meg Rowley: My sense is that while I might want the Mariners to start a rebuild, there is ownership resistance to that notion.

Meg Rowley: And remember, they would have to get Segura to agree to a deal. He has full no-trade protection in his contract.

brad: with the seemingly fly ball era and adoption of it growing, doesn’t that mean WAR needs to be adjusted to lessen the value of defense,  since there are less balls in play therefore less chances to affect the outcome of the game?  Same for running as well….

Meg Rowley: It doesn’t amount to that many fewer balls in play in any given game, so I’m not sure that it amounts to that many fewer chances. I think we as a community need to think about our theory of baseball defense, if you will, but I think there are other things we aren’t accounting for correctly that have a bigger impact on defensive value than fewer balls in play.

zurzles: I come out of these FS1 games exhausted, like I’ve been personally scolded by two bitter schoolteachers for four hours. Joe brings out the worst in Smoltz.

Meg Rowley: I think this is part of the issue for me.

Meg Rowley: Again, I don’t have a problem with an informed aesthetic preference, even if it is sometimes in defiance of advanced stats. For instance, I wish starters went longer still. I miss that and think it makes for more compelling baseball.

Meg Rowley: But baseball players now are the best they have ever been. Teams are the smartest they have ever been. There is so so so much to like about the game, both generally and in terms of what analytics has brought to it, and those dudes just don’t see that.

yerp: Candy corn or pumpkin candies or both or neither?

Meg Rowley: Neither for me. Too sweet.

Smith : Is Manny Machado costing himself money with his antics and comments?

Meg Rowley: Again, I don’t think so.

Meg Rowley: Being picky about position will likely be a bigger sticking point.

Glenn T : For west coast games with a 5pm start time, announcers always make a big deal about the mound shadows during the first couple innings of the game. How much do the shadows actually affect the game?

Meg Rowley: I think some but that it is hard to know exactly how much.

Nelson: Why are stat-oriented writers so over the top in defending David Prices playoff record? Is it so categorically wrong that he may perform worse under pressure?

Meg Rowley: We are naturally (and rightly) resistant to over-interpreting small samples.

Meg Rowley: I also don’t think it helps the argument about there being guys who are inherently worse in the postseason is mostly just a shrugging gesture at pressure without much in the way of anything to back it.

Scott: Is there any other explanation for the Angels opting out of their lease than trying to shakedown the City of Anaheim?

Meg Rowley: Maybe they think Mike Trout really like Portland or Montreal.

Meg Rowley: (no)

Guest: Meg! I like you chatting at 9 am, you’re a little more early morning grump and snark !

Meg Rowley: I will admit to being tired generally and worn out by some of the recurring bits in the queue specifically

Airport Banana: Do you think all orgs are as callous and results-oriented as the Astros? To ask it another way, how many of the 30 front offices would have have made the Ozuna deal if they were in the same position?

Meg Rowley: The answer is more than one and fewer than 28.

Meg Rowley: All orgs are trying to get an advantage. I know the Astros weren’t the only ones who called on Osuna. I also know there were some orgs that specifically didn’t because of the DV.

Meg Rowley: That doesn’t mean they are fundamentally more moral. I am sure they fail in other ways. There is no ethical sports consumption and we are all going to die.

Meg Rowley: Hey, Happy Hump Day though.

Frankie goes to Glendale: Meg, if you could be a little bird on Jerry Dipoto’s shoulder this offseason (and in this scenario, he listens to little birds), how would you advise the Mariners to get younger and better without burning it down?

Meg Rowley: I have been called worse than a little bird

Meg Rowley: I though Brendan Gawlowski did a really nice job at the Athletic outlining what an all-in strategy might look like.

Meg Rowley: (for subscribers: https://theathletic.com/589544/2018/10/16/examining-mariners-offseason…)

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: The Indians’ players’ comments about the Astros seeming more prepared sure seem different in light of the developments in this Boston-Houston series.

Meg Rowley: They do, though I think a lot of teams do this, or a variation on this theme.

Frankie goes to Glendale: Mariner idea: Paxton to LAD for Verdugo and Urias.  Sign Ryu in free agency.  Adequate?

Meg Rowley: Why not keep Pax and just sign Ryu

Spence: Why are there no openly gay players in Major League Baseball?

Meg Rowley: Some of it is culture. Probably a lot of it is that. But I also think you and I would have a hard time fully comprehending the pressure that would come with that.

pirates hurdles: Meg, you do realize that Goldman Sachs and the SEC are not mutually exclusive? The amount of amount of back and forth hiring between regulatory and financial roles in banking is at least absurd, and likely should be illegal.

Meg Rowley: I worked there for five years, but please tell me more.

Frankie goes to Glendale: I for one am really sorry to see the Marlins sculpture go away.  I thought it had character far beyond the stupid pinstripe uniforms.  Jeter has sold off all the good players and all the silly art.  Wolverine, stage II, complete.

Meg Rowley: It is truly so upsetting.

GirlDad: Meg – life question if you want to take it… My 4-year old girl has independently taken up an interest in baseball. Presumably because she watches me have fun. She says we’re “in the baseball club” and gets quite excited about it…. Recently she posed a question after pondering and looking at the TV screen… “Dad, do girls play baseball?”  It broke my heart that she finally noticed the gender divide.

Any tips for fostering this love? 4-year olds are basically copycats and I’m terrified she’s going to get into something detestable like soccer now instead.

Meg Rowley: I am not a parent, so please take this with a hugeeee grain of salt, but what I would tell my niece is that they don’t yet.

Meg Rowley: And then see how she likes little league.

Meg Rowley: I will say as a daughter, it was super important for me to hear my dad say that it was great for me to like something even if it was dominated by dudes. It made space for passions, even as we acknowledged the realities of the world.

Glenn T : Any rumors about the renaming/branding of Safeco?

Meg Rowley: You know I haven’t heard anything.

Meg Rowley: I feel like Amazon Prime field is sort of inevitable, but I’m personally rooting for Anheuser-Busch (which owns Rainier Beer) to buy it and then call it Rainier Field.

Meg Rowley: Of all the corporate branding exercises, that feels the least icky.

Frankie goes to Glendale: Machado dirty player to NYY is almost inevitable now, right?  That narrative is irresistible, right?

Meg Rowley: “Dirty player” feels strong. But yes, if I had to guess, I think that is where he ends up.

Morbo: Responding to Mad in CLE: I think that throwing at players does serve one positive purpose. It protects your own hitters. If a team knows that throwing inside and hitting an opposing batter is likely to get their star player thrown at and potentially injured, then that team should be less likely to throw inside and miss. Mutually assured destruction as a concept works surprisingly well.

Meg Rowley: This is just absolutely not true.

Meg Rowley: Look at the nonsense that went on between the Red Sox and Baltimore last year.

Meg Rowley: This stuff is dumb and dangerous and almost always escalates.

Reg Mowley : Is Vegas in the winter nice?  Is it cold?  I have no idea what the Las Vegas climate is like, but I assume its hot in the summer.  Could you please report back after the winter meetings?

Meg Rowley: It is less hot than the summer, but it is still Vegas. I am not the target audience for Vegas.

tb.25: Who do you think has the advantage in today’s game? The Dodgers, going Kershaw + everyone who threw last night, or the Brewers, going Wade Miley + two guys not throw last night plus added Davies to replace Gio?

Meg Rowley: I would say Dodgers.

Hello: Do you think hockey fights are stupid too?

Meg Rowley: Yes, though grown men having to sit in timeout is delightful.

He Hate Me: Are the 2018 Red Sox the most underrated 108-win team ever?

Meg Rowley: How would we begin to quantify that?

Frankie goes to Glendale: Kiley was saying that he believes Edwin Diaz to have nearly the trade value of Chris Archer.  If so, and someone offered you the package the Rays got for Archer, would you jump on that in a hot minute?

Meg Rowley: Yes.

Kretin: MLB needs to change the playoff format so that the winning team in each round gets to take a player from the losing team.

Meg Rowley: This is a very good take.

He Hate Me: I haven’t heard anyone comparing the Astros trading for the disgraced Osuna for the stretch run to NYY trading for the disgraced Chapman and parlaying him into Gleyber and change. (And of course the Cubs acquiring him for the stretch run.) This isn’t the first time it’s happened.

Meg Rowley: What are you talking about? We’ve all made that comparison. We’ve all expressed this as another example of the biggest flaw in the current policy.

Meg Rowley: Don’t worry, I have the capacity to be mad at everyone. Me growley after all.

Matt: Conversely, I have been enjoying the AL game broadcasts pretty well. There’s been some flubs here and there, but overall Anderson and Darling have called a good game

Meg Rowley: I think they have been much better though someone needs to sit them down about the Osuna chatter, which has been poorly done.

Smith : Dunkin or Starbucks ?

Meg Rowley: Neither by choice but Starbucks between the two.

Derek: It doesn’t seem like it should be that hard for networks to find announcers that are satisfactory to just about everyone (though maybe it is harder than I am imagining). There are people out there the FanGraphs-skewing audience likes that more casual fans also enjoy (eg. Jason Benetti and basically everyone on the “nerd cast”). So why do they continue to stick with guys like Smoltz? Are there really that many die-hard John Smoltz-as-broadcaster fans that the networks can’t risk alienating them?

Meg Rowley: I think there are a fair number of fans who appreciate his perspective and like his stories. We shouldn’t make the mistake he makes and assume our preferences are universal.

Frankie goes to Glendale: You have to pay to read Brendan, though Meg.

Meg Rowley: Good. Brendan does good work and you should pay for it. You should pay for all work, to be clear, but he does good work.

Archimedes: I greatly enjoyed the TBT piece on stadium names. It is truly impressive that the White Sox managed to choose a stadium name worse than U.S. Cellular Field.

Meg Rowley: One of my favorite things about editing THT is the range of pieces we feature. We go from silly to serious to intense stats in the same week. It’s great.

Morbo: Meg, did you work at Goldman Sachs or the SEC?

Meg Rowley: Goldman.

Meg Rowley: Interned there in college, started full-time in 2008, then left for grad school in 2013.

Mark: Girls play baseball, just not in the major leagues:

Mark: Here’s the Women’s baseball story I meant to include: https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/09/06/womens-baseball-world-cup-usa-japan?…

Meg Rowley: They absolutely do!

Meg Rowley: And more and more.

wooo: Dont know if you do Fantasy questions but I have to cut two of : Ramirez, T.Turner, Blackmon, Hoskins, Acuna(just mentioning) nola, kluber

Meg Rowley: I do not, but the Rotographs guys do!

Chacin the Dream: Meg, you’re great.  Help me feel better.  I’ve rooted for the Brewers my whole life.  I am trying to enjoy the playoffs because they don’t come around too often for small markets.  But I had to go bed in the 11th inning last night.  I watched Machado, got mad, then thought about Braun and Hader and your comment that “no team lives up to its receipts.”  Remind me that this is supposed to be fun?  And that baseball is fun?  I’m feeling pretty bummed about the ethics of being a fan right now.

Meg Rowley: Baseball is rad. Baseball is so rad that it can even withstand this sort of nonsense. I also think it is ok to have your fandom wax and wane. You don’t have to love it every second.

pirates hurdles: Wow you were there during the collapse, I bet you have some stories …

PD: Right in the middle of the crash. Watching Bear Stearns and Lehman crash must have been scary.

Meg Rowley: It was very scary and also, I was so junior and working so much that I don’t think I was able to fully engage with how scary until after.

Meg Rowley: When you get to work at 5 and leave at 11 for like a month, you’re mostly focused on what is in front of you.

Eminor3rd: Re-watching the Machado/Aguilar play. Machado shouldn’t have done it and should knock it off, BUT — I think he pretty clearly was trying to send a message WITHOUT hurting Aguilar. If he was trying to hurt him, he would have spiked him, and that DOES hurt — it used to happen to me when I played 1B in HS/Legion. And Aguilar WAS too far over the bag. So, still a bad way to send a message, but all this talk about intentionally drilling him and him trying to hurt players might be overboard. Boneheaded or not, it seems like he very intentionally did not do the damage he could have done. Just my take.

Meg Rowley: I understand what you are saying, and I saw some descriptions of that moment that were a bit much, but I think it is important to remember that in a scenario like you’re describing, just like with a purpose pitch, you’re relying on both really good execution, and the player judging what the “right” level of hurt is. Both seem so risky as to not be worth it.

Ben: Is there an affordable means for a 20 something to move and live in Seattle or the general PNW at a rate that won’t force them to live on the street

Meg Rowley: Ben, I have bad news. It is horribly expensive in Seattle. It is a little better outside the city, but it really isn’t great. Roommates are your friends.

Josh: 5 to 11?  Dear God.  You seem like a very positive person; how were you able to put up with that?

Meg Rowley: At the time, I remember calling my mom and asking if I could move home if I got laid off because how else was I going to afford New York, and she very wisely said, “Oh honey, you won’t get fired. You’re so cheap compared to everyone else. You’re gonna wish you were fired, though.”

Meg Rowley: Basically moms are always, always right.

Ginny: obviously the TTO epidemic is overblown – but how long do you think these current rates of decreases of balls in play can last before MLB is forced to change something to help hitters?

Meg Rowley: I think it will be a while. I know they talk about it, but again, it seems like an overreaction.

NotGraphs Revivalist: Do you foresee the dropped third strike rule getting, er, dropped? It seems like it was created for a day and age when pitching a ball in the dirt was never intentional.

Meg Rowley: I do not. I expect to be sad about this forever.

M: REALLY don’t want to defend Manny and will not, but getting lost in Manny’s idiocy are two things: leaving an entire foot on the middle of the bag after catching the ball an recording an out as a runner approaches (who does that, really? Stepping off the bag is standard little league instruction) is also not good. And then yelling truly offensive and hateful slurs at Manny is also not a good look for a player on a team that has recently endured a scandal in that area.

Meg Rowley: Sure, though it looked pretty on purpose, which suggests he could have not done it, and I think we should always opt for the thing that doesn’t potentially hurt people.

Meg Rowley: As for the “slurs,” unless I missed a big story, I don’t think we should equate the Brewers players’ swears with what was revealed on Hader’s twitter. They… aren’t the same.

nic: do you think there should be some kind of minimum outs or pitch count for a pitcher once inserted in the game? would rly help speed up the game and eliminate the endless matchup nightmare that is the end of the games. something like either 3 outs or 40 pitches

Meg Rowley: I would rather we enforce the time calling/stepping out of the box stuff first before we monkey with pitching structure that much.

andy: i just wanted to note that i appreciate somebody pointing out that actually, the TTO revolution has changed like, four plays per game, and maybe who cares that much.

Meg Rowley: On a macro scale it is a big shift. I think it is fine and probably prudent to keep an eye on it, and the pace of the game has shifted. But I do think on a per game basis we don’t notice it a ton.

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: The “epithet” was, to the best of my research, Christian Yelich saying “f*ck that motherf*cker.”

Meg Rowley: Yes, that is what I saw. Rude? Oh sure. The same as those tweets. Nope!

!!!: Is there a way for a team to officially register a complaint against the umpires for not enforcing safety rules?  It seems like there needs to be very explicit ways for teams to prevent bad behavior within the rules or they’ll probably go outside the rules to the “unwritten” rules.  Rules!

Meg Rowley: I think (though will admit to not being completely sure) that there is a grievance process for teams with respect to umpires, but I’m not sure they would unless it was something far worse than this.

Meg Rowley: Every team does some bone headed stuff, so I’m not sure they want to open that can of worms.

Tyler: Getting rid of the time calling and stepping out of the box will give an advantage to the pitcher.  Not a big advantage but a hitter needs to be able to mess with a pitchers rythym

Meg Rowley: But not this much.

Meg Rowley: There is a rule around it and it is rarely enforced.

M: Right… like I said: not defending Manny. It was stupid and dangerous and I hate that he did it, but what Aguilar said back was hateful and disgusting, even if it was provoked. And not bringing it up, when it was clearly caught on tape, seems to suggest that this kind of thing is okay.

Meg Rowley: Are you referring to what he said to Manny in Spanish immediately after it happened?

Lee: Alex Bregman is a very good baseball player.  That being said, Mookie Betts is definitely a better baseball player than Alex Bregman.   I bring this up because the TBS broadcast seems to think that Bregman is the second coming of Babe Ruth for some reason and won’t stop talking about him non-stop.

Meg Rowley: He has been very, very good so far and has made some flashy defensive plays.

Tyler: Very true, just saying having something in place to prevent a pitcher quick pitching you is needed.

Meg Rowley: For sure, but we can do better than what we’re doing now.

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Let’s also not forget that the Brewers were dark horse candidates to acquire Machado at the deadline.

Meg Rowley: I don’t know Manny but I can’t imagine he’s mad he isn’t in Milwaukee.

M: Yes. In spanish. See Yuniel Escobar.

Meg Rowley: For better or worse, that sort of stuff (not the content but the mode of communication) likely didn’t register with a primarily English speaking audience.

Joe: Any biggest free agents you see the Mariners making a run at?

Meg Rowley: They could use some starting pitching so I look forward to them giving two years and $17 million to a reliever for some reason.

AKA22: how about instead of behind the plate to call balls and strikes we get robot umpires in the field to enforce the rules. dealing with T1000 would be a good deterrent for Machado to prevent him from sliding illegally

Meg Rowley: Why have none of us learned the lessons of that movie, which is that we should fear the machines and fight their rise for as long as possible.

Babs: Will Cain, Yeli, and Aguilar wake for the next few games?  Yeli is walking, but Cain and Aguilar are having trouble producing when the Brewers need them most.

Meg Rowley: I really do wonder about how competing bits of exhaustion interact with one another. They’ll be tired, sure, but so will pitchers and fielders.

Meg Rowley: I was a little surprised Miley and Kershaw stuck around for that whole game.

Tyler: The pitch clock they use in the Milb is great.  I wish they would us it in MLB.

Meg Rowley: I think we will see that very soon, and I agree. You really don’t notice it.

Meg Rowley: Alright all, I have to get rolling.

Meg Rowley: Wait one more:

Adam: My baseball pet peeve: IBBs count as walks for both the pitcher and hitter, but ‘defensive indifference’ doesn’t result in a stolen base.

Meg Rowley: Can’t steal something that is left out for you.

Meg Rowley: Ok

Meg Rowley: Apologies for what I didn’t get to, and good luck to everyone staying awake at work today!

Meg Rowley: Yay for more baseball, may it avoid boneheadedness today.