Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 10/30/18

Meg Rowley: Hello and welcome to the offseason chat! Boy oh boy, it sure is the offseason.

Nick: What do you see the Cubs doing with Addison Russell? What do *you* think they should do?

Meg Rowley: I think they’ll probably cut and I think that makes good sense.

Meg Rowley: I was never that hype on him as a player, and now I’m even less in on the guy as a person.

Meg Rowley: I’m sure he’ll resurface somewhere, but I don’t expect him to play another game for the Cubs.

Tom in SD: Any chance the Yankees trade Stanton to the Dodgers and sign Harper?

Meg Rowley: That seems unlikely to me.

2-D: To add to your specs conversation, Yuli Gurriel wears glasses in the field but not while hitting.

Meg Rowley: Oh interesting! I am sure there is an obvious answer to the rationale here, but I find it very interesting that you would do one and not the other. Likely has as much to do with the player’s specific vision issue as anything else.

Meg Rowley: As a non-glasses/contacts person, this might also just be a Meg fascination.

Hendrik: Just to balance the Machado hate, I have to say I enjoy his “hustling ain’t for me” attitude. His production speaks for itself and he’s open about it (instead of hauling ass in his walk year and then mailing it in). The lower effort, lower reward attitude is one that I can very much identify with. (Now if he just stopped trying to break 1st basemen’s feet)

Meg Rowley: Machado is such an interesting case. “Hustle” is often code for gross racial stuff. He’s also admitted he doesn’t dial it up to 11 getting down the line. We also know that doesn’t matter most of the time, and he seems to have a good sense of when it does. I think we can take exception to him stepping on a guy or grabbing the second basemen on a slide, while also acknowledging that he probably gets more grief for that than he might if he were a white player.

Meg Rowley: I still don’t think it will have a material impact on his contract.

Meg Rowley: Machado is a super star. He’ll get paid like one.

Meg Rowley: And yes, I think that even having seen the Yankees quotes. Do they think we don’t know an attempt at market softening when we see one?

Ariel Cohen: Bryce Harper to the Phillies, and then the Phills push to sign Machado and some good RPs.  Thoughts?

Meg Rowley: That’s a good expensive team!

Meg Rowley: I wonder if they wait for Arenado though.

bb: Thoughts on John Smoltz’s performance over the past few weeks?

Meg Rowley: I think it is fine to have an aesthetic preference for the game as it was. That isn’t my preference, and I think it misses all the great things baseball is, but if that’s what Smoltz likes, that’s fine. All of us having to listen to that preference antagonize modern baseball? Less fine!

Meg Rowley: I think it is a mistake for him to call postseason games, especially at a time when we’re so sensitive to making the game appealing.

Meg Rowley: There are plenty of players who can provide insight into what it is like to play the game, while striking a better tone.

Meg Rowley: And we don’t have to have player analysts to have a good broadcast.

Meg Rowley: The good news is, there are a lot of great options to improve things. The bad news is, I don’t trust Fox to use any of them.

Guest: I don’t like the Red Sox 🙁

Meg Rowley: Sorry, buddy. They’re really not going anywhere.

Ryan: Chris Taylor, Keibert Ruiz, and Julio Urias for Jacob DeGrom.  The Dodgers deal from positions of strength (Major-League infield depth and Minor-League catching depth),  while also acquiring an immediate and substantial upgrade for their rotation in the next two years.  The Mets, meanwhile, fill one of their  infield holes and acquire two potentially impactful players whose extra years of control compared to DeGrom are better aligned with their likely competitive window.   Reasonable?

Meg Rowley: Feels light to me. Taylor is certainly good, but I doubt that feels like a slam dunk, Urias is building back up to being a starter.

Meg Rowley: The Mets could be alright if you squint and most of that will be the pitching being good and healthy.

Pat’s Bat: Here’s a not implausible scenario:  the 2019 Phillies make the playoffs.  Rhys Hoskins is one of several NL hitters with a legitimate MVP case, but he plays left field “defense” like he did in 2018.  Does it hurt his MVP candidacy or do voters give him some credit for playing out of his natural position?

Meg Rowley: Depends on how good a hitter he is relative to others (duh) but I think you probably don’t want to give voters tiebreakers vs. other players, and I’m not sure the credit he receives for the Phillies defensive indifference outweighs that.

CamdenWarehouse: Could I humbly request that any of the big offseason pieces like the top free agents be linked in the Essential Articles section of the home page? I find myself going back to them all winter. Thanks!

Meg Rowley: I’ll ask!

Trent: The Dodgers remained under the CBT threshold this year presumably to spend heavily in free agency, but which targets are good fits for their roster?  They are crowded in both the infield and the outfield, thus making Harper and Machado awkward fits; and even without Ryu or Kershaw, they would have Hill, Wood, Maeda, Urias, and Stripling as SP options.  Do they end up spending heavily on FA relievers to address their bullpen’s playoff struggles?

Meg Rowley: I imagine it’ll be starting pitching, with some relievers thrown in. That market sure doesn’t look like it once did, huh?

Matt: How significant of an overhaul does the Cubs lineup require? Outside of Bryce , are there any obvious fits?

Meg Rowley: They need some pitching imo.

Marz: Thoughts on Fox running ads in between pitches during the World Series? Possibly related sub-question: is everything horrible now, or is it just that I’m getting old and the world is leaving me behind?

Meg Rowley: So, if it shortened commercial breaks, I don’t mind them putting a Duracell ad over a warm up toss, but I doubt the one replaces the other.

Oden: Hi Meg, saw your tweet–I don’t think that Machado will make a lot this offseason, as he doesn’t even have a job.   But could you speculate much you think he’ll make over the course of his next contract?  Thanks!

Meg Rowley: The snark is somewhat undermined by the two-space after a period decision, but! I think between $300-$350 million.

tb.25: Where do you think the Mariners go from this season? They have many mid-20’s players on the roster, but their best players are aging or leaving (Cano, Cruz, Seager). With depleted farm, they’d have to spend money on FA to improve, but just had 89 wins (but in a crowded AL)

Meg Rowley: I think the annoying answer for Mariners fans is that they stand pat, let Cruz sign elsewhere (I think Houston is the likely destination personally), maybe pick up another reliever on a $17 million, 2 year contract for some dumb reason, a starter or two on a rebound, and hope 89-92 wins is enough.

Meg Rowley: I expect Seager will be better next year, unless the age-30 drop off is immutable, and they’ll roll the dice.

Meg Rowley: I think they should trade everything that isn’t nailed down, but it doesn’t seem like ownership is in on a rebuild yet.

Lawrence: If Kershaw opts out, are the Astros a likely destination?  He is from Texas (albeit Dallas, not Houston), and the Astros have in past years revitalized the careers of other older pitchers (e.g., Verlander).  Houston also has available rotation spots, with Morton and Keuchel likely to depart in free agency and McCullers potentially missing time due to injury.

Meg Rowley: I really just think he ends up back in LA.

2-D: Any sympathy for Dodger fans? As a Mariners’ fan I can understand you saying “hold my beer”, but winning the division six straight years and getting dumped every time has to be tough.

Meg Rowley: Losing is never fun, no matter the success your favorite team has enjoyed. As long as people have some perspective on their relative good fortune, I see no reason not to have sympathy for their disappointments.

Thomas: The Reds made the list of favorites to sign Clayton Kershaw if he opts out (see https://www.actionnetwork.com/mlb/2018-mlb-free-agency-odds-bryce-harp… won’t happen, but what is the rationale for such a signing on the part of the Reds?  And for Kershaw?

Meg Rowley: I guess for the Reds it would be “Hey, we get to have Clayton Kershaw play for us.” There is no rationale for Kershaw doing that unless the contract was absurdly rich, and even then, I think he wants a ring and a chance to get the postseason monkey off his back.

Meg Rowley: This is the silly season, when a lot of silly teams are listed with FA they’ll have no chance at signing.

Meg Rowley: Silly can be fun, as long as we don’t mistake it for serious!

Super Benintendo : I will begin this by noting that I am not sure of the answer myself, but my perception is that MLB baseball players are far less likely to voice their political opinion than say, an NBA player or NFL player. Is this because baseball has long been the province of white privileged players (even now) and there is less desire to subvert the status quo? Or are their “unwritten rules” governing this “in the clubhouse”? (Stick to the script, Scotty….)

I know that there are exceptions to this and that some former players (Schilling, Chipper Jones, etc.) are more outspoken politically … and I know that we have incidents like Adam Jones being the target of racial slurs in Boston and the outspoken response to that … but … on the whole, I am surprised that even in 2018 when so many athletes are sharing their thoughts on politics … baseball players, on the whole, remain mostly silent.

Meg Rowley: I think it is a lot of things. For one, I imagine that the relative dearth of African American players has a chilling effect on protest and political action. I know that Adam Jones has specifically mentioned that in the past.

Meg Rowley: Which I don’t say meaning to suggest that it has been “easy” for black players in the NFL to protest. Clearly, there have been severe career consequences for their protests of police brutality.

Meg Rowley: But I imagine it is even more isolating when the majority of players are white.

Meg Rowley: There are some who are starting to speak up more. Sean Doolittle is a good example; Jon Lester was a pleasant surprise in his response to the rash of racist and homophobic tweets we learned of earlier in the season (surprising because he hadn’t really spoken out more before).

Meg Rowley: But that the most outspoken MLB players are guys like Trevor Bauer speaks to the sport’s conservative bent.

Meg Rowley: Both in its fan base, which skews older and whiter, and in its player pool.

tknup: With a LH power bat and a few decent LH relievers, is it feasibe for the Cardinals to catch the Brewers and Cubs?

Meg Rowley: I think it’s too early to tell. A lot will depend on the upgrades those clubs make. I think both will seek to get better themselves.

stever20: game 3 of the World Series.  Where does it rate for you in all time crazy games?

Meg Rowley: Very “crazy,” weirdly not specifically memorable though.

Meg Rowley: The stakes are never higher than they are in extras in the playoffs, but your anxiety is anticipatory more than it is tied to the action on the field.

Adam: Obviously a lot can change in the off season, but which non-playoff team(s) from the AL do you think can sneak into October next year?

Meg Rowley: Rays if the pitching stabilizes.

trevise-en: Do you have a take on Brodie Van Wagenen? The Mets just being the Mets, or method to or beyond their madness?

Matt: In Brodie we trust? It’s gonna be weird mentally attributing all future Mets moves to Jason Lee’s character in Mallrats. But there should be some good headline fodder at least – Brodeo, Bro-down, maybe someday he’ll be caught up in an im-bro-glio? Considering it’s the Mets I can guarantee he’ll get cuaght up in one of those.

Meg Rowley: I will not pretend I know enough about his approach to say. I think we shouldn’t dismiss the conflict of interest concerns. Out of the box hires can be great, but also carry a lot of risk, and I’m a bit surprised they signed up for that.

Meg Rowley: Also boy did it seem like no one wanted that job.

Guest: Do you think everyone was really pitch tipping, or was it cover for “he’ll bounce back/he worked on some mechanics”?

Meg Rowley: I think pitch tipping happens, but is also overreported.

Roger: Should fans of diversity be rooting for none of the Mets, Orioles, or Giants to hire Ng as General Manager?  Placing anyone in such a toxic situation seems like a recipe for failure, allowing bigots to blame Ng’s sex as a reason for the team’s struggles.  Let’s hope for a better GM opening for her elsewhere.

Meg Rowley: This is such a tricky one.

Meg Rowley: I think it is clear that Kim Ng is qualified to be a GM. I think it would super suck to be the GM of the Mets (she won’t be, so that is good). I think if she wants to be a GM, she should get to be a GM. I don’t think she is obligated to be one though. She has an amazing job at MLB. Being a GM would be a step down for her in a sense.

Meg Rowley: There is a generation of young female analysts and scouts that will be the pipeline for future GM roles, and while the pool is shallower than it should be now, it isn’t so shallow that Kim is the only name we could mention in these conversations, though again, she is very qualified.

Meg Rowley: That her’s is the only name we ever hear is a testament to the game’s failings on these questions.

stever20: Do you think Kershaw opts out?  Is he still a Dodger in ’19?

Meg Rowley: I think he opts out but they work up a new deal.

buntcake: feels like the non-dodger teams in the nl west are going to have a tough 2-3 yr window of contention.  giants core is aging.  dbacks are losing some key pieces.  rockies don’t know how to spend.  padres have interesting parts but feel like 2-3 years away.

Meg Rowley: I think this is largely right. Rockies and Padres are going to be the biggest issues for them, but the Padres are, as you noted, not there yet, and Rockies are just a weird team.

My Name Isn’t Earl: Hi Meg! I love this point in the season when the free agent rumour mill really kicks in. Do you think Eric Hosmer’s performance will deter teams from agreeing lengthy contacts this winter? (Harper and Machado aside)

Meg Rowley: I don’t think the other 29 teams are under the impression that was a good deal that went badly.

Meg Rowley: I think they thought it was a bad deal at the time, and are probably looking at it like, yup we were right. I don’t think it will factor.

Sharkarenado: I completely agree with you that the “not hustling” moniker is often a cover for disgusting racist opinion. And, I get that a player risking injury on a routine ground ball doesn’t make sense. But, am I off-track for thinking that the World Series is a time that everyone should be running as hard as they can? I can’t imagine that Justin Turner wouldn’t have been criticized just as thoroughly as Machado was had he done the same, but maybe I’m engaging in wishful self-deception, there.

Meg Rowley: Eh, I don’t know. When Machado laid down a bunt, he hustled. I don’t think there were close plays he lost out on that would have gone differently had he legged it out.

Scuffy Mcgee: As a Dodgers fan I had to listen to John Smoltz bash them for 3 rounds. I’m starting to believe their collective approach at the plate is too flawed to win a championship. Is that just from listening to all the propaganda from cranky John?

Meg Rowley: The Dodgers had the highest offensive WAR of any team in the majors. They were tied with the Yankees for the best team wRC+ (111). They had the third highest wOBA.

Meg Rowley: I don’t know if I’d call it propaganda, but Smoltz missed the mark on this one.

NotGraphs Revivalist: Any chance Houston goes after Harper? Do they have the payroll for him?

Meg Rowley: (whispers: every team has the payroll for Harper if they put their minds to it)

Meg Rowley: They don’t strike me as the most likely landing place for him. At some point, they’re going to have to do deals for Bregman and Correa, and they might need pitching more with some of their own FA hitting the market.

stever20: if Kershaw left, would a factor in where he went be not having to bat in the AL?

Meg Rowley: I can’t imagine that would matter too much.

Meg Rowley: Though I do wish more guys would talk about their decision making in FA.

Meg Rowley: It’s mostly about money and the chance to win a ring, but there are other factors.

Freduardo Freeman: Your take on John smoltz ability in the broadcast booth is way off in my opinion. Sure he comes from a different generation, but he is on point with everything he says. He is knowledgeable, credible, and self aware enough not to continually make it about himself with “Back in my day…” comments. I think your response to the earlier question hits the nail on the head when you mention being “sensitive”. That’s the problem with the world these days. Sensitivity.

Meg Rowley: He doesn’t strike me as particularly self-aware and his approach to discuss analytics and modern game strategy isn’t especially knowledgable. And what’s more, his tone is one of disapproval for the game writ large. There is a place for fretting about the game’s current state and future, but his insistence that his version of the game should be all of ours rankles.

Meg Rowley: And I’m not sure how you look at the state of the world and wish people were less sensitive to the concerns of others. We’re already operating at a deficit.

NotGraphs Revivalist: Do you have a spreadsheet of which Chatters you like and which ones you don’t like? Like, is there a Google Doc circulating the FG staff with copy and paste snippets you don’t like under the column “Watch Out For ___” and snippets you like under the column “Post more comments from ___ to encourage future attendance?”

Meg Rowley: Nah, nothing that organized. Most of our readers are great, and ask good engaging questions.

Meg Rowley: Having made my point about recurring bits that don’t work well, I’m endeavoring to not indulge the questions that are obnoxious.

FIP rules: Do you think we’ll see pretty much the same postseason qualifiers in the AL again next season? I feel like the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros and Indians are so much better than the rest it’s hard to see past them again.

Meg Rowley: There always the possibility that a team has a weird off year we don’t see coming (Hello, 2015 and 2018 Nationals! Good to see you, 2015 Red Sox)

Meg Rowley: And sometimes a team surprises the other way, which could force one of those teams into a Wild Card slot. But yeah, I expect all of those teams to be back.

Meg Rowley: Especially Cleveland.

The Old Buccaneer: Will you be going to the Winter Meetings this year? Have you been before?

Meg Rowley: I am going. I think the majority of the full-time FanGraphs staff will be there.

Meg Rowley: Because we all live in different places, these big industry events are a good chance for us to all come together.

Meg Rowley: But no, I’ve never been.

Meg Rowley: I wasn’t a full-time writer/editor in the past, and I’ve never had the ambition to work for a team, so there wasn’t much point in me going.

RJDR8: I think weirdly not specifically memorable would aptly describe the playoffs this season

Meg Rowley: They were sort of down as a whole, huh? Couple of very good games but a bit bland.

Carson Cistulli’s Moustache: Why shouldn’t the Mariners give Bryce Harper a 15 year, bazillion dollar contract?

Meg Rowley: I guess if you were going to spend that much, I’d rather they throw it at pitching. They need pitching. Oh my god, have you seen this non-Paxton pitching they have? Yeesh.

Meg Rowley: But if they are going to spend big, why not both?

Meg Rowley: They won’t do both.

Meg Rowley: They won’t do either.

Meg Rowley: The 2019 Mariners: These are largely the same Mariners

Tom in SD: Part of the difference between baseball players and other athletes when  it comes to expressing political opinions might also be attributable to the differences in the sports when it comes to college education which most baseball players do not have.

Meg Rowley: Would strongly caution against the idea that protest is the exclusive province of the college educated or that the college educated necessarily protest.

The Old Buccaneer: Are the Giants really viewed as a toxic situation? Maybe a tough one, but they probably wouldn’t have an opening if it weren’t. Calling it toxic and pumping it in with the O’s and Mets seems unduly harsh.

Meg Rowley: I don’t think toxic, but certainly in flux and as you note, quite tough.

Lou: Last time I checked white players make up 59% of MLB players vs 64% of the general labor pool.  MLB has the highest participation of Latino and Asian players out of the major US sports leagues.

Meg Rowley: This is true. It also true that the proportion of American born players of color is much lower in baseball than it is in say football or basketball, which I think is part of why we see less protest of US social and political issues. Not the only factor, but an important one.

Super Benintendo : Much has been made of Dombrowski’s “win now” move to trade a fistful of prospects for Sale (and other similar trades in the past) … will the Sox winning the Series affect the market at all for older players as a result?

Meg Rowley: I think the market for premium talent will always be there. I don’t think them winning is making anyone reconsider why Logan Morrison went unsigned for so long.

Johnny Coconuts: Is the Red Sox playing New York, New York after their victory too petty? I personally loved it but would love to hear your take.

Meg Rowley: I find it very younger siblingish, but I also am not entrenched in that rivalry.

Preston: How reliable are framing metrics today?

Meg Rowley: I think they do a good job of indicating who is good and who is bad. I am a touch skeptical of some of the year-to-year fluctuations and the spread of runs we see from the best to the worst. So pretty good, but not perfect.

Andy: Bryce Harper in Colorado would be an epic sight.  I know it won’t happen, but think about those poor, poor baseballs…

Meg Rowley: This is why I wanted the Rockies to trade for Giancarlo.

Normal Game: have you seen / do you remember the first episode of Deep Space Nine where Sisko gets trapped in his own mind by an alien and has to justify human life to escape, and he starts using baseball to explain linear time to the alien, and the alien is like “dude what”

Meg Rowley: I have seen, but don’t clearly remember. I am due for a DS9 rewatch. Maybe I’ll do that after my Twin Peaks rewatch.

Meg Rowley: I’m as cool as I want to be is I think the takeaway here.

stever20: Chris Sale.  What do you make of his usage in the World Series?   It seemed kind of strange didn’t it?

Meg Rowley: Seemed like his shoulder was a problem.

trevise-en: I fully agree with your assessment of Kim Ng’s qualifications. I’m an Orioles fans and I’m in full support of the Orioles hiring her for either the POBO or GM slots. Besides, they definitely need a massive change in culture, which she would positively represent. Little to no minorities in the Executive and upper management levels. Alas, I think they will continue to be dysfunctional and stick with “pale & male patriarchy.” So they’ll probably hire Ben Cherington or Chaim Bloom.

Meg Rowley: I don’t know the non-headline members of the org well enough to speak to how well or poorly they hire diverse candidates. They do have Sarah Gelles, who is their Director of Analytics & Major League Contracts, in house already and she is wonderful and very sharp.

Meg Rowley: I think the bigger point here is that if Kim Ng wants to be a GM, she should get a shot, but if she is the only name we know, we still have a long way to go in having better representation of women and people of color in prominent front office roles.

Meg Rowley: If you want to feel encouraged, I do know a number of teams who are making this a priority. Not just because they think open, fair hiring practices are the right thing to do, but because they know they are missing out on a ton of talent now.

Strelok: will the Giants finally commit to the rebuild they need to do or will they pretend like they can compete

Meg Rowley: Really hard to say until GM hiring is done, but I expect a rebuild.

2-D: Which reliever is going to have the most will he/won’t he start next year talk around him this offseason?

Meg Rowley: Probably Woodruff, right?

HammerofOmicron: Where do you stand on the David Price sucks in the playoffs narrative? He has 99 ip in the playoffs, 4.62 ERA, 8.2 k/9 and 2.5 BB/9. I’m seeing lot of posts on ig etc about needing to change the narrative that he sucks in the playoffs, I think he’s just meh.

Meg Rowley: I think the “he has been less good in the playoffs” reality get’s translated into a “he’s incapable of being good in the playoffs” narrative. That second bit is just silly.

Meg Rowley: I am very happy for him.

Meg Rowley: I can’t imagine how crappy it must feel to have that stuff hang around you.

The Old Buccaneer: Is there an aspect of the off-season you’d specifically like to focus on for your writing or is it going to come down to how team hirings and player acquisitions play out?

Meg Rowley: I love offseason writing. You can get so weird in offseason writing and commenters are like, “Yeah, wild out.”

2-D: What do you think of Halloween? Are you going to dress up?

Meg Rowley: I bought a lot of Halloween candy to give out. Halloween is good. Very weird holiday, but good. I will not be dressing up.

Sinatra: Aaron Judge played “New York, New York” by the Red Sox clubhouse after New York won the 2nd game of the series.

Meg Rowley: He did do that, yes.

Meg Rowley: This is not a dig at Judge, or at the Red Sox for their Yankees suck stuff more than anyone else, but I find it interesting how often we embrace pettiness.

Ola : Has Matt Kemp recouped any trade value?

Meg Rowley: Sure, some. He was much better this year than I expected that’s for sure.

Ghost of Ned Yost: The Red Sox winning with the Dealing Dom seems troubling to me. I think that in 3 years the Sox are going to be terrible terrible, not in the be awful get high picks sort of way but the bottom third but no top picks type of way. He took his shot and won but they might have the worst farm system in baseball and will have a lot of aging contracts. I know they won and they deserve all the credit in the world but I can’t help but wonder if this window they are in might have come at a really high expense. I guess it comes down to what you want that one championship or years of prolonged success. Seems to me the Red Sox aren’t as set up for prolonged success as the Yankees, Dodgers or Astros.

Meg Rowley: I get this concern, I guess, though Ghost of Ned Yost, they literally just won the World Series.

Meg Rowley: Like, they did the thing that we all get excited about!

hol up: Red Sox got hot at the right time, and were hot pretty much all season, but am I wrong to think they weren’t better than the astros based on projections?

Meg Rowley: Their baseruns record was worse but not by a ton.

Meg Rowley: I think it was like four wins?

Guest: What kind of deal does Andrew Miller get?

Meg Rowley: Not as big a one as I want him to, and I am so damn bummed about it.

Meg Rowley: Andrew Miller is one of my favorite players. His free agency ended up being terribly timed.

Meg Rowley: I am sad.

RJDR8: Do you think wealth disparity will ever not be a factor in working in baseball? Even beyond all the clear and obvious neglect towards hirings of women and POC, teams don’t really make it easy for anyone who lacks sustainable wealth/privilege to relocate and intern for a new team once a year and fend for themselves on pay that ranges $8.50-$14 an hour. And then after the season, it’s back to working part time jobs to keep the lights on.  I tried it and couldn’t afford to keep up, I’ve had friends who have gone through the same things. I know “paying dues” is a thing, but I think teams, even as they diversify their front office staff, still allows this system that makes it immensely difficult for anyone without security to jump through all the required hoops for more than a year, if that.

Meg Rowley: It’s a big problem, especially when you consider what folks with the skillset analytics departments hire for could make working in tech or finance.

Meg Rowley: Also, controversial take: “paying dues” shouldn’t be a thing. Will you make less than people who are more senior, with more responsibility and experience? Yes. That is fine. But everyone should be able to live on their full-time job, especially when you consider front office hours, which are brutal.

stever20: If you are the Red Sox right now- do you try to extend Sale now, or do you wait until next year and see how his shoulder is doing?  They picked up his 15 million dollar option for ’19.

Meg Rowley: I think they probably wait. They also probably know a lot more than we do even now.

TKDC: Do you think players are more choosing teams to “win a ring” or that they think teams that are good are probably well-run overall and everyone would rather work for a well-run company than a not well-run company. I mean, the Mets and the Cardinals might have similar World Series odds, but would anyone rather play for the Mets (putting aside living in NYC v. St. Louis)?

Meg Rowley: I think they can select on both things.

James: Sounds like Andrew Miller is a perfect fit for the Mariners based on your 2:20 and 3:17 – 3:18 comments

Meg Rowley: This will not happen but man do I want this to happen.

Strelok: what am I supposed to do for the next 5 months until baseball comes back

Meg Rowley: Read!

Meg Rowley: The best thing about the offseason is getting to read more. Oh man. I am so excited to read.

Rockie Dangerfield: Do you think the Rockies put a QO on Ottavino?  And do you think he takes it?  His month-to-month trends last season don’t paint a pretty picture going forward, but his overall line was excellent, especially among this year’s FA crop.

Meg Rowley: No, because I think he’d maybe take it? Hmmm. Need to noodle on that one more.

TKDC: John Smoltz’s crankiness to a fan might be biased by the broadcast they normally listen to. As a Braves fan who listens to Joe Simpson and Chip Carey, Smoltz does not seem like a crank. But perhaps that is only by comparison.

Meg Rowley: This is good to remember, I suppose. Though I don’t want baseball’s biggest audience to get “good compared to worse” either.

NotGraphs Revivalist: Another great thing to do in the offseason if you’re an East Coaster is go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Meg Rowley: I do not want more people to move to Seattle because stuff is already too damn expensive, but boy is a West Coast schedule good.

Meg Rowley: Though Mountain time is really where it’s at for playoff games.

breakbot: Weird since they just got eliminated, and they weren’t exactly what we expected, but are the Yankees ridiculously set-up for the next couple years? I mean if they won 100 this year, what can they add with positive regression from Sanchez, 1b, etc and some fresh pitching. Just curious if I should temper my expectations

Meg Rowley: I think they will be very good going forward, and they are primed to spend.

TBRays: Think we could sign Marwin Gonzalez or Steve Pearce?

Meg Rowley: Sure!

Jackson C.: The beautiful thing about the postseason being over is that we can stop talking about ridiculously small sample size stats. I don’t care that Manny Machado is 14 for 44 with 5 home runs against David Price. That doesn’t mean anything. Especially when you could show meaningful numbers instead like platoon splits or something.

Meg Rowley: It is a goofy thing, for sure.

Meg Rowley: Long Live the Nerdcast imo.

Lunar verLander: re. will he / won’t he start: Astros have some intriguing options in their pen (Peacock, McHugh) who could start

Meg Rowley: This is true. Those guys found a new level of effectiveness out of the pen, which Houston has to like.

Meg Rowley: We really did not talk enough about McHugh’s season.

Meg Rowley: 1.99 ERA, 2.72 FIP

Meg Rowley: 33.2% K rate.

Meg Rowley: He was v. good.

Meg Rowley: Also, plays or used to play the clarinet.

Matt: Lost in all the talk about Buck & Smoltz is that I think Anderson & Darling did a pretty good job for TBS. Some missteps here and there, but I enjoyed their work. Also, Fox would do well to swap Buck in to a studio role and put Kevin Burkhart in the booth. As any Mets fan will tell you, KB is the best.

Meg Rowley: I was pretty meh on the Anderson/Darling booth personally. Not bad (mostly), not memorable, though I guess that’s its own skill. I think they should let Joe Davis do more.

Guest: Do you think there is any chance that the Dodgers keep Grandal seeing as their farm catchers aren’t ready to start yet and Barnes isn’t generally thought of as an everyday starter

Meg Rowley: I expect he’ll end up elsewhere.

Matt: I think in spite of the dealin’ dom reputation, Dombrowski did a good job of identifying who were core pieces he shouldn’t trade (The OFers and Bogaerts), and who were prospects that would take a long time to develop and may not have that opportunity on a championship-contending team (Moncada, especially). And the guys he brought in like Sale are still fairly young.

Meg Rowley: I like what they did. It was smart, and he wasn’t afraid to spend. And they literally won a World Series. They’ll be in line for the playoff again next year.

Eminor3rd: You hyped for the MLB/NPB All-Star series coming up? Both rosters are very light on pitching, but some fun position players for sure.

Meg Rowley: I am, though I hope they rebroadcast those games at a time when I am awake so I can see them.

Meg Rowley: Alright everyone, I have to get going.

Meg Rowley: Thanks for the questions, and I’m sorry for what I didn’t get to. Have a great rest of your week!