Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 8/7/19

Meg Rowley: Hello, and welcome to a Wednesday Meg chat.

Meg Rowley: This one isn’t likely to go overly long, as I have a pretty gnarly head cold and have to head to the ballpark later.

Meg Rowley: But for now, a chat! Let’s get started.

Rich K: Hi Meg.  Hope you feel better soon.  Are you chatting on Wednesdays now?  I thought you were on Tuesdays. . . .

Meg Rowley: I normally am — Dan had a conflict on Monday, which pushed him to Tuesday, which pushed me to today. I don’t know how, but eventually this ends with someone at FanGraphs being next in the constitutional line of succession. Should be back to normal next week.

Nahtan: If the season ended today, would you vote for Yelich or Belli as NL MVP (and why)?

Meg Rowley: Sorry, was doing a little air traffic control on the editorial side

Meg Rowley: ok, yeesh what a question

Meg Rowley: what a good question, but a hard one

Meg Rowley: they are effectively tied in WAR, and wRC+; Yelich gets the baserunning edge, while Bellinger gets credit for the positional versatility

Meg Rowley: I think I’d be inclined to pick Bellinger, because I think that positional versatility is really valuable, but it is so stinkin’ close that I would not begrudge a Yelich pick

Meg Rowley: So maybe just make Trout MVP of both leagues?

Bo: So… Might we end up with the four-team race we all expected in the NL East after all?

Meg Rowley: It’s definitely officially Exciting in my opinion. I think the Mets are playing above their heads, but also, they got Stroman, and their remaining schedule isn’t that bad, I don’t think. I still think this is Atlanta’s to lose, and if they do, the Nationals are the beneficiaries, but it is cool that it at least feels like a contest.

Jobu: How is Marte’s season making Mariners fans feel? Fire Dipoto?

Meg Rowley: I’m thrilled for him — was checking in on his monthly splits the other day, and to see him sustain this, is just really, really cool

Meg Rowley: that dude played through mono for Seattle — Marte Parté forever imo

Tim: Yay we’re chatting! How excited should I be about Dustin Mays future?

Meg Rowley: I think fairly — I know that start wasn’t amazing but the dude’s exciting, and that curve ball is very tough

Kiley McDaniel: top 3 soups for a head cold?

Meg Rowley: chicken noodle, vegetable, and minestrone

Meg Rowley: I don’t like creamier soups for a headcold

Meg Rowley: oh and hot and sour soup

Meg Rowley: oh and just pho generally

Meg Rowley: pho and hot/sour are in a slightly different category called “actual medicine”

Brodie Van Wagenen: Should I pick up Brad Brach or Greg Holland?

Meg Rowley: Not without asking first.

Plac Zesac: How do you foresee the Indians playoff rotation shaking out (assuming they make it that far)?  If Kluber comes back in September and doesn’t look like his old self, do they give the ball to Clevinger or Bieber in Game 1?  If neither Kluber or Carrasco are back and able to start, what do the Tribe do?

Meg Rowley: I’d go Bieber 1, Clevinger 2 if Kluber isn’t himself or is unavailable due to injury

nat: May make a feature request? Eric and Kiley are always talking about how they update prospect news on Twitter. But I don’t use Twitter. What about a sidebar or widget somewhere on the main page with the most recent tweets from them embedded?

Meg Rowley: That’s a good suggestion for the home page — in the meantime, I’d suggest book marking our dedicated prospect page. It has exactly that feature! https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/

Kyle A: Who could us Mariner fans expect to see called up as the season winds down?

Meg Rowley: Would be nice if Ian Miller got a shot, would think Jake Fraley, provided the injury stuff gets worked out, Sheff maybe… I don’t say this with inside info, but it would sure be neat to see Kyle Lewis up in Seattle.

David: Can you provide the expected DRS/UZR for Scout is a Mariner infielder? Better or worse than Beckham.

Meg Rowley: Gold glover, very good pup, instant celeb

lanky joe: giants are back to losing again. how much are they going to regret not selling harder at the deadline? madison bumgarner might well have re-signed in sf either way, but what good does will smith do them?

Meg Rowley: So, assuming that the decision to hold some chips was an ownership call, which is what I’ve heard, I think they did about as well as they could given the circumstances. I’m sure they would have loved to sell off in the baseball ops group, because I’m sure they were aware this was a possibility, but also, there are worse things than giving your fans something to feel excited about.

Fungraffs: There was a poll question on Twitter today about you’d rather have the Padres’ or the Mets’ next 10 years. Am I being overly contrarian to say I’d take the Mets? They’re probably going to carry a higher payroll, are probably better right now and for the next year or two at least, and don’t play in a division with the Dodgers.

Meg Rowley: Padres for sure — I know the market is smaller but from a payroll perspective, they’ve appeared both more willing to spend and savvier about it (I know you’re going to bring up Hosmer but shhhh, Machado makes up for it), their farm is stacked, they have some really intriguing/good players on the 25-man, and they aren’t owned by the Wilpons.

Meg Rowley: Sure you have to contend with the Dodgers, but it isn’t like the East is an easy division, and with their prospects, they might give LA a run for their money in a year or two.

Marc: Hey, is the meetup at Meadhall for 21+ only? I’d love to come but I’m young by a month

Meg Rowley: Nope, all ages are welcome. Hope to see you there!

Billy Beane: Hello Ms. Rowley,

I would like to lodge an Official Complaint.

I recently became an ad-free member of your baseball website, FanGraphs(dot)com. I did this because you produce generally excellent work and I make extensive use of your statistics both for pleasure and also for research. (Note: I enjoy the research, so you could also describe this as pleasurable.) Not one day after I became such a member, you began to sing the Muppets song ‘Mah-na Mah-na’ on your podcast and now I have it stuck in my head. I don’t even know that song! I will continue my ad-free membership but I thought it should be shared with someone of your stature with the site, but I did not think it rose to the level of a complaint to David Appleman. (Note: I do not actually know if he is taller than you, I mean that he is the founder and you are the managing editor {Though I suspect he is also taller than you}).

In closing, thank you for the great content, but not for singing ‘Meh-na Meh-na’.

Meg Rowley: Please direct all complaints to Sam Miller.

Bread Gardner: Fill in the blank: “The funniest Players’ Weekend name is ________.”

Meg Rowley: The one MLB wouldn’t let Alex Dickerson pick

tom : do you play any musical instruments?

Meg Rowley: I used to play the clarinet very badly.

Marshall: The Dodgers have a very high probability (as far as these things go) of winning the world series, at something like 10-20%. How much of a bump to that would it take to make it worthwhile to trade, say, all of their top 30 prospects?

Meg Rowley: Given what can happen in a short series, unless you had a guarantee, no bump — you could just as easily ride your very talented roster and play into one

Meg Rowley: or ride a less-good roster and still do it

Thomas: Bo Bichette!

Meg Rowley: Right!?

Seamus Catuli: Meg, what is your favorite nickname for players’ weekend?

Meg Rowley: excuse Craig’s swear but Casey Sadler

Matt: Is it possible teams just prefer contending consistently over pushing their chips in for a WS title? Now it seems teams just are aiming to be 90-win teams consistently and hope things break right by maintaining a farm system and avoiding big contracts….rather than say have a 100+ win team that has no farm system and albatross contracts on the books forcing them to burn it all down and be terrible for 5 years.

Meg Rowley: This is an approach, but I think the Dodgers, Yankees, and Red Sox would like a word.

Atkins: How many WAR can I put Zack Godley and Derek Fisher down for?  A lot? Please say a lot.  I need this – ‘Ol Ross

Meg Rowley: Would be thrilled to find you thinking about this in terms of the player’s actual names and production and not years of control.

Hello: Gonna head to Progressive Field for the first time soon.  Recommendations for things to do at/near the ballpark?

Meg Rowley: There is like, an italian place nearish to home plate that had really good antipasta

Meg Rowley: we enjoyed the butcher and the brewer — also liked greenhouse tavern

Michael: Who is your favorite baseball player?

Meg Rowley: Mike Trout

tim armstrong: Think we will see some prospect for prospect deals this month? Thinking blocked AAA players will be moving with the number of injuries since Aug 1.

Meg Rowley: I’d be surprised — they’re unusual to begin with

Trent: If you had to pick a top 3 to start your playoff series, would you go Kershaw/Ryu/Buehler, Corbin/Stras/Scherzer, or Cole/Verlander/Greinke?

Meg Rowley: Dodgers 1, Astros 2A/Nats 2B

Dave: Acuna now leading the NL in runs and sb’s for contending Braves.  Good chance for 35/35 season and 40/40 within reach.  He has to be in the MVP discussion, no?

T: Does Acuna get any mvp talk if he goes 40/40? Or are bellinger and yelich just so far ahead that it doesnt matter?

Meg Rowley: talk yes, a win no

Meg Rowley: he’s very good, but there are others who have been better!

Nolan: Is there any NL team outside of the Marlins that doesn’t profile as at least a contender for the 2nd wildcard next year?

Meg Rowley: Don’t feel great about the Pirates.

Roger: The Diamondbacks have the second-best run differential in the NL, and the talent they’ve acquired in their limited rebuild is MLB-ready or close to MLB-ready.  Could you see them as a WC favorite next year?

Meg Rowley: Favorite no, contender yes

Cave Dameron: There seems to be a plethora of teams who will be competing in 2020 in addition to the usual suspects.  Obviously, the Dodgers, Cubs, and Braves aren’t going anywhere, but the Reds and Mets are trying to force open a one-year window.  Is it crazy I think that despite all that, the Padres have a good shot of emerging out of the NL next year?

Meg Rowley: In *a* playoff spot? No — they’re just gonna get better.

Dan: Some predictably disastrous comments on the climate change article. I was at yankee stadium on a 100 degree day in july though and it’s going to be a very real problem

Meg Rowley: Did we run a climate change article?

Meg Rowley: I don’t say that to suggest we would take a different view than you did. Being in favor of math and science, we acknowledge the existence of man-made climate change.

Ryan: Do we really need to add profanity to this chat?

Meg Rowley: I think you can take a few, rare swears.

Tim: And also the Astros in that conversation, along with LA/NY/BOS?

Meg Rowley: Assuming this is about payroll, sure, though they’re operating on a different level

JSD: Has the Vedder Cup lost its national appeal?

Meg Rowley: Did it ever have national appeal?

Cleveland Fan: To the person who was asking about food in Cleveland, there’s a place inside the stadium by center field that makes ridiculously good pierogies.  12/10 would recommend

Mark: What was the most fun Trade at the Deadline?

Meg Rowley: Greinke, and starting to see the 40-man consolidation stuff play out

pedant: antipasto not antipasta

Meg Rowley: if it’s good enough for Louis Prima, it is good enough for me

Craig: How does it feel to have Trevor Bauer living rent free in your head?

Muk : Do you actually enjoy baseball, or just finding things to complain about it?

Meg Rowley: You’re going to have to space these further apart in the queue to not make it obvious you’re the same person

Derek: The Red Sox failing to reach the postseason (assuming they don’t reach the postseason…) should be viewed as colossal disappointment, right? Or does winning the WS last year give them a grace period?

Meg Rowley: I think some of the issues they had were easy to spot as potential problems, and choosing not to address them because of money is a thing that bugs me, though I acknowledge mileage varies on that — but also yeah, they just won, it’s fine.

Dan: On the hardball times

Derek: THT!

Meg Rowley: (climate change)

Meg Rowley: see this is what happens when i’m sick and sleep more

Jeff in T.O.: Sorry About Beckham. How long before the suspension was handed out did he test positive? Like was this something he tested for in the spring and had been going through the process ever since? Thanks & glad you’re feeling better!

Meg Rowley: Dunno, and thanks.

Guest: Other than the grasshoppers obviously, what do I eat in or around T-Mobile Park?

Meg Rowley: Having Din Tai Fung there is really nice

Nahtan: I think a bigger deal needs to be made about Tim Beckham (and Frankie Montas’) suspension and implication for fringe players who are compelled to juice in order to make it over the minor league hump to the bigs. We’re back to the late 90s, casually looking the other way as teams and the league get rich off players abusing their bodies.

Meg Rowley: I think that is likely an exaggeration, though I agree that usage is probably higher than suspensions would indicate. Also, I don’t think Frankie Montas is fringe?

Derek: Ozzie Albies has been on fire for kind of a while now. That contract is just absolutely absurd.

Meg Rowley: Doesn’t seem great for the sport, or him, no.

JSD: of course now that the Padres hold the Vedder Cup we deny its existence.

Meg Rowley: Maybe Eddie should have picked a team and stuck with it — OH VEDDER SLAM (I truly don’t care about this)

Reid: Are the Mets trying to make the real life version of the movie Major League?

Meg Rowley: As if the Mets could coordinate a production schedule of that magnitude

Hunter: More fun: Stealing Home, Triple Play, or Big Grand Slam?

Meg Rowley: Stealing home

Meg Rowley: then triple play

Meg Rowley: then slam

David: Did you say your favorite baseball player is Mike Trout? Mariners fans cannot forgive you for that. FMT!

Meg Rowley: I trust Mariners fans to be willing to acknowledge great players on bad teams — we’re pretty familiar with it

Dave: Baseball Brit just tweeted a picture of a Giants’ fan’s jacket that says “F*ck LA and the DH.” But LA’s an NL city. Am I right in thinking this guy needs two different sweary jackets?

Meg Rowley: I don’t think the conjunction suggests that the parts of the sentence are related

Hello: Panik to Mets?  How are they gonna screw it up?

Meg Rowley: as if they need more panic over there

Guest: Speaking of Marte, remember when Jeff called his breakout in 2016? Man what a guy

Meg Rowley: Turns out Jeff is smart

Magic Kingdome: If the Mariners did a “hot dog” style mascot race, who or what would be the contestants?

Meg Rowley: Big Foot, a Starbucks Cup, a Space Needle, and I-5 with a bunch of cars on it

Meg Rowley: I-5 would always lose

Magic Kingdome: Assume the Rays make and win the wild card with a “bullpen” day.  How do they line up their starters/openers for the ALDS?

Meg Rowley: Depends entirely on Snell’s health and efficacy

Bo: What’s your typical lunch look like?

Meg Rowley: Often leftovers or a salad

J: How can they call it the Vedder cup when he’s a Chicago guy? Dude wrote a song about the Cubs

Meg Rowley: Yeah, no musical ties to Seattle at all

Meg Rowley: (he lived in SD and, ya know, Pearl Jam)

Concerned in MA: At what point do the Red Sox hit the panic button or have they already?  6.5 games is a lot to make up, but stranger things have happened and a lot of players are underperforming.

Meg Rowley: I think they’re probably pretty realistic about their odds.

Bo: Which do you see happening first – switch to a “balanced” schedule or universal DH?

Meg Rowley: universal DH

J: I did not say he has no ties to Seattle. It’s just that he is a Cubs fan so it seems odd. Thanks for being rude for no reason.

Meg Rowley: Just joshin’, no offense meant.

BarryBondsJuicedForOurSins: How much wood could Alex Wood chuck if Alex Wood could chuck wood?

Meg Rowley: think he should stick to chunkin’ the ol’ baseball and not risk injury!

just a guy: At last year’s FG meetup at Meadhall, the venue refused if you were <21

Meg Rowley: Hmmm that’s not what they told us when David called — will have him follow up — could be there’s a timing issue

Meg Rowley: thanks for the heads up, though

Profanity: Well, it’s a baseball chat.  You can’t just not ever say “Orioles”

Meg Rowley: This made me laugh, and also, is a good place to stop for the day.

Meg Rowley: If you’re in the Boston area on Friday night, swing by the meetup! You don’t need to be attending Saberseminar to attend that.

Meg Rowley: details here https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/fangraphs-saberseminar-boston-…

Meg Rowley: Sorry for what I didn’t get to, and thanks for the great questions.

Meg Rowley: Until next week!