Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 7/2/19

Meg Rowley: Hello all, and welcome to the chat.

Meg Rowley: A few bits of housekeeping before we kick off.

Meg Rowley: Tickets are still available for our Cleveland event, but they are going fast.

Meg Rowley: They can be purchased here https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/fangraphs-cleveland-all-star-e…

Meg Rowley: It should be a very fun time, and someone (read: Kiley) is likely to say something goofy, so if you’re in the area, join us!

Meg Rowley: We will sell tickets at the door. Those sales will be cash only.

Meg Rowley: Also, Eric and Kiley are updating THE BOARD as July 2 signings become official, so keep an eye on THE BOARD for that: https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2019-in-season-prospect-…

Meg Rowley: Also, they are being noted on the FG Prospect twitter, which is a good follow: https://twitter.com/FG_Prospects

Meg Rowley: Their July 2 preview, which notes a bunch of the issues with the market and with getting up-to-date reports, is here: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/july-2-international-amateur-p…

Meg Rowley: Also, just so everyone is aware, the site will be dark July 4 and 5 for the holiday. Please have good, safe fun, and don’t do dumb things with fireworks.

Meg Rowley: Ok, to the chat.

Jackson: So, what did we learn, if anything, about the long term prospects of having baseball games in England? I mean, other than the fact that the stadium they played in might be the only thing with a higher park factor than Coors field?

Meg Rowley: I don’t imagine a ton.

Meg Rowley: I suspect that there is more of a market there than we realize, even just counting ex-pats in the UK and on the continent.

Meg Rowley: I have a friend who has season tickets to the UK NFL Series and loves it. Imagine there is room for that sort of thing.

Bread Gardner: It’s time for the annual All-Star Roster Kvetch-a-Thon, sponsored by I Can’t Believe It’s Not Snub-ber!  Kick it off, Meg!

Meg Rowley: I care about this insofar as the players really care, and it has a material impact on contract stuff, but otherwise, I find I can’t really get worked up over the snubs anymore.

Meg Rowley: I was happy for Ketel Marte. I was jazzed for Hunter Pence. I am amped for Vogey.

matt: Which side wins in 10 team pts league assuming both teams have depth.

Meg Rowley: The one who asks a fantasy question in a fantasy chat?

NIck : Do you think it would make sense for Strasburg to opt out of the remainder of his current contract after this season?

Meg Rowley: So based on talent, yes. Based on the health history giving teams a good excuse to not give him a big contract? In this market, I would be very nervous.

Roberto Beers: In Sue Bird’s The Player’s Tribune piece, she described “Megan’s Extremely Megan perspective” (the titular Megan being Megan Rapinoe). Can you describe what “Meg’s Extremely Meg perspective” would be?

Meg Rowley: We should try to be as kind as possible. It is almost always better to complain in gchat than to subtweet. Baseball is a good, low stakes way to feel sad. It’s FanGraphs, not Fangraphs.

Chris: When are you changing the site name to Chubgraphs?

Meg Rowley: ChubGraphs*

Davy: Did you see Giancarlo Stanton’s instagram message to the Angels? What a wonderful thing to do.

Meg Rowley: I agree. It’s just such an awful thing, and it’s the sort of moment when it is very hard to say the right thing, and having felt it makes it easy to both know what to say, and hear what is being said. It was a lovely expression of care.

Meg Rowley: I hope his family and friends start finding their way to peace and healing soon. By all accounts, Skaggs was just a lovely guy. It’s so awful.

Meg Rowley: (and now, to transition very awkwardly)

SHOUTING BECAUSE HE’S INCREDIBLE: FERNANDO TATIS JR HAS GONE FROM FIRST TO HOME ON A SINGLE, SCORED FROM SECOND ON A BALL THAT DIDN’T LEAVE THE INFIELD, HIT A BASEBALL 440 FEET, AND TWICE SCORED FROM THIRD ON A POP-UP TO THE SECOND BASEMEN, ALL IN THE LAST 10 DAYS

Meg Rowley: I just find myself watching the Padres a lot. Like, a lot a lot. 2019 is great.

no-use: For the HR Derby, so far: Carlos Santana, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Christian Yelich, Pete Alonso and Josh Bell.  Who do you want in the last 2 spots?

Meg Rowley: Gimme Joey Gallo and America’s Large Adult Son, Daniel Vogelbach, please and thank you.

kyle: what’re your thoughts on Jp crawford and his recent spike?

Meg Rowley: that it is encouraging and also 75 plate appearances

Meg Rowley: It is 75 encouraging plate appearances! But I’m not ready to say it is totally different. The BABIP being so much higher than in prior years is a thing to at least be aware of, but so is the fact that his hard hit rate is up. I’m Monitoring the Situation Closely.

Roy: Is there any way to view past comments and replies to articles on here?

Meg Rowley: You mean other than looking at the piece?

Meg Rowley: (Not snarking just not clear on the question)

taylor: jeff mcneil is officially an all-star. can we finally start talking about him ? his batting average has *always* been extremely high and he’s been consistently overlooked and under-reported on. thanks !!

Meg Rowley: He’s gotten some but not a ton of prospect attention. The BP guys were high on him early, though the timing of injuries and some changes he made mean he didn’t make a list really, even there. Stephen Loftus wrote about him for us last September https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jeff-mcneil-and-rewarding-boldness/

Meg Rowley: Jay covered him in April https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jeff-mcneil-is-a-throwback/

frankiebones: Assuming Ohtani is healthy enough to start every 5 games in 2020, how many plate appearances do you see him accumulating for the season? Will he bat in games he pitches?

Meg Rowley: I do not want him to not pitch, but he is making a case to not pitch. In which case, a lot of PAs!

Alec: PUT VOGEY IN THE HOME RUN DERBY

Meg Rowley: Yes.

Alec: For future London Series’, are they looking to only send East Coast teams for logistical travel purposes? Would be fun to see the Dodgers or Padres get a chance at some point soon.

Meg Rowley: Cubs and Cardinals are next year, so their at least Midwest friendly.

Father Padre: Is Fernando Tatis the most watchable player in MLB right now? The sheer variety of ways he can wow you in every phase of the game is delightful

Meg Rowley: He is very much on the list. Had a friend describe it to me recently, after Tatis had a great break for home against the Giants (I think?), as “oh right, he reminds you the Padres can be really fun now, and will be really good soon.

Big Joe Mufferaw: Hot Take: MLB purposely doctored the balls in the London Series so they would move less. Goal: Fans love offense and boy did they ever get a lot of it.

Meg Rowley: Hotter Take: the existing 2019 ball already fulfilled this purpose

Janus: Have you ever accidentally clicked the roman ads in gameday? It sure would be nice to not have to deal with that.

Meg Rowley: There are a few ads on MLB TV this year that are reallllly starting to irritate. For instance, are men experience a crisis of shaving in this country? Are you all in some sort of very serious crisis?

Mason Jarre: Best pitcher traded in the next 29 days will be (I won’t even ask you to who)?

Meg Rowley: For sure? Bumgarner. For maybe? Zack Greinke.

richie: congrats to yr good son vogelbach on making the all-star team !! are you doing anything to celebrate ?

Meg Rowley: Vogey is all of our good son. I would never dream of keeping him all to myself.

Lunar verLander: …can we do dumb things WITHOUT fireworks?

Meg Rowley: Just don’t do anything mean or permanent, please.

Bryan in Boise: why does MLB feel the need to have every team have one representative at the All Star game?

Meg Rowley: because they want fans of all 30 teams to watch

Bread Gardner: I’m starting to think you get a sick sense of satisfaction from posting fantasy questions and pointedly not answering them. I suppose we all have out mischievous foibles.

Meg Rowley: I don’t assume a totally consistent audience week to week.

Chris: Will the lack of an August deadline make the July one more or less interesting? Seems like teams might overreact without the safety net.

Meg Rowley: More. I think I will sleep less. But I wasn’t likely to sleep a lot anyway!

Chris: How crazy is it that Tatis is not an All Star?

Meg Rowley: Medium. He’s a rookie and he plays for the Padres.

Big Joe Mufferaw: Gleyber Torres is somehow under rated.. The kid is hitting near 300, good D, on pace for around 40 bombs. Is he in the top 10 in trade value rankings?

Meg Rowley: Tune in starting July 15 to find out imo.

Juiced Balls: Will I continue to be a part of the game for the foreseeable future? Do audiences and mlb executives like me?

Meg Rowley: I think the league is likely aware that offense would collapse without you, so yes.

Lunar verLander: Do you think the recent surge in home runs cheapens the HR derby?

Meg Rowley: No. Dee Gordon hitting home runs cheapens home runs (sorry, Dee). The guys they have actually hit them far enough to be impressive.

bosoxforlife: Coors Field is getting a bad rap. It was clearly limiting D.J. LeMahieu’s offensive production. Seriously, isn’t Yankee Stadium the real bandbox?

Meg Rowley: I liked Jonathan Judge’s take on this question

Meg Rowley:

Bryan in Boise: did you ever see Ketel Marte doing this when he was coming up with the Seattle organization?

Meg Rowley: This exactly? No. Did I think he was better than he played in Seattle, when he was very young, and for a stretch, literally underweight because of mono but needed because Chris Taylor got traded for Zach Lee and printer paper? Yes.

Roy: Yes, for instance if I comment on an article and a week  or two later want to find my comment, is there any way to look in my profile to see my own past comments and replies to it? Sorry for the specific logistic but I’ve been looking around for the feature

Meg Rowley: Hmm I don’t think so, but I will ask.

tan mom: its weird how i pay for a premium service like mlb.tv and yet still am given ads to watch.  plus they didn’t start putting them in until a few years ago.  my question is, when will the content just be advertisements?

Meg Rowley: Ads are annoying, but I also think given the price of MLB TV for what you get, it’s still a steal.

Matt Boyd: How much do people need to squint to see me as the best pitcher to be traded

Meg Rowley: Maybe they’re busy watching the home runs you give up? (I think you’re good, too, don’t fret.)

matt: Speaking of DJ LeMahieu – is he better than Jose Ramirez ROS?

Meg Rowley: Man, I think so.

joe: Lourdes he is looking good: .360 | .401 | .750 in 147 PA since his return.  If this was May 1 and he had a month like that I feel there would be a lot written about this streak.

Meg Rowley: We’re gonna have something on him soon, actually.

Meg Rowley: Will it be a lot of words? I think an acceptable amount.

bosoxforlife: Everybody is knocking the Red Sox for not getting bullpen help in the off-season. They could have picked up Trevor Rosenthal or Mychal Givens to go along with Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg. Isn’t the real answer that bullpens, except for a very few like Chapman, Kimbrel and Jansen, are just a crap shoot.

Meg Rowley: Bullpens are definitely a volatile part of any roster, and you can add and still have it not work out, but even knowing that, and perhaps especially knowing that, it was pretty weird to count on Ryan Brasier and… hope quite so much.

J: I, for one, will dearly miss not understanding how on earth August trades worked.

Meg Rowley: (professional baseball writer and editor nods vigorously)

rick: if you could have any player be the face of your organization / be the guy to build around , who would it be ?

Meg Rowley: Current Rookies: Tatis

Meg Rowley: Young Dudes: Lindor

Meg Rowley: Less Young Dudes: Trout

Gleyber Torres: When did I learn to walk? All of a sudden my walk rate was over 20% last month

Meg Rowley: I mean, based on averages, probably when you were like one and a half?

Meg Rowley: yuck yuck yuck

Meg Rowley: holiday week!

Cove Dweller: But who would you want for a veteran presence?

Meg Rowley: Adam Jones or Hunter Pence

john cale: Is Joey Gallo the plus CF a top 5 player in the AL?

Meg Rowley: Yes.

Dan: Who is most likely to win the all star game? I assume it’s pretty close to a coin flip given the way the players will be used right?

Meg Rowley: Probably. Tomorrow, Craig will have his annual look at the rosters. Tune in!

John: Which teams buy long-term assets at the deadline?

Meg Rowley: Let’s maybe try this question again with language that makes it sound more like you’re talking about human people?

Brodie Van WAGON: To be fair in the world of baseball trout is still a pretty young dude…

Meg Rowley: Pretty Young but a little older than Lindor and has been around longer and I wanted both.

pumpsie: Why is Eric Sogard suddenly good enough to be in the top tier of trade-available second basemen? What is he doing differently this year?

Meg Rowley: I will be honest, I have not watched even one Sogard PA.

Meg Rowley: But sounds like I should.

Ed: Why does everyone take the MLB All Star Game so seriously? It’s an exhibition for goodness sake. No one takes the NFL or NBA All Star games seriously at all. Is it Bud Selig’s fault?

Meg Rowley: Yeah, I think it actually being linked to something real for a while does it. Also, humans are goofs.

All star game: The 30 reps to get all fan bases to watch kinda makes sense if say you have Machado being the only Orioles rep some years, but I doubt any Marlins fans are tuning in to see Sandy alcantara

Meg Rowley: Sure, in an given year, it falls down, but that’s what I imagine the initial thought was

Tom: When you take offense to trivial things like referring to baseball players as assets(newsflash: they are), it diminishes things that actually should be taken offense to.

Meg Rowley: Language is pretty important, and it takes very little in this instance to afford people more dignity. So easy!

Baseball: Using the words “buy” and “asset” about sports trades are not derogatory. First of all they are shorthands and refer to the contracts, not actually the humans. Secondly, MLB players are not repressed groups, they tend to do pretty well on the whole. Getting weird about using standard business terms when it comes to a business in my opinion is kind of cheapening the actual harm that comes from using racist/misogynist/other hate language towards groups that are actually repressed.

Meg Rowley: Hello again, Tom.

Meg Rowley: Also, we can be a little put off by little things, and a lot put off by big things. We contain multitudes!

john cale: Would you rather trade for Mike Minor or Lance Lynn?  They’re both having very different, but similarly fantastic, seasons thus far

Meg Rowley: Lance Lynn.

Guest: Eh, I agree that it takes very little to have integrity when referring to players, but also you aren’t the offended party so it’s a little presumptuous for you to say what players/athletes get offended by.

Meg Rowley: I didn’t say they get offended.

Meg Rowley: One may, if one chooses, exercise one’s imagination, and also empathy in situations like this.

pumpsie: I agree wholeheartedly with you on the asset issue, Meg. Fortunately, as editor you have the last say, and the power to change the narrative!

Meg Rowley: Truly mad with a very specific power.

Meg Rowley: On that cartoon-villain note, I need to get rolling. Thanks everyone for the questions, and sorry for what I didn’t get to.

Meg Rowley: Do not be surprised when there no new words on FanGraphs (barring trades/BIG news/Dipotoing) Thursday and Friday.

Meg Rowley: Have a great holiday all, and a good All-Star break, too.