Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest batch of silly Scott Boras quotes, featuring Meg’s real-time reactions to hearing them for the first time, a “fake quote or real quote?” quiz, and a discussion of the motivations behind the superagent’s annual stand-up routine, then discuss Boras’s comments about competitive integrity and try to identify the 13 (or more) teams that Boras says aren’t trying to win. Then (41:15) they examine the idea of an official MLB player ranking system, answer emails about Clayton Kershaw’s usage, the best type of routine out with which to end a postseason series, and the least valuable entity that teams would trade, and close (1:16:12) with Stat Blasts on the Braves as a Ship of Theseus and Pedro Feliciano vs. Chase Utley and the most prolific pitcher-batter matchups.

Audio intro: The Hives, "No Pun Intended"
Audio outro: Lilys, "Scott Free"

Link to “best” Boras quotes
Link to WaPo on Boras and competition
Link to CBS Sports on Boras and tanking
Link to video of Boras on Bryant
Link to video of Boras on Conforto
Link to video of Alderson on Boras
Link to Rob Mains on competitive inequality
Link to Bill James Handbook 2022
Link to Ben on peak Kershaw
Link to Ben on Kershaw’s adjustments
Link to final out of the 2016 World Series
Link to FanGraphs post on trading data
Link to Stat Blast data on postseason rosters
Link to Stat Blast data on common matchups
Link to Stat Blast data on Johnson vs. Cobb
Link to Stat Blast data on matchups over time
Link to study on batters learning over time
Link to Feliciano obit
Link to Feliciano vs. Utley matchup summary
Link to Feliciano vs. Utley matchup details
Link to The Athletic’s FanGaphs WAR report
Link to EW interview with Jonathan Judge
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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The following article is part of a series concerning the 2022 Golden Days Era Committee ballot, covering managers and long-retired players whose candidacies will be voted upon on December 5. For an introduction to this year’s ballot, see here, and for an introduction to JAWS, see here. Several profiles in this series are adapted from work previously published at SI.com, Baseball Prospectus, and Futility Infielder. All WAR figures refer to the Baseball-Reference version unless otherwise indicated.

Roger Maris

Casual baseball fans know Roger Maris mainly for his toppling of Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record in 1961, when he beat out teammate Mickey Mantle and hit 61 homers. The more hardcore fans might know that Maris actually won back-to-back AL MVP awards with the Yankees in 1960 and ’61, and helped the team to five straight pennants and a pair of championships. While it’s sometimes presumed that these achievements are enough to merit Maris a spot in Cooperstown, a closer look at the slugger’s 12-year career (1957-68) suggests that he’s exactly where he should be with respect to the Hall of Fame: on the outside. Read the rest of this entry »

Following the completion of the World Series last week, all eyes in the baseball world will now turn to the sport’s next major showdown: the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement between the owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association. MLB’s existing CBA is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, December 1, a deadline that many anticipate could trigger the sport’s first work stoppage since 1994. Indeed, while a strike or lockout is by no means guaranteed at this point, the possibility certainly appears more likely than it has at any point in the last two decades.

This post will provide an overview of the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations, briefly summarizing how the parties got to this point, what are likely to be the major issues to be hammered out in a new CBA, and what baseball fans can expect in the coming weeks (and, perhaps, months).

How We Got Here

In many respects, the seeds of the present discontent between the players and owners were sown during the negotiation of the sport’s last several CBAs, and perhaps most notably the soon-to-expire 2016 agreement. Although there was ample reason to believe that MLB’s financial model was moving in an unfavorable direction for the players, the union has been perceived by many as having failed to sufficiently prioritize the pursuit of significant economic modifications from the owners in 2016 (a claim that at least some in the union would dispute). Instead, to many, the MLBPA appeared to focus more on quality-of-life issues in the 2016 agreement, such as more humane travel schedules and clubhouse perks like private chefs. Read the rest of this entry »

12:00

Dan Szymborski: And we are LIVE

12:00

Dan Szymborski: Because a taped chat doesn’t work since I won’t have any questions.

12:00

Dan Szymborski: Or I guess we could do the Mr. Show sketch thing where all the questions submitted are for next week’s chat.

12:00

Dan Szymborski:

12:01

Dan Szymborski: I can see Reynolds ending up in New York

Read the rest of this entry »

The General Manager Meetings, which are taking place this week in Carlsbad, California, are generating this offseason’s first free-agent rumors, but here’s a little advice for you: Don’t read too much into this, at least not yet. I’m coming to you from a position of experience, as I used to attend these meetings when I worked for the Astros, with the specific task of organizing, scheduling and frequently conducting tête-à-têtes with agents, and they mean very little.

I’ve spent numerous November days and nights at various bougie resorts in Arizona and California, and while I’d love to tell you exactly what happens at the GM Meetings, I’m not in a position to do that. There are a number of actual meetings that occur, discussing arbitration, overall finances of the game, and the labor situation, but other than various social events with open bars and yummy snacks, along with the occasional informal roundtable to brainstorm on rules and processes, I never attended any of them. I had a very different assignment, but quite frankly, meeting with agents is a hell of a lot more fun than sitting in a ballroom staring at Power Point slides presented by the commissioner’s office.

The process begins in the weeks leading up to the meetings, as teams spend their Septembers and Octobers preparing for the off-season, sometimes in parallel with the work that is involved for a team that’s in the playoffs. Free agents, both real and potential (based on non-obvious option/opt-out decisions), are lined up and prioritized. Player agents are frequently just known, and if not, are accessed via MLB’s internal eBIS system. The week before is spent drawing up a schedule for your team during the meetings themselves. Texts are sent and times are set throughout the week for what will be the first sit-downs of the offseason. Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 948

On this edition of FanGraphs Audio, we are joined by a veteran journeyman before taking a look at FanGraphs’ recently released 2022 Top 50 Free Agents list.

• At the top of the program, David Laurila welcomes Frank Herrmann, former Cleveland and Phillies pitcher and current Chiba Lotte Marine. Herrmann shares what it has been like to play in Japan, from the league parity to the strange playoff structure to the many talented players — some of whom could end up stateside. We also hear about former first-rounder Carter Stewart and how starting his pro career overseas has been going. [2:19]
• After that, Eric Longenhagen joins Ben Clemens to discuss the immense challenge of ranking this offseason’s free agent class. Eric and Ben review the process as well as the notable Boras clients who ranked high on the list and which players were particularly tricky to place. Finally, the duo talk about Seiya Suzuki and how various teams’ 40-man crunches might match up with Oakland’s supposed interest in selling. [26:04]

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Audio after the jump. (Approximate 1 hour 8 minutes play time.)

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For reasons explained during the intro, it’s a brief, one-segment, guest-only edition of Chin Music. I hope you enjoy an informative and entertaining discussion with free agent pitcher Collin McHugh.

As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Warning One: While ostensibly a podcast about baseball, these conversations often veer into other subjects.

Warning Two: There is explicit language.

Run Time: 36:37

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