The Best of FanGraphs: December 18-22, 2017

Each week, we publish in the neighborhood of 75 articles across our various blogs. With this post, we hope to highlight 10 to 15 of them. You can read more on it here. The links below are color coded — green for FanGraphs, brown for RotoGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community Research.

MONDAY
Let’s Talk About Manny Machado’s Trade Value, by Dave Cameron
Earlier on Monday, I had written about how trading a player of Manny Machado’s caliber/age would be historic. Dave explored the nitty gritty of who he should actually be traded for.

Managers’ View: Do Today’s Players Understand the Game Better?, by David Laurila
One of David’s favorite things to do at the Winter Meetings is to attend the manager’s press conferences (every manager has to have one). As he so often does, he cobbled several of those interviews into a coherent and instructive piece of baseball content.

TUESDAY
Four Deserving Hall of Famers, Omar Vizquel New to Ballot, by Craig Edwards
Craig is always on the Hall of Fame case.

Walker Buehler May Be Key to What Comes Next for Dodgers, by Eno Sarris
No pressure, kid.

MLB’s Soft Cap Is Becoming More Rigid, by Travis Sawchick
Remember when the MLBPA still was a force to be reckoned with?

My Current Favorite Breakout Pick, by Jeff Sullivan
Jeff is once again infatuated with a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Should You Even Draft a Catcher in Fantasy Baseball? by eph_unit
Like the author says, not doing so is like the siren’s song. Should you give in to it?

WEDNESDAY
Giants Trade for Evan Longoria’s Mid-30s, by Jeff Sullivan
No matter what you think of the trade in baseball terms, in human terms, you had to feel bad for Rays fans losing their franchise’s all-time best player. It’ll be awhile before Tampa Bay has a player who contributes as much as Evan Longoria did.

What Front Offices Have to Say About the Changing Game, by Eno Sarris
While David was querying managers at the Winter Meetings, Eno was querying front-office executives.

The Indians Should Trade for Manny Machado, by Dave Cameron
When Wednesday rolled around, Dave still had Machado on the brain, so he mused about him being traded to Cleveland’s baseball club.

Angels Pitchers and the New Look Angels Defense, by Mike Podhorzer
Some of those Angels starting pitchers just might punch above their draft slot/price this year. Mike breaks it down.

THURSDAY
FanGraphs Audio: A Phone Call with Kiley McDaniel, by Carson Cistulli
In case you didn’t hear, Kiley McDaniel has rejoined FanGraphs. Here, Carson and Kiley catch up through the medium of recorded conversation.

THT’s Franchise Player Draft: Picks 30-32, by THT Staff
We did it! We finished! A very special thanks to our 31 writers and/or editors who participated. There’s a handy table with all the selections at the bottom of this piece, in case you need to catch up.

FRIDAY
2018 ZiPS Projections – Los Angeles Dodgers, by Carson Cistulli
Don’t look now, but Dan Szymborski and Carson have now rolled out more than one-third of the 2018 ZiPS projections. It’ll be April before you know it!

Dear Santa: Or, What I Want for Baseball Christmas, by John Paschal
All John wants for Christmas is the Yankees to disappear — is that really too much to ask for? Well, actually, sorry, John also has a whole bunch of other stuff on his Baseball Christmas list. But the Yankees disappearing is definitely on it!

Seriously though, we hope you’ve been having a marvelous holiday season, and will continue to do so. Happy Holidays, and Merry New Year! See you in 2018.