JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/18/24

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Ben Clemens

1:52

I'm gonna get this started a little early today

I'm cooking a bit for lunch so I'll have to run around noon my time, so let's get some extra questions in before the regular one hour run time

Insomniac69

1:52

How do you sleep?

Ben Clemens

1:52

Shockingly well

Sonny

1:52

Reports have Snell looking for $60M in a 2y bridge contract. That seems worse than the Yankees reported offer earlier in the offseason, but I can think of like 4 clubs immediately that should do this. You have a preferred destination for him now?

Ben Clemens

1:53

I think the Giants make a lot of sense

That rotation gets dicey fast and he feels like a good fit there

Nate

1:53

As you've been doing your research on team depth/positional power rankings, has any team's depth at a particular position stood out/surprised you?

Ben Clemens

1:53

I am doing second base PPR and I was amazed by two teams in particular

1:54

The Pirates do not rank well (not much of a spoiler of course) but I love their huge amount of depth

It's very difficult to predict who will end the season as their starting second baseman

the Blue Jays are even more this way

Like, they're better, and also there are 5 players who seem like legit second basemen

Mike Truk

1:55

Has there ever been a spring training performance that drastically affected how you feel about a player's upcoming season. Not like injuries or stuff, but like actual results? I love the hype that occurs during spring training but I know it often isn't founded.

Ben Clemens

1:55

I guess maybe some pitching performances?

Jordan Hicks having a 103 mph fastball after no one had heard of him is a good example

That opening day the Cards happened to be in New York so I went to the game

And I knew who Hicks was, no one in the stands did, but I remember Todd Frazier just looking up at the board for the velo reading and laughing

BTinVT

1:55

Thoughts on Olivares-Pirates? Thank you.

Ben Clemens

1:56

I just wrote up the MAT trade, I think that he is gonna put a squeeze on Olivares's playing time

This feels a bit like a situation where if Olivares is good, it'll be fine

1:57

But if he struggles out of the gate, he might progressively get buried

Insert Witty Name Here

1:57

Where do you stand on the Elly De La Cruz fantasy question this year? He’s been a mid 2nd late 3rd rounder. Worth the gamble over more safer picks such as Lindor, J-Ram, Seager?

Ben Clemens

1:57

I'm a gambler

1:58

As a fantasy owner, in general

I'd definitely be in and hoping

Tigers fan

1:58

Are you worried about Acuna's knee going forward?

Ben Clemens

1:59

I think I'm more than a baseline amount of worried, but not panicking

I think it's more of a maintenance issue than anything else at this point

Jobu asks….

1:59

Terrible news for Daniel Espino. Hasn’t pitched since April 2022. Time to cut loose in a Dynasty League?

Ben Clemens

1:59

Yeah sadly

the person who asks the lunch question

1:59

what's for lunch?

Ben Clemens

1:59

Ah! Glad you asked. We've been messing around with making tofu and chicken that has that American Chinese takeout food sticky quality

2:00

Basically using a good amount of corn starch

2:01

So we're making black pepper tofu, and then doing a technique we like that I don't have a great name for

but basically you microwave brocolli for a bit to pre-blanch it, and then cook it like regular

2:02

Always seems to turn out great

plus rice obv

Underdog Picks

2:02

My longshot picks to win the WS last year were the Diamondbacks and the Rangers (it's a shame I'm not a betting man), and this year I'm going with the Marlins and Cleveland. What longshot team (bottom 15 of Vegas odds) do you like?

Ben Clemens

2:02

Just perusing the bottom 15 right now

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