JotCast | FanGraphs After Dark Chat

Paul Swydan

5:38

Do you think there will be a major signing/trade between now and Christmas?

Definitely (21.1% | 52 votes)

I think so (33.3% | 82 votes)

Meh (10.6% | 26 votes)

I don't think so (20.7% | 51 votes)

No way! (2.4% | 6 votes)

Define "major" (11.8% | 29 votes)

Total Votes: 246

9:01

Hi everybody!

What's good?

Jeff Zimmerman

9:01

Beer

Pizza

Paul Swydan

9:02

I am familiar with these items.

Alexis

9:02

The A's are stuck in this situation where Bruce Maxwell fills the exact same role and will most likely be better than Stephen Vogt next year, but Vogt is effectively the team captain and is beloved by basically everyone in the organization. What would you do? What's your valuation of ~~clubhouse leadership~~?

Paul Swydan

9:03

My valuation of it is that it is meaningful in 2 situations. 1. When you have a star prospect(s) who are emerging on the major league team and they need to be protected/guided through their rookie season/maturation. 2. When you're a bonafide contender. Best as I can tell, neither of these applies to the A's.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:04

Chemistry is a thing, but it is so tough to value from a distance. I don't put a lot of value into leadership. I do put more value into negative leadership.

Duke

9:04

Is the otani future contract situation similar to hockey vesey/Hayes situation?

Paul Swydan

9:05

Wow, I barely can speak to the Otani situation, nevermind some hockey parallel. Sorry Duke, you have too high of an opinion of us!

Or me anyway. Maybe Jeff knows.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:05

Sorry, I am not familiar with Hockey contracts. Contract are my least favorite part of the baseball discussions.

Chris G

9:06

What kind of year do you predict we will see from Alex Reyes? Potential rookie of the year?

Paul Swydan

9:06

I think Alex Reyes is great, but I can't imagine picking a rookie pitcher who's about to be managed by Mike Matheny as a rookie of the year favorite.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:07

He could win ROY. The walks will keep him from becoming elite.

Friar Tuck

9:07

How many rule 5 picks could stick on a hapless San Diego club this year? Do u like the strategy in acquiring depth for a tank worthy club?

Paul Swydan

9:08

I like the depth play for sure. Generally speaking, it'd be hard for more than 1 Rule 5 guy to stick unless the team you drafted him away from agrees to not to take him back and you can send him back to the minors. 2 would probably be the max.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:08

I don't like it, these players are probably around the 2000th best players among all levels. They usually aren't good

I like the pitcher the Rays got best of all

EbenezerBatflip

9:09

Define major, is EE major? Because if he is, then yeah, if he's not, then no

Paul Swydan

9:09

I would call EE major, yes.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:09

EE would be major

Paul Swydan

9:10

He major, he major. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=somma-IdxHM

Lou

9:10

Is the Dodgers outfield of any combination of Toles, Pederson, Puig, Ethier, and Trayce Thompson good enough?

Paul Swydan

9:10

I think it's absolutely good enough, yes.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:10

It's fine

EbenezerBatflip

9:11

Will Rusney ever become anything? If not, does his signing make him one of the worst deals in modern baseball history? I know he doesn't have the biggest contract, but its all money totally wasted without any return. Will Rusney ever be a major leaguer or is he a total bust?

Jeff Zimmerman

9:11

Total bust

9:12

Paul probably has a stronger opinion

Paul Swydan

9:12

It's looking like bust at this stage, though I still feel like he didn't entirely get a fair shake. There has to be more that we don't know about his makeup that prevented him from getting said fair shake. IIRC, he went 2-for-4 with a double in his one major league start in 2016.

9:13

Certainly there was a portion of the year when Young and Benintendi (and Swihart) were hurt when the Sox could have used an extra outfielder.

EbenezerBatflip

9:13

Did the CBA knowingly screw Otani? I mean, how could a bunch of baseball gurus not know about the incoming Japanese superstar 1-2 years away? I know they wouldn't write their own rules just in anticipation for a foreign player, but it seems weird. It also seems like Otani's camp was scrambling to respond to the CBA by announcing he'd be posted next year. Is Otani screwed? Are we screwed by not getting to watch him in the MLB for an extra 2-3 years?

Paul Swydan

9:13

I sincerely doubt that they set out with the intent to screw Otani over.

Jeff Zimmerman

9:14

I think the contract was thrown together in a rush and no one really thought some of the implications.

Simon McPherson

9:15

Re the poll. The Angels just traded a prospect so thats a major trade because nobody knew they had any prospects.

Paul Swydan

9:15

Agreed. From the outside, it seemed like the MLBPA stalled until the owner's called their bluff, and then they took a subpar deal for the sake of labor peace. I'm sure the story is different than that, but until someone clarifies it for us, that's my impression.

ZING!

Ceej

9:15

Does switching Sox affect Moncada's fantasy outlook?

Paul Swydan

9:16

I think it has to improve his outlook, because now he is going to have 2B/3B eligibility. That'll be huge, at least for this season.

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