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Kevin Goldstein FanGraphs Chat - 2/1/2021
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dbfirstman
12:01
Welcome back Kevin ......
Kevin Goldstein
12:02
Thanks! And thanks to everyone who has reached out with kind words, and even the few with not so kind ones. First chat in eight years, so let's start with a former podcast guest in the Scrabble lady! Looking forward to your questions.
Slippin'Jimmy
12:02
Hey Kevin, longtime Astros fan here who is super excited to have you here at Fangraphs! Over the past few years, even before the scandal, there were rumors about cultural issues within the FO that you briefly mentioned in your introduction. What was your experience there and where did they stem from?
Kevin Goldstein
12:04
To be clear, most of my experience with the Astros goes in the positive column. I had a really good time. Seven good years, one . . . . well, not so good. Not that there weren't problems. There were cultural issues within the Astros front office, but I honestly believe that many of them were not specific to the Astros, but more as to the industry itself.
Rodney
12:04
It's taken a few years. But it looks like Teoscar Hernandez might be a bit of a guy, after all. How did the org value him before the trade?
Kevin Goldstein
12:06
I feel like at times I'm going to fall into "KG story time" mode, so let me know if it gets annoying. My first trip for the Astros was to instructs in the fall of 2012. First guy to catch my eye was the GCL outfielder with the crazy bat speed. It was Teoscar. Liked him from there, and always was a big fan of him as a person. GREAT guy with a great work ethic. I got him wrong. I thought he was going to be a really nice fourth outfielder, but it's important to note that when you think about players that exceed expectations, makeup is often a big factor in that. The reverse is true as well.
Seamus Cohen
12:07
If your name is Kevin Goldstein, does that mean that you drink Guinness and eat bagels?
Kevin Goldstein
12:07
I don't like beer and I do keto so . . . no?
Tristan
12:07
Lifelong Jays fan here. What should we know about George Springer that might not be obvious?
Kevin Goldstein
12:09
The impact George has on a clubhouse, in terms of bringing players together, energizing people and keeping the dance party going is significant and not something that shows up on a stat line, but it's extremely valuable.
Scotty
12:09
Hey Kevin! Any lesser known prospects you love that we should be keeping an eye on?
Kevin Goldstein
12:09
Plenty, and I'll be working with Eric on those.
Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes
12:09
Welcome! What non-baseball topics should we expect from your chats? And you mentioned JRPGs in your introductory post, what are your top ones of all time?
Kevin Goldstein
12:11
Really loved the Trails Of Cold Steel series that I played while not working. Shin Megemi Tensei and Xeno-whatever also big faves. Dissonant music, interesting films also big things for me, and we'll talk about all that stuff on the podcast (but certainly welcome in chats!)
xavier
12:11
Is there any reason we should sympathize with the owners crying poverty that most fans don't realize?
Kevin Goldstein
12:11
Before I worked in baseball, I used to say that owning a baseball team was a license to print money. Nothing in my eight years inside the game changed that notion.
Mariner's Fan
12:12
Letting Bygones be bygones.. welcome to the Fangraphs. Reading your introduction it seems like you will be a mix of prospect writing as well as gleaming insights from the front office, is that fair?
Kevin Goldstein
12:13
That's fair. Here to help Eric and here to also cover bigger picture stuff. Also here to be open to suggestions! Let me know what you want to hear about.
Chris
12:13
What kind of fielding metrics do teams use? Do they have things like mph players throw at max and average? Or like first step reaction time towards the play? Or is it just what we have but better?
Kevin Goldstein
12:14
There are private metrics, some of which are fantastic, but to be perfectly honest, I've never been super happy with defensive metrics both private and public. Still lots to be done there.
Guest
12:14
Welcome back, Kevin. In your experience working for the Astros, was it common for other front-office employees to never really have a "day off"? Sounds like a challenging work-life balance.
Kevin Goldstein
12:15
I'm fairly certain that for eight years I didn't have a day where I didn't do SOME work, even if it was just for an hour or something. It is a challenge to people and their families and the stress there is high, as is the divorce rate.
Rob
12:16
Alex cobb and Jose quintata. Are the angels allergic to number one/two pitchers?
Kevin Goldstein
12:16
Most teams are. How many of those are out there? Most teams don't have a one, and plenty don't have a two.
Bryce
12:16
Tell us everything you can about your upcoming Podcast, please!
Kevin Goldstein
12:18
There will be one. That's it. I'll be totally transparent: I can't wait to get the podcast going and I love doing a show. That said, I need a co-host and I need to get over Jason not being that person. He was perfect in every way and I need to make something new and different without him and I'm figure that out. It won't take long, and I can't wait to get it out there.
George
12:18
I was hoping you could provide industry perspective on the upcoming CBA? How do teams plan for changes to the financial structure/draft system/rules etc?
Kevin Goldstein
12:19
Duly noted. Not necessarily a subject for a chippy chat reply, but it's a good topic and one that interests me as well.
Josh
12:19
How should one evaluate Astros players moving forward?
Kevin Goldstein
12:19
The same as you did before. Maybe an unsatisfying answer, but true.
Theyardgoat
12:19
welcome!  What are the biggest differences between public data sets and club ones?
Kevin Goldstein
12:20
The biggest one is certainly easy availability of TrackMan data in the minors.
Yankees
12:20
Luis Medina (P-Yankees). He had a nice winter ball. Does the industry think he has enough control to stick as a starter, or the back end of the bullpen? Trust the Yankees development team?
Kevin Goldstein
12:21
I watched him pitch yesterday and it's crazy good stuff, but like you say, the command still has a ways to go. So young, and plenty of time, but I'd be excited about the upside. Yankees are VERY good at developing, among other things, so be optimistic.
furtive stan javier
12:21
Better Jesus Lizard record: Goat or Liar?
Kevin Goldstein
12:21
Goat [ducks.]
Shed
12:22
What info can't you share from your time in the FO?
Kevin Goldstein
12:22
Certainly anything proprietary about how the Astros use data and their various tools to do so.
Jesus T
12:22
Knowing that you’re a gamer, too, what are you playing now and what’s your favorite baseball video game?
Kevin Goldstein
12:23
Started Yakuza: Like A Dragon over the weekend and really enjoying it. Huge fan of that series. I don't play any sports games, but I'm kinda fascinated by Paul Sporer's Twitch streams, so maybe I'll join him one night to see what it's all about.
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