Klawchat, 10/13/16.

Klaw: In a world of steel-eyed death, there’s Klawchat.

Jonathan: Do you put Reyes in the rotation to start 2017?
Klaw: I assume this means Alex; I don’t, for two reasons. One is that I don’t think I would count on him for 180+ innings in 2017, given his low workloads the last two years. The other is that I don’t think his command is there yet, or his curveball, for him to be more than an inconsistent, sometimes great, sometimes awful starter right now. Long relief would be great to start the year with the goal of moving him to the rotation by June or so.

Jeremy: What do you make of Taijuan Walker’s 2016? Do you have any confidence that will be a top 40 starter next year?
Klaw: I think the probability of him working out as a starter has dropped to below 50% at this point.

Seth: What are the benefits, if any, to a GM not stating their intent to buy or sell in an offseason?
Klaw: None that I know of. Some signaling has value; this does not.

Mets Daddy: Better career: Robert Gsellman or Seth Lugo?
Klaw: I’d bet on Gsellman at this point. Lugo’s high spin rate hasn’t translated into production yet.

Jon: Oh, thank goodness. I was worried I would have to go a whole week without knowing the answer…given his performance in the AFL so far, has your opinion of Tebow changed? 🙂
Klaw: Saw him last night. He doesn’t belong here. It’s a bad joke.

TK: May Even Year Magic rot in hell, never to be seen again.
Klaw: I was getting tired of the woo arguments for the Giants and for Bumgarner. He’s a great pitcher; let’s stop conferring preternatural abilities on him.

Jack: What are that odds that Yadier Alvarez gets called up at some point next season? 7 Ronin came in the mail yesterday. I am looking forward to breaking it out.
Klaw: Great arm, but he made 9 starts in full-season ball this year. I don’t see any chance of that. 7 Ronin is great – hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Colin: How can the USA, and the republican party recover from the toxicity of Donald Trump
Klaw: My hope all year has been that he would lose badly enough that the GOP would lose at least one chamber of commerce, and the resulting upheaval inside the party would force out some of his enablers (like Reince) and restore the more classical conservatives to power. Until the Republicans catch up to 2016 on some basic social issues, we’re not going to have two viable choices for major offices in most of the country. You can’t keep fighting marriage equality, pushing ‘gay conversion therapy,’ or passing these so-called ‘bathroom bills’ (that really forbid local authorities from providing LGBT with protection from discrimination), in a nation that is increasingly more tolerant on social matters but where conservative positions on economic or foreign policies remain popular.

Sam: What is Michael Kopech’s ceiling?
Klaw: I’ll see him Saturday and will have an updated answer then. I can tell you though that he has some plus-plus hair. He’s going for the Syndergaard look.

@OutfieldGrass24: Hey Keith, big thanks for your time as always. Who are a couple of lower level D-backs that are future big leaguers for you. I’m fully prepared for you to respond with “none,” but my blind, very stupid, optimism wins every time.
Klaw: Jasrado Chisholm is the big name from the lower levels; he might have the highest upside of any realistic prospect in the system.

Evan: Klaw, haven’t seen much written about Giants rhp prospect Sam Coonrod. Has had fantastic 2-full season so far. He a dude?
Klaw: Reliever only. Good relief prospect but that’s it.

Jay: With the Jays pulling in insane attendance and TV numbers the last 2 years, can they justify being outbid for Edwin?
Klaw: Yes, because of his age and likely projections for his performance going forward. He may be a poor investment even if he’s still a good player.

Kevin G.: Hi Keith. Big fan of your work. You have been consistently down on Marco Estrada. Have you changed your opinion of him at all, or do you still think his BABIP suppression and relatively low homer rate (for an extreme fly ball guy) is kind of fluky? Interested to hear your analysis. Thanks!
Klaw: Still think it’s very fluky. He’s around a .225 BABIP with the Jays the last two years, something like 70-80 points below league-average and still 30+ points below his own career BABIP.

Steve: Dexter Fowler likely leaves in FA. Hopefully Schwarber is healthy and can play some LF. Would you have Heyward play CF for Cubs and Soler in RF or would you look to move Soler (value has to be pretty low)? Or just hang on to everyone and figure injuries will sort out playing time?
Klaw: Play Soler. Getting him regular PT next year should be a priority; he’s shown flashes of the ability when healthy, especially at the end of this season, although I’ve been disappointed in his reads on defense. Heyward in CF would make sense, but I’m not sure about Schwarber in LF off the knee injury. (Previous to that I thought he’d be capable out there.)

Jeremy: Thoughts on Dylan winning the nobel prize for literature? I’m a fan of Dylan’s and his lyrics can be amazing and thoughtful, but it seems like a warping of the award, and I highly doubt there weren’t qualified authors to pick from.
Klaw: This is my thought as well. I think he is the greatest lyricist in music history, but I don’t think that compares to the output of great novelists or short story writers. Ngugi wa’Thiongo was considered a favorite to win, and both of his novels that I’ve read are spectacular works of fiction.

Stephen: Where does cubs rhp Trevor Clifton factor into the future rotation equation?
Klaw: Mid-rotation starter.

Chad: How does Preller get trust and credibility back? Is firing Dee, and hiring someone to specifically oversee medical records, enough? Also, who would be your pick for the new Padres CEO?
Klaw: That CEO job is a business job, not a President of Baseball Ops job. Preller has to be scrupulously honest in all dealings, even to the point of going overboard in revealing information. That’s the only way to rebuild trust. Also, people have asked about him getting fired post-suspension; that would be incredibly stupid for the Padres, given how late we are in the baseball calendar now. If you were going to fire him, do it rather than suspending him.

Jer: Predictions on any changes to the CBA after the World Series?
Klaw: I think the international FA system (July 2) is a top priority. The draft is high up on the list for teams, who feel like they’re spending more money in the draft on secondary talents. The MLB minimum salary is likely to go up substantially. I think players want to continue to limit required media access before/after games. September roster rules will probably come up. I personally hope the loss of a draft pick to sign a free agent ends this time around.

Mike: Is there anything anyone can do to move the pace of game in the playoffs? Love it, it’s great theater, but throw the ball already?
Klaw: Well, how long did the top of the 9th take in the Giants-Cubs game 4? Every pitching change is about three minutes of dead time, if not four. That would be my main target; it sucked a lot of drama out of an incredible finish.

Hugo Z: How much credence do you give to studies that indicate line-up protection is a myth?
Klaw: It is definitely a myth, at least as it is understood to mean that a hitter becomes more productive with a better hitter behind him. I’ve said here before I think it’s a myth in MLB, but in an environment like college or HS, where you might see a gap between a team’s best hitter and the guy behind him larger than anything we’ll see in MLB, it may very well exist.

Matt: Can we turn 2016 off, and then turn it back on again? Maybe that will fix it.
Klaw: We should roll back the BIOS to the last clean install.

Keith Too: been a serious issue, but over the last few months of the season it seems that Staumont might have finally bought in that the rose goes in front. IWhat are your thoughts?
Klaw: Saw him Tuesday. Same guy as before – good delivery, great pure stuff, 40 command tops. Let him start as long as you can, because the pure upside is enormous, maybe even #1, but it’s hard to see how he ever gets there when there is no physical or mechanical obstacle to him commanding the fastball.

Jack C.: How does one get into the sports representation business (i.e. agent/advisor)? What can an advisor do with high school and NCAA athletes that an agent can’t do? There seems to be such a grey area when it comes to answers (no surprising due to many NCAA rules and regulations).
Klaw: They’re all lawyers, I think, so that’s the first step. An advisor is an agent who isn’t formally getting paid; once the player signs his first contract, he pays a commission to the advisor, who then becomes an agent. So it’s all semantics and vocabulary there.

Frankie: Did the Mets make the right choice when the traded Dickie to the Jays? Syndergaard or Sanchez?
Klaw: They made the right choice; I had Sanchez rated higher at the time, and perhaps Sanchez would have developed faster in the Mets’ system, but given what we know the Mets did well to take Thor, who I thought was going to win the NL Cy this year for most of the season.

Tim: My wife is pregnant and we are considering the Dr. Sears alternative vaccine schedule. Not sure if you are familiar with it, but the child gets all vaccines, just on a slightly delayed schedule. Our primary reason for doing this is so we can isolate each vaccine in case of some kind of allergic reaction. Are you familiar with Dr. Sears alternate schedule and if so, how do you feel about it?
Klaw: I am familiar with it. It’s total bullshit and he’s a quack. If your child (congratulations, by the way) has an egg allergy, then one vaccine won’t be any better than four. Otherwise there is no reason to use this pseudoscientific ‘alternative’ schedule.

Tim: Cody Reed, Amir Garrett or Robert Stephenson for 5th spot in Reds rotation? Any of them bullpen bound in your opinion?
Klaw: All have starter potential and bullpen floor. Reed seems the most likely to start to me. Stephenson has the highest upside.

Nick: What is Gleyber Torres’ power ceiling? 20-25 Hr’s a year at his peak or is that too high?
Klaw: I’d buy that.

Chris: Two-part question: Is Chase Utley a Hall of Famer? Will Chase Utley get into the Hall of Fame?
Klaw: He is, and I think he will after several years on the ballot. Would have helped if he’d won one of the MVPs he deserved rather than, say, his DP partner winning.

J: Given that 5 (Woodfork, Bell, Montgomery, Minniti, Rizzo) of Arizona’s public targets are or were in their FO at one point, is it fair to say they feel regret about going so far outside of the org last time? Do you think being internal candidates right now helps Bell/Minniti?
Klaw: From what I’ve heard, that list of public is not accurate. I don’t believe Bell is getting an interview, for example, although he’s really highly regarded around MLB.

Erik: Could Clint Frazier hypothetically play CF?
Klaw: No shot.

Eddy: Juan Soto — what type of ceiling does he have? What type of numbers can he post at his peak?
Klaw: He’s 17; I wouldn’t even pretend to project numbers on that. I think he has at least above-average regular upside, a corner guy with power and it appears some OBP potential too.

Jordan: How important is the AFL for a prospect like Dustin Peterson
Klaw: It’s not important; it’s useful, or valuable, but not important in any way.

Air: Thoughts on the new Fox TV show “Pitch” ?
Klaw: Have not watched.

ck: My wife is really into board games, but me, not so much. Part of the problem is that I get very bored waiting for my turn to come back around (as my wife won’t see this, I might mention that her lack of speed in moving is part of the problem). Do you ever have this issue, and if so, how do you get around it?
Klaw: Yes. Gotta pick games that don’t have that feature. Co-op games like Pandemic might be more your speed.

Adam: If I am planning on spatchcocking my turkey for Thanksgiving, should I brine it also, or does the fast cooking time of a spatchcocked turkey make brining redundant?
Klaw: I didn’t brine last year, I just “dry-brined,” which means salting it a little ahead of time to dry out the skin and allow some salt to work its way into the meat via osmosis. Check Serious Eats for more on that.

Joel: Tyler O’Neill, what’s the ceiling there in your opinion?
Klaw: Average regular in RF.

Jaime: Does the surplus of Dodger left-handed hitting prospects (Bellinger, Verdugo, Calhoun, Rios) combined w their big league left-handedness, be a concern?
Klaw: No. I don’t think you can ever have too much of a valuable asset type.

Cory: Why should my Twins take Hunter Greene #1 in the draft, over Wright/Faedo or a position player
Klaw: I’m not sure they should do that, as good as Greene is. There’s certainly risk there, HS pitcher risk as well as questions about how good the breaking ball is going to be down the road.

MikeM: Did you get to see James Kaprielian pitch last night? His velocity was reportedly back to where it was before his injury. After the lost year of development do you think he can still be a mid rotation starter?
Klaw: Yep. I think he can be more than a mid-rotation starter. He looked ridiculous last night.

Greg: Are there any Atlanta prospects going under the radar that you are higher on than most?
Klaw: Is Ronald Acuna still under the radar? I think he might be too well-known for that, but I think he’s a star.

Kevin: Which TV show would you have loved to have a cameo on?
Klaw: I kept telling Schur I was ready for a Parks & Rec cameo as “Corpse #2” but he told me it wasn’t that kind of show.

Tom: At some point doesn’t Bochy have to give one of those FIVE relievers a shot at two batters?
Klaw: Will Smith in particular. Or my son Derek, who shouldn’t have started the inning if there was even a chance in Bochy’s mind that Lopez would face Rizzo.

Dusty: Thinking of going to see the AFL for the first time this year. I know you have several posts on where to eat in the area and we will make good use of those. I was wondering if you had any good advice on actually going to the games.
Klaw: Nothing to advise really – they’re not well attended at all, so just show up and enjoy.

Ryan: Is it more of an insult to yours and all the scouts at the AFL’s intelligence that Tebow is on the field with baseball players that have a *real* future?
Klaw: I think it’s the biggest insult to the player who didn’t get that roster spot, or whoever’s losing playing time to this stunt.

Paul: Hey Keith, Just to say that the Giants- Cubs was GREAT! I enjoyed it very much even as a Giants fan. No managers mistakes, just players playing at their best, close plays all the time. You just can’t beat it
Klaw: I agree and I think the criticism of Bochy for pulling Moore was totally off base. His one mistake was letting Romo face a LHB (after some reshuffling), which is a real tactical error. But otherwise it ain’t his fault none of his relievers could hit a spot.

JJ: Lost year for Blake Swihart. Is he still a catcher in 2017, or do the Red Sox move forward with their conversion to the outfield? If it’s the latter, then he must be trade bait, right? I don’t see him overtaking any of the Benintendi-Bradley-Betts trio.
Klaw: He needs to catch. He’s more than capable.

Brett: Doesn’t it feel like Atlanta is afraid to hire from the outside? This Snitker hire just feels weird when there’s a guy like Black out there wanting the job.
Klaw: I was disappointed with the lack of imagination in the candidate pool. These were pretty standard names.

Max: Thoughts on Tanner Houck? How high could he realistically go next June?
Klaw: Potential top five pick … but I think he’s likely a reliever in the long run and doubt I’ll rank him that high.

JR: Whoever ends up winning the world series will be breaking a championship drought of 20+ years (Toronto in 1993 the most recent champion). #fuckyeahbaseball
Klaw: Yep, this is exactly the type of postseason outcome I root for. Let’s give some long-suffering fan base a championship. Cubs-Cleveland would be incredible no matter who wins.

Steve: Taking my 8 year old to games 1-2 of NLCS. He has some social anxiety in big crowds. He is fine during the game, but gets nervous while leaving. I know it will be nuts at Wrigley. With the exception of leaving early, would you advise just hanging back and let the crowd filter out? We will be staying downtown and taking the train/cab/uber.
Klaw: I’d hang back till after. The mad rush postgame for the subway would be intimidating. Worse because so many people will be drunk.

Chris: I know that Matt Moore is post-TJ and at 120 pitches, but he had retired 9 straight and struck out two of three in 8th. Lose and go home. Why not keep him in with the worst bullpen in the playoffs?
Klaw: Well, that’s a bit of recency bias. There’s really no evidence that a pitcher who’s done what he did is therefore more likely to continue to pitch above his abilities. There is evidence, however, that pitchers pitch worse the fourth time through a lineup (he was at 28 batters, so would have faced Bryant-Rizzo-Zobrist for the fourth time), and that they pitch worse when fatigued, of which 120 pitches is a weak proxy.

darren stains: Hey Keith. Do you have any opinions regarding the Harvard Extension School? I’m 33 trying to finish my bachelors. I’m going the online route and HES is a little cheaper than many of the “reputable” online programs. I’ve seen mixed reviews about HES. Waste of money? Quality education? No idea?
Klaw: I have very limited experience with it, but my understanding is that it’s more like high-quality adult education than like the classes you’d take as an undergraduate. I don’t know anything about its accreditation for your purposes, though.

J.O.: Is there a chance Heyward has been hurt all season and that is causing his hitting problems/mechanics issues?
Klaw: Sure. I think it’s ultimately mechanical, though.

JAred: Why is Espinosa still starting when they have Turner?
Klaw: I have no idea. Then again, I was pilloried for suggesting Turner should have been up to start the year, at least when Espinosa had that one good month.

Brett: Keith, I’m a Braves fan mad about their late hot streak. If one of their late wins turned into a loss, they’d be picking second next year instead of fifth. Am I insane?
Klaw: Not at all. Costs them a higher pick and probably $2.5-3 million in pool money under the current system.

Brian: Aren’t the people shaming Trump’s alleged sexual harassment victims for not coming out earlier more or less enabling him? The reason they didn’t was because they were afraid of negative consequences and not being believed.
Klaw: Yes. And they’re engaging in what they have previously accused HRC of doing to the women who accused Bill of harassment or assault. (Which is also not OK.)

ck: Do you foresee baseball modifying the rules regarding reviews to avoid these stupid reversals when a sliding runner leaves a bag by a half-inch for a millisecond, or will it devolve to “these pampered players need to learn how to slide like the old-timers did” with no change made?
Klaw: I haven’t heard anything from within the industry about it, which wasn’t true of the transfer rule debacle, so I doubt there’s a change – but I wrote the other day why I hope there will be a change because the status quo is a step backwards and may lead to more injuries on slides.

Nick: Could Blake Rutherford stay in CF?
Klaw: No shot.

John: To the guy thinking about the Sears quackery, the first time your kid drops a pacifier on the ground, picks it up, and pops it back into their mouth they will be exposed to more pathogens than any appointment on the typical vaccination schedule.
Klaw: Exactly. I believe I’ve told the story before of my daughter, as a baby, licking the play gym floor. That’s more pathogens than she got in all vaccines combined. The same is true of one tablespoon of soil – there’s something like a million organisms in it of hundreds of species. So people who listen to Sears are falling for junk science.

Hugo Z: For a mid-payroll team, do you like the Mets model of supplementing young starters with one or two relatively inexpensive veterans, and saving your big money spending for position players?
Klaw: Yes, very much. Of course, i don’t think they should be a mid-payroll team…

Jared: I am a HS baseball coach and like you look out for my pitchers. Last year, we were up 1-0 in the 5th inning in the Regional Final when I pulled him because he had thrown 85 pitches. We ended up losing 2-1 and I heard it from parents and others that I wasn’t looking out for the team. This kid probably will play Division 3, but has an outside shot at a D2 scholarship. What are your thoughts on what I should have told these parents?
Klaw: That your goal is developing these kids as players and people, and that your job is to be the adult in the room and take the long view even if it’s to the detriment of the team in one particular game.

Andy: Bounce back for Kolten Wong in ’17?
Klaw: I’ll put it this way: I never thought he’d be more than an average regular, but I think he’s much better than what we saw this year.

Andy: Do you have any additional insight into the Epinoza/Pomeranz re-trade. Was it actually a, we’ll give the prospect back if you give us the pitcher? If it was, why didn’t the Red Sox take them up on it?
Klaw: I think that was it, and the Red Sox must have decided a fragile Pomeranz was still worth more to them this year and next than the long-term value of Espinoza.

Geregg: What is Anderson Espinoza’s floor?
Klaw: Floor would be a high-value reliever, one of these 2 WAR, 12 K per 9 type of guys.

Preston: Do you have a recommendation for a quick (5-15 minutes) board/card game, preferably fairly easy to learn? Ideally for 5 or 6 people, though I could work with fewer.
Klaw: The card games Love Letter, Coup, and 3 Wishes all fit what you’re looking for and play 3-4, but not more. Ticket to Ride takes almost no time to learn, plays up to 5, but takes more time than that to play. Carcassonne plays up to 5 or 6, takes a little more time to learn because of the scoring of farms, but has no setup time and can play in a half hour or so once you know the rules.

Ryan V.: Really enjoyed your review of The Lobster. Even more, I enjoyed the quiz that identifies which of three animals you could be in that world. My day was brightened immeasurably when I learned that I should be a water bear…
Klaw: I’m still thinking about the movie a lot, which is a good sign. I didn’t buy some of the plot contrivances in the second half, but the dystopian details were both clever and I thought perfectly satirized some of our modern obsessions with relationships and ‘matching.’

Tim: Any other names moving up your list for ’17 that could unseat Kendall or Greene? Seems like those guys are almost sure bets to go top 2 or 3.
Klaw: Those are the clear top 2 for me. Wright is right up there. Adell has the tool set to make a big run up the board, but he’s not going to face great competition in the spring and I think some teams will consider him too risky for a pick that high.

Troy: Is Luke Weaver a reliable starter in the bigs someday?
Klaw: I don’t think he has the breaking ball for that.

Logan: Between Muller and Wentz, who has the high ceiling, and who is the safest?
Klaw: Wentz on both for me.

Jay: I found it ridiculous that the Rangers and their fans equated Odor punching Bautista to the Bat Flip homer as their signature moment. The irony was too sweet that he blew the final play.
Klaw: I don’t love celebrating a punch in that manner anyway. Go watch MMA if that’s your style.

Jeff: Are there any Rule 5 guys that could end up with regular roles in 2017? How early do teams start planning for this?
Klaw: The rosters won’t be set until around November 20th, and the safest answer to your first question is “no,” because I think we’ve had maybe zero or one in each of the last five years of drafts.

Darth Vader Ginsburg: Have a best mac and cheese recipe?
Klaw: I do, right here on the dish.

Stephen: Has the apparent mechanical change (his stance looks different since his recall from the minors) from Puig rebuilt his value in your estimation? Or are you still noticing that he is not turning on inside fastballs?
Klaw: It was never a mechanical issue.

Scott: What are you thoughts on Eloy Jimenez? 19 y/o. but seems he advanced well this year. Seen him live?
Klaw: Couple of times. Superstar.

Anonymous: What did you do after you graduated Harvard? What advice would you give to a senior that is not really sure what to do immediately after?
Klaw: Worked in consulting, got an MBA, worked at some startups, never liked any of it.

Erskine: Have you heard of the new deckbuilding/dungeon-crawling game Clank! that released today? Interested in your thoughts on this new style of game.
Klaw: No, but I’ll check it out.

Brian Woytek: Should I go see Opeth on Saturday or watch the NLCS?
Klaw: Go see Opeth. You can always record the game and watch it later. I had to watch the 9th inning of Cubs-Giants afterwards because I was at a game here.

Anthony: Would you try to move Gallo and Profar for a SP? What value to each of them have given the struggles of both?
Klaw: Profar struggled? He missed two years and came back to be a useful bench piece. Your standards are too high.

Tim (KC): Hey Keith… do you have any book recs for baseball analytics?
Klaw: Yes. I’m writing one.

Tim: I always reflect your science-based approach to issues. Do you have any thoughts or reading recommendation on chiropractic care, particularly pediatric chiro or “subluxation”?
Klaw: Any chiropractic claims beyond dealing with musculoskeletal injuries or pain are pseudoscience.

Bryan: What is going on with DJ Stewart? Seems to do better vs higher competition
Klaw: Bench guy, maybe. Bad body, poor approach, no position.

Josephina: Thoughts on cutting out sugar from your diet when it makes everything taste so good?
Klaw: I’ve never cut it out completely so I wouldn’t know what to advise, especially if you have a medical reason to avoid it. Maybe just try to use more of the other things that satisfy us, like acid or umami?

Alex: Ty Black.. Anything more than a 5th starter option for the Giants?
Klaw: I think he’s a reliever, but I’d accept fifth starter as an answer too.

Deniro: Thought the concern with vaccines were chemicals and heavy metals in vaccines?
Klaw: The concern with vaccines is that a lot of people don’t understand basic science and refuse to accept overwhelming evidence that vaccines are safe.

Tim (KC): Is it a mistake that teams are not letting some of their top end prospects play this postseason? (Thinking Urias, Moncada, Swihart, Giolito)
Klaw: I don’t think it’s a mistake – Moncada isn’t ready to contribute, for example. Urias would be the exception, as he can help at least in a long relief role.

Randy: I know you are high on Junior Fernandez. Looks like he had a nice year. Ceiling?
Klaw: High-end starter.

Josephina: How rare is Rich Hill? Majors to independent ball to starting the biggest game of the year for the Dodgers?
Klaw: Incredibly so and I think it’s fantastic. Probably helped that he had pitched in the majors before, but still, most guys in his situation would be done.

Buddy: I think the whole situation with Buck waiting for a save situation is a perfect example of how in sports managers would rather lose conventionally than win unconventionally, which is of course twisted. The most underrated aspect of the analytics movement is that more people are starting to realize the flaw in that thinking, which may lead to actual change on the field; given the number of people criticizing the conventional failure by Buck, it seems more likely another manager will feel confident making the right move in the future, even if it fails
Klaw: Yes, it’s the “no one ever got fired for buying from IBM” mentality. If you buy from the new vendor, and it doesn’t work out, you will be second-guessed to death by people saying “why didn’t you just buy from IBM?” If Buck used Britton, extended the game, and then lost when someone else blew the save situation, he would have been criticized for using his closer “too soon,” by writers and fans who can’t see that using Britton allowed the save situation to happen. Of course, failing to use Britton at all created a new set of questions, so I don’t think Buck escaped it entirely, but he definitely hewed too closely to a conservative idea of reliever usage.

Klaw: That’s all for this week – thank you as always for your questions and for reading.

Comments

  1. Thoughts on James Kaprielian? After his start in AFL and the 4 starts this season? How fast can he move?

  2. Christopher Guest is doing the ESPN tour today. Are you a fan of his work? Do you wish you could interview him?

  3. In my relatively ignorant opinion, it seems like we’re seeing more simplified wind ups, such as Pomeranz, Arrieta, etc. Is there truth to this? Is there a downside to shortening and simplifying wind ups?

  4. Hey, wait a minute…

    I had to leave the chat when it was in it’s live mode earlier. When I left, someone was asking a question about adjusting to life after going on bipolar medication. I come back now and there is no question or answer in the transcript related to it. Are things being omitted in the transcript conversion process – sort of like that whole Klaw ten minutes ago thing?

    • Marty Bystrom

      Is this a Stranger Things reference?

    • No, it’s a I think there might be a problem in the chat transcription process reference.

    • No, it isn’t visible on the Dilmot site itself or in the settings panel. The question is there, but my answer is gone, so it’s not in the raw file I feed into the transcription code.

  5. Saw Bob Dylan at Desert Trip last weekend. Don’t know how he could win a Nobel Prize, considering you can’t understand what he’s saying.

  6. Read the Directions

    “Matt: Can we turn 2016 off, and then turn it back on again? Maybe that will fix it.
    Klaw: We should roll back the BIOS to the last clean install.”

    I’m assuming this is a reference to the presidential election. If it was just a reference to the baseball season, disregard.

    Anyway, it’s a compelling question: if you had the chance to rewind the United States to its “last clean install,” when would that be?

  7. K. I sit in the upper deck at Wrigley. No one is leaving quickly. I left near the end of the song and was out of the stadium in less than 2 minutes

    • If I’m by myself or with adults, I can believe that. With a young kid, especially one with anxiety? That would be very difficult. I would follow Keith’s advice. Be amongst the last to leave. You could even take the walk up to the Sheridan L station (I guess someone has to give Keith a bit of a hard time for referring to the “L” as the subway) to kill a bit more time if the Addison station still is packed. So go north, even if you are going south to downtown.

  8. So Dylan winning the Nobel Prize for Literature : A reliever winning the Cy Young? Best in the role, but total output doesn’t produce as much value as a novelist?

    • This is silly. Nobody complains when a poet, like T.S. Eliot or Pablo Neruda, wins. Why should it matter that Dylan’s poetry is set to music?

      Also, if “more” words is somehow more impactful than fewer, well-chosen words then someone better take away Hemingway’s Nobel and give it to J.R.R. Tolkien.

    • I’m not a huge fan of poets winning it. Part of that is that I don’t feel the same way about poetry as I do about other forms of literature, so it’s subjective. I also think the modern cultural relevance of fiction is much greater than that of poetry. The contribution of a poet to his nation’s or culture’s literary canon is going to be much smaller than that of a fiction writer. That latter objection doesn’t apply to Dylan, of course, because his cultural contribution is large.

    • I’m not such a big fan of poetry either. I also don’t really get what the Nobel in literature purports to reward. It’s not solely cultural impact, because the majority of literature laureates are semi-obscure or really obscure. It’s not solely artistry, because some of the laureates are not exactly tops in that category (see Steinbeck, John). As far as I can tell, it’s primarily about impact on other writers. In other words, influence.

      In any case, I obviously think Dylan’s a very reasonable (and even inspired) choice. Overall, I think the academy is far too elitist, overlooking some worthy candidates because they’re a little too pop.

  9. For the guy that asked about Harvard Extension: I took classes there and absolutely loved them. I was taught by Harvard Professors and they were some of the best teachers I’ve ever had. I took Philosophy, Logic and some Film and Writing classes. Not all the professors were from Harvard but all of them were great. This was 15 years ago so things may have changed. But I can’t say enough great things about my experience.

    • I would agree about HES, though my experience was completely on-line. Some of the classes are the same as those taken by the undergraduates, such as CS50 and CS51. I was just going for software engineering certification, so I didn’t get a degree. I enjoyed the classes and would recommend it.

  10. Keith, I was just wondering if you’d scene the new scene (really, half an episode) the Will & Grace cast filmed in support of Hillary. It was pretty good. http://youtu.be/jzae4DKexko

  11. For Steve or anyone leaving Wrigley after a game, especially if the crowds are amplifying your anxiety, your best bet is to walk a couple blocks north on Sheffield to the Sheridan stop. That platform is typically a quarter as full and you’ll board before the Addison stop. Probably also easier to hail a cab/uber from there.

  12. He made it pretty clear the last time this came up that he’s not going to answer, and considers it a rude question. Just FYI

  13. My wife and I had some problems conceiving our first, and so far only, child. We were married four years before he was conceived and we didn’t marry young. It was common for people to ask when we were going to have a child, or just state that it’s time that we should. It never bothered me (because I’m a big dumb lug) but it really started to affect my wife. I had never considered that it could be rude until she explained to me why it bothered her. I’ll never ask about it or bring it up to anyone again.