Klawchat 8/18/16.

Chat at 1 pm ET. Questions go in the chat frame, not the comments!

Klaw: I can feel the earth begin to move … for Klawchat.

Carl: Keith, what are the Braves doing with Swanson? Numbers in Double A are just OK and they aren’t going to compete next year. What’s the point?
Klaw: What’s the downside? If they think he’s going to be their OD starter next year at short, giving him 100+ at bats this year is a good developmental step. You don’t wait to bring up your top prospects until you’re ready to compete; you bring them up when it’s the right time for their development so that you can be ready to compete in the future.

Chris Sale’s Scissors: Love the work you’ve done this week subbing for Buster. Been a must listen all week. What’s your take on the supposed rift between Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams? As a fan of the team I don’t think they’ll ever be serious contenders as long as Williams is on the premises as he has no long-term vision whatsoever. His ego won’t allow a rebuild. I actually feel for Hahn, who SEEMS to understand what’s needed but can’t act due to the egos above him.
Klaw: I don’t know any details on the rift, but I agree that Hahn is the more progressive thinker while Williams is more reactionary and operates from an older playbook.

Frank209: Do you think KC’s plan with Strahm is to use him out of the pen this year and then move him into the rotation next year?
Klaw: I think he can be a starter and would hope they’d give him that chance at some point.

Billy: You have better access than me, so can you help get this done: if it takes more than a minute, minute and a half, to review a replay, there isn’t enough evidence to overturn and it stands. Please tell Manfred to make this happen. Thanks
Klaw: Nah, if you’re willing to wait 90 seconds to get the right answer you can wait three minutes.

Kyle: Why are you bias against the Diamondbacks? Just kidding, great write up.
Klaw: Thanks. I believe that is only the second time I have said a GM should be fired, after Bowden was accused of skimming Latin American player bonuses or simply allowing it to happen on his watch while with the Nationals.

Dan Lincoln: Altuve or Trout for best player in baseball right now?
Klaw: Trout. Altuve is having a Trout-like year. Trout is having his fifth straight Trout-like year.

Jacob Paukner: What have you thought of Musgrove so far?
Klaw: Only 18 innings but I’m surprised at the strikeout rate. Sinkerballer with control, so the other stuff isn’t surprising. Definitely a big league starter, average floor. Rare example of a guy who missed a lot of time with a shoulder issue and came back as good as ever.

James: How do you view Swanson relative to Trea Turner? Braves fan here, but I’ve watched a lot of Nats games over the past month and Turner looks like a star player with a better than advertised hit tool and a dynamic trait that Swanson doesn’t have (speed), does Swanson’s all-around prowess still give him the advantage in your mind?
Klaw: Turner has much more speed, Swanson’s more physical and will have some more power. As prospects, Swanson has/had the better floor, Turner had the better chance to be an impact player because the speed could be game-changing if he gets on base enough (which so far he has).

Dario Sanchez: What do you think about Encarnacion signing with Houston in the offseason? Seems like a good fit to fill in at DH and hit at Minute Maid.
Klaw: No. They have lots of guys who can fill the DH spot for them without giving up a draft pick or paying EE’s cost. They already have more bats than spots for them.

Jack C.: Hey Keith, have been real busy the past couple of days and have finally caught up with the flooding in Louisiana , especially Baton Rouge. Now please correct me if I am wrong because this may sound awful or morbid, but why do we (our country) keep funneling time, effort, and resources to parts of Louisiana that are already below sea level? Did we not learn anything for Hurricane Katrina? While people continue to believe that global warming is some hoax, homes and businesses will be underwater in those areas in the next couple hundred years. It’s happening now. It is just a matter of time until those sea levels rise a couple of feet and nothing can be saved.
Klaw: This came up after Katrina, and the best argument against it that I saw was that such places as the Ninth Ward of New Orleans were heavily populated by African-Americans, and thus such a policy would displace far more minorities from their homes. I tend to agree with you, though, that the cost of allowing those residents to stay in areas below sea level is going to escalate over time and that we need to find permanent housing solutions for all of those citizens rather than bailing them out, literally and figuratively, every five to ten years, including the attendant disruptions to their lives and their work.

Jack C.: Hey Keith, finally got the opportunity to do my first freelance scouting trip this past week to a Snappers – Timber Rattlers game. I loved it. I loved it so much I went down to Clinton, IA on Monday and Peoria, IL Tuesday to watch some more prospects (K. Tucker, A. Jackson, J. Woodford, T. Blankenhorn). I wanted to ask about something I saw in my first game regarding Trent Clark. He was playing CF when there was a ball hit to him off a broken bat. He took a pretty awful first step backwards and the ball eventually fell in front of him. Are broken bat hits extremely difficult to judge (as I imagine)? Does your average defensive outfielder make that play more routinely or is that something only seen out of gold-glove caliber players?
Klaw: He’s not a very good CF; I think he ends up in a corner anyway. Broken bat hits are tough to gauge, but a first step back is not a good sign for his instincts. He’s also just not fast enough to be an average defender in center.

Burlin: Can you recommend chapter book for a precocious 3.5 year old? I got the original Wizard of Oz on hold, but I’m not quite sure. I’ve got some lined up in the next year or two, but would like to start something sooner. Thanks.
Klaw: The Winnie the Pooh books are my go-to rec for that age. The vocabulary isn’t too high and the stories are very gentle.

Chris: Is Gavin Cecchini a viable option for Mets next season at 2B? I’d like to see him get some reps in bigs this season, totally understand the Vegas inflation factor on offensive numbers but would bringing him up for a look hurt at all?
Klaw: Yes, it would hurt because Terry Collins would have to come up with new excuses not to play him, then would criticize him to the local press, and then try to get Sandy to demote him to AAA even when Vegas’ season is over.

John: Is it a huge blunder that the rock bottom Braves called up its top prospect and waste his service time?
Klaw: No, because you have Dave Stewart level understanding of the rules. Giving Swanson 45 days of service this year isn’t going to affect his free agency or arbitration dates.

Nick: Any guys from the complex leagues or even DSL that have popped up or you’re hearing good things about that might make team top 20s or do next year? I’ve heard Jonathan Guzman referenced a couple time times.
Klaw: He’s one of the best names I’ve heard about. Legit 96-100 as a starter.

Nick: Seems like a repeat of last year for Soler: early struggles, prolonged hamstring injury, excellent hitting upon return. What is it with this guy, and what do you think his future looks like?
Klaw: I still think he’s a star if he stays healthy. He’s showing these last 2-3 weeks what he’s capable of doing, and I think he’s adjusting to that slider low and away that just killed him earlier in the year.

Jonas: What happened with Joba Chamberlin and Phil Hughes? Why didn’t they pan out as expected?
Klaw: Joba was jerked back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen, and eventually blew out. Maybe he was going to blow out anyway but a single consistent role would have helped. I thought he had the three pitches he’d need to start. Hughes was always a bit overrated for me with the flat fastball and lack of an average third pitch, so I think he probably met realistic expectations for him but not the hype around him.

Dana: Who do you like better to be the Yankees’ first baseman of the future, Bird or Austin?
Klaw: Bird is a bad defender at first.

Tony: Worried about Cody Reed after a rough start to his big league career?
Klaw: No. I don’t worry about any player after a “rough start;” I remember getting a few tweets asking if the Astros had made a mistake/could continue to live with him when he went 0 for 15 to start his career. And I think the differences in the baseball between the minors and majors are making it harder for pitchers to make the adjustment.

Mack: Regarding Chad Kuhl, when you say “doesn’t have a pitch to get lefties out”, are you saying that he just doesn’t utilize a 3rd pitch (like a changeup) or are you saying that the changeup he has is completely unusable? I saw him throwing changeups pretty frequently against a LHH-heavy Dodgers lineup and wasn’t sure if that was a new step for him or if it doesn’t matter because the pitch itself is just horrible. Thanks!
Klaw: It’s just not a good enough pitch.

Patrick: Who is a potential riser in the Sox farm over the next year? Josh Pennington? Roniel Raudes? Luis Alexander Basabe?
Klaw: Raudes for sure. They kept the good Basabe – I wonder if Arizona knew which one they were getting – and I’m definitely buying on him. I still like Travis Lakins quite a bit despite the rough debut season.

Nick: Any intel as to who the PTBNL in the Lucroy trade is?
Klaw: My understanding is that the player has not yet been decided on. So he will be named … later.

Joe: I agree with you re: closers and Cy Young/MVP potential. But I saw you interact with someone on twitter yesterday who was using WPA as an argument. Am I correct that your argument against that was that WPA for closers is somewhat like RBI for hitters, in that it is arbitrarily inflated by [managerial decisions]/[spot in lineup and quality of hitters a batter hits behind] and thus not reflective of actual talent and value?
Klaw: Yep, that’s pretty much it. And what WPA thus loses is how much of, say, Zach Britton’s very high WPA is a function of how he’s been used versus how he’s performed.

Kraig: Why did the Padres agree to take back Rae? Seems strange considering he made a start with the Marlins and he would have taken a physical before the trade was completed?
Klaw: He would not have taken a physical before the trade was completed. You can’t do physicals for in-season trades. The Marlins claimed the Padres had not disclosed something that should have been in Rea’s medicals.

Andy: Is Patrick Corbin’s major regression due to something that the org has done or is it just a cautionary tale that TJS is not a definite.
Klaw: I think they rushed him back – and I said so at the time, even suggesting this past offseason that they consider putting him in the bullpen for some of 2016 to try to slow things down – but I’m hopeful that he’ll be better in 2017 after another offseason of rest.

Walligator: Rowdy Tellez is up to .295/.387/.499 after a brutal start to the season. He is walking almost 13% of the time, while only striking out 18% (with 16 homers to boot). He is just 21 years young. While he undoubtedly has a “bad body”, and is likely to be a DH, is there nothing to like in his profile, given his age and inexperience at the level? Admittedly, I’ve only scouted his stat line–is he someone that you have to watch in person to pick out his flaws? I believe you said he has a long swing or one that can’t handle high velocity…is there any way he can make it work? His slash line at his age just seems excellent, and I would think some AA pitchers can hit the mid to high 90’s…does Rowdy have a chance at a big league future?
Klaw: New Hampshire’s a good place for LH power – remember Eric Thames – and no, he’s not facing mid- to high-90s that often. I think good pitching will eat Tellez alive, like it did in the AFL.

Jackson: Keith, loved the debate with Stark and was totally on your side. Who do you think is the frontrunner as of now?
Klaw: In the Cy Young debate? I don’t think there is one. Whoever has a great final six weeks gets it. And that could be Britton, because voters love a good narrative.

Andy: I commend you for you D-Backs article. Usually it seems, national press tries to stay above the fray to not give the appearance of impartiality. Nothing that was said was factually inaccurate, and the results have not been there, in large part likely due to the process. I am sure that you have your share of accusations of bias, (#meow) but analysis from people more in the know than I am, is why I pay for ESPN insider.
Klaw: Thank you. As I said to an exec who texted me about the story today, these are their mistakes. I just organized them.

Chase: Missed your amateur coverage this summer Keith, hope you’re ok. Can you give us a couple of your top names? This class better than last?
Klaw: Thank you. I have been going to fewer games this year for two major reasons – working on my book (which has an amazon page now!) and due to a family matter that required me to be home more. Chris Crawford did Team USA, Area Codes, and PG All-American for me, and I saw the Under Armour game. Between all of that and notes I’ve gotten from scouts who went to the Cape, I think it’s a better first round crop, lots of college arms, great HS crop in SoCal, weak in the northeast and northwest.

Nelson: The fact that an Olympian in High School cant accept an endorsement or even a concert ticket or else 2 years later she wont be eligible to compete in the NCAA has to be one of the dumbest things I learnt this olympics
Klaw: And another reason why the NCAA is a cartel that should be broken up by the government.

Mark: Earlier this month Preller said SD’s farm system had bottom 5 talent when he arrived and now has top five talent. Do you agree with the first part of that comment?
Klaw: They had Ross and Turner there when he arrived, among others he traded, so no, I don’t.

Bruce: Most people hit right-handed. Why is being a lefty pitcher so coveted?
Klaw: Because left-handed hitters are more likely to have extreme platoon splits.

Chris: Long time reader, first time questioner. Seems like it’s been a positive year on farm for Padres in many areas but not at SS. Granted I’m mostly “boxscore scouting” but looks like a lost year for Guerra….Giron and Rondon just mediocre. Wondering what you think about Luis Urias. Is he a possible avg MLB regular in the future and, if so, can he play short?
Klaw: Urias is a solid prospect, probably not a star, outstanding feel to hit and general baseball instincts. Giron was overrated off the hot start last year. Guerra did indeed have a lost year and I’ve heard some of that is makeup-related.

Henry: Keith, outstanding post today on the Arizona front office. Do you ever get concerned about the backlash you might get from teams when you draft such things? Nevertheless, I’m really glad you’re speaking out vs organizational ineptitude as it hurts the game and your recent post on domestic violence was very much needed.
Klaw: I’m cognizant of how what I write might be received in front offices, but my job is my job – I can’t not do it out of fear that people will be mad at me. I have spiked some ideas or held back some things over the years to maintain relationships or to stick to my own standard of journalistic ethics (and I’ve made some serious mistakes on that front too), but I think I’ve found a balance I can work with.

Speedtrap: There is so much unwarranted emphasis on pitch velocities during a major league broadcast that with some broadcasts it’s almost the dominate topic. Scouts bring their own guns apparently. In your experience what it the difference between the stadiums guns and the readings a scout is getting?
Klaw: Depends on the stadium. Also I think your point about velocities is broader than just broadcasters getting hung up on it. If you’re 14, and you hear all this raving over this guy throwing 101 and that guy throwing 98, what are you trying to develop most as a pitcher? Hint – it ain’t command.

Kelly: You’ve been skeptical about Luis Severino’s ability to start long-term, but you also tend to advocate letting a player start until it’s clear they no longer can. Given the lack of upper-level Yankees pitching prospects, would you let Severino try starting again next year? Or should they just leave him in the bullpen as a potential multi-inning relief ace?
Klaw: My guess is they will try starting him again, but I would probably shift him to the bullpen for a full season, and if he does well there and wants to start, consider transitioning him back to the rotation in 2018. This way he gets a season of success and adjusting to major-league hitters under his belt.

Jonas: What are your go to quick meals when you have a busy week and limited cooking time?
Klaw: It’s summer, so our vegetable each night is usually a salad – no cooking, just prep, make dressing once or twice a week and use it several nights. Our tomato plants are going bonkers, too, so we’ve been doing tomato salads with basil a few times each week. Then the main dish is often a quick-cooking protein, something I can grill or that I can cook quickly in a skillet, often with a basic rice dish on the side because it cooks in 15 minutes without much work. My sister-in-law is Indian and showed me how she makes basmati rice – soak five minutes, toast spices in butter, toast the drained rice for a minute, add broth/stock (2:1 ratio), cook 15 minutes.

Tom: What are your thoughts, if any, on Derrick Hall? Do you think he should go to? It seems, after two failed two failed general managers, he bears a lot of the responsibility for where the team is now, especially since he could have kept Jerry DiPoto and avoided all of this.
Klaw: I think Ken Kendrick has made those decisions, not Hall.

Tim: Yadier Alvarez going to be a top 100 guy for you? I know Longenhagen says he has him valued at 60 FV. Thoughts on his performance in his debut year?
Klaw: I have not seen him, but Eric’s seen him a few times and we’ve discussed him quite a bit, in addition to what I’ve heard from others, all of which makes him a top 100 guy. Huge arm, good athlete, and he’s throwing strikes.

Barry: Do you like UA and PG separating their games so that the best players can participate in both showcases, or would you rather have them closer together so that more kids get the exposure?
Klaw: I like this better. No more competition for the players. They’ll still get some differences on the rosters due to geography, and in recent years one or both games have suffered when they’ve been on the same weekend, like the 2015 UA game when almost no one could throw strikes.

Joe: Manny Machado still in the MVP discussion?
Klaw: I don’t think so; he’s about 60-65 points of OBP behind Trout/Altuve, with similar power production, so to make him a viable candidate you’d have to argue his defense is Andrelton Simmons-level. I don’t think it is. Top 5 candidate but not top 3. I think the AL MVP race is Trout/Altuve/Donaldson, then Betts/Machado. But I think it will end up Altuve/Betts, Donaldson/Trout/Machado.

Wes: What exactly is a “hitch” in reference to a player’s swing?
Klaw: A big move (with the hands) down, back, or down and back from the load position – that is, not the way the bat needs to go to get to the ball.

Kevin: What are your thoughts on Newcomb’s improvement?
Klaw: Improvement?

Lev: As a GM, how do you properly value an injury prone superstar like Stanton? He’s clearly capable of hitting 50, but will he ever have a season with enough at bats to reach those levels?
Klaw: I think the problem for Stanton is that he can’t stay healthy enough to ‘earn’ the salary he’s guaranteed. The Marlins may end up in a spot where they’re trying to move that contract and can’t. You can hope you get that full season of production, but if you’re running a projection how could you assume it?

Bill: Am I wrong in my thinking that a prospects hit tool is the most important tool by a wide margin? Are prospects that don’t have a lot of exciting tools but can just flat out hit underrated by the industry?
Klaw: It’s the hardest one to evaluate, and it’s incredibly important – if you hit, we forgive lots of other sins, and if you can’t hit, you’d better have something like a 70 glove.

Alex: Do you believe Alex Reyes will be able to develop into a frontline starter?
Klaw: Can, yes. Will, not sure. Stuff is there. Apparently a bright kid and good worker. Delivery needs some tweaking, which I think would help him stay healthy and add power to the breaking ball.

Jordan: Could you see the Yankees starting the 2017 season with 4 starting rookies? (Greg Bird, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Tyler Austin)
Klaw: Bird’s not a rookie and Sanchez won’t be by then either. I could see all four starting the season with the big club, though.

Brad: Keith, we hear a lot about Greene, Faedo, Wright and others as potential 1-1 candidates. Where are the potential 1-1 bats?
Klaw: Jeren Kendall is the best of the group. Jordan Adell is pretty exciting but I think might be too raw for 1-1 right now.

Joe: Does Jordan Montgomery have enough fastball to be a starter?
Klaw: I don’t think so.

Michael: I like that you do it, but can it ever be awkward running into people you criticize? What happened if you saw Dave Stewart or Terry Collins at the Winter Meetings and they said something to you, even something innocent?
Klaw: I would be friendly and open. If such a person wanted to have a real discussion about what I wrote, I think I have an obligation to do it (and I would). If someone wanted to come yell or swear at me, I don’t think I have an obligation to take that.

Jeb: No love for Manowar : )
Klaw: Never could get into them. Power metal kind of left me cold.

Robby: Looks like everyone agrees Luke Weaver’s drop and dive delivery won’t allow him to have an average breaking ball. Can you get by as a #3 or #4 with a fastball, changeup, and cutter?
Klaw: Think he’s a 5th starter or long reliever. Definitely a major leaguer with value, so that’s not some code for writing him off. Just can’t see him having that breaking ball he needs.

JP: Aaron Judge or David Dahl?
Klaw: Dahl ends up the more valuable player thanks to position/defense. Judge does more with the bat, if you’re asking a fantasy question.

MeisterNJ: With so many companies claiming they use ‘all natural this’, ‘wild caught that’, ‘small batch’, somebody has to be lying right? Any way to verify these things short of going undercover?
Klaw: Nope, it’s basically on regulators, who don’t have the time/budget to investigate them all, or independent organizations like journalists or consumer-rights groups.

Davey: You mocked energy drinks on Twitter a little while back. What’s the criticism? Overreliance on placebo effect? Caffeine not as effective as people say? Does your criticism hold even for sugar-free ones?
Klaw: They don’t do what they claim to do, are loaded with ‘nutrients’ that don’t help, and taste like shit.

Marty: Matt Manning is striking a ton of guys out, but also getting hit pretty hard, especially when the lineup turns over against him. Do you think his secondary stuff develops enough for him to start in the big leagues, or do you see him more as an eventual reliever?
Klaw: See him as a future starter – grade 70 or 80 athlete, limited pitching experience, golden arm. Not surprised at all that he’s struggling to turn a lineup over since he was fastball-spike CB in high school.

Alex: What do you see in a player that makes you think that player will be able to make adjustments in the future? You seem optimistic on Soler. Randall Grichuk could also be a great player if he could learn to make adjustments and hit stuff soft away. My question is what do you see in a swing that sways you one way or the other?
Klaw: Athleticism. Looseness/flexibility. Some selectivity – if you show me now you can sort of recognize a breaking ball, or a pitch that’s inside, then I’m more inclined to think you can improve that recognition (Joey Gallo, for example) than to take a guy with no clue and believe he can make that adjustment. Grichuk has never recognized breaking stuff, going back to HS, which is why I’ve never really projected him to figure that out.

JC: It could even be ignorant to ask, but is Dave Stewart’s….sub-par tenure as GM going to be detrimental to future minority front office candidates? Or will teams know well enough that pushing for more diversity shouldn’t backpedal at all due to one man’s failure?
Klaw: I certainly hope not. I think it’s reflective of a Chief Baseball Officer hiring his buddies, and of the flaw in hiring someone who hasn’t been involved in the game for 13 years.

Fritz: Any hope for DJ Stewart or is he another bad Baltimore first round pick like Hobgood?
Klaw: I was not a fan of his in college but in no way did I expect him to fail to hit for any power like he has this year. I didn’t like the body or athleticism and thought he was a slow-bat DH type but would run into 20 bombs.

Steven.: AJ Minter 2017 NL Roy?
Klaw: As a middle reliever? No.

Darren: Thoughts on the jays firing their scouting director? He had done a good job getting the jays the prospects they needed to make all those trades last year.
Klaw: If this was just “we want our own guy,” fine, that’s how the business works. Parker had had a few good drafts until this past one, where I assume the new regime changed his mandate. I also thought firing Blake Davis, one of their cross-checkers, was totally bizarre – that should be the decision of the new scouting director. I don’t see why the GM or President would have any reason to fire someone below the scouting director.

Cara: If a stud HS hitter is facing relatively weak competition, how do you get a true sense of their abilities?
Klaw: You’re looking at his swing, his body, his athleticism, his BP, and hope that you’ve seen him the previous summer with a wood bat against better competition.

James: I can preorder your book and get it on April 25, 2017? I also find it interesting that the book will be 304 pages. Just giving you crap, love you man. And yes, I will be preordering the book.
Klaw: I also find it interesting that the book will be 304 pages. But yes, it’s due out in April.

Ian: Wait, is that Amazon link you provided legit? That title is spectacular and I’m pre-ordering on the spot if that’s the actual Amazon page….
Klaw: Yes, it’s legit, and I believe that’s the final title.

Jason: Trent Clark or Kyle Tucker, if you could only have one who would it be?
Klaw: Clark. Better pure hitter.

Kelly: Do you see Tyler Austin as a potential regular, or is he more likely a very good bench player? Either way, I’m very happy that he’s healthy enough to get a chance after a few rough years.
Klaw: I’m willing to buy Austin as a starter.

JP: Do you think Kopech could be an effective reliever for the Red Sox in September?
Klaw: I brought this up somewhere yesterday – podcast? – but I think it’s a stretch. He’s killing guys with one pitch, and yes it’s an 80 fastball, but big league hitters will get to that.

Chris: What is your favorite way to cook/grill Salmon?
Klaw: Pan-seared, cooked right to medium, with a beurre blanc.

Tim: Thank you for being so high so early on Mookie Betts. I picked him up in a fantasy keeper league just prior to his promotion in 2014. In a related story, my team is killing in this season.
Klaw: You’re welcome but I was way too light on him, in hindsight.

Nic AZ: With a little pro data on Cal Quantril, what kind of ceiling/floor do you see for him?
Klaw: All I’ve heard on him from scouts so far is positive. He could turn out to be 1-1 good now that he’s healthy.

DP: Keith, you were okay with the Cubs signing Heyward to the big contract this past offseason. He is the type of player I worry advance metrics tend to overvalue. Thoughts??
Klaw: I was, but I never thought he’d evaporate at the plate like this. I thought he was a great defender who could hit but put the ball on the ground too often.

Alex: So, is Moancada the third baseman of the future for the Red Sox? That seems to be the only position currently in flux for them. Can he handle the gig defensively? I assume he’d need a full season as a minor league third baseman to get ready.
Klaw: I think he might end up in the OF. Athletic enough to play anywhere (CF?) but actions at 2b aren’t really right for the infield. Not ruling any position other than SS out, though. Also he could probably moonlight as a tailback for the Patriots.

Frank: The Giants said publicly that one of the reasons they felt they could trade Matt Duffy was because Christian Arroyo is the going to ready shortly to take over 3rd base. How would you compare Arroyo to Duffy and how soon do you think he will be ready? Thanks.
Klaw: Although I liked the trade for Moore I don’t think Arroyo is that close, not with the bat at least, and I don’t think he has the arm for third base.

Nan: I often think about your controversial 2009 NL CY Young vote and appreciate you stuck to your guns using real analysis. In a similar vein, using advanced stats like FIP, how do your views on Cole Hamels’s season compare to the mainstream media
Klaw: His ERA is great, his FIP is over a full run higher … but the main reason is because he’s been so much more effective with men in scoring position. He’s been slightly better from the stretch than the windup, a small enough difference to dismiss it as noise. But is pitching better from the stretch, or with men on base, a specific skill? For a hitter, it’s absolutely not. But Kluber has been worse with RISP this year than with the bases empty, while Hamels has limited hitters to .206/.281/.310 with RISP. I do not know the answer to this – how much we should factor that in, when FIP doesn’t consider it at all.

Bryan (Montclair, NJ): Any recommendations for a daily coffee maker? My Cuisinart grind and brew machine just kicked this week.
Klaw: I use a V60 ceramic pour-over … uh, thing by Hario. Takes about 5 minutes total to make a cup, including grinding etc. Much prefer that to machine drip.

Jason: Is Scivicque just a guy, a backup catcher, or a starting catcher (even if a lower-tier one)?
Klaw: Backup catcher. For Aybar, you couldn’t expect anything better.

Jordan: Can you please make a scouting trip to Vanderbilt to see Jeren Kendall and Kyle Wright next season? (But mostly so me and a couple of buds an meet you)
Klaw: Oh, I’ll be there. You think I ever turn down a chance to go to Nashville? I might retire there.

Kenny: What are your thoughts on Seattle not playing games during instructional league and instead using the time to work on specific player skills, or to institute their organizational philosophies?
Klaw: I applaud the novel line of thinking. Instructs can be useful, but they’re hardly the only way to do things. I remember seeing Luiz Gohara in an instructs game in 2012, for one inning, on a 100 degree day, and thinking if I stayed any longer I might die. I doubt the players were any happier to be there than I was. (Gohara’s a GUY, by the way.)

Evan: In your opinion, what is the most likely explanation to the Fermi Paradox?
Klaw: The weight of the fuel.

Drake: Oldest a prospect has ever been drafted in the 1st round?
Klaw: Jeremy Guthrie was 23, I think. James Ramsey of FSU was at least 22.

Aaron Houston: KLAW, can you provide link to Diamondback story?
Klaw: Yes, here it is.

Jay: Are Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez future starters for Toronto, or solid backups?
Klaw: I think McGuire’s a backup and Ramirez might sneak into average regular LF.

Casey: Think the Blue Jays will hire someone from the Indians as their new Scouting Director?
Klaw: I had two guesses: Chuck Ricci, Rays cross-checker, who used to work for Cleveland in the same role; and Marc Tramuta, Mets cross-checker, former Jays area scout and regional cross-checker.

Chris A: When do you think you’ll get to see Kevin Maitan in person?
Klaw: Probably in the spring, assuming we do TV in Florida that pulls me down there in late March. He’ll be a priority guy.

Brian: Honest question: do you think your book will be worthwhile for someone (say, myself) who already thinks pitcher wins are for losers, batting average is for suckers, and saves don’t mean shit?
Klaw: Fair question. I certainly hope so, because I’m trying to make the book entertaining enough that you’ll enjoy it even if you agree with what I’m saying, and maybe I’ll have some new arguments or anecdotes that will make it worthwhile. That’s been an issue for me as I write it – balancing the need to make this accessible to everybody and the desire to write a book that my regular readers would still enjoy.

Braden: What’s your favorite song to play on your guitar?
Klaw: It changes. Seasons in the Abyss is one of my favorites.

Gerry: Dom Smith is hitting a robust .351/.418/.580 over his last 196 pa’s with just a 12.8% k rate – safe to say he’s finally becoming the prospect you always thought he would be?
Klaw: Yes, I think this is closer to what he is, although I’d like to see him do that over a full season.

Tim: Should Rookie of the Year factor in future potential? Or should it just go to “rookie who had the best season.” Looking back it’s pretty comical that Chris Coghlan won ROY over Andrew McCutchen, for instance.
Klaw: I’ve argued for the former, which means things like considering age – a 21-year-old and a 25-year-old having the same season are not equivalent.

Aaron: In one of your last boardgame ranking posts on the dish, you mentioned you had Village but needed to play it more. Have you played it more? Write-up in the works, or any general feelings? Thanks
Klaw: Nope, haven’t played it at all. I own at least ten games I’ve never played, because I get new games to review all the time. I think Paste has three reviews from me that haven’t run yet and I’ll file another, for Saloon Tycoon, in the next day or two.

Klaw: That’s all for this week’s chat – thank you all, as always, for all of the questions. I’ll be back at some point next week, maybe Friday, to chat again.