Klawchat 8/27/20.

My latest post for subscribers to the Athletic looks at the debuts from Triston McKenzie, Sixto Sanchez, Wil Crowe, and Joey Bart. I reviewed the new tile-laying and set collection board game Succulent for Paste.

Keith Law: Let us have peace, let us have life. Klawchat.

Guest: Have you had a chance to see Tony Gonsolin throw this season? Has his new knuckle-change elevated his ceiling at all?
Keith Law: Yes. He has only thrown 16 of those knuckle-curves and has no ability to command the pitch at all right now. I don’t think it’ll make any difference until and unless that changes.

Ken: Buehler to the DL and the Dodger don’t call up Tony Gonsolin? Seems odd.
Keith Law: He threw on Monday at the alternate site. He wouldn’t be available to pitch tonight or tomorrow.
Keith Law: That was what I guessed even before a quick Twitter search confirmed it.

Henry: What’s your long-term thoughts on Ian Anderson? I was impressed yesterday.
Mark: The Athletic was kicking around White Sox trade proposals for Lance Lynn, including cashing out Reynaldo Lopez or Dylan Cease for Lynn. Based on what you have seen so far from Cease’s starts and his years of control, would you make that trade if you were Hahn?
Keith Law: Yes, I would. Not sure Lopez has any trade value right now, though.

Gus: Has Corbin Burnes returned to where you thought he would be (before last year’s disaster)?
Keith Law: Not yet. He’s still throwing fewer strikes than I expected. Stuff is there, and whatever the issue was last year – mechanics or just tipping pitches – it mostly seems to be resolved.

Nate (Seattle): What can be done to reduce K% & increase BIP%?
Keith Law: Raise the bottom of the strike zone. I think an automated zone will result in fewer called strikes anyway, although the tradeoff there might be fewer swings in total.

Chuck: Who is the best Royals pitching prospect:  Lynch or Asa
Keith Law: Lynch.

WhiteSoxAndy: Obviously we had last season as well, but I’m gonna reiterate you were right to believe in Lucas Giolito!
Keith Law: That can’t be right. The internet told me I’m never right about anything and I suck at my job.

Greg: Does Atlanta have a pitching development problem? How can guys with the quality of stuff that Touki, Wright, Bryse Wilson, Newcomb have somehow be unable to even be a backend starter so far?
Keith Law: (Points at Max Fried)

Patty O’Furniture: So, Ian Anderson looked pretty dang good eh?
Keith Law: He looked good, but not great. His breaking ball wasn’t very good, with very short break for its velocity, and I don’t think any of his pitches was really plus. He showed good command and I love how he pitched. The individual pitches were a little lighter than I’d hoped, though.

Kelly: Your guess on the name(s) or prospect rank of the PTBNL in the Walker trade to Jays?
Keith Law: Might just be cash considerations. He’s a free agent in a month. I honestly don’t know what they discussed though.

Matthew: With Triston McKenzie rising from the ashes after 2 injury-plagued seasons, any chance Franklin Perez follows suit?
Keith Law: Perez’s injuries have been more serious.

Blake: I feel kind of conflicted about my team’s choice not to sit out last night’s game. One one hand, I feel a bit disappointed they didn’t feel empowered enough to take a stand. On the other, who am I to expect them to refuse to do their job to make a statement? I guess this isn’t a question, but curious if you have any thoughts
Keith Law: I was disappointed that other Cubs and Cardinals players chose to play when Black teammates of theirs chose to sit out.

David: Hey Keith, I know it’s probably close to impossible for you to upgrade/downgrade your opinion on a player at an alternate site, especially after Britt Ghiroli’s excellent piece on how scouts aren’t allowed at those sites, but is there reason to be encouraged about Jarren Duran? Alex Speier wrote about his swing change and he seems to have unlocked power in his swing. Or is that something you would need to see a player show at a hopeful [insert state name] Fall League?
Keith Law: He has truly changed his swing, and I think it will lead to more power, but I wouldn’t treat what I have heard about it the same way I would treat information from live games.
Keith Law: He’s a better prospect now than he was six months ago. That doesn’t equate to the same kind of jump in status or ranking we might get in a normal year, where he’d get to prove it against actual pitching.

Aaron Gershoff: Can Justin Dunn (of Edwin Diaz/Robinson Cano fame) be a solid starter now or does he need more time?
Keith Law: He’s averaging 91.0 on his fastball. That’s not going to get it … dunn.

Michael: When scouting short players, is there any way to project power like Altuve, Eaton, Pedroia, etc or do most scouts see those types of players as “spark plug” Eckstein type guys?
Keith Law: I’d look at their swings and their lower body strength. Pedroia’s issues were that he wasn’t that strong as a prospect – if you can find video of the September when he debuted, his body looked bad – and most scouts, myself included, thought his swing was too uphill.
Keith Law: He improved his body a ton, and he made that swing work for him with exceptional hand-eye.

Josh: With the Walker trade do you think the Mariners give Logan Gilbert a shot at a few starts or give that 6th rotation spot to the bullpen?
Keith Law: I’d give Gilbert the spot. He was pretty close to ready after last season anyway.

JT: Will MLB finish its season, or can we expect a boycott for racial justice?

I *love* this so much. My introduction to social justice was reading about the death threats mailed to Hank Aaron when I was 9 or 10. Baseball taught me to be a better, more caring person. I love that it could do so again.
Keith Law: My guess is that the wildcat strikes we’re seeing in other leagues won’t come to MLB. The league and its players as a whole are too conservative.
Keith Law: Meaning a full-season strike – I wasn’t talking about individual games.

Drew: Love the scouting articles. With respect to Triston McKenzie, you had him ranked high as 19. Can you ballpark where he’d fall if you set the rankings again? And what’s his ceiling?
Keith Law: That guy we saw on Saturday would be back in the top 20 again. He might be an ace.

Soto Popinski: Thanks for continuing to speak out during these times. I can’t say it eliminates the dread of the next few months but at least there’s not any resignation
Keith Law: We fight, or we surrender. I don’t see another choice.

Henry: You published but didn’t answer my Ian Anderson question above? Thanks.
Keith Law: I did answer the same q later – the software swallowed your question so I answered someone else’s.

cool guy: what did scouts miss about cavan biggio?
Keith Law: Nothing. This season so far is such a tiny sample that there are weird outlier results all over the place – unless you think Mike Trout is really a .333 OBP guy.

Reds Fan: How much do you buy the mechanical changes Jose Garcia has made over the past year? If you were ranking again, do you feel he would be higher or lower than 93?
Keith Law: No change. I thought 93 was appropriate, if on the optimistic side.

Robert: Adell looks far from ready for the majors, especially in the field. Would you hold him back after watching him this season to preserve his confidence, or is this just something he has to get through with no minor leagues?
Keith Law: I might start to play him more selectively to get him at bats against pitchers he might be better able to see or hit right now. He doesn’t look ready, unfortunately.

Matt: What are your thoughts on Connor Seabold?  Would developing a better breaking ball to add to FB and change allow him to become a mid-rotation starter?
Keith Law: I mean, “developing a better breaking ball” is not a minor tweak. He’s a fifth starter/swingman type. I didn’t have any problem with the phillies’ end of that trade.

Jonathan: What’s wrong with Pete Alonso this season? Alternatively, was 2019 a mirage for him?
Keith Law: How about something in between? He might never hit 53 homers again – especially since the baseball seems to be a little less happy-fun than last year – but he’s not a .402 SLG guy. To return to my small-sample point above, Biggio has more homers this year than Alonso. Do we really think Biggio is the better power hitter?

Nelson: Has anybody ever had the velocity of DeGrom with his level of command?
Keith Law: Scherzer?

Steven: Who do you prefer going forward, Luis Urias or Luis Garcia (Nats)?
Keith Law: Urias.

Noah: Max Fried has been pitching like an Ace. Can he keep this level up or will he fall into a #2/3 type starter when the sample size is bigger?
Keith Law: With that stuff, athleticism, and command, I think he can be a top 20 starter in baseball for the long term.

Steven: Was Fried, Giolito and Flaherty the best high school rotation ever?
Keith Law: I can’t think of a better one.

Jameson: A few of your Athletic co-writers put together a piece on the emergence of Yaz this year as a “super star” (their words not mine). Do you share a believe in this premise or are us Giants fans still going to see a regression?
Keith Law: I do not believe he’s a super star, or a star.

Neal: Thoughts on Luis Robert from what you’ve seen thus far?
Keith Law: Pretty much what I expected – big tools, especially the power, great defense, lot of swing and miss with vulnerability inside.
Keith Law: Great player, with flaws.

Tim: Does Zack Collins have a MLB future? Seems like there is no room for him in Chicago.
Keith Law: Last guy on the bench, sure. Emergency catcher, DH/PH with patience and power, there’s some value there.

Greg: I guess I’ll ask it another way. You’ve long been the high man on Touki and Bryse Wilson. Why hasn’t Atlanta been able to get more out of them?
Keith Law: Wilson is still just 22, and he got to the majors very early. I am quite high on him. Touki has shown flashes of it, but I think he still doesn’t have the consistency to his delivery, especially his arm swing, to repeat it 80-100 times every fifth day yet. I don’t know why, exactly; is it body control, or just that his arm is so fast/loose, or something else? Newcomb you mentioned above, and I don’t think he’ll ever repeat his arm stroke enough to throw strikes. He’s so loose that there isn’t really an easy way to fix it to improve the path of his arm or how close he gets to the same release point. He’s always going to be wild, unfortunately.

Scherzers_Blue_Eye: Victor Robles’ offense is another Giolito situation, right? Just be patient?
Keith Law: I’d say yes.

Kamal: At this point is looks like the NL Rookie of the Year is Cronenworth’s to lose. Was he a legit prospect in Rays system and do you see this as sustainable?
Keith Law: That’s a ridiculous statement on a player with less than 100 PA (and with a .375 BABIP, which is clearly not sustainable). I like Cronenworth a bit, but in a normal season nobody would speak about a sample of 87 PA as if it were meaningful. Just among rookies currently playing, I’d probably bet on Bohm or even Carlson to be better the rest of this mini-season.

Morris: I get why the Giants feel they need to disassociate from Aubrey Huff. But if they want to do that, how can they justify honoring Will Clark and retiring his number? This is a well known racist from who called Chris Brown the N-word in public, never apologized (and still hasn’t), had his white manager (Roger Craig) explain his actions and racism away, and had the team quickly ship away the black players (Brown, Jeffrey Leonard) who were bothered by his bigotry. Why two different standards for two terrible people?
Keith Law: That’s a great question, and whenever they trot him out in front of the press, someone needs to ask him point-blank about it.

Nick: Dominic Smith has been outstanding this season.  If you were running the Mets, what would you do with him going into 2021?
Keith Law: If the DH is permanent in the NL, as it will be sooner or later, he should be their 1B full-time, with Alonso the DH.

Guest: I know you are always pro-player (as am I), how would you have felt (in Clev’s case) / do feel (Pleasac) about keeping them down long enough to delay FA by a year as punishment, given how egregious their behavior was?
Keith Law: I would have been fine if the team or MLB had suspended them the rest of the year for putting their entire clubhouse at risk through deliberately reckless actions. I am pro-player. I am not pro-asshole.

TP: SSS or is this the Dom Smith you have been waiting for?
Keith Law: It’s SSS, but I am at least pleased that the Smith we’re seeing matches the guy I expected him to be. He just has to do it for a longer period before I can confidently say yes, this is him.

Mac: Do you think there will be a fall league this year?
Keith Law: It sounds like it.

Brian: Maybe I read it wrong but I thought I saw an article where Fowler and Flaherty ok’d the Cardinals playing. Which if that is the case does that change your mind saying they are doing what their teammates thought was ok.
Keith Law: No, it doesn’t, especially because we don’t really know what that sounded like – or whether they felt pressured to absolve their teammates of any obligation to sit out with them.

Joe: Pretty sure I saw that the Reds broadcast of the Royals game on August 19 suddenly isn’t available on the MLB.tv archive… I wonder why?! It’s one thing to erase it but it did happen…
Keith Law: Maybe just edit out Brennaman’s slur, but leave the apology?

Cam: Should Whitley’s injury issues be concerning at this point? Doesn’t seem like he could even have a shot at the MLB for another couple years.
Keith Law: Another couple of years? If he’s really just out with a forearm strain, as the Astros have said, why couldn’t he compete for a job in February? His last eighteen months have been a hot mess but there’s also nothing here to point to him being unable to pitch in the long term.

Jim: Do you see anything that might have Jays fans optimistic in the Taijuan walker acquisition? His career numbers (although small sample size) are not that good against AL east teams.
Keith Law: I love the arm and the athleticism. For what I assume is minimal cost, he’s a great pickup. I do worry about his homer-prone tendencies and the park in Buffalo, which seems to be very favorable to LH power hitters.

Dylan: What caused the White Sox to give up Luis Basabe?
Keith Law: Been hurt a lot, body has been slowing down, and no place to play in their system.

Carson Fulmer: What happened to me?
Keith Law: Violent deliveries often have bad outcomes. I never believed he was a starter, and maybe all the time he spent trying to be one ended up reducing his odds of being an effective reliever, either through wear on his arm or the mental toll of trying to do something he couldn’t?

Uli Jon: Observation I’ve had at a sadly late point of my life.  Black friends always have literature regarding the history and figures around what it means to be black in America.  I think the problem is that whites in America do no such self-reflection, either personally or in school. Look to Germany, which kinda sorta had a horrid history but has reckoned with it on a national level.  I’m a 50ish straight while male.  My ancestors were not here until the 20th century, but I 100% have profited from the ways in which this country has continually tilted towards me.  I have to recognize my culpability and ensure it stops. Now.
Keith Law: Well said. And, as someone who reads a ton, I agree that the American canon doesn’t have much to offer the privileged class (to which I also belong) that would force us to rethink our positions and/or encourage us to actively seek and push change.

Michael: Not a boycott, withholdinig labor is a strike.
Keith Law: I believe I said that too.

Mac: Thoughts on Brady Singer?
Keith Law: I love how he competes, but his results so far haven’t been great, and that’s even with some good luck against LHB (for whom he doesn’t really have an effective weapon).

Mark: Thoughts on Julian Merryweather? He’s looked great in small busts, think he can hold up as a starter or is he more of a high leverage multi-inning reliever upside?
Keith Law: The latter. Did throw hard as a starter, but didn’t have much else to support that role.

JT: Am I wrong to think of all unwritten baseball rules as just white supremacy in action? Fernando Tatis cannot help being better than everyone. He simply is. Behold.
Keith Law: I believe unwritten rules exist to enforce traditional power structures. Ever play any of those card games (often drinking games, at least in college) where new players don’t know the rules, and the existing players get to make them up as they go along without having to tell the newbies? If you have, think of how they allowed you to arbitrarily target or favor certain friends or other players. I know that’s a frivolous example, but I think the analogy still works: The beauty of unwritten rules for the powerful is that such rules can be applied however they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want – or ignored as the enforcer chooses.
Keith Law: Also, Tatis Jr. is a fucking star and should be allowed to swing 3-0 and run like his hair’s on fire and make every highlight reel he can, because MLB is far better off when players like him and Javy Baez and Francisco Lindor and Yu Darvish and Luis Robert are doing amazing things on the field.

Brian: Can baseball erase Aubrey Huff from the record books permanently?
Keith Law: The less we pay attention to him, the sooner he’ll go away.

Kas from Fort Worth: What does Leodys need to hit to be considered a legitimate starting starting CF with the defense he brings
Keith Law: Not much, really. And I think he can get to a .340+ OBP which would make him a regular.

Cal: Is Gavin lux finally out of the dog house?
Keith Law: I assume he’ll be called up in the next few days, although I wonder where he’ll end up getting AB.

David Fletcher: What do you see as the biggest cause for the Angels failure this season? What would you do to improve the team going forward?
Keith Law: Lack of starting pitching. They did make a run at Cole and didn’t get him; that was the free agent who’d make the biggest impact on their season and playoff odds.

Amir: James Kaprelian maintained 95-97 mph during his brief MLB appearance. If he can maintain the velocity, can he become a useful bullpen arm?
Keith Law: Yes. All about health with him, I think.

Chris: Do you have issues with Boston’s side of the Workman trade? They sure didn’t get anything to even go into their system. Doesn’t seem to bode well for additional trades Bloom makes in the next few days.
Keith Law: Is anyone really giving up significant prospects in trades for rentals or relief pieces this year? You’re getting a month of the regular season, and half the league gets into the playoffs anyway, so most real contenders would likely see those additions as “nice but not essential.” And there’s still the specter of more outbreaks causing a premature end to the season.

Zach: Keith, covid has gotten me back into playing video games for the first time in a long time. I dusted off my copy of Baldur’s Gate 2 since they are finally releasing BG3 this winter. You played them back in the day, right? Any desire to play #3?
Keith Law: I played through BG, BG2, and BG2: ToB many times. It’s the best video game I’ve ever played. I would be doing myself a grave disservice if I didn’t check out BG3.

Ryan: Will Dylan Carlson develop into a DUDE?
Keith Law: Yes. I think his approach will get him there, if not this year, soon.

Michael: DeGrom was a 9th rounder out of Stetson. Is baseball really that much of a late bloomer sport that a guy picked in an organizational round can become one of the best pitchers ever?  Seems to happen a lot
Keith Law: Not quite an organizational round, although you are correct that the expected value of a 9th round pick is nearly zero. Degrom is an unusual case, though; he was a converted position player who’d already had TJ.
Keith Law: I see him as a reason to keep the draft to at least 12-15 rounds, and why teams that choose to keep their scouts (as opposed to all the firings and furloughs, so billionaire owners can boost their profits for 2020 by a rounding error) will have a real advantage going forward.

JR: In general, are you enjoying the season so far? I thought having sports back would be a nice diversion (I know you’re a baseball only guy, but I enjoy the various leagues), but it just hasn’t been for me. I’m guessing it’s a mix of getting used to not having sports in my life + even though they’re back, they don’t feel the same. Watching with no fans in the stands, social distancing, etc. (which is the right thing to do) makes it a constant reminder of how fucked up things remain instead of the diversion we hoped sports would be, IMO.
Keith Law: I am enjoying it, but I went into the season knowing what it was, and figuring that whatever we got from MLB this year was a bonus.

Frank N.: When will you admit the Biggio take was just plain bad? You’re very quick to let everyone know the wins of your evals, but quiet on what you missed on…and missed on big time.
Keith Law: I have posted a column every year listing players I missed on for at least six years now, so that’s just some bullshit. And no, I didn’t miss on Biggio. He can’t hit major-league fastballs, and even during this tiny sample where he’s produced that’s held true.

Jason: Is there any specific player that you can think of that really proved you wrong (you didnt think much of them and they have become a star)
Keith Law: Quite a few. Goldschmidt is probably the biggest example, and knowing I missed on him made me more willing to reconsider Rhys Hoskins (a fourth-rounder, RHB, 1B only, not a great body, was old for low A) but the swing worked and his approach was pretty good.
Keith Law: I’m actually struggling because it’s a long list of guys who really changed something about themselves where I either didn’t acknowledge the possibility of the change, or vastly underestimated the probability of the change. I never thought Shane Bieber would add at least a full grade of FB velocity. Kolten Wong worked his way to be a much better defender than I thought he’d ever be. I dinged Austin Riley on his bat speed and poor defense, but he cleaned up his body and worked hard to become maybe a 60 defender at third. Marcus Semien has become a completely different player than he was at Cal or even in the White Sox’s system.
Keith Law: Oh, wait, I’m quiet on guys I missed on. Scratch all that.

Stu: Gary Cohen is great every night,  but last night he was really good talking about BLM.
Keith Law: He is really great at his job because he seems so diligent. I’m actively disappointed when Ron or Keith make a bad point (often because they fall back on conventional wisdom) and it derails the way the three of them generally work. They might be the best booth in the business.

Justi: Why won’t MLB push guys like Tatis, Soto & Acuna more? is it because they’re afraid of offending the guys who don’t watch football anymore because two players kneeled four years ago? a Padres-White Sox WS seems to be something that could “save” the sport.
Keith Law: Those three players have something in common…

Santaspirt: Bohm looks like a legit hitter. But his defense has been shaky. Understanding the small sample caveat, he looked overmatched on anything hit hard to 3rd base. Is that indicative of his defensive potential, something he will eventually even out, or just random noise from the SSS?
Keith Law: His defense has looked awful. You’re being kind. Some of it is that you see harder contact more frequently in the majors than in AA or below, where he played before. But I’m wondering if his reactions aren’t quick enough for the position. Maybe he goes to 1B and Rhys to DH.

Luke: Best board game of 2020 so far and where would it rank in your top 100 if you had to slot it in somewhere?
Keith Law: I am going to bet that the best game of 2020 so far is either in my to-play queue or on its way to me. Sonora is the best I’ve played so far, but I know of a few that I’m pretty sure will beat it in the end.

Foolsgold: Dustin May has out of the world stuff, but not translating to K/9 (6.2),  Should i be worry?
Keith Law: Tiny sample. And he’s young.

Jim: So Washington optioned Kieboom “to give him lots of AB”.  Do you think it’s a matter of him being rushed, or is his hit tool just not as good as they thought it was?
Keith Law: I don’t think he was rushed.

Johnny Lee: Bobby Witt Jr. or Austin Martin?
Keith Law: Martin for me. I have more confidence in his hit tool.

addoeh: Marty Brennaman once called the President of Marshall University a “q***r”.  Homophobia runs in the family.
Keith Law: Pretty good argument against nepotism hires.

27: Keith, How could anyone possibly say they want four more years of this? It’s exhausting, embarrassing, and sad.
Keith Law: Nothing will be more exhausting and depressing than watching ~50-60 million Americans vote for four more years of this. Even if Biden wins, it’s a reminder that a huge portion of the electorate saw this Administration and said, “Please, sir, may I have some more?”

Joe in Quincy: Will Schillings connection to Bannon impact his hall chances? Or has that ship sailed due to his FAR right outlook?
Keith Law: I think he’s getting in this year.

Tom: you mentioned yu, boy hes been fun to watch
Keith Law: This is my perception, but I feel like the baseball world thinks he’s been a disappointment. He hasn’t. When healthy he’s been anywhere from an above-average starter to top 5-10 in his league.

Nelson: What is your take on Otani’s offense going forward? I think I remember you being somewhat down on his offensive potential when he first came to MLB, but, this year not withstanding, he’s seemed to have a decent outcome thus far. Has he surpassed your expectations?
Keith Law: I’ve thought that the more he played as a hitter, the more he’d get a bit exposed – the power is absolutely real, but the way his bat works he’s pretty vulnerable in, and if you can keep him from getting his arms extended you can probably keep him in the ballpark. I don’t think 2020 is indicative of anything but I would be surprised if he repeated 2018-19 while playing full-time, even just as a DH.

Snowy: What do you think about the job Farhan Zaidi has done so far with the Giants? Love the way he has found viable mlb contributors seemingly out of nowhere
Keith Law: Agreed and I like his approach of giving castoffs opportunities rather than trotting out veterans about whom we already know.

Aaron: Keith, I promise this isn’t a ‘gotcha’ question: Has your opinion changed on Dinelson Lamet? Seems your opinion was that he’d be an unbelievable reliever but his potential as a starter was limited by platoon splits. I don’t think he’s really developed that third pitch you wanted for him, but man he’s been awesome this season. Thoughts?
Keith Law: He’s looked incredible, and he’s done so without a good changeup for LHB – he actually has a reverse split this year, including a .159 BABIP vs lefties, which all seems unsustainable to me, but the flip side is he’s pounding the zone with two plus pitches and if he keeps crushing RHB and can just keep lefties from killing him he’ll be a really good starter anyway.
Keith Law: Small sample caveats apply.
Keith Law: well that’s terrible.

addoeh: Are you back on the Islanders bandwagon?  Granted, they are very defensive and nothing like Bossy, Trots, and Potvin.
Keith Law: I had no idea they were in the playoffs until my sister told me the other day.

Tom C: I remember when Mike Cameron had a chance for his 5th HR in the game and got piped a 2-0 fastball. But he took it and explained later he didn’t think it would be right to swing there. I remember thinking “Dude how many chances in your life will you have to hit 5 HRs?”
Keith Law: Agree. And nobody remembers him taking a 2-0 fastball.

AL: Is Andres Gimenez a dude or a backup type ?
Keith Law: I could see him maybe ending up a regular but not a star.

Brian: If there’s an Arizona Fall League in 2020, do you think teams will send more of their high caliber prospects just to get some at-bats and innings?
Keith Law: Yes. And then I’ll have to make a serious decision on whether it’s safe for me to fly there, because from a scouting perspective it would be invaluable.

Frank N.: Can’t hit FBs? He’s got a career 136 wRC+ against them….be better than that. Admit you’re wrong about it.
Keith Law: Small samples aside, he doesn’t hit velocity. That’s not the same thing.

Dave: Any new kitchen gadgets that are going to end up on your annual list?
Keith Law: I can’t think of anything new this year, even with more cooking than usual (because of no travel). I did get a spiralizer attachment for the KitchenAid but haven’t had a chance to try it yet.

Paul: Pending sale aside…am I wrong in thinking that the Mets are closer to a rebuild than a contender? The upper levels of the farm system or pretty bare now. .The pitching is a mess and the team is pretty weak up the middle.
Keith Law: I think their window may have closed most of the way this year. A healthy roster would have been very competitive in a full 2020 though.

Ben: Keith, I disagree with your take on unwritten rules.  In drinking games it’s done to maintain dominance and “win” the game.  In baseball, they’re all about basic sportsmanship and usually protect the loser.  Nobody likes to get beat and then have it rubbed in their face.  It only seems like a racial issue because leagues from other countries don’t have similar tradition, so when they come to the US they get in trouble.  A lot of people got pissed when Bret Boone (apologize if it was another Boone) was doing bat flips too, and he’s a white MLB “legacy” player.
Keith Law: I remember Bret Boone’s bat flips and I hated him for it. I thought it was incredibly obnoxious, especially for a player whose power appeared rather suddenly. But I do not remember anywhere near the days-on-end conversations about his bat flips (or more of a bat drop, I think) like those we’ve had over Tatis or Acuna or Baez.

Michael: This election kind of feels like an episode of The Good Place.  The Bad Place people lie and cheat and project and since they don’t care, nothing happens. The Dems had to apologize for two soldiers showing up in a video in American Samoa, but then the GOP trots out active duty soldiers next to the President and it’s nothing.  I hate it here.
Keith Law: That’s a good analogy. We are in the Bad Place. And I don’t like our odds of getting out.
Keith Law: That’s all for this week. Thank you all for your questions and for reading. Stay safe, wear your masks, and make sure you’re registered to vote.