The dish — Page 141 — The collected thoughts of sportswriter, bookworm, & food critic Keith Law

→ November 20, 2016
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 11/20/16.

I spent the last week on vacation with my family, in the Bahamas, which was lovely due to the weather, the friendly people, and the rum. Before I left, I filed four offseason buyers’ guides, to the markets for starting pitchers, relief pitchers, infielders & catchers, and outfielders. I also participated in a ’roundtable’ piece with Dan Szymborski where we discussed our NL ROY ballots.

I reviewed the family boardgame Legendary Inventors for Paste; it’s cute but feels a bit unfinished given the imbalance across the various scoring methods. Earlier this month, I updated my all-time favorite boardgame rankings, which now runs to 100 titles.

You can preorder my upcoming book, Smart Baseball, on amazon. Also, please sign up for my more-or-less weekly email newsletter.

And now, the links…

A Tribe Called Quest dropped its final album, We Got It From Here, Thank You for Your Service last Friday, and the New York Times has the definitive backstory on the album, which came about due to a thaw in the long estrangement between Q-Tip and Phife, only to have the latter pass away due to complications from diabetes in March.
We can’t let the bullies win. That’s psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, who won the 2016 John Maddox Prize for her defense of science against denialists, but it could apply to any aspect of our public discourse on climate change, evolution, vaccines, or, now, civil rights.
Fear of science drove opposition to a plan to release genetically modified mosquitos in the Florida Keys, but the plan is going ahead to try to prevent a Zika outbreak there. This isn’t straight science denial, but ignorance and fear, and it comes with the same arguments about unknown and unstated “risks” that simply aren’t consistent with an understanding of the technology at play here.
The murder of three elderly nuns in Burundi touched off an ongoing political crisis that has led to over 300,000 refugees fleeing the country, the President violating the constitution, and his government killing the son and son-in-law of the country’s leading human rights figure, who survived an assassination attempt himself. The global community, meanwhile, does nothing but watch, as we did twenty years ago.
If you live in North Carolina, it appears that the state Republican Party is trying to steal the gubernatorial election, even though the state was already among the biggest offenders in enacting voter-suppression tactics.
With food allergies still on the rise, there’s a rise in startups providing products that try to detect hidden allergens in food.
Vaccination refusals are up in Texas, a state that is rapidly becoming a gigantic experiment in rolling back civilization by a hundred years, and parents of at-risk kids are asking why. The answer is simple: End non-medical exemptions. In Delaware, I worked with my state rep to make it harder to get a so-called religious exemption, and philosophical exemptions were already prohibited.
If you’re wondering why I’m saying this about Texas, a state rep there has introduced a bill to ban local ordinances that protect LGBTQ residents from discrimination, along with the usual “bathroom privacy” bullshit (again, I ask, which bathroom should intersex people use?). If you live in Texas, call your state reps and tell them you oppose this bill, which business leaders in Texas have said could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues.
A hospital staffer in the UK came down with whooping cough (pertussis) and may have exposed newborns to the virus.
Pertussis can kill an infant, and they’re typically not vaccinated against it until they’re two months old.
A British woman who ended up comatose due to a flu infection in 2014 and nearly died is now urging others not to skip the flu vaccination as she did that year.
The proposed new head of the EPA under Donald Trump has called climate change ‘nothing to worry about’ and has called the Paris climate agreement ‘potentially a disaster for humankind.’
The attempts to intimidate and silence the Theranos whistleblower would be disturbing enough if they didn’t include his own grandfather, Theranos board member and former Secretary of State George Shultz.
Twitter has booted a few of the most virulent white-supremacist and alt-right figures on the service, including white nationalist (and UVA alum!) Richard Spencer. The Ringer has a piece arguing that the move means Twitter has finally started to follow its stated policies on hate speech.
A researcher programmed bot accounts to fight racism on twitter and found that they were somewhat effective … especially when the bot appeared to be a white male with a few hundred followers (as opposed to one or two).
Facebook’s fake news problem isn’t really the main reason the site reinforces false beliefs; it’s a more fundamental issue with how we receive and process such information. In other words, we seek out what we want to hear, and we believe what we want to believe.
Speaking of fake news sites, if you use Chrome, here’s a browser extension to let you know if you’re visiting one.
The American Nazi Party and the Ku Klux Klan praised Trump’s hiring of Stephen Bannon as his “chief strategist,” in case you’re still kidding yourself about the direction of this cabal.
“We need to talk about the online radicalisation of young, white men” was the best headline of the week, and also touches on a very real concern for anyone who, say, views women as actual people.
Donald Trump’s tax plan strongly resembles the tax plan that has bankrupted Kansas. The Fed recently ranked Kansas last among all 50 states for employment growth, unemployment rate, and wage growth. This is the type of economic thinking – thunking? – we’ve now given the reins of our federal government.
Salmonella bacteria and other pathogens that cause food poisoning thrive in packaged salad bags. One solution is to just not buy these bags in the first place, but if you don’t have a better alternative, avoid bags where any leaves have started to turn mushy and dark green, avoid bags that appear tight and swollen (indicating bacterial growth that’s producing gases that expand the bag), and wash and pick over the leaves when you open the bag.
United Airlines is establishing a new lower class of service to make air travel more insufferable than usual. I’m a dedicated and happy Southwest customer and frequent flier, in large part because they don’t do this stuff.
Pete Wells gave a very positive review to a Japanese ramen/noodle-shop chain’s first outpost in the U.S.. He praised TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie’s noodle dishes but says rather plainly to avoid their other offerings.
Deadspin suggests that we boo Mike Pence whenever possible. I find the right’s claims that the audience’s actions at Hamilton disrespectful absolutely ludicrous, given how the President-Elect publicly mocked a disabled reporter during the campaign.
Oxford English Dictionaries named post-truth its word of the year.
The agony and the irony: Mike Pence fighting a lawsuit, trying to keep his emails private. The plaintiff is trying to find out how much Pence cost Indiana taxpayers when he joined other states in a 2014 lawsuit against the Obama administration over an order to defer the deportation of some illegal immigrants.
Investing in infrastructure was one of the few aspects of Trump’s vague platform that I could support, but Paul Krugman argues its proposed implementation appears to be a financial scam, and won’t focus on the kinds of public works we need – which, unfortunately, don’t generate revenues.
The Federal Election Commission declined to investigate a dark-money group that spent all its funds on an election, even though it claims to be a social-welfare charity. At this point, we might as well shut the FEC down completely.
Area Man Considers Self Ally To Women Unless They Threaten His Status In Literally Any Way.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: africa, denialism, gmo, japanese cuisine, links, ramen, rap, vaccines

→ November 12, 2016
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 11/12/16.

I ranked the top 50 free agents available this offseason, for Insiders; once these guys start signing, I’ll post reaction pieces as appropriate. My annual offseason buyers guide series started on Friday with the outfield market; the infielders guide will go up today, followed by relievers Sunday and starters on Monday. I wrote an overview of the potential for big trades this winter, given the weak free agent class.

I held my regular Klawchat on Thursday, but there will be no chat this upcoming week.

My latest boardgame review for Paste covers Cones of … I mean, Council of Blackthorn, a pretty good backstabbing game that I think has one major mechanical flaw.

I also updated my all-time favorite boardgame rankings, which now runs to 100 titles. I think that’s plenty, even with the 40-50 or so I try each year for review purposes.

I’m going to start this week with reactions to the election of Donald Trump and the Republicans’ de facto control of all three branches of the federal government (assuming they fill the SCOTUS vacancy with one of their own). If you read just one story about the election, make it this one, on how the GOP’s attack on voting rights may have delivered them the White House. If you support the erosion of the voting rights of American citizens, you stand in opposition to a fundamental principle of the modern democracy. Rolling the clock back to the time of poll taxes and literacy tests just to get your guy elected is wrong, and every one of us should be willing to see a candidate we oppose elected if that is the cost of letting everyone who is eligible to vote have the opportunity to vote. If you live in one of the fourteen states that worked to restrict voting rights, you need to stand up now for yourself and for your neighbors.
Rod Dreher, senior editor of the American Conservative, called this America’s front-porch revolt. Michael Moore, of all people, predicted the Trump victory months ago and I think he’s correct about the economic insecurity that drove it. (His five-point “plan” for Democrats is a little light on details.) Glenn Greenwald points out that this was partly the result of politicians’ refusal to heed the lessons of Brexit, that (my words here) economic insecurity and self-interest will trump (pun intended) a lot of other concerns. Esquire‘s Charles Pierce is just plain confused by it all. David Remnick of the New Yorker called Trump’s victory an American tragedy. Unlike the book of that name, however, this won’t be boring, even if the ending is just as awful.
Garrison Keillor says Trump’s core voters won’t like what happens next; I suspect he’s right about much of this. Amanda Taub of the New York Times calls the win the rise of white populism, using social science research to identify three driving factors there – fear of outsiders, fear of physical attacks, and the collapse of “white identity.”
Even Leslie Knope weighed in, with her usual dose of wide-eyed optimism after despair.
A Muslim-American woman wrote for the Washington Post why she voted for Donald Trump. It’s an eloquent, thoughful piece, although I wish I shared her lack of concern over civil rights matters.
Climate Central says we’re fucked. Scientists in general are stunned and dismayed as the most anti-science President in our nation’s history is set to control the EPA, the NSF, the USDA … okay, that one sucks, but you get the idea.
The Guardian wrote before the election how journalists face “tough choices” when climate science deniers are elected. No, they don’t. You fucking hit them with the truth every time. There is no ‘both sides’ here, like there’s no both sides on evolution or vaccinations. If politicians, elected or appointed, deny the truth of climate change, then it is the media’s responsibility to stick to the truth rather than play along for their jobs’ sakes.
Did third-party voters cost Hillary the election? I find this piece overly speculative, since some of those voters may have stayed home rather than vote for either major-party candidate, but if you consider the issue of, say, Hillary failing to convince Jill Stein supporters to come vote for her, there’s merit in the examination.
“A KKK-endorsed man who openly bragged about assaulting women has risen to power by stoking rural, white Americans’ fears, and, come January, every branch of the federal government will belong to him and his allies.” Ann Friedman at the Cut tells voters angry over the results what to do now.
North Carolina’s HB2, the so-called “bathroom bill” that also created a statewide ban on ordinances protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, may have cost Republican Governor Pat McCrory re-election. The race is close enough that provisional ballots must still be counted, so it’s not quite over yet. Yet despite this, Trump took North Carolina, in part by suppressing the African-American vote.
Kavitha Davidson, my colleague at the magazine and ESPNW, wrote about being a rape survivor, including a graphic description of how invasive the examination is at the hospital after the fact, for those of you who still think women just make this shit up for kicks.
The best longread of the week, election or otherwise, was the New Yorker‘s piece on the failing state of Venezuela, which has implications for baseball, oil, and global security. Hugo Chavez was a disaster, but his death has left the country even worse off.
The mother of comedian and writer Harris Wittels, who wrote for and appeared on Parks and Recreation, writes about her son’s long battle with and death from heroin addiction.
Astronomers around the world will collaborate in the spring of 2017 to try to take the first picture of a black hole. That’s tricker than it sounds, since nothing, not even light, can escape the black hole’s gravitational pull within its event horizon.
Researchers in Queensland, Australia, are trying to develop the first ‘vaccines’ for food allergies. With such allergies on the rise in the developed world, this could be a lifesaving invention for millions of people.
California voters rejected Proposition 60, which would have required porn stars to wear condoms on screen, but was opposed by public health groups as well as the industry itself as a backdoor (pun unintended) attempt to drive the industry out of state.
Does Trader Joes force its employees to act too cheerful? The New York Times explores some employee complaints about the privately-held retailer, which enjoys a cult following on both coasts (of which I am very much a member).
The NY Times article from last week claiming GM crops didn’t deliver promised results was flawed, but so were some responses to it, in part because of misunderstandings of the technology itself.
The Times also had an article just before the election on Latina hotel workers gaining a political voice in Nevada, one of the only swing states to end up on Clinton’s side on Tuesday. The article is extremely well-written and even David Simon praised its kicker at the end.
The BBC visits a private radio station in Damascus, still playing music and sharing news in the midst of the country’s devastating civil war.
A new strain of meningococcal disease is on the rise in Australia, raising calls for the relevant vaccine to become part of that country’s required list of childhood vaccinations.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: climate change, gmo, health, links, stick to baseball

→ November 10, 2016
→ By keith

Klawchat, 11/10/16.

You can preorder my upcoming book, Smart Baseball, on amazon. Also, please sign up for my more-or-less weekly email newsletter.

Klaw: My possessions are causing me suspicion but there’s no proof. Klawchat.

Rob: Favorite Metal album this year? I’m leaning towards Dillinger Escape Plan or Nails, but I know my tastes tend to skew heavier than yours. Always appreciate the work.
Klaw: Might be Dark Tranquility’s Atoma or Omnium Gatherum’s Grey Heavens.

Peter: The Trump take on climate change is number ___ on the list of reasons to be scared
Klaw: I guess it depends on who and where you are, but the environment in general is my personal number one fear (in terms of direct impact on me or my family).

Nick: What do you think Bryce Harper’s true talent level is?
Klaw: When healthy, he’s a 7-8 win player at least.

Kyle KS: Is Dexter Fowler’s performance both offensively and defensively likely to be repeated? Does he have the ability to stay in CF over the life of a 3-5 year contract?
Klaw: Doubt he stays there 5 years, would bet on him staying there 3. Seemed to really come around as a hitter the last two years out of Denver.

Nick: Is Gausman breaking out or lucky sample size in the second half for a guy with really only 2 pitches?
Klaw: I think he’s for real.

Jay_b: Did the Cubs winning the WS bring about the end of the universe or is it just a symptom of same?
Klaw: It’s a series of unfortunate events. (I kid, Chicago.)

Dick: Does Devers absolute upside look something like Adrian Beltre?
Klaw: Nothing like that on defense. Offense, maybe, but Devers might have a chance to be a little more disciplined at a younger age than Beltre.

Frank the Clown: Is insight into why Wren did not get the GM job in Boston? So many writers like Bob Nightengay said Frank was the clear leader should be a sure bet for the position especially considering he is buddies with Dumbrowski.
Klaw: Don’t think those claims were ever accurate.

Ceej: Baez just showed both extremes in the playoffs. Do you hold out hope that he develops consistency?
Klaw: I think consistency is the least likely outcome. I would hope for more highs and fewer lows. His approach went to shit in the World Series.

VG: Keith, any recommendations for sources of recipies that are designed to help kids who are picky eaters? A book on how to think about this as a parent would be helpful, too. Thanks.
Klaw: Two suggestions. One, when my daughter was younger I found that cooking vegetables with high heat, such as roasting at 450 or 475, so the sugars in them started to caramelize (brown) made her like them more. They end up sweeter and less bitter. The other is to consider making sauces that work with vegetables and that your kids like. My daughter liked the flavor of lemon early on, so I still to this day add lemon juice to lots of sauces, and often will make something more complicated like a lemon beurre blanc specifically because she likes it.

Ryan: let’s just say you’re a senate democrat, what’s the strategy right now? do you blow up the filibuster and pass through Merrick Garland in the lame duck but then give the GOP carte blanche to do whatever they want? or do you let Trump pick the SCOTUS nominee he wants? also, since the GOP over the last 8 years proved kicking, screaming and denying the legitimacy of the president works – you should just oppose anything Trump proposes, right?!
Klaw: I favor the latter approach, which Al Franken said on MSNBC last night is his plan as well. Fight like hell. Don’t help them.

DPF: Asking early due to meetings – Tea leaves seem to say that Cutch is available. Astros seem like a good fit and they have prospects. Who should the Pirates look to get back?
Klaw: He’s been available since the summer, but it’s been kind of quiet publicly. I think you’ll see a dozen teams interested given his age, history, and contract. That’s a three-prospect deal for me – three real prospects, plus maybe something else, but I’d be shooting for multiple high-impact prospects to get enough value and diversify the risk a little.

Tom: I have heard and seen plenty of people label anyone who voted for Trump racist, sexist and xenophobic. Definition of a strawman right? I tend to believe 60 million people are not that but care about other issues and want the Republicans in charge for other reasons then to ban the Muslims and kick out the Mexicans (which if you’re being logical he can yell all about but constitutionally will not be able to do). Full disclosure I didn’t vote for either but the response to ALL Trump voters has me appalled for the country.
Klaw: My wife and I have had this debate, in part while discussing the election with our daughter. My wife takes your side – many people heard what they wanted from Trump, such as promises of jobs for the less-educated part of the workforce by bringing manufacturing back, and the other stuff didn’t matter to them. I take the other side – a vote for him is tacit approval of the racism, the dog-whistling, the pandering, the outright harassment and mockery. You don’t get to sever. It’s why I was no longer a Bill Clinton supporter after his second term: I liked some of his policies, but lying under oath before a grand jury, even over a trivial matter, told me something about his character I could not accept or ignore.

Jake: If Gurriel was eligible for your list, would you consider him Houston’s top prospect right now?
Klaw: Yuliesky? He’s 32. I could not compare him to a bunch of 20-22 year olds on a prospect ranking.

Thomas: Who would you rather have over the course of their careers…Ozzie Albies or Travis Demeritte?
Klaw: Albies. I know he can hit, and I believe he can play short or second.

Jake: Favorite (or least favorite) new MiLB team name – Fire Frogs, Jumbo Shrimp or Rumble Ponies?
Klaw: Jumbo Shrimp is pretty bad, although when they say “batter up!” it’ll be a Jacobi-level pun.

Kelly: Odds of Trump getting impeached are?
Klaw: Nil. The GOP controls the House.

Tracy: It is extremely troubling to me that facts can be so willfully disregarded as to help elect a demagogue such as the one we’re getting, where a huge portion of this country will only believe what they want to believe, feeding off from their isolated bubble of information. Not only that, but whatever is deemed fact outside of that bubble is considered false or even fabricated for the benefit of ideological gain. We are living in increasingly dangerous times, but we need more voices like you, Keith, who will denounce those who choose to be infected by this awful ignorance.
Klaw: We live in a world where people in power – and something like half the country – denies the facts of climate change. Some similar portion of the populace denies that we evolved from lower life forms. A small fraction deny that vaccines are safe and effective and actively court ways around laws designed to make the public safe. You know how that happens? When those of us – teachers, politicians, the media – who have the chance to disseminate information play the game of false balance. I’ll take the hit to my career I get from dealing strictly in facts.

Chad: Do you have any tattoos? Curious what they are if so. Admittedly an awfully personal question!
Klaw: Nope. Never had any interest. I wouldn’t judge anyone who has them, but I don’t want ink on me.

CJ: Hi Keith, On the International signing mess , why not give each team a certain amount they can spend , say 10M. If a team wanted to spend more they could buy some of another teams 4M for the same amount. So say the Dodgers want to add , they could buy 2M from the Twins and pay them 2M .The Twins would then have the Dodgers paying for their signings plus their own. There would have to be some kind of cap on how much each team could add or subtract.
Klaw: I think the fear there is some owners would just sell everything they could and punt the international market. Whatever your cap is, there would be a Loria type who would just sell it and pocket the profits every year. Maybe Liberty would do that, since the expected ROI on a million bucks in international amateur free agency is somewhere between “hard to calculate” and “who the hell knows.”

Woodsy: Tell me why it’s all gonna be all right, Keith. Please.
Klaw: Oh, I don’t think it is.

James: Where would you slot Taijuan Walker into your rotation/bullpen to start 2017? I know you’ve been critical of his development in the past. What steps would you take to salvage a potential career as a SP for him, if you ran things for the Ms?
Klaw: If this is it with him, no more mechanical or pitch changes, then I’d put him in the bullpen as a long man to start the year and adjust his role by how he pitches, probably into a higher-leverage relief role. If there’s still time to change him, though, I’d try to get him back to the longer stride he had in 2012 or so, so that his fastball isn’t ending up belt-high so often.

Mark: Who do you think will accept their QO and who do you think should accept it?
Klaw: Hellickson or Walker might. Walker’s depends on his back. Trumbo … he will probably get more than that in free agency, but there’s no way I’d give him close to that much. I think everyone else declines.

Mark: What’s your least favorite part of your job? I don’t mean things like travel or time away from your family, but rather a specific event you don’t like to cover or article you have to write or people you have to deal with.
Klaw: That’s a good question. Most of the stuff I hated doing, like the old, long previews of each playoff series, are gone. Now it’s more about writing when I don’t feel the spark – sometimes I have to react to a bit of news, but I don’t really have a strong opinion that I can back up sufficiently with data or historical examples, and then I feel like I’m dancing on the hot-takes line. I don’t want to do that; I have strong opinions naturally, so I don’t ever want to feel like I’m faking it in any way.

Jim: My friends are convinced that WAR is a “made up stat” that front offices don’t use. How different is the WAR that front offices use and what we see on Fangraphs/BR?
Klaw: Front offices use WAR. They use their own formulas for the components, but multiple front office people, from GMs to analytics directors, have said to me directly that they value player performance by comparing total production to replacement level.

Mark: What do you think about the Bud Black hiring? You said last week that Colorado should interview Cora….do you know if they even did before choosing Black?
Klaw: Black is a solid choice. He was good in San Diego, with some drawbacks. Denver is a real challenge for any manager, though, and I don’t know what specifically about him might be a good fit there. I don’t think Alex was interviewed.

Bob: I’ve felt unhappy on and off for some time and imagine it falls on the depression spectrum, but haven’t seen a therapist before. The act of seeking one out and talking to someone for the first time is daunting – and frankly, I don’t think I want to “admit” I can’t “fix” this on my own. Do you have any advice?
Klaw: I promise you that after one session with a (good) therapist the mental obstacles you describe will start to dissolve. It feels good to vocalize some of what you’re feeling and have someone make sense of it for you. Just go.

Marshall: With the rumors that Kendrick could be shipped out of LA -Can Willie Calhoun make enough contact and play passable defense to have an impact for the Dodgers in 2017?
Klaw: I don’t think he can play 2b at all.

Elton: What do you reckon the smart plays are for the Cubs this offseason? Let Heyward play center and hope Soler rebuilds his value in right? Sign Hill and Jansen to replace Hammel and Chapman?
Klaw: I wrote about their situation in some of the buyers’ guides that will run this weekend, but I think Soler might be on the trade block regardless. I would try Heyward in CF if Fowler doesn’t come back, though.

Ben: Is it just me, or is Pence almost more concerning than Trump? I mean, Trump is unpredictable and could flip on issues tomorrow. There’s no guessing what Trump really thinks. But it’s always been clear what Pence believes and none of it is good.
Klaw: Pence still believes you can “convert” gay people to straight. This is arrant nonsense, the American Psychiatric Association opposes it, and it may increase the risk of suicide for these folks. If that doesn’t scare you, you may have no empathy whatsoever.

Mike: What are the chances Otani is posted and comes over? What is his long-term outlook?
Klaw: I’m betting it’s after next year. Number one starter. Not a position player here.

Elton: What did you think about that Game Seven? Have you ever seen a wilder deciding game?
Klaw: The only one I could think of was 2001. Game 6 in 1986 had as much drama but wasn’t the winner-take-all game.

Nick: Keith – thanks for all the great work; very excited to read your book once it’s ready. How do you see Addison Russell developing over the next few years? Specifically, will the bat continue to grow?
Klaw: I think he’s going to be a star. I’d be very surprised if he didn’t improve his contact rate starting this year.

Joe: Do you think it will be hard for Dickey to transition back to the NL?
Klaw: Nah, the hard part for him is going to be that he’s just not that good any more.

Armin: Hi Keith, do you think that a position switch of Carlos Correa to 3B is inevitable? If so, do you expect it to happen this upcoming season?
Klaw: I think it is optimal, but the club has to make the decision now and get him to agree it’s for the best.

Bertil from Sweden: Do you think Astros should switch Correa and Bergman during the offseason?
Klaw: Yes, that was my implication just now – Bregman plays short. (I do like that the guy from Sweden wrote “Bergman,” though!)

Nick: Who are some of your favorite baseball writers? You can answer Keith Law if you want, I won’t tell.
Klaw: No, not Keith Law, that guy’s an asshole.

Siggy: I come to you for answers about life and baseball. This is about life. I’ve been having a hard time dealing with the election and have welcomed all forms of humor as a way to make me feel slightly better. On that note, please feel free to weigh in on a decade-old debate I’ve had with friends. Why are farts so funny?
Klaw: Because bodily functions are embarrassing. It’s why grown-ups still giggle at sexual innuendo. And lest anyone think I’m saying I’m above this, I remember being in the visitors’ clubhouse at Fenway Park around 2003 or so and laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe because Bobby Kielty was in the can and you would have thought he had 76 trombones in there with him.

Clarence(not M. Diamond): No question, just wanted to say that if someone were to make a playlist of the various songs you reference at the beginning of each chat, that person would have a baller, and eclectic, set to listen to.
Klaw: Funny you say that – I’ve contemplated doing so for a while but I always get sucked into other stuff when I sit down at the computer. It would be a weird-ass mix though. (EDIT: I started this Spotify playlist just now, working backwards from today’s chat.)

ScottyG: What would it take for the Cardinals to get Simmons away from the Angels? And would he make sense, moving Diaz over to 2B?
Klaw: No chance right now. Angels are trying to win with Trout.

JC: The Braves have been on a two year odyssey to bring in as much pitching as possible because: the 90s. After watching the Cub’s run, should the Braves have chosen instead to focus more on position players to build the championship team?
Klaw: Well at some point you have to cash in some pitching for bats. This might be a good time for it. If they called Pittsburgh on Cutch, they could put something pretty compelling together. Or perhaps Arenado, who has a little more team control left, and 3b is a gigantic void in Atlanta anyway.

Enzo Amore: If you were Muslim, how strongly would you consider leaving the country?
Klaw: The whole bit about leaving the country, and celebs threatening to do so, is that this is not a costless transaction. If I had, say, dual citizenship in Italy (I could have, had my late grandfather gotten it for my mom, since he was born there), and decided, the hell with this, I’m outta here, I would have to sell my house and many of my material possessions; secure whatever documentation was necessary for my wife and daughter to live in Italy, and for myself and perhaps my wife to work there; to ensure I had sufficient savings and/or income to travel there, and probably travel back here to see my entire family as well as my wife’s; and find an entirely new job because I don’t think I could do this one while sitting at a cafe on the Palio in Siena. So while I want to say, yeah, I’d be terrified for me and my kids now that Trump has won and the neo-Nazis who endorsed him are feeling empowered, it’s just not that easy to pick up and leave.

Oxfuzz: A few months ago, you recommended the parenting book you read while your daughter was young. Could you share the title again. Thanks
Klaw: The Happiest Baby on the Block.

Kilgore Trout: ‘A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” – Max Planck…………When climate denialists die off, will it be to late?
Klaw: Yes, if we wait that long, the earth’s climate will have changed to a grave extent.

addoeh: What motivated you to get a puppy? How has it been getting it to adjust to the cats and vice versa?
Klaw: My wife wanted one, and we had friends who needed to give this dog up because the dad was wildly allergic to her. Bella, the dog, thinks the cats are fun and likes the chase them. They do not share her enthusiasm.

Uncle Jimbo: How does your two round international draft suggestion benefit the player as compared to the current system?
Klaw: If the dollar values per pick are set appropriately high, it should ensure that they’re getting closer to their maximum value on draft day (instead of a deal they’re locked into a year ahead of time) and they’re no longer at the mercy of verbal agreements the teams can break. (Teams get the same protection.) Players would be best off in a totally open bidding market on draft day, but that never existed and I doubt it ever will.

Matt: Have you heard of the term Faithless Elector? Basically a member of the EC can refuse to vote for the person that was elected to office. Is it a possible out, or are we really screwed with Trump?
Klaw: Yes, it’s possible. The EC has never gone against the results of the vote, and I don’t believe it’s going to happen now, even with the popular vote going towards Hillary. If it did, we might have armed insurrection, which isn’t an argument against it but is a consequence to consider.

Chris: There’s already talk of sending McCann to Houston, but if they pair him with Gardner w a middling prospect to the Astros, or another team like CWS or Wash with both C and leadoff CF needs, could it net them McCullers, Rodon, or Joe Ross?
Klaw: I doubt that would return any of those arms, who are all high-ceiling guys who make no money.

Jeff: Do you think Adam Brett Walker or Daniel Palka can overcome all the strikeouts to become MLB regulars for the Twins?
Klaw: No, I don’t, especially not Walker.

Andy: The major league minimum salary is $507,500. Players can be paid that for up to 3 years. Josh Reddick and Michael Saunders, two good but not great corner OFs will be paid over $10 million per year. If I’m a member of the MLBPA and want to protect established major league players, over minor league guys (which has been proven over every single negotiation that screwing over non MLB guys is totally fine), wouldn’t raising that minimum and getting to arbitration faster be my main goal?
Klaw: If you ask me one thing I am certain will be in the new CBA, it is a large raise in the minimum salary, to something like $800K a year or more.

Elton: What did you drink the night of the election? I turned to 8-year El Dorado rum.
Klaw: Beer. And then I realized the alcohol was bringing me down further and that was a bad idea.

Ed: My wife and I are hosting our first Thanksgiving this year! However I just realized that this means that I am responsible for the Turkey for the first time. Curious what recipe / technique you’ll be using, and if it posted anywhere? Also, have you ever smoked a turnkey?
Klaw: Serious Eats’ method of roasting a spatchcocked bird (spine cut out, bird flattened on a roasting pan). Cooks faster, skin still crisps.

Bummer: This election was a result of no one voting. Lowest voter turnout since 2000. The reality is, there’s not some wave of revolution from disenfranchised middle class. It’s a wave of apathy and non-voting that got us here.
Klaw: I agree with this, but my conclusion is that a huge portion of the electorate didn’t find Trump’s comments remotely concerning enough.

Ethan: I saw you liked a tweet suggesting that voters in Florida who voted for Stein should float out to sea–in not as nice terms. If you are someone who truly believes in democracy and our right/privilege/duty to vote, isn’t suggesting who someone vote for the complete opposite of those ideals? Also, it could be suggested to be voter intimidation of sorts, which you were also campaigning against. I’d appreciate a response, as I’m truly interested to hear your thoughts.
Klaw: Your mistake is assuming that when I like a tweet – and FTR I don’t even remember this – it is because I agree with its content. I mean, that’s an enormous error, like an Elvis Andrus in October 2015 kind of error.

Sweaty Fan: All my buddies are fired up about getting a new Rangers’ park that will have AC, but I don’t think they realize that we (as in middle class suburb folk) will likely be priced out of our usual 4-5 games per year. It probably becomes a once or twice per season treat. Kinda sucks. Yeah, it gets hot, but I love the Ballpark. Grew up watching games there. C.R.E.A.M. though, right. If it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense.
Klaw: The taxpayers who voted to further enrich the Rangers’ owners are somewhat akin to lower-income voters who voted for Trump and his promise to cut tax rates, which will benefit the higher-income strata more than it does them.

Zach: Has Chanel Perez signed with anybody since the Astros voided his deal? Any insight you feel comfortable sharing?
Klaw: Cionel, and no, I haven’t heard it. The reason they voided it was medical but that’s all I know.

Ryan: Sometimes I wonder why you invite the type of firestorm that you did yesterday with the Arrieta tweet. You had to have known what 90% of the response would be before you tweeted it, and one would presume that you felt Arrieta meant nothing malicious or anti-semitic by the tweet in the first place. Yet now, there are inevitably people out there who might think less of Arrieta based on your tweet, and as a result he might want to have a word with you at some point. And it all could have been avoided. Intent might matter to you, but it might not matter to Arrieta, if he feels like he’s defending himself against baseless charges of bigotry by random internet people who latched onto your tweet.
Klaw: Because I say what I believe and don’t worry that a bunch of idiots might yell at me for it. (I did give the Block button a big workout yesterday.) Staying silent because you fear the reaction is how we end up here.

David: Other than De Leon, is Brock Stewart the most impactful arm the Dodgers can plug into the rotation for next year?
Klaw: Internally, yeah, probably, since Alvarez is a ways off. But they’ll add someone from outside.

Lars: Can you explain why you thought Arrieta’s comments were anti-Semitic? The answer is probably obvious and I’m just being naive but it wasn’t clear to me.
Klaw: “Hollywood” as a dog-whistling term for anti-Semites goes back decades. It’s the whole conspiracy-theory bit about Jews controlling Hollywood, the media, the banks, etc., the modern twist on the Wandering Jew character of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Anti-Semitism isn’t as overt as it was a generation or two ago, so a lot of folks didn’t understand why I connected that word and usage to Judaism.

Chris: Am I crazy to think we shouldn’t just assume Greg Bird’s gonna slot right in and be the guy he was in the last few months of 2015?
Klaw: That’s a fair assumption. Plan for that, be pleasantly surprised if you’re wrong.

Barry: You suggest that Obama has been an important president. Obamacare, the pact with Iran, his questionable executive orders that threaten the separation of powers in our government, and the anemic economic growth during his years in office. That’s not much of a legacy.
Klaw: Well, Obamacare gave 20 million people access to health insurance they lacked. The deal with Iran was a huge success. Economist Richard Carroll wrote a piece about two months ago, grading Presidents by economic growth during their terms, and had Obama about average, well ahead of either President Bush. There are criticisms of his tenure – lack of immigration reform, inability to make any real progress on even limited gun control, inaction on marriage equality until it was a fait accompli, no plan in Syria, failure to close Guantanamo – but I don’t think you got any of them.

Darryl: Who cracks the Big Show first…Senzel or Rutherford?
Klaw: Senzel is almost two years older and has SEC experience. He’ll get there fast, like, this year fast.

Sean M: The yankees apparently tried Jorge Mateo out in center during instructs do you think that could be something worth exploring further given their glut of shortstop prospects?
Klaw: If he can’t start to make harder contact, it’s not going to matter where he plays.

Jeremy: Say you’re Jeff Brdich, whats your strategy for sorting out the Rockies outfield. Specifically whats your desired starting lineup in 2018 and what do you do with Cargo/Blackmon/Parra? Thanks!
Klaw: Trade CarGo, since he’s a FA after the year. Dahl has to be there every day. If the plan is to keep Arenado long term, I’d consider moving McMahon to a corner. Tapia-Dahl-McMahon is pretty darn good for three times the minimum salary.

Gerry: Recent story of Dylan Cozens punching Boog Powell in the DWL has sparked past problems about character at draft time in 2012. Do you see this recent transgression as a “blip on the radar” OR a serious character flaw with him.
Klaw: I think his makeup is a negative. But you know how it works – if you perform, then makeup concerns are less concerning. Right now, strictly speaking about his baseball future, I’m concerned about the poor defense, the inability to hit LHP, and his big home/road splits in AA (Reading is a great HR park).

Barry: If your mother was born before your Italian grandfather became an American citizen (if he ever did), then you are eligible for an Italian passport. It was not necessary that your mother first obtain an Italian passport.
Klaw: I believe he became a citizen before she was born. He fought for the US Army in WWII, including as part of the liberating force in Italy. She was born less than a year after he came home, of course.

Jackson: What isn’t to like about the Obama administration? While being obstructed, unemployment is way down, the market is way up, continuous job growth, less boots on the ground, ISIS on the run. Is it a perfect country, no. Perfect job, no. But how is there so much anger against him? Is it because he’s athletic and not gritty with a high IQ?
Klaw: This is my feeling. If you expect perfection from any President, well, Pollyanna, I have some bad news for you. But he did more in eight years than I expected either at the start (when I voted third-party for the only time) or even at the midpoint (when I voted for him).

Patrick: if you are Matt Klentak, do you look at deals for Velasquez since the FA class is weak? If so, what could a young controllable starter like him net?
Klaw: I guess you always listen, especially since he’s a bit fragile, but I would not feel any rush to trade the guy given the absence of anything like him in the system at the moment.

Bill: Do you think any big names will be traded this year (not older players, per se, but rather more impactful ones)?
Klaw: Yes, I think this will be a big winter for trades of big names. I’m hoping it is!

Ethan: Regarding Stein question, I’m new to Twitter, it may have been a retweet, and while not saying it directly, it seems you validated my assertions, so thanks for the response.
Klaw: I would not have retweeted something like what you described. Retweets aren’t endorsements but you bet your ass I’m cautious about what I retweet because it will seem like a passive endorsement no matter what I say.

Jared: Have you watched Disney’s “Peter Pan” with you family?
Klaw: The original? Yep. Once. And never again.

CJ: Can Bellinger be an option for the Dodgers in a corner OF spot out of spring training?
Klaw: I think that’s too soon. But I believe he’s going to be a star.

Hank: Do you feel that Addison Russell could conceivably be a .350 OBP guy in the future? The guy looks like if he could be an absolute super star if he could cut down the strikeouts and improve the walks.
Klaw: I do, I think he’s more selective than he seems, but came to the majors well before his bat was totally ready.

Barry: Guess what? Whenever the loser in the presidential race gets 45% of the popular vote, the country is divided. Isn’t that most of the time?
Klaw: And we get “the country is more divided than ever” stories every four years, don’t we?

JJ: I keep reading that everyone on the Tigers’ roster is available. What kind of trade value does Miggy actually have? Still a superior hitter when healthy, but those healthy days are dwindling as he ages, and that contract is scary.
Klaw: I doubt he or Verlander could be traded given their contracts. I think it’s more likely we see guys like Kinsler or Anibal traded.

Azam Farooqui: Do you think John Olerud would have deserved more consideration for Hall of Fame in modern era?
Klaw: I do not. very good player, not a HoFer.

Rob: Given the dearth of free agent pitching and Arrieta’s proximity to free agency, should the Cubs consider trading Arrieta or do you think that the opportunity for a second world series is too great to do that?
Klaw: I would consider trading him only if I was also acquiring his de facto replacement in the rotation somewhere else.

Confused Lefty: Why are some people on the left so desperate to try to assign blame to liberal comedians such as John Oliver in the wake of Trump getting elected? I would argue that Oliver and his ilk did a far better job than the traditional news media of keeping people informed of the real facts and issues of the election.
Klaw: I agree with your last statement, but the problem with Oliver etc is that they end up preaching to the choir. How many Trump supporters watch Last Week Tonight regularly? The show is overtly progressive.

Biff: Keith I am for Obamacare, from a humanitarian perspective. But it seems like the liberal defense of these massive premium increases has been, “it’s not a big deal, because this doesn’t actually affect the Obamacare users because they are mostly on subsidized plans” – yeah no kidding, but someone’s paying for the increases. If it ain’t the end user, then it’s everyone else. Is that really a good defense of the massive cost of Obamacare – that it’s OK, as long as the poor folks aren’t on the hook for it?
Klaw: If you agree that everyone should have access to health insurance – or, really, to health care – then the question becomes who pays for it. It’s not the poor, because they are poor. (I hope that’s self-explanatory.) So the real question is the redistribution of this cost to the remainder of the population. And I don’t think there’s a ‘right’ answer to that. If you told me, hey, you’re going to pay $500 this year to help make sure the poorest Americans have basic health care, I’d say, OK, I can do that. Many people would say they couldn’t. Others would simply not want to. There’s no ‘right’ answer there. But you cannot take the position that you want to give everyone access to health care as long as everyone pays for themselves. It’s a non-starter.

Jon v: If you were running cleveland’s front office would you be more inclined to listen on Bauer or Salazar?
Klaw: Salazar because forearm injuries scare me, and for all Bauer’s goofiness, dude stays healthy.

Duane: Any new side dish or dessert recipes on this year’s Thanksgiving menu that you can share with us? Thanks again for all you do.
Klaw: I haven’t decided yet. It may depend a bit on what looks good when I shop that Monday morning. There’s a small set of items I have to make, so I only get to experiment around the edges.

Joe: Re: Obama’s legacy: I think it’s also always important to point out just how committed the Republican Congress has been to obstructing Obama and/or doing nothing. They shut down the government over the Affordable Care Act even though Obama was elected twice with that as his top goal, it passed Congress, and was declared constitutional by the Supreme Court. They voted constantly to repeal, even though they knew it would never happen. They’re still trying to investigate Benghazi even after several bipartisan and non-partisan investigations have turned up nothing. They refused to even hold hearings on Merrick Garland. The fact that the Republicans held the Senate even after their nonsense over the last several years is just as depressing as the presidential election.
Klaw: I agree with the obstruction bit, and Garrison Keillor made the point in a column yesterday about how now the Democrats/liberals should just say, hey, you wanted the reins, well, have at it, we’ll be over at the bar. But I will say that the Republicans hold both houses of Congress now because that is what the voters have decided they want. If you don’t like this situation, as I don’t, then the answer is understand what the voters want and to show them that Democratic candidates are the more likely ones to provide it, because right now, that is not what the electorate as a whole seems to believe.

Tim (KC): I am surprised that Jose Fernandez did not get top 3 Cy Young… I don’t think the autopsy report had been released as of voting deadline, right? Did the possible involvement of drugs/alcohol play into voters not voting for him? If only writers knew that ERA is an over-rated stat… even though K.Hendricks did have a great season… others had better.
Klaw: I doubt that had anything to do with it.

Joe: It seems worth noting that Obamacare was, as a concept, developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation in the 1990’s.
Klaw: And implemented by Governor Mitt Romney in Massachusetts, for whom I voted twice (Senator in 1996, then Governor when he won).

Jeff: Wondering if you ever read The Intercept (Glenn Greenwald’s online news website)? I thought Glenn wrote a superb piece about parallels between the US Election and Brexit, and (partly) about Dems needing to look in the mirror if they want to know who to blame for Trump’s ascendancy. Highly recommended. If you haven’t read it, give it a go.
Klaw: That piece is wonderful and it’s in my links post this week.

Colin: If the Cubs are indeed trading Jorge Soler for pitching, do you think they are targeting a piece for this year or one or two guys that will be ready soon? Or both? Neither?
Klaw: I think any trades now for the Cubs would be aimed at making the 2017 team a championship-caliber club again.

Tim (KC): Which award did you vote for this year?
Klaw: NL Rookie. I BET YOU CAN’T GUESS MY TOP TWO

Ted: Obamacare gets ripped by the masses because their people can see the direct redistribution of wealth that it requires. If the government wants to provide free healthcare for the poor, then government hospitals should be build in low income areas. Those without insurance can visit these facilities free of charge and the staff is paid from government funds, just like any other employee. You would see much less of a backlash from the general public for a system like this, which would likely cost less than the current system.
Klaw: The issue here is “government funds.” That’s taxpayer money, dog. The government generates funds by taxing its citizens. You’re just changing names.

Drew: Is the future of our country dependent on principled conservatives reigning Trump in?
Klaw: excuse me while i research uses of arsenic

Hugo Z: That’s a real reach with Arrieta, considering that he was obviously referencing non-Jews such as Cher and Lena Dunham.
Klaw: To be absolutely clear, again, I did not say he was trying to attack Jews. I said that was how it read, because I’m familiar with the dog-whistle use of the word. If I did that, and a couple of folks said to me, hey, Keith, that word means something, I’d delete and rephrase. (FTR, I didn’t realize so many celebs did the ‘leave the country’ bit. Alec Baldwin said it in 2004 and he’s still here. I guess I just ignored those quotes when they happened.)

JR: Do you buy the “Sanders would’ve beat Trump” argument?
Klaw: No. Trump would have beaten Sanders by a huge margin. I think Kasich would have cruised to victory over Hillary. But Biden might have won over Trump. That’s the one scenario I just don’t know about.

Ed: Re: Spatchcocking – Did you do the dry brine? And how long did you brine it for? Thanks again!
Klaw: I did. Six hours? Does that sound right?

Ben: How many pages is your book? Gotta plan accordingly.
Klaw: It’s going to be under 300.

Steve, Geneva, IL: How about an off the radar prospect that in a year from now we will say, “This is the guy Keith Law told us about.”
Klaw: I will give you at least 30 of those guys when I do the prospect rankings in February.

Jon v: Is dexter fowler a high side outcome for Bradley Zimmer?
Klaw: Er … that seems a little optimistic to me. Zimmer has stalled out at AA and I’m concerned.

Craig: Gut feeling: will Braun be traded this offseason? And beyond the Dodgers, who is the most likely trade partner?
Klaw: Gut feeling is no.

Bill: If you were John Coppola, what moves would you make this offseason for the Braves?
Klaw: I’d flip some of this pitching depth for a young big-league bat or two, and I’d ask my sister what the Japanese director really said to Bill Murray.

Joe: What do you think Machado would be worth on the trade market?
Klaw: Two years left, probably looking at $30-35 million in arb salaries? Still worth a mint, I’d say. I’d be looking for two to three impact prospects plus other stuff. Ask for the sun, settle for the moon.

Hank: Have you ever listened to the heavy metal band Lord Dying based out of Portland? They are amazing, you should check them out.
Klaw: Yes, wasn’t quite for me, but thanks for the rec.

Gary: Keith, you seem to hear a lot of dog-whistles out there, concerning everything from race relations, to the climate, and every injustice everyone has ever suffered over the course of history. Doesn’t it give you a massive headache fighting everyone’s battles for them?
Klaw: Nope, I’m just fine, thanks. You seem like this is really bothering you, though.

Greg: And, thanks for not sticking to sports. I don’t really pay attention to anything outside the sports realm, so it’s appreciated knowledge and insight.
Klaw: I couldn’t stick to sports if I tried. Baseball is great, but baseball all the time makes Keith a dull boy.

Andrew: Who are you hearing gets the final say in decision processes, Atkins or Shapiro?
Klaw: I’m pretty sure it’s Shapiro and has been since day one.

Phil: Can you write an article or blog post in the future, from the perspective of your work while in the front office, about the conversations you and other staff are having when you receive news about Jeurys Familia’s domestic violence arrest?
Klaw: I don’t think I could go to that length, but here’s something for you. This happened when I was with Toronto. A player got in a fight with his baby’s mother and he threw the stroller at her. (WTF.) She called the cops, and they called us, specifically our director of team security. And while I wasn’t in the conversation from there, I know that in the end, she was persuaded to drop the charges. By whom, I don’t know. How, I don’t know. Were any Blue Jays executives really involved in that, I don’t know. I do remember afterwards that it was clear that the player, who was near the end of the contract, wasn’t going to be welcome to return.

Chris: There are rumors out there that the Dodgers may prefer Chapman over Jansen. They seem so close that it is weird that they may prefer an external candidate with baggage issues over a home grown player with none. Thoughts?
Klaw: Might think he’s going to come cheaper. Maybe they know something about Jansen. Andrew Friedman also has a long history of acquiring players with character issues – in Tampa he acquired Josh Lueke and Matt Bush, they played Elijah Dukes, they drafted Brandon Martin (now in jail for a double murder); and in LA they acquired Chin-Hui Tsao, who is banned for life in his native Taiwan’s pro league.

Zach: Did you see that ATCQ is going to be performing on SNL? Any guess on which songs they perform?
Klaw: I did, and I’m excited but confused. This is Tip and Shaheed, right? Without Phife, is it the Tribe?

Jeremy: As a registered republican who voted for Hillary, what do you think would be easier, cutting out the hateful religious extremist voices from the republican party, or joining the democrats and trying to drag them back to earth (in my opinion) on economic/foreign policy? There are ideas on the right in those two areas that merit serious debate, but are getting lost in all the nonsense/hate/denial of facts.
Klaw: Before the election, I hoped the Republicans would lose and it would encourage the center to disavow the extremist wing. Now I think they’ve decided that wing helps them win elections. You might have better luck on the other side.

Jimmy: How do you view the morals of me paying attention to your chat at work instead of working?
Klaw: Nietzsche said it was OK. I asked.

Petru: You’ve been very outspoken against DV and DUI’s and I thank you for that. If you were GM and a player the caliber of Trout, Machado, Bryant, etc got involved with that and the club wanted to keep them, would you resign if you loved everything else about the job and the opportunity?
Klaw: If my team’s star player beat his wife or child and the team’s owner refused to allow any disciplinary action, I would resign, yes.

Tim (KC): Corey Seager, Kenta Maeda… then Trea Turner, Gray, Story, Oh
Klaw: I can’t say if any of that is correct, but I will say the top of the ballot was easy but there were more names worthy of consideration for the last spot than I anticipated.

Ed: Re: Dry Brining – they recommend 12 to 24 hours, but up to 3 days. I’m thinking overnight would be plenty.
Klaw: So maybe it was 12 then. No way I did 3 days. I wouldn’t have room in the fridge for it.

Klaw: Anyway, that is all for this week and there will be NO CHAT next week. I will be on vacation and mostly if not completely offline. I will return the week after and maybe I will do a Periscope chat while butchering the turkey again. Thank you as always for reading, for humoring me, for asking good questions (even the tough ones), and for continuing to show up for these week after week.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: klawchat

→ November 9, 2016
→ By keith

Top 100 boardgames.

This is now the ninth iteration of my own personal boardgame rankings, a list that’s now up to 100 titles, up twenty this time from last year’s list. It’s not intended to be a critic’s list or an analytical take on the games; it’s about 80% based on how much we enjoy the games, with everything else – packaging and design, simplicity of rules, and in one case, the game’s importance within its niche – making up the rest. I think I’ll probably hold the list at an even 100 going forward as it’s a monster to update each year.

I don’t mind a complex game, but I prefer games that offer more with less – there is an elegance in simple rules or mechanics that lead to a fun, competitive game. Don’t expect this to line up with the rankings at BoardGameGeek, where there’s something of a bias toward more complex games, which is fine but doesn’t line up perfectly with my own tastes.

I’ve expanded the list to include several games I have only played via iOS app implementations, rather than physical copies. As always, clicking on the game title takes you to amazon.com; if I have a full review posted here or on Paste magazine’s site, the link to that will follow immediately. I’ve linked to app reviews where appropriate too. I’ve got many of these games in my aStore on amazon as well, unless they’re totally out of print.

I’ve added a few titles at the end that I own but haven’t played, or have not played enough to offer a review of them or rank them. Many of those will appear on a future list once I get to play them more.

I’ve put a complexity grade to the end of each review, low/medium/high, to make it easier for you to jump around and see what games might appeal to you. I don’t think there’s better or worse complexity, just different levels for different kinds of players. My wife prefers medium; I’m somewhere between medium and high. This isn’t like ordering a filet and asking for it well done, which I believe violates one of the Ten Commandments.

→ November 5, 2016
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 11/5/16.

My big news this week was the formal announcement of my upcoming book, Smart Baseball, which will be released in April of 2017. I have gotten many requests from readers over the years for a recommendation of a book to let them get up to speed on ‘new’ stats, and since the book on that topic didn’t exist, I decided to try to write it. You can pre-order it via amazon and other sites already; it will be out in hardcover and as an e-book, but Harper Collins has not decided on an audio version yet. I also do not yet know what appearances I’ll be making or if there will be any sort of tour.

I held my regular Klawchat on Friday this past week, and my latest boardgame review for Paste covers the Hanabi-like deduction game Beyond Baker Street, where you can’t see the cards in your own hand and must give clues to other players on what cards they hold.

My email newsletter has now passed 2500 subscribers; thank you to everyone who’s already signed up. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for?

And now, the links…

The LA Times has an outstanding investigative piece on alleged corruption in the development of an LA apartment complex. Congresswoman Janice Hahn, a Democrat from LA, took $200,000 in “donations” from people connected to the project, many of which appear to have been submitted under different names to skirt individual donation limits.
If you care in the least about American democracy, you should be outraged over ongoing voter suppression – especially of the black vote in states like North Carolina.
And, again, if you care in the least about our democracy and don’t want to see the GOP follow through on its promise to block any Hillary nominees for the Supreme Court vacancy, well, get out and vote to give Democrats control of the Senate. If the Republicans lose enough power, they will have to change their message (and pick a better candidate next time).
Top Chef alum Kwame Onwuachi’s new DC restaurant, Shaw Bijou, has garnered mediocre reviews for its $185 tasting menu, a price that doesn’t include wine pairings, tax, or tip, which can bring the total to $500 per person.
An Alberta judge ruled that a four-year-old boy who insists that he’s a girl cannot wear girls’ clothes, part of an ongoing custody battle where the child’s father refuses to even consider that his child is transgender. The risk of suicide or other self-harm in this case is through the roof and the judge’s actions are indefensible.
The New York Times ran a lengthy piece saying GM crops don’t deliver promised results, but the American Council on Science and Health immediately called bullshit on the article.
Deadspin has another fascinating longread this week, this time on con artist and self-styled foreign policy “expert” Robert Caruso, who’s scammed his way into numerous TV appearances and writing gigs, including one for the Council on Foreign Relations.
If you want to fight climate change, stopping deforestation is an essential step and probably the easiest large-scale move we can make to reduce global warming and ocean acidification. Some advocates have gotten pledges from major food manufacturers to help, but do these pledges actually mean or do anything?
Two states have major energy/climate change-related ballot questions this year. Washington is proposing a carbon emissions tax, while Florida has a tricky question pushed by traditional utilities that would make solar panels less cost-effective for homeowners.
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a measles complication that is nearly always fatal and occurs up to ten years after infection, may be more common than we thought. Imagine watching your nine-year-old kid get something akin to ALS or multiple systems atrophy. The only way to prevent it is to not get measles in the first place, which means vaccination.
Meanwhile, a bunch of deranged parents in southern California are trying to cure their autistic kids with bleach. The scam artists peddling this crap claim to be part of a “church,” and they’re under investigation in Texas as well for selling what is essentially bleach as a miracle cure.
Alton Brown is bringing back Good Eats as an online show, although the title may change and he says the format will allow him to do some things he couldn’t do on TV for legal reasons. (Maybe that means using lye in the pretzel-cooking water?)
I mentioned those “Around the Web” ads in chat this week, and they were already on my mind because of this article explaining how some publishers are moving away from them anyway. They’re all clickbait, never really tied to the article I’m reading or any data that might indicate my real interests, and often the images used with them are disturbing or provocative (like a pic of Jose Fernandez) just to get you to click.
A 24-year-old Saudi Arabian student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout was beaten to death by an unidentified white man this past week. The suspect remains at large. While it’s not known if this was specifically a hate crime, the circumstances and timing point that way.
Liberal Muslim activist Maajid Nawaz writes that the Southern Poverty Law Center is wrong to label him “anti-Muslim,” pointing out that critics of Islam often say that the religion needs people to try to reform the religion from within and stop Islamist fundamentalism. The SPLC’s listing on Nawaz calls into doubt some of his motivations and details of his background, but also called him “anti-Muslim” for publishing a cartoon depicting Jesus and Mohammed.
The downfall of South Korean President Park Geun-hye is totally bonkers, tied to a forty-year connection with the daughter of a cult leader.
Land reclamation is increasingly popular as small city-states like Singapore and Monaco try to find more space for their people, or wealthy nations like Dubai (in the UAE) try to … do whatever it is they’re doing, but there are substantial environmental costs to these projects.
In response to an ongoing sexual harassment scandal, where male soccer players were writing and emailing sexually-charged “scouting reports” on female soccer recruits, Harvard did the right thing and canceled the rest of the men’s soccer season. Several of the women targeted in one of those documents wrote a powerful, indignant response to the men who objectified and degraded them.
Hillary Clinton faces intense animosity, often expressed in vulgar terms as she approaches the election. While some of it is clearly connected to her actions, much of it is about her husband and even more is because she’s a woman.
All right, let’s do this… The NY Times details how Trump used a legally “dubious” method to avoid paying taxes for so many years. Newsweek explains how his companies destroyed emails and documents in defiance of court orders. If you question Hillary’s ethics, how could you possibly think more of Trump?
Thomas Friedman points out that Trump’s stated policy goals will hurt, not help, his core voters. If you vote for him, you’re probably going to end up worse off economically if he wins. (I think we’ll all end up worse off as our economy contracts, but his base, less-educated white male voters, seem especially likely to suffer.) A Vox piece from a few weeks ago reached the same conclusion about Trump’s tax plans, which favor the highest-income bracket.
David Frum makes the conservative case for voting for Hillary, and against Trump, who is in no way a classical conservative. I disagree with Frum on one key point: I think as President, Trump would have plenty of help in trying to silence opposing media.
Ross Douthat points out the dangers of a Trump victory, from civil unrest (which we may see even if he loses) to global destabilization.
Prof. Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, who wrote a book on Hitler’s use of propaganda, compares Trump’s use of the same to Hitler’s and claims to find similarities.
The Guardian has a piece arguing the real reveal in the Podesta emails is how the American power elite protects and helps itself by retaining power. Whether you’re voting for Hillary (as I am) or not, the emails should disturb you for their demonstration of how money and back-room deals subvert the ostensibly open nature of our republic. Esquire details how Russia pulled off this hack, the biggest in U.S. election history (so far).
From May, Adam Gopnik’s excellent and prescient New Yorker piece on the dangerous acceptance of Donald Trump.
Scientific American, which does not normally take stands on political races, has pointed out several times that Trump’s lack of respect for and ignorance of science is alarming. That piece is from September 1st, but I think if anything he’s shown the issue is worse than we thought at the time, given his increasingly distant relationship with the truth.
Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter lays waste to Trump, whom he’s known for over twenty years.
Because we all need some levity right now, here’s a hilarious BBC video of a clever honey badger who is a master escape artist.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: climate change, gmo, good eats, links, stick to baseball, top chef, vaccines

→ November 4, 2016
→ By keith

Klawchat 11/4/16.

You can preorder my upcoming book, Smart Baseball, on amazon. Also, please sign up for my more-or-less weekly email newsletter.

My latest boardgame review for Paste is up, covering Beyond Baker Street, a Hanabi-like game with a Sherlock theme and deduction component.

Klaw: Pretend-to-be chats don’t seem to know they limitation. Klawchat.

Brad: So I get that Maybin was a lousy CF defensively, but he was still the only viable CF option in the Tigers organization. Al Avila saying there will be a competition between Tyler Collins, Anthony Gose and Jacoby Jones is all fluff, right? I can’t see the Maybin trade being made unless Avila is confident he can get an MLB ready CF in a trade for JD Martinez or Ian Kinsler. Thoughts?
Klaw: I don’t think any of those three guys is a CF answer. Jones can’t hit and I don’t think he can play center. Collins can’t play CF. Gose can’t hit. I don’t mind the Maybin trade because that’s now two years of atrocious numbers for him in center, but the replacement isn’t here.

John Liotta: I know you have had a busy year this year, what with writing a book, etc., but have you been able to keep your reading pace from last year when you read 100 books?
Klaw: I finished my 78th book in the car (audio, folks, settle down) today driving down from CT. I guess I’ll end up with 90-odd? I’m working my way through the Pulitzer winners, which will slow me down because some of the remainders are very long.

Marshall MN: Klaw have you already begun work on your Top 100 prospect list or do you give yourself a little bit of an “off season” once the series is done?
Klaw: I can’t get to that till I’m through free agent rankings.

Jesse: Adam Rubin noted yesterday that the Mets are very high on 1B Peter Alonso. I was wondering if you could give some info on him and your general thoughts. I was surprised to hear this as most fans have heard of Dom Smith as the 1b of the future.
Klaw: Alonso’s a nice prospect, outside chance to be a regular, not as good as Smith – they’re the same age, in fact, and Smith already has a solid season in AA behind him.

Jeremy: Are we at the point where the White Sox just need to bite the bullet and do a complete rebuild?
Klaw: I think that would be the right direction, given the farm system’s thinness (although it’s improved a lot in the last year-plus). It’s hard to see them buying enough help to contend even with Sale and Quintana leading the rotation.

Tom: Wednesday night was not just #fyeahbaseball, it was #fyeahsports.
Klaw: I would agree with that. I love how many people are still talking about Game 7. When was the last time we had that? 2001?

JT: What is the biggest move your foresee David Stearns making this winter ?
Klaw: Unless he trades Ryan Braun I doubt there’s a big move coming there.

#FlyTheW: Hoping to pick your scouting brain and compare it to what I see with my untrained eye. Addison Russel seems to take a lot of fastballs for strikes early in the count and then often chases off-speed outside the zone later in the count. Do you think he would benefit for jumping in the first fastball he sees, or do you think he is taking the correct approach?
Klaw: I don’t know that that’s necessarily true about his approach.

Rich O: Do the Yankees make a move for an impact bat (i.e. Cespedes, Encarnacion etc) this offseason?
Klaw: Is that what they really need? They have corner bats who need to play. If they go external it should be for pitching, not 1b/dh/lf types.

Chuck: “In a world full of greed, we’ll never want more…” is not entirely true. Do you see any of the Cubs prospects making a difference in Chicago next year? Johnson, maybe? And how long before Jimenez arrives?
Klaw: Jimenez is at least two years off, I think – late 2018 would be the soonest I’d expect to see him. Clifton is probably 2018. Cease further off. Happ could appear in 2017, though I’m not sure where he would fit. Do you mean Pierce Johnson? He just had an awful year in AAA at 25, and I never liked his arm action, so I don’t see any impact from him.

Max: I’ve been pretty set on voting for Stein for quite some time, but with Killary apologists it’s almost driving me to vote for the lesser of two evils from the big corporate party: Donald Trump. Your endless smear campaigns agaibst 3rd party candidates and white washing of every disgusting thing Clinton has done (you aren’t the only one guilty of this to be fair) probably hasn’t just alienated me I’d bet. I hope you and those following the same path as you know you’re just driving people to vote this way.
Klaw: I’m going to go on a limb and say that someone who refers to Clinton as “Killary” is perhaps not the most rational-minded voter in the electorate.

MJ: Other than the managers and Theo, how many future HOF’s in game 7? Lester? I assume it’s too soon for Rizzo, Bryant and Lindor even though they are the right path.
Klaw: Francona yes, Maddon probably has a ways to go but the ring helps. Lester no. Those three you named are all kids who are off to the right starts but way too far off to call any future HoFers. Zobrist has 40 career fWAR – is he the leader on both rosters?

Dave: Know you don’t watch a ton of TV, but any current favorites? I’m currently addicted to Shameless for what it’s worth.
Klaw: Not really. We watch Brooklyn 99, a little behind on the Good Place, and that’s about it. Got some stuff we want to binge on now that the season’s over but we’ll see if that happens.

jimbonova: Criticism of ownership and sports “journalism:” It seems to be me that certain issues are off-limits to sports media. For instance, mistakes by ownership. I am a Red Sox fan and while this ownership group has brought three World Series trophies to the team, it is apparent that they are responsible for many missteps (e.g., departure of Epstein, Francona, Lester, Hazen, Sawdaye), yet there is little reported about these kinds fo mistakes in the press. I live in the Washington DC area and find this true of local ownership in all four of the major sports. Any thoughts?
Klaw: Media need for access colors all kind of commentary. But I think some ownership missteps have come under fire, like the fiasco in Arizona the last two years. A reader also pointed out how Moorad ran Hoyer and McLeod out of San Diego (and Jaron Madison too), and now those guys helped the Cubs win a ring. Angelos has gotten his share of criticism for protecting certain employees in baseball ops during GM changes. So there could be more criticism, but certainly some come out.

Eric: Call me a cynic, but am I the only one that finds it odd when people comment “We forgive you Bart man!” Shouldn’t it be Bartman doing the forgiving? He had to fear for his life for what is, at the end of the day, some silly sports thing.
Klaw: The fan and media reaction to and ongoing fascination with Bartman is disgusting.

Tye: What’s your favorite ESPN show to watch? (Not including Baseball Tonight or Sportscenter)
Klaw: Outside the Lines is the best show on ESPN.

Eddy: Were Xander’s 21 HR a natural progression for him? Is that his peak? 2016 seemed like a great eyar for him, but can he get better?
Klaw: I think he has 30+ potential.

Rich O: Do you see the Yankees and Tigers as a potential match for a JD Martinez trade?
Klaw: Again, I see no reason for the Yankees to acquire a corner bat, especially not a poor defender like JDM.

Dave: Are you or have you ever been a member of the band Arcade Fire?
Klaw: Let me check and get back to you.

Scott of Lincolnshire: Every World Series winner has clubs that try to copy something that they did unique to win. What do teams try to take from the Cubs championship?
Klaw: Get high draft picks, trade aggressively, and spend a few hundred million on long-term deals?

Mike: Now that the WS is over, will ESPN be publishing your top prospects for the 2017 draft soon ? Is Alex Toral a top 10 pick (despite the fact he’s a HS 1B only) ?
Klaw: Toral is not a top 10 pick or close to it. Last I heard, they’re going to run my free agent and trade-market preview content first, and then the draft rankings. I’m sorry for the delays but the schedule is not my decision.

Anthony: Last year in a chat you said regarding a potential move by the Rangers of Josh Morgan to catcher: “I love the idea. Could be a Russell Martin type back there.” Two follow-ups to that. One: why would Morgan be more valuable as a C than a middle infielder — just that you don’t think he can handle 2b or SS or something else? 2: This off-season there is renewed talk of trying Morgan at C, do you remain optimistic about Morgan, especially if he takes to such a change? Thanks!
Klaw: Morgan isn’t a SS, and replacement level at C is much lower than it is at 2b. I’d be very optimistic if they fully commit to the conversion now.

Pat D: If the Cubs had lost, ____% of the blame would have gone to Maddon, and ____% would have been justified?
Klaw: 100% and maybe 40%. I thought he made two clear mistakes: bringing in Chapman with a man on and having Baez bunt with two strikes. Those were indefensible. I thought pulling Hendricks for Lester was overreactive, but not absolutely a mistake – Hendricks isn’t really a 2 ERA guy and he’d already gone through the order twice (I think). The ump blowing the third strike call was the bigger mistake in that inning, and so was Ross making a late, errant throw to first on a ball he should have held.

Brian: What needs do the Indians have to address in the offseason to become contenders again?
Klaw: Get the rotation fully healthy, get Brantley healthy, determine who the CF will be going forward (can Naquin, who runs well but was awful in CF this year, become at least average?), maybe patch a little around the edges of the roster. I don’t think they’re really lacking anywhere.

Adam: Obviously the Braves are rebuilding the farm with arms, so what do you think of yesterday’s hires of Wallace and Chiti?
Klaw: Mixed feelings. Britton credits Wallace with helping make him a new Mariano Rivera, but the moves of Gausman around the rubber, the overuse of Bundy, monkeying with other deliveries … do I want that same guy around all those young Atlanta pitchers?

DC Deac: You were always pretty negative on Severino as an ace for the Yanks mostly due to mechanics. Did we see that this year or was this meltdown something different?
Klaw: I didn’t think he could hold up or have sufficient command to be a starter. That’s what happened this year. I’d leave him in the pen now, where I think he could be pretty electric.

Hinkie: Cameron Rupp, Andrew Knapp, Jorge Alfaro … what do the Phillies do with these three guys next season?
Klaw: Marry, f… oh wait, wrong game. I’d play Rupp regularly and Knapp as the backup, Alfaro to AAA with some clear thresholds for him (that he understands) before he’s promoted. He has to work the count more, and he has to receive better.

Jesse: Baring any major acquisitions or subtractions and assuming Cespedes doesn’t return, how should mets best align their OF? I think Lagares should be playing everyday but not sure how they will make that work
Klaw: Conforto plays LF every day. Everything else comes after that.

Nelson: People sure like to forget that Bill Murray abused his wife for years
Klaw: His public image doesn’t line up well with stories people close to him tell about his temperament or his behavior. (Murray’s wife of about ten years accused him of abusing her and threatening to kill her; she withdrew the claims after their divorce settlement.)

Chris: Would you give Neil Walker a QO? I think I’d take it if I was him. Not sure of his market outside of NY with that balky back.
Klaw: Yes, and probably yes.

Nils: Hi Keith, does Blake Swihart still have a future as a C? Is he a change of scenery candidate?
Klaw: Yes, and probably yes.

DH: T/F: the best fit for Fowler this offseason is the Cardinals, and they will give him 4/64
Klaw: That’s a good call, actually. I don’t spend much time thinking about best fits, though.

Jeff Chisholm: I remember you recommending “The Fresh Beat Band” a while ago for family viewing. I just watched it with my daughter and can’t understand what you see in it. Can you explain? Maybe it was just a bad episode I saw
Klaw: I assume this is a joke, because I complained for years that it was one of the worst kids’ shows I’d ever seen. I had successfully forgotten about it until just now, so thanks for nothing.

ryan: everyone always says, ‘oh they’ll be back’ especially for whoever loses the WS – but if one of these two teams doesn’t make it back, which one is it more likely to be?
Klaw: Cleveland’s payroll limitations are a serious issue. They will never have the margin for error the Cubs had. It’s amazing that they made it to Game 7 despite losing two of their three best starters.

Ryan: I’m happy the cubs won at least so we can retire the idea that curses and voo doo magic are reasons that transcend team performance
Klaw: Yes, more of this superstition-killing, please.

Nate: Keith, if you were Rick Hahn, would you sell or attempt to buy/build around that core?
Klaw: Per above, I don’t think he could build a strong contender around the current core.

Matthew: If you were in Cleveland’s front office, would you consider shopping Andrew Miller this offseason?
Klaw: I’d take offers, with no clear incentive to trade him unless overwhelmed.

CarlC: I read that excellent Frey article you linked too. This may be a 30 year old argument, but Im guessing male media members would never be allowed in a WNBA locker room, right?
Klaw: I’m almost certain that they are.

JMD: What should the mets do at C? d’arnaud seems like he isn’t durable enough and hasn’t produced when he’s played. Plawecki hasn’t made much impression. Should they go external? Weiters?
Klaw: I’d play Plawecki and tell the manager to stop fucking running down his players to the media (which he did to Plawecki in May).

Nick: If there ends up being an International Draft, do you think the the current J2 rules will apply in terms of eligibility or will rules more akin to the Rule 4 Drafr apply? If the latter, this poses an interesting predicatment for 15/16 year old int’l players.
Klaw: I can’t imagine MLB forcing those kids to wait till age 17/18. It’s not like Dominican kids are finishing high school. I’d really object to any rule of the sort that clearly hurts the kids.

Ryan: Keith, What should I say to people who say pitchers should not be able to win the MVP because “they have their own award”?
Klaw: I say read the MVP rules, genius.

Fear: Are you afraid of what will happen post-election, regardless of who wins? I have this great fear (I think justified) that if Trump loses, some of his supporters will go on violent rampages, believing that the election was rigged and they need to get justice their own way.
Klaw: Yes, I am fearful both ways. I’m generally fearful that Trump’s bogus claims of rigging and voter fraud have eroded some faith in our democracy, period, at least in the portions of the country where he has the most support. And I’m disgusted with the media for covering his claims without anywhere near sufficient skepticism.

Andy: It’s a shame that David Ross’s clubhouse leadership disappeared in 2014 in Boston. Luckily it reappeared in the last couple years when he was surrounded by some really good teammates. Perhaps good clubhouse leadership is really about being a solid backup catcher. Or in the case of last year, his leadership lead to the Cubs trading away Wellington Castillo for basically nothing.
Klaw: Grey hair in the beard helps too. In which case my clubhouse leadership skills have advanced substantially in the last year.

Ron: Any thoughts on your alma mater’s decision to cancel the soccer season?
Klaw: I support Harvard’s decision 100% and I’m proud of them for doing the right thing. Would that Baylor had done the same with football.

Albert: Keith, have you seen the Real Sports piece about balls and strikes being called by a computer and relayed to the umpire? I’d like to see that happen. Your thoughts? Also, if you’re thinking about binge watching a TV show Silicon Valley is genius. I think you’d enjoy it.
Klaw: That piece used raw data that had not been checked and cleaned for reliability (e.g., throwing out bad readings by the system, which unfortunately do occur), and so the results weren’t valid. I agree on moving towards computerized ball/strike calls, as most of you know, but that study didn’t present the right conclusions.

Aaron: You were fairly critical of the Reds’ haul in the Cueto trade. Does their trade of Lamb for just cash give further credence to your initial assessment?
Klaw: Well, he was probably the third of three pieces, so I don’t know that I’d say this changes much. Reed should be a lot better than he showed in 2016 – that has been the big shock to me.

Scrapper: What do you expect next season from Alex Bregman?
Klaw: Makes the All-Star team.

Drew: Knowing that ridiculing someone’s stance only entrenches them further into their position, regardless how illogical it might be, how do you balance the choice of trying to change minds as opposed to saying “Eff it, you deserved be be ostracized”
Klaw: I know this is probably about the election, but i compare it to vaccine deniers. If you don’t want to vaccinate your kids, well, fine, but they can’t come to public schools, and we’re not interacting with you in any way. We have to make the cost of denial high enough that more people choose to comply with public health rules.

John: There is some sort of irony to all the criticism of how crooked Hillary is. Due to numerous, often times partisan rather than legitimate, investigations, and the hacks you are as close to absolute transparency as you can get. And what did we find, she does things any typical politician does, some of which are morally questionable, but don’t cross the line to illegality. Whereas Trump is the least transparent candidate ever, is under investigation for criminal fraud, and reporters have raised numerous questions on what appear to be numerous explicit violations of charity law by his personal charity, which has already lead to a cease and desist soliciting donations order from the NY dept. that monitors charities, not to mention the stiffing of numerous vendors for over 30 years. Yet she is the crooked one.
Klaw: I agree with this completely. And I’ve never defended Hillary as particularly moral, ethical, or ‘clean’ compared to other politicians. But she’s not a virulent racist, or misogynist, not dog-whistling white supremacists, not talking about using nuclear weapons, and not proposing tax-code changes to benefit the highest income brackets.

Doug: What’s a good game that a 5 year old, a 7 year old, and a 9 year old can all play?
Klaw: Ticket to Ride. You’ll have to help the 5-year-old a little bit.

Scrapper: A pitcher has ___________ control on balls in play.
Klaw: A little bit of.

Rick: I disagreed whole-heartedly with Maddon’s decision to use Chapman when he did in Game 6. Chapman’s rarely been worked hard as a reliever, and always got plenty of rest in Cincinnati. Pitching 2 games in a row was common, but never for more than 3 outs at a time, and his stamina issues on the rare occasion that he was worked hard, were usually easy to recognize. I think his struggles in Game 7 were totally foreseeable and Maddon is lucky that Cleveland didn’t finish it in the 9th.
Klaw: I disagree a bit with your logic here. I think Chapman’s problems were more related to having the man on base, which is when he throws almost exclusively fastballs, than to fatigue, since in the 9th he looked like his normal self.

Zac: You know, it’s people like Nelson that fuck everything up. Just because someone is accused of something, does not mean they are guilty.
Klaw: And an acquittal doesn’t make them innocent (O.J. Simpson comes to mind). Hillary and Trump have both been accused of a lot of things. It’s up to us as individuals to determine which claims appear to have merit and then which of those actually matter.

Xolo: What’s your take on the Selig Rule? The runners up in Arizona were reportedly Cora and Wakamatsu, who are both POC, while the job went to Lovullo, who’s not.
Klaw: Lovullo has a good resume for that job, so I’m not really concerned about that specific hire, as opposed to, say, Milwaukee hiring Counsell or Minnesota hiring Molitor, who were completely unqualified for the role.

Michael: You criticize Gary Johnson a lot for his stance on the government role’s in slowing down climate change. I’m wondering if you could provide some concrete steps the government actually could take without threatening the economy too much. The federal government’s record in subsidizing green companies has not been good.
Klaw: Subsidizing green companies is less promising than subsidizing certain consumer behaviors, such as working with electric utilities to educate consumers on wasting power at home, raising fuel-economy standards in a meaningful fashion, subsidizing solar panel installations in areas where sunlight is copious (and then forcing states to allow negative metering – vote no on 1 if you live in Florida!), and fighting global deforestation. I agree that some proposals would threaten economic growth, but I’m more concerned about proposals (like higher gas taxes) that would have a regressive effect. If you ask me to pay an extra $1 per gallon of gas next year, it’s not going to affect me much at all: I drive a hybrid, so I don’t use a ton of gas, and I make enough money that this will not dramatically affect my purchasing decisions. But to a household making $25K a year, the same tax would have a huge impact.

Anonymous: Playing time aside, what do you see in the cards for Soler’s future development?
Klaw: If he gets regular playing time next year and stays healthy, I think he takes a big leap forward.

Tyrone: With election day coming, do you think America, and Black America, are better off than it was 8 years ago?
Klaw: Yes. I think there is quite a bit of hard data to support this, including the halving of the unemployment rate and real income growth for about 3/5 of the workforce. We’ve also seen some civil rights advances (gay marriage for one) in the interim. But we could lose all of those gains with a Trump win.

Aaron C.: Making blackened salmon tacos with a tomatillo salsa for dinner tonight. Would appreciate an appropriate beer pairing, klaw.
Klaw: Evolution Lot #9.

Chip: Is Ona an elite prospect? Heard he’s looked good but not amazing in instructs.
Klaw: I don’t think he was ever elite, just a solid prospect who was paid more because he was a Cuban FA.

Jake: Do you think Alex Cora is well on his way to becoming a manager eventually or does he still face some prejudicial barriers?
Klaw: I think he’ll get there. The AZ interview was a good step. Colorado is nuts if they don’t interview him.

Daniel: Why is going through lineup 3-4 times in a game bad and starting 2-3 times against a team in playoffs OK? thanks
Klaw: Fatigue.

John: The male reporters in women’s locker room issue is a myth. The WNBA operates under the exact same rules as the NBA for locker room access, the NCAA basketball tournaments operate under the same rules.
Klaw: Yep. And if a male reporter misbehaved in a women’s locker room, I don’t think he’d be employed for 24 hours beyond that.

Todd: Any predictions about the mechanics of an international draft? Number of rounds? How deep does slotting go before capping a given team’s bonus pool? Other pertinent points to consider?
Klaw: I’m guessing it’ll be short. You just need a few rounds to take care of the elite guys, the $500K and up types, and then you let teams sign anyone they want for $300K and under or so after that.

Pat D: So who is your favorite Homestar Runner character? I say “is” because I refuse to think of it as a thing of the past, and I’m not just going to assume it’s either the two-bit wrestle-man or his yellow dog.
Klaw: Homsar’s almost-sane ramblings were always my favorite. “I was raised by a cup of coffee!”

Ben: I know you raved about Travis Demeritte’s defense. But if he can hit .240 in the big leagues with 25+ homers and elite defense, isn’t that still a pretty valuable player?
Klaw: If he posts a .300 OBP, it is. If he posts a .270 OBP, it isn’t.

Frank W.: I got my daughter into Baseball because I love the sport and never really understood why so many girls seem to be forced into playing Softball. With shows like Pitch and the success of players like Chelsea Baker and the push of women’s baseball by boosters like Justine Siegal and her Baseball For All group, do you think there will be women playing professional baseball in the near future?
Klaw: I think it’s a very long way off. The Sonoma Stompers thing was a nice story, but there’s no evidence to say those women could have held their own even in rookie ball. If I saw a high school girl playing baseball who had the abilities of a male prospect, I’d back her completely, but I don’t think this girl exists yet.

Andy: This election, I’m a one issue voter. Which side does the KKK advocate for and support wholeheartedly? Yeah, I’ll pick the other side, thanks.
Klaw: I’m waiting for the Aryan Nations to weigh in.

Joe: Was it just my imagination, or was the strike zone really bad in the World Series? Hard to believe that guys like Joe West get to call the World Series. Hirschbeck was terrible too–was that just a retirement present for him?
Klaw: Game 7’s was particularly horrendous.

Marshall MN: Do you think the addition of Thad Levine to the Twins front office was a good one?
Klaw: I think this is more of the same. Falvey hired someone a lot like him, and the two of them combined have no field or scouting experience. I would have preferred to see Falvey hire someone more complementary, and to at least consider a minority candidate.

Robert: Personally, I don’t take much issue at all with Hillary’s behavior, when taken in the context of what exactly she does for a living. Reprehensible as some of her conduct may be, in the words of our old friend Omar LIttle, it’s all in the game.
Klaw: I’d put it this way: The system is rigged in one very real sense, in that it highly favors the type of career politicians that it tends to produce as major-party candidates. I also think that is part of the appeal of Trump to the people who are willing to overlook the bigotry, the race-baiting, the genital-grabbing, the promises to defund Planned Parenthood and build a wall and stop any Muslims from entering the country.

JWR: Maybe it’s personal preference but baseball games have gotten too long for my tastes and I would prefer a pitch. clock that forces pitchers to use 3-5 seconds less per pitch. And I’d ban Pedro Baez from pitching. Where do you stand on pitch clocks?
Klaw: Pitch clocks make the game move faster and also force pitchers to take less time to recover between pitches. They’re a mixed bag.

Matt: I’d wager to say depending on a dying industry (coal) is far more damaging to the economy than a shift towards green energy.
Klaw: Or petroleum. It’s not clean, and the supply can only decrease.

Drew: Piggybacking off of your spot-on point about Molitor and Counsell, Is there any recent managerial hire more egregious than Matt Williams? Giving that dude reign of the 2014 Nats was about as wise as giving your 16-year old keys to a Porsche.
Klaw: Yep. And when they won that first year he was there, suddenly he was praised as a brilliant manager, when in fact he was the idiot farmer’s son whose shovel happened to strike oil.

STEVE: Should Trout win the MVP?
Klaw: Yes, but I doubt he will.

Marshall MN: The thing about the fervent libertarians and Gary Johnson supporters that I find ironic is that the political free market has spoken and those libertarians ideas just aren’t popular. Obviously that doesn’t preclude them from continuing to make their case, but if libertarian ideas were the solution that they all seem to think they are, then someone from that party would have won an election at some point.
Klaw: I think most people who self-identify as ‘libertarian’ haven’t read either the party’s platform or what true libertarianism entails. The idea that the government should provide very few if any public services would come as a real shock to people who depend on things like interstate highways or a standing army for their life and livelihoods.

Bob: After watching the WS, my wife decided that Kris Bryant is dreamy. Should I be worried?
Klaw: He is dreamy. Have you seen those blue eyes?

JimmyB: Keith. Thanks for everything you do. I, like you, am a huge Parks & Rec fan. However, one question has been bothering me considerably – if Ron is such an ardent Libertarian, why would he ever accept a job in local government? On my third watch through of the series, and I can’t get over this issue…
Klaw: He answers that question in one episode.

Jeffrey: What’s your opinion on divulging the toxicology report for Fernandez?
Klaw: I don’t think they had a choice, did they? But I think we all knew this was a likely outcome. Also, I saw one of those “Recommended for You” ads today using his face and saying “Jose Fernandez’s net worth blew us away.” To whoever designed that ad and placed it, go fuck yourselves and I hope you rot in hell.

Jason: I’m not surprised by the fact that many “fans” disagree with some of your opinions, but I’m often surprised by their vitriol. How do you deal with the stream of vitriol, even if it is coming from a relatively small percent of readers?
Klaw: I block and mute a lot. I even got threats on Wednesday night from Cubs fans mad I said I didn’t want to see Chapman again. A lot of cowards find courage when they’re behind a screen.

Thomas Willard: Do you think Kopech has a #1 ceiling? Possibly called up late next year?
Klaw: Absolutely #1 ceiling, almost no chance he’s called up next year.

Lance: The problem with Washington is that it produces people like Evan Bayh. He was once highly regarded, but was really just looking for a way to stuff his pockets. The partisan nature of politics means no Dems call him out. Just as Republicans wouldn’t. Fortunately, it looks like he may lose.
Klaw: Yes, and to be clear, I don’t think this kind of venal behavior is limited to any particular party or ideology. Our system of government and the laws around gifts, donations, and lobbying make corruption pretty easy.

JJ: Are there teams out there that just flat out won’t consider Chapman because of the domestic abuse? Or does that have a short shelf-life in the MLB?
Klaw: Yes, there are such teams, and good for them, but I think if any executive said so he might face trouble from the union.

Rob: With Schwarber, Zobrist, Heyward, Soler, Almora and Fowler (maybe); what would you do with the Cubs’ outfield?
Klaw: I don’t know if you can pencil in Schwarber for 150 starts in left field, but I’d probably figure him in left, Heyward in center, Soler in right, Zobrist filling in at second and in both corners. Leaves Almora on the outside, which is a shame as I think he’s someone’s every day CF.

Andrew: So everyone was claiming we entered a new age of bullpen usage this postseason….then everyone ran out of gas. Are we going to see any meaningful change in the future in how these arms are used in the regular season? Seems to me that if you can train MIller to be that type of pitcher all year, you can.
Klaw: If teams want to use relievers like that in the regular season, then those teams will have to get used to those relievers appearing in 45 games, not 60. More pitches per appearance should mean more days of rest. Otherwise I don’t think it works.

Winston: Do you think draft picks will be trade-able in the next CBA?
Klaw: No, but I hold out hope I’m wrong.

Joeybats32: Still surprised Giants gave up Phil Bickford for a mere bullpen arm and Lucious Fox in the Moore/Duffy trade. Was this the “cost of doing business” or did the Giants quickly learn that neither is as good as they thought? If the latter, what does that say about the Giants scouting department . . . ?
Klaw: Bickford was never good enough to be drafted that high, and then he got worse in pro ball.

JG: Were you encouraged by Buxton’s better late season stats?
Klaw: Encouraged, yes, but aware that it’s a small sample in September and far from conclusive.

CK: Do you ever recall a player who suddenly lost it to the extent Jason Heyward did this year? I honestly felt sorry for him, to the extent you can for a guy who makes that much money playing baseball and who was in the process of winning a World Series (the way he handled it seemed pretty admirable, I must say). What are the chances he never gets back close to what he was?
Klaw: Mike Lowell. He recovered.

Jesse B: Is Rhys Hoskins the Phillies longterm answer at 1B?
Klaw: I think he is.

Todd: Your next chat, who’s the President Elect?
Klaw: I sincerely hope it’s Hillary Clinton. I believe Trump would be a disaster for our economy, for civil rights, for our foreign relations, for trade, for global peace, and for women’s rights. Whether you like Hillary is beside the point; we will get one of these two people as our next President, and her policies are far superior to Trump’s, in detail, in realism, and in potential effect. If Trump wins, we will see our rights erode, employment and income decline, and global instability increase. That is not the America – or the world – I want for myself or for my child. I hope you will join me in voting for Hillary on Tuesday, and sending a clear message to the Republican Party that we reject everything that Trump and his followers stand for.

Klaw: That’s all for this week’s chat – I’ll be back next Thursday. Thank you as always for all of your questions and for reading.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: klawchat

→ November 2, 2016
→ By keith

Music update, October 2016.

October was just a fair month for new releases, albums or singles, so I stretched in a few places here, like including a couple of singles from earlier in 2016. You can go directly to the Spotify playlist or play it in the widget here:

Black Honey – Hello Today. I first featured this pop-meets-shoegaze act on a playlist back in March, but they’re certainly starting to break out in the UK and I think some airplay here is imminent. This is my favorite kind of pop track – highly textured music that offsets the sunny vocals. The Guardian compared them to Lush, one of the best pop/shoegaze fusion acts ever, which is high praise.

White Lies – Come On. White Lies mine the same territory as Joy Division, Interpol, Editors, and I’m sure a thousand teenaged English bands writing depressing lyrics, although White Lies at least contrasts the downer vocals with bombastic keyboard lines and driving guitar lines. Their latest album, Friends, dropped in October and was hit or miss; “Come On,” “Take It Out on Me,” and “Don’t Want to Feel It All” were my favorite tracks.

Regina Spektor – Grand Hotel. Either you’re going to love these lyrics like I do or find them too precious. I think Spektor’s at her best when she’s telling stories set to music, like this peculiar story of a hotel sitting atop a gate to the underworld.

Sneaks – Tough Luck. Sneaks is DC native Eva Moolchan, who makes very sparse, very weird music with terse lyrics over a bass line and a drum machine, reminding me of ’70s new wave artists like Television who had come and gone about twenty years before Moolchan was out of diapers.

Underworld – Ova Nova (Radio Edit). All the praise heaped on Daft Punk for their derivative, commercial Random Access Memories would have been better served to Underworld for their nearly thirty years of producing smarter if less radio-friendly electronic music. This edited version of a five and a half minute track from their critically-acclaimed March album Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future is just perfect – if I have a complaint about Underworld’s music it’s that their songs tend to wear their welcome out because they’re all so long.

Jagwar Ma – Slipping. This Australian band’s latest album, Every Now and Then, came out three weeks ago and remains on my to-do list, although I think this is the third track from the album I’ve included on a playlist this year (“O B 1,” “Give Me a Reason”).

Aquilo – You Won’t Know Where You Stand. A duo from Lancashire making electronic pop with vocals that sound heavily influenced by blue-eyed soul.

Temples – Certainty. The English band behind the 2013 hit “Shelter Song” will release its second album, Volcano, in March of 2017. This psychedelic-pop track is the first single and wouldn’t have been out of place in 1969.

Trashcan Sinatras – Let Me Inside (Or Let Me Out). One of my favorite bands of the 1990s put out a new album earlier this year, and it had a couple of uptempo highlights along with their usual slower, folkier stuff that never did as much for me. When the Trashcans hit on a melody, though, it seemed to elevate the band’s usual wordplay to another level entirely. I opened a recent chat with a line from their first hit, “Obscurity Knocks:” “I feel like a veteran of/oh I like your poetry/but I hate your poems.”

Little Monarch – No Matter What. Electro-soul? There’s a definitely ’70s Motown vibe beneath this electronic pop trio’s sound, despite their girl-group name, with a truly memorable keyboard riff following each chorus.

Sad13 – <2. That’s Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz, making similar music here as a solo act. Her debut album under the Sad13 album is due out on Veterans’ Day, and apparently she’s now based in Philly, so maybe I’ll run into her at Re-Animator or Elixr.

Hippo Campus – Boyish. This rousing alt-pop band from St. Paul will release its debut album, Landmark, in February of 2017. This is my favorite of their singles to date, a little rougher around the edges and less overtly poppy.

Sløtface – Empire Records. Formerly known as “Slutface,” an ironic name given the feminist bent of their songs, this Norwegian band does ’90s-style post-riot grrrl punk-pop as well as most of the American bands that tried to capitalize on the sudden commercial appeal of the Pacific Northwest, something they even parody when the singer says she’ll “play bass for Sonic Death Monkey.”

Pussy Riot – Make America Great Again. There’s been a whole slate of anti-Trump songs from rock artists lately, including an album of thirty of them, but most of the ones I’ve heard have been kind of … well, dumb. They’re condescending, almost pedantic, and unlikely to convince anyone who’s already decided to vote for Der Amerikanfuhrer. Then this Russian trio, who are really better known for getting arrested than for making good music, puts out a quirky, almost endearingly amateurish song that just sticks to the main points and follows it up with Trump’s main slogan.

NOFX – It Ain’t Lonely at the Bottom. This obnoxious punk-pop act has been offending people for over thirty years, since their first single “Thalidomide Child,” making this surprisingly tame song a little out of character. But it’s catchy.

Animals As Leaders – Arithmophobia. Highly technical, virtuosic instrumental metal. I bow before Tosin Abasi.

Testament – The Pale King. Aside from making heavier music than they once did, Testament’s sound hasn’t changed all that much over the last 25 years, and they still have the lack of clear, compelling melodies that kept them from breaking out like the Big Four of eighties thrash did. The riffing is the big appeal for me, in their classic tracks and in several standouts from last month’s release, Brotherhood of the Snake, but I know it’s a narrow appeal.

Metallica – Atlas, Rise!. Do we like this song? I actually think I like this song, even though I think it’s become uncool to like new Metallica songs (and I’m on record as saying I think their best work stopped after 1988’s …And Justice for All). It’s not a great Metallica song, per se, but it’s a good old-style thrash track that manages to justify its six-minute length.

Anciients – Following the Voice. This Canadian metal act bridges several subgenres – there are elements of thrash, progressive metal, and melodic death metal here – in a six-plus minute opus off their sophomore album, Voice of the Void. Recommended for Mastodon fans.

Dark Tranquillity – Atoma. The title track from this Gothenburg act’s latest album, due out this Friday, is straight-up melodic death metal out of that city’s school of rock, but with a strangely upbeat vibe to much of the album that it’s almost ‘bright’ compared to the rest of the genre.

Liquorworks – Then To Hell With You. I figured if I was going to put a seven-minute experimental (and instrumental) metal track on the playlist, it probably belonged at the end, because the audience for this stuff might total about twelve of us. It’s darkly atmospheric, with that low-tuned guitar riffing sometimes called “djent” that just sounds like heavy guitar work to me.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: alternative, death metal, electronic music, metal, Music, progressive metal

→ November 1, 2016
→ By keith

Salted caramel rum ice cream.

So I posted a video and a picture on my Instagram feed of this salted caramel rum ice cream, the video showing the sugar caramelizing and the picture showing the final product. That generated a few recipe requests, so here’s my best rendering of what I did, because I winged it at a few points.

If you’ve never made caramel, it is chemistry in motion and the movement of the sugar through various stages never ceases to fascinate me … but it’s also a bit dangerous, as the sugar will reach temperatures well above boiling, and if it splashes at all, it will stick to your skin. Don’t skip the corn syrup in the recipe; the addition of an additional sugar beyond sucrose prevents sugar crystals from forming, which would prevent caramelization.

You’ll need an ice-cream maker of some sort for this, as well as a metallic whisk, and I recommend a heatproof silicone spatula for stirring the custard once the eggs are integrated.

Salted rum caramel ice cream

1 vanilla bean
1 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
¼ cup water
1.5 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk (2% or higher)
6 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp rum
large pinch of salt

1. Whisk egg yolks to an even blend in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the interior seeds into a sauce pan with the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Warm over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, then boil rapidly, occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan to remove any sugar crystals, until the mixture starts to turn brown, around 320 F/160 C. Swirl pan occasionally to ensure even heating and to prevent burning once the browning begins. When the entire mixture is a deep amber color (around 340 F), turn off the heat.

3. Add cream to the pan carefully (it may splatter), then return to low heat and whisk or stir to dissolve all solids. Add milk and heat to a simmer.

4. Slowly pour the hot mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, to temper the eggs. (If you pour too fast, you’ll just scramble the yolks.) Return the entire mixture to the saucepan and heat over medium-low, stirring constantly until the custard reaches 170 F/76 C. (The heatproof rubber spatula will let you scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent any of the mixture from overcooking.)

5. Remove the pan from the heat and add the rum and salt. Store in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, process in an ice cream maker; mine took about 25 minutes to reach the right texture. Freeze until firm.

If you enjoyed this, check out my annual list of cookbook recommendations or my gift guide for cooks too!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Cooking, dessert, Food, ice cream, recipes, rum

→ October 29, 2016
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 10/29/16.

I wrote one Insider piece this week, a World Series preview, although I also spent some time working on the upcoming free agents ranking. I also held my regular Klawchat on Thursday.

For Paste, my latest boardgame review covers Arcane Academy, a wizard-themed game that isn’t aimed at kids specifically but that I think is a much better game for young players than for adults.

You can preorder my upcoming book, Smart Baseball, on amazon, which now shows the correct cover. Also, please sign up for my more-or-less weekly email newsletter.

And now, the links…

Let’s start with the longreads of the week. This Deadspin profile of the late sportswriter Jennifer Frey, a former wunderkind who died this February of long-term alcohol abuse, is on the very short list of the best things I’ve read all year.
Annie Apple, a domestic abuse survivor and mother of a NY Giants player, wrote an emotional piece on why she couldn’t stay silent about Josh Brown.
Harvard magazine covers the quiet fight to end the death penalty in the United States. Californians will vote on whether to keep the death penalty next month.
The Washingtonian looks at how Donald Trump’s comments on Mexicans cost his new DC hotel its main two celebrity chef tenants.
Sid Meier’s Civilization was one of my favorite videogames ever; I spent a good chunk of the fall of 1992 playing it whenever I had time to spare and even when I didn’t. Author Kanishk Tharoor looks back at the game’s impact and its flaws.
Author Emily St. John, who wrote the wonderful, haunting novel Station Eleven, wrote a piece for FiveThirtyEight on the rise of books with “girl” in the title, which looks more generally at how books are named and marketed.
The members of the hip-hop duo Black Sheep look back at the making of their debut album, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Here they come, yo.
The NY Times‘ op ed page looks at Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s habit of overreaching on regulatory issues.
Drugmaker Purdue, which is coming under substantial scrutiny lately for its role in pushing oxycontin, helped stop regulations in West Virginia that would have limited prescriptions. West Virginia has been hit particularly hard by the ongoing epidemic of opioid addictions and overdoses, as Last Week Tonight covered in a recent episode.
ESPN ran a great piece by Sterling HolyWhiteMountain, a member of the Blackfeet Reservation, on what the debate over the Cleveland baseball mascot misses.
Researchers at Harvard are a new method to search for new antibiotics, building molecules called macrolides from the ground up and then testing them against a spectrum of bacteria to look for the most effective candidates.
SCOTUS agreed to review a case from Virginia on a school that wants to prevent a transgender boy from using the boys’ bathroom. The school’s policy isn’t protecting anyone’s rights, only restricting the plaintiff’s. Also, as I’ve said before, these policies and laws that refer to someone’s sex at birth ignore the existence of intersex people.
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory believe they’ve found conditions where the Second Law of Thermodynamics may break down at a microscopic level – that is, where entropy may temporarily decrease in violation of that law. I’m sure Lisa Simpson would be relieved to hear this.
Fellow Trader Joes fans may enjoy this BBC video on the Canadian store Pirate Joes and the mild-manner man who runs it by smuggling Trader Joes items he purchases in Washington back across the border to sell at huge markups.
The emails, the emails, what what the emails … Kurt Eichenwald provides some clarity on what a non-issue yesterday’s FBI letter was, while Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution offers a memo to the press on what the letter does and doesn’t mean, including the most reasonable defense of FBI director Comey’s actions I’ve seen.
If you want to know what Trump’s economic proposals might do to the U.S. economy, look no further than Kansas, where the economic news is so bad the state isn’t reporting it.
More video from the BBC, this time on Trump’s appeal in Ohio, straight from his supporters’ mouths.
The BBC has also been running a series on online blackmail using sexual images in conservative parts of the world from the Middle East to south Asia, including a video that reenacts the story of a woman jailed in Tunisia for killing the man who raped her repeatedly.
The implosion of Chris Christie has gone largely unnoticed during the Presidential campaign, but for a one-time rising star within the Republican party, it’s been a swift and ugly fall from grace.
Why are rainbow sprinkles suddenly everywhere? I think it’s an odd thing to feel nostalgic over, since they don’t exactly have any taste.
Is a vaccine for the common cold finally within reach? I hate being sick like everyone, but I feel like this is a real First World Problem. There are illnesses that kill people in the developing world that should take priority over the sniffles.
The Saudi Arabian attack on Yemen has caused an enormous humanitarian disaster, including mass starvation. Those are our “friends” the Saudis, you know.
Canada has been holding a 23-year-old native Canadian man without trial, in solitary confinement, for over four years. Under UN definitions, he has been tortured. He was finally moved to a new cell this week after public criticism, but how did this happen in the first place?
NPR looks at whether a 20-something male should still consider getting the HPV vaccine. The short answer is yes.
NPR also has a useful guide to buying and using winter squash. I didn’t know that certain types are better at different points in the winter.
Brazil and Colombia are releasing populations of mosquitos infected with a bacterium that may slow the spread of Zika and dengue.
Paste has a review of a new D&D manual, which I include here because the book is written as if it’s from the perspective of the character Volo. Fellow Baldur’s Gate fans may remember Volo as a sort of amusing ass who kept showing up and telling you stuff you already knew, or just making shit up as he went along.
Finally, Funny or Die has a message for would-be protest voters.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: death penalty, links, rap, rpgs, stick to baseball, vaccines, video games

→ October 27, 2016
→ By keith

Klawchat, 10/27/16.

You can preorder my upcoming book, Smart Baseball, on amazon. Also, please sign up for my more-or-less weekly email newsletter.

Klaw: It’s a Klawchat party. Leave your body and soul at the door.

Jimmy: Any qualms about pitch counts, innings, short rest in WS? Or is it basically anything goes since it’s only one series
Klaw: I think it’s mostly anything goes. You’re going to pull a starter for fatigue/loss of effectiveness long before you get to the point where you think he’s likely to be injured. The short rest concern is that pitchers pitch worse on short rest, so you have to think a short-rest Kluber is better than whatever plan B would be for game 4. (That may be true because their plan B options are bad.)

Steve: Mike Montgomery has been an important piece of the Cubs BP, but sometimes struggles with command. Is that struggle going to limit him to the pen moving forward? Stuff looks so nasty at times that I can see the temptation to move him back to a starters role.
Klaw: Reliever only for me. Lack of FB command has always been a big issue as has any consistency with the breaking ball when he started.

Jimmy: Why did they cancel your podcast with Karabell yet they have fantasy football podcasts like all day every day?
Klaw: Football sells better than baseball.

Anonymous: Keith, what is your take on Kyle Schwarber these last two games? I can’t think of a comparable situation.
Klaw: Looks great. I think I said last year in chat he might have a 70 hit tool.

Jeremy: Would you play Schwarber in the field while there is no DH? Is the reward of winning the WS (and the first in over 100 years, at that) worth the injury risk to a young, very promising player? Thanks as always for the chat, one of the highlights of my workday (don’t tell my boss!)
Klaw: I would not. Less concerned about injury (that was a fluke) than about the defensive hit you’ll take having him or Carlos Santana out there.

Mitch: How does Bo Bichette compare to his brother as a hitter?
Klaw: Not even close. Bo’s a way better hitter, way better athlete, with better instincts. I thought Bo had first-round potential this past year, whereas I didn’t have Dante Jr on my top 100 in his draft year.

Cory: Thoughts on Yadier Alvarez of the dodgers organization? Could he and De Leon be a good starting point for a Dozier trade?
Klaw: Alvarez has huge upside because it’s plus-plus stuff with limited pitching experience, but the experience he has has been positive. I’m sure the Twins would listen on that, although De Leon is kind of more of what they already have in the system.

Mitch: Re: The International draft. Is MLB basically just sticking its head in the sand as to all the reasons it’s a crappy idea?
Klaw: It’s worlds better than the present system, where teams sign players over a year before their eligibility date and then hide them from other clubs. Even a three-round draft to get the million-dollar guys signed would probably clean up the worst of the offenses down there, and then lesser players could sign after the draft up to some predetermined number ($400-500K) that compensates them fairly without the shenanigans.

J: Off the track of the WS… do you think Toles can be an everyday OF for the Dodgers next year? And/or do you think he will?
Klaw: I do not. Never been a big believer in the bat.

Tom: Tomlin’s curve enough to neutralize Cubbies seeking fastballs?
Klaw: Tomlin’s curve isn’t very good. His change is his best pitch. But I think this is a bad matchup for him – the Cubs kill soft stuff.

ASB: What do you think about Trump saying: environmental activists need to get a life? That we should trust Wall Street to regulate itself? That a politician needs a public position to tell people what they want to hear but their private position is really what matters? That a single-payer healthcare system is a bad idea and will never happen? Just kidding, those are all things Hillary Clinton said that came to light from Wikileaks. Now, tell me why I shouldn’t vote for Jill Stein again?
Klaw: Well, Stein opposes nuclear power (safe and clean) and GM foods (safe and probably necessary to feed the planet), openly pandered to vaccine deniers and 9/11 truthers, and can’t explain how she’d actually make her ‘plan’ about canceling student debt work. (There’s merit in that idea, but she has shown absolutely no indication she understands how to do it, nor has she cited the role the borrowers play in making college more expensive.) Also, Stein can’t and won’t win; she’s not even going to get to the 5% for federal funding for the party in 2020, so it’s truly a wasted vote. FTR, Clinton’s support of fracking is a real frustration for me, but there’s a flip side to it – if you want to end fracking, then you are going to see big spikes in fuel prices, including gas, which tends to be highly regressive.

Scott: Klaw, just found your site (sorry….lame I know)! After my Sox collapse, can we just assume Price’s contract will be the worst (yes, even worse than A-Rod’s) contract in history?
Klaw: Klaw about 2 hours ago

Jim: What is your take on the Twins hiring Thad Levine?
Klaw: More of the same – another white male prep-school educated guy without experience in the baseball side or the analytics side of the business. I also was surprised that Falvey didn’t find someone with a different background from his own to try to complement his resume and fill in missing skills.

Biff: Stick to baseball. And board games. And food, I like food. And politics I like when u do politics. And anything else u feel that u can offer an informed opinion on. But only those topics! Otherwise I’ll threaten to stop reading, but I won’t really, cuz I like your stuff and I just want you only write for me and if I don’t like it, you’re gonna need to apologize.
Klaw: I’m sorry, I think.

Todd: Kris Bryant went in the 18th round out of high school. Cases like his fascinate me, because he was clearly a prospect at that point, but there seemed to be an industry understanding that he was going to college. Was this simply the message he sent to teams, or was there clear development he needed to be a legitimate prospect? Most importantly, do you think he would’ve turned into the player he is if he’d signed with Toronto and skipped college? Or was there something he got from college that he may not have by going directly to pro ball?
Klaw: He wanted about a million dollars. I would have given it to him – I ranked him as a first rounder that year – but that said, I think college was a good experience for him and he grew as a player and a person.

Tom: Thoughts on Smoltz as an analyst? IMO a nice change of pace from typical color guys.
Klaw: I think some of his insights are outstanding and he makes the game better. Still drawn to too many cliches.

Tom: On Gary Johnson, at one point I had hope for him but I agree with you that most of what I have seen from him is not good. But the two party system has produce one despicable and one not ideal candidate this year and I can see it continuing to get worse as this country gets more divided. I live in PA which Hillary is going to win anyway so would a vote for Johnson to help the Libertarians get to 5% and federal funding so that maybe in 4 years or 12 or 20 a viable third party contender may emerge be such a bad thing? The rest of the ballot I’m confident in voting for the correct candidates.
Klaw: There is certainly merit in saying you want to get a third party to the 5% mark. I’m just not at all sure it should be that party – and I say that as someone with a lot of libertarian leanings. My real hope is that the GOP loses badly enough in two weeks that it leads to a change in the party leadership. They’re still running on a platform with social views that are decades behind the populace.

TJ: hi Keith! Thanks for these chats! Regarding gleybar Torres, 280/340/440 is that too optimistic for his prime? Can he be better then that?
Klaw: Better. I see a superstar.

Albert: Hi Keith. There’s a lot of talk about pitchers not being as effective the 3rd or 4th time through the lineup.
Klaw: Fatigue is a huge factor in this effect. Also hitters will tell you that seeing a guy three times in one night is a lot different than seeing him three times over three starts.

Jacob: How did Kaprilians stuff suddenly get better? Wasn’t he injured all year? This is really sss for his improved stuff isn’t it?
Klaw: His stuff was like this in March and April, then his elbow barked but he never needed surgery – he just rested and rehabbed. Came back this month and the stuff was still there.

Kier: Seems like most people have Daniel Norris pegged as a #3. That accurate to you? Or could he be better than that?
Klaw: It’s #1 potential. Too good an athlete to just call him a mid-rotation or league-average type starter.

John: Why won’t Daniels trade Profar
Klaw: Probably doesn’t want to sell low on him.

Jean Luc: At this point, is Senzel the obvious hitter you’d want from this last draft?
Klaw: No, Rutherford is.

joshkvt: Agree with your response last week that an all-reliever staff logistically wouldn’t work. But would it make sense for a team to replace the 5th and/or 4th spot with a few long relievers who might be better in terms of quality? Obviously that would require a shift away from the 3-pitchers-an-inning nonsense on days when the regular SP throw, but that would not be a bad thing. 3SP, 1 LH specialist if needed, 6 RP capable of throwing 2-3 innings, and 1 back-end spot-starter type for when needed. Better quality and an extra bench spot so you don’t have to use a pitcher to run?
Klaw: Every team should carry one or two long relievers anyway. Maybe you use them to fake the fifth spot the 20-25 times it comes up each year, or bring guys up for spot starts.

Todd: Chance Adams in your top 100?
Klaw: No. I won’t work on that list at all till after Thanksgiving, but I can say now he won’t be on it.

Doc: You spoke highly of Travis Demeritte’s glove — thoughts on his bat?
Klaw: Same as it was, really: huge bat speed, plus raw power, too much swing and miss. Maybe he should talk to Javy Baez.

Tom: Just read that players voted Altuve #1 and Trout #6 in a Sporting News Player of the Year poll. I guess players judge other players by their teammates as well. Although Altuve’s team didn’t make the playoffs either.
Klaw: The players’ selections for the All-Star Games have been the worst picks every year. There’s no reason to believe they know better than we do; they’re busy being the best in the world at playing, not poring over Fangraphs.

Nic: Does Gavin Cecchini have the bat and glove to be an everyday SS? Would it behoove the Mets to try him at 2B?
Klaw: He can’t play short. His throwing issues are bad enough that I’m worried about him at second.

Travis: Any bats (aside from Kendall and Adell) who look like they could be top 10 picks in the draft next year?
Klaw: Royce Lewis too. That list should go up next week.

BD: How on earth did a guy like Sandy Leon all of a sudden hit like an allstar for a full season??
Klaw: He didn’t. He hit like an all-star for two months. Then in September he went back to being a cipher. And his season was only 283 PA.

Mike P.: Keith, do you ever listen to sports talk radio, if for no other reason than to hear the bizarre stuff callers want to talk about?
Klaw: Never. I only listen to XM in the car – music or BBC world service, pretty much.

Mike: Why build more nuclear power plants when we have this thing called the sun that sends all the solar power we ever need? Not to mention there’s this thing we have called wind? Nuclear power has a place but it’s outdated thinking. It’s pretty easy to throw solar panels on my roof – how many years (not to mention billions and billions of dollars) does it take to get a nuclear power plant built?
Klaw: Solar panels aren’t very efficient, mining the rare metals used in them is not that environmentally friendly, and they actually create a lot of local heat. They’re part of a solution, but the technology needs to improve before they become more of a solution.

Casey: What has caused the mass exodus of so much of Boston’s FO — Hazen, Sawdaye, Tippett, etc.? Is it wrong to see this as a step in the wrong direction?
Klaw: Better opportunities elsewhere, certainly – a successful FO will have guys picked off by other orgs.

Jill: Who is your least favorite coworker?
Klaw: Janice in Accounting.

Frank: SF never seems to have decent outfield prospects, but with Quinn, Reynolds, and Duggar, is it ok to be really excited? How would you rank those?
Klaw: Reynolds is a guy, potential above-average regular. Other two aren’t really more than up-and-down types.

J.P.: So, Manfred says he’s going to look into the Chief Wahoo logo after the WS. Will anything actually be accomplished?
Klaw: Sounds like he’s actually taking the issue seriously. I’m optimistic. The name is bad, but the logo is much worse. And if they kill the logo, perhaps there will be less opposition to rebranding the team?

addoeh: Everyone questions if these are our two best candidates and they aren’t. For reasons I’ll never understand, the Republicans went for the guy who shouts the loudest, but had a couple of good candidates in Graham and Kasich. The best Democrat was probably Kaine, who didn’t run. So we do have good candidates, but they either lost or didn’t run.
Klaw: Biden would have been a hell of a candidate; the sense around here is that he would have tried if he hadn’t just lost his son. But I don’t think this system is really set up to produce the best candidates. We’ll get an Obama or a Reagan sneaking through every now and then, but those will be exceptions.

Jace: So you’re saying the Cubs should have gotten Melancon and kept Torres? I feel like we’ll regret this one in a few years.
Klaw: If they win three more games in the next week you won’t regret it at all.

Candy Maldonado: Thanks for the retweet the other day.
Klaw: You’re welcome!

JJ: Rich Hill seems to be the consensus “best starter available” for free agents. What kind of contract do you see him getting?
Klaw: He will be the top starting pitcher on my free agent rankings, which will appear whenever they’re eligible to sign with other teams. It’s a weak crop, and the starter crop is weaker than anything.

Lee: Although I’m always in favor of more transparency from our elected leaders, I’m not sure it’s fair to judge Clinton based on stolen private emails from her friends and staff members. I’d suggest there would be major issues with any politician if we had access to all their email and all their staffs email.
Klaw: I agree. The discussion of the ethics of these emails would be a good one, if anyone seemed interested in having it. If leaked documents point to evidence of a crime, or a conspiracy to commit or cover one up, then we should probably use them. If leaked documents just show us someone isn’t as nice a person as we’d like to think, should they still be fair game?

Drew: Is David Price’s post-season record anything other than a string of bad luck?
Klaw: That’s what I think it is.

Jimmy: ever eaten somebody food and pretended you liked it because you were a guest at their house or somewhere?
Klaw: Yes, that is the worst. This one time I was over a friend’s house to eat. The macaroni was soggy, the peas were mush, and the chicken tasted like wood.

Craig: I know you were critical of the Brewers for foisting Counsell on Stearns. After nearly two full years at the helm, Counsell doesn’t seem overwhelmed tactically and has done a good job with the young players. Is he a good manager?
Klaw: Has he done a good job with the young players? I don’t think I’d buy that.

Blueberry Johnson: Hi Keith, social anxiety / escitalopram user here… Just curious, how much did you experiment with your dosage? On 10 mg and while it’s helped, I’m not sure it’s quite the life changer that you’ve seemed to experience.
Klaw: I’ve been on 20 mg/day the whole time, although I think in practice I end up taking it 6 days a week rather than 7 because sometimes I forget. I have wondered if I’d be better off at 10, given the side effects, but I’m nervous about losing the benefits.

Harrisburg Hal: You spoke last week about playing board games with your daughter. My oldest daughter absolutely hates to lose games to the point where it’s not much fun playing with her. Last year we bought Forbidden Island (and later Pandemic) because they were cooperative. The last time we played, she got upset when her sister was the one who “achieved the victory” for the group. I’m kind of at a loss. She’s always asking to play games, but I have a tough time getting excited to go through this every time we play and frequently come up with an excuse not to play. She never was interested in sports, and I feel that competing in team sports might have helped with this trait. I’ve been coaching kids’ sports for more than 10 years now and I tell other parents all the time that the thing I enjoy most about team sports are the soft lessons that can be learned – commitment, sportsmanship, supporting teammates, etc.
Klaw: I’d keep playing with her and essentially getting her used to the idea that 1) she will lose sometimes and 2) it doesn’t matter. She shouldn’t be holding on to the loss like that when there is no consequence or nothing lasting from it. My daughter went through that when she was a bit younger, and we’ve coaxed her out of it, mostly just by playing so many games, but also pointing out that you should be satisfied with knowing you played well. I was a terrible loser as a kid, so trying to raise someone who can be happy just playing the game was always important to me.

JJ: The Red Sox still got the better end of the Eduardo Rodriguez – Andrew Miller trade, right?
Klaw: Yes. Did you see Rodriguez at the end of the year? I still think he’s going to be a star.

Moltar: With his current results, should Andrew Miller consider starting again? Or is a multi-inning, high leverage reliever more valuable than a less-than-ace starter?
Klaw: He can’t do it. Doesn’t have the command for it.

Sam: I think the genius of Michael Schur is that he creates shows with diverse actors/actresses and characters, but doesn’t pigeonhole them into stereotypes. He just lets them be funny people. I hope more are following this example going forward.
Klaw: I don’t think anyone out there does sitcoms like he and his team do them. They build ensembles like the classic sitcoms had, but as you said, they break with the custom of having each character in a narrow, well-defined niche. I feel like if anyone were to make Barney Miller today, it would be Fremulon.

Mike: Is it a sure thing Hellickson and Boras refuse the Phillies’ QO?
Klaw: No, but I’d take him for a year at $17 million. 3 WAR starter who was healthy all year is probably worth about that much, and a one-year commitment is basically riskless.

Garrett: Hot Takes aside… why are so many people already writing off the rest of Heyward’s contract? Yes he clearly has some mechanical flaws that might also be affecting his approach (never seen him swing at so many low and in breaking stuff)… But he’s also just turned 27 and should be able to get fixed. Lets not act like this is Dan Uggla losing his power and utility at the same time.
Klaw: I’m with you. I think it’s part mechanical, part mental, unless he’s hiding an injury we don’t know about. Definitely wouldn’t give up on him, and I don’t think they could dump the contract anyway.

Hinkie: Odubel Hererra for James Paxton … who says no ?
Klaw: Mariners say no to that.

Peter: Regarding the earlier Counsell question. He kept Domingo Santana on the bench so Kirk Nieuwenhuis could play. That’s not doing a good job with the young players.
Klaw: Jimmy Nelson went backwards. Arcia wasn’t good, although perhaps he shouldn’t have been up after a lackluster performance in AAA. I am not saying Counsell was bad with the young players, but the argument was that he was good with them and I don’t see the evidence.

Sam: Is Lincecum done? Can he even be a reliever at this point?
Klaw: I think he’s done.

Jerry Skurnik: Either Smoltz or Buck on Tuesday said teams couldn’t use relievers in regular season like Francona has in post season because of 162 game schedule. Isn’t this a red herring. Those who think Francona can & should be emulated in regular season are supporting his flexibilty not the specific actions he’s taken. Not having a specific pitcher for 7th, 8th & 9th inning but using most effective pitcher at the most important time rather would work in July as well as October
Klaw: Right. And it would look different in July. You’re not rolling Kenley Jansen out there for 46 pitches on July 18th, but you might use him to get 5 outs in a tie game on that date.

Rick: Keith, my daughter is 7 and I’m worried about her showing interest in guys too young. Have you worried about that? At what age would you tell child what sex is?
Klaw: We just told our daughter about a month ago because it was clear that she was at least hearing hints about it at school. The conversation ended with her sitting under the table going “ew, ew, ew.”

Marques: On the politics, there’s a lot of false equivalency in this chat. I’m black, one if the candidates owned an apartment complex and wouldn’t rent to black people. Unless the other candidate assassinated Dr. King, there’s pretty much no comparison.
Klaw: So many outlets have named Trump the worst major-party candidate in history that I feel like I can repeat that without further evidence. His loathsomeness is why Clinton is going to win.

Bill: Could the Tigers draw a couple of high-end position prospects from, say, the Yankees or Dodgers if they offered Verlander this offseason? (These teams could afford his rather weighty contract.)
Klaw: Probably. Dodgers seem more interested in contending now. I don’t know if the Yankees are going to turn around and flip prospects right away to add pitching.

Ron: Do you think the increase in hard throwing relievers, along with their potential change in usage, may actually be harmful to the game. While the strategy is completely logical (and great that managers are being more flexible), it seems like the game can be out of reach if you fall behind after 6 innings (certainly some recency bias in this question though)
Klaw: I think it also threatens to make games longer, which isn’t really good for the sport either.

Jimmy: Looking back on the Justin Upton trade with Braves-Dbacks. The return for Uptom doesn’t seem so bad does it? I forget what the Mariners package was but did they get screwed as bad as thought at the time?
Klaw: The Dbacks didn’t get market value. That was the concern at the time – Towers seemed to decide he wanted Upton gone, period, and took an offer that seemed very light.

Jace: When Rodriguez got traded to Boston for Miller, he had an ERA of almost 5.00 in AA ball. What made people think he’d be a stud and how two years later did the Yankees get so much more for Miller?
Klaw: Rodriguez was very young for AA and his stuff was plus – I had ranked him high and seen him three times before that, always talking about the big upside.

Jeff: The world series broadcast mentioned clevenger and the guys that got traded in the Arrieta trade and they mentioned how the Orioles got fleeced. Did you feel bad for those prospects or who was running th orioles at the time?
Klaw: The Orioles’ problems with Arrieta are their own fault, including Buck and then-coach Rick Adair.

Ryan: Most of us agree Trump bad, but what will happen to him and the political operatives (all these crazy people on TV, Guiliani and others) who helped him? Will they be exiled to Elba?!?
Klaw: Oh, some of them will find long-term employment as “commentators” at Fox News, don’t you think? Or perhaps Trump TV?

Marshall MN: If you worked for the Dodgers at this point would you be advocating a 3 man rotation Kershaw-Maeda-Urias with the other two “rotation” spots taken up by RPs who pitch a few innings each? It seems like a way to reduce 3rd time through the rotation problems, not completely overwork relievers and ensure your best pitchers still get more IP’s.
Klaw: I would consider that for one spot, but not two.

Grace: Hey keith! big fan, have the day off work and am finally able to ask question 🙂 What would be the return for goldschmidt? What would it cost the Astros to get him?
Klaw: I don’t know if AZ ownership would entertain this but it’s the best way to restart the franchise. I think you’d ask for a 4-5 player return, two elite prospects at the top, one or two lesser prospects, maybe then someone like an AJ Reed who’d be superfluous to Houston at that point and whose value has taken a hit in the last twelve months.

addoeh: Going to do a Periscope chat while spatchocking your turkey this year?
Klaw: Maybe, seemed like folks got a big kick out of that last year.

Steve: I don’t love taxes, but until the GOP stops rejecting science and reason (evolution, global warming, etc.), there will be only one option to vote for at the national level. I wish there were two legitimate options to choose from but there aren’t and I fear won’t be for awhile. And a third party is not a realistic option in a first past the post voting system like we use (Duverger’s Law).
Klaw: That’s how I feel about economic policies as a whole; I don’t agree with the left on many of those, but anti-science positions are a dealbreaker for me, and so is the bigotry entrenched in the GOP platform (e.g., support for ‘gay conversion therapy’).

Mike: People complain about September baseball being watered down because of expanded rosters. I’ve always wondered why baseball doesn’t just flip the schedule – expand the roster through the end of April and leave September at 25 man rosters. Prospects can get a longer look earlier in the year. Players can ease in better and reduce wear and tear earlier in the year when it’s colder. I assume the biggest issue is the minor league schedules. What are the other hindrances to this plan?
Klaw: I feel like I remember baseball doing that one year … 1995? Teams could carry an extra player for a week or two, and the world didn’t collapse. I’d be open to that.

David: Any advice for a lifelong Padres fan that can’t get on board with Preller and the ownership group after the medical info scandal? Even if Mike Dee (now once again chillin’ on the beach down at Club Med) was more culpable than Preller, I just can’t support an organization that would do something like this.
Klaw: I can understand that, and no one is going to fully trust Preller for a while now. He has to over-disclose info for the foreseeable future.

Adam: Is true outcome data most important for determining a pitching prospects future success?
Klaw: It’s more telling than straight ERA or the like. A pitcher has to be able to miss bats, limit walks, and limit homers to be successful in the majors (I’ve always said at least two of the three is a requirement). If he doesn’t do that in the minors, then you need a real argument that he’ll be able to do so in the majors.

Bob: Hi, Keith. Much of a hitter being “hot” or “cold” can probably be attributed to SSS. However, in a short series like the WS, do you pay attention to that or (barring injury) just go with the players who were the best for the entire year?
Klaw: I would not, because even in (or especially in) small samples there’s no predictive value.

Ricardo: I remember a fan got kicked out of reds stadium last year for yelling obscenities onto field last year at players with children in the stands. Eno Sarris said it was fine because kids will hear curse words in their life. Whats your stance?
Klaw: It’s a private facility and the authorities have the right to kick anyone out; you don’t have the right to go to the stadium and swear at the players. Which raises the question of why Cleveland let that asshole fan in headdress and redface into the park last night? I want some Native American activist to put on blackface and dress up like Sambo and try to get into Progressive Field. I have a feeling he wouldn’t get past security.

Bret: Do you see a change in sight to the 30-something Ivy-league white guy GM trend?
Klaw: I don’t, not until MLB makes structural changes and forces teams to interview more candidates outside of that narrow box.

Henry: Would you be in favor of moving the all-star game after the season to 1) better evaluate player seasonal performance and 2) to give players a proper break midway through the season? Obviously, they’d have to clean up the dumb home-field W.S. advantage thing.
Klaw: No, nobody would watch or care about the ASG in November.

Ethan: Making hamburgers tonight; any suggestions for what do put in the beef?
Klaw: Salt and pepper. That’s it.

Bob: Do you think a daily Multivitamin is worthwhile?
Klaw: All available evidence says it’s not.

Marshall MN: Klaw what stock do you put in the performance of these various winter leagues? How would you rank them as far as quality of play?
Klaw: I don’t pay attention to them at all. Wildly inconsistent levels of competition.

Roland of Gilead: Thoughts on the Dark Tower series?
Klaw: I had to google this to see what it was.

Gerry: Hypothetically…what could the Rockies get for Arenado if they cant get him signed LT?
Klaw: Similar to what I said for Arizona – this is how you kickstart a rebuild. Maybe even more so, because the Rockies have to develop their own pitching, since the odds of free agents choosing them (and of the Rockies outbidding anyone) are so low.

Dave: I know Trump and his sexual assault remarks way crossed the line. But how much do people in your industry talk about sex and woman ?
Klaw: I have never heard that kind of talk anywhere. I’ve heard comments on the appearances of women, but that’s it.

Mike: What will happen to competitive balance lottery draft picks in the new CBA?
Klaw: I don’t know for sure, but I can say with 100% confidence that the Rays will get screwed by it.

Adam: Mallex Smith — a GUY or just a guy?
Klaw: Just a guy with speed.

James: Interesting thing to me on Miller – He has been included in trades in which the teams that traded him have received Miggy, Rodriguez, Frazier and Sheffield.
Klaw: I wonder who has the highest total WAR of players for whom he’s been traded (or included in trades for).

Ben: Thoughts on Cespedes’ plans to opt out?
Klaw: He’d be crazy not to opt out.

Todd: When is Eloy ready to be the man in Chicago and what happens to their OF when he is?
Klaw: I think you see him in September 2018 or early in 2019. Who knows what their OF looks like by then? People who try to forecast that stuff out several years are always too optimistic about the players on the depth chart.

Joe: Do that many people really watch or care about the ASG now? Seems kind of like an antiquated concept now that I can see any player any time on MLB.TV.
Klaw: Still does OK on national TV, good showcase night for the sport. HR Derby does well too. I’d be very much in favor of the Futures Game moving to the evening for a higher audience.

Kevin: As a parent of very young children it scares me a little that there are so many industries like baseball, that become much easier to break into with an Ivy or similar background (Big Law, Finance, Consulting, Journalism. This creates the high stress environment over college admissions. What to do?
Klaw: Depends on what your children want to do for their careers, but I still think studying something you love in college and doing well is the best path to a better job or to a better graduate school – and if your chosen career path requires or rewards a graduate degree, then that is the school that matters the most.

Rick: What was thoughts on Zobrist in minors? just a guy?
Klaw: Yes, just a guy, even after the trade to Tampa Bay, until he totally reworked his swing late in 2008/before 2009.

Jeff: Daughter too young for coffee? Whats right age? soda?
Klaw: Mine is 10, no interest in coffee anything, will drink soda but isn’t a fan. We haven’t explicitly banned caffeine but have just not encouraged her to drink anything with it. (She’s home sick today after throwing up at 5 am.)

Ross: Anything you see in Jen-Ho Tseng for him not to be a starter in the majors at any point in his career?
Klaw: Flat fastball, nothing really plus in his arsenal.

MM: I love how you sometimes present Reagan as a politician you respect…as if you wouldn’t have been calling him a bigot/Hitler/etc on Twitter if Twitter had been around in the 80’s.
Klaw: I think your mistake is taking the person I am in 2016 and transplanting that to 1985 without considering 1) my views have evolved over the years and 2) so have those of society as a whole. You need to adjust your social positions somewhat for the era in which they took place. Would I really have realized at the time how bad Reagan’s policies on AIDS were? And how much slack should we give him given societal attitudes on homosexuality and the medical community’s relative lateness in taking the disease seriously?

Oren: Do you think Eric Thames’ KBO dominance would translate to decent MLB performance?
Klaw: No. He wasn’t good here even in the high minors.

Jake: Trout for Benintendi, Devers, Moncada, and Swihart……who says no?
Klaw: The Angels aren’t trading Trout. Moreno doesn’t want to, ergo, they say no to every offer.

Jeremy: Should Os give Wieters a QO or let him go?
Klaw: No QO. Let him go. Can’t hold Sisco back any more.

Rick: Has the anthem stuff gotten out of control for you like it has me? Gone too far now imo especially now that a black girl tried sing at the sixers game while wearing a “We matter” shirt
Klaw: The anthem stuff is out of control in the sense that there’s no good reason to play the national anthem at a sporting event. This isn’t a fucking pep rally for America.

Hugo Z: How about the ASG a few days before the start of the season?
Klaw: I think the players would oppose that, saying they may not be totally ready by that point. Maybe not. I kind of like that idea as the new Opening Night.

Jeff: Do you think there is an optimal fastball percentage? Are pitchers relying too much on it?
Klaw: I don’t think there is. It’ll vary by pitcher, depending on his velocity, movement, command, spin rate, arm angle, release point, and secondary offerings.

Bob: James Shields announced that he is not opting out.
Klaw: I’m shocked, shocked to hear this. However, I am opting out of the remainder of this chat to test the market. Thank you all for your questions. I may be chatting on a different day next week so watch Twitter and Facebook for an announcement. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

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