→ September 2, 2024
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Faraway.

Faraway is a very quick game with very few rules, but it’s a real brain-twister in the way that you score your eight Region cards – after eight rounds, you turn all those cards face-down, then reveal and score them one by one in reverse order. Because most cards score based on what else is face up at the time they’re scored, the cards you played last are usually worth the least, and the ones you play first may not be worth anything if you don’t get and play the right cards later.

Faraway comes from designer Johannes Goupy, who has burst on the scene with a flurry of new games in the last two years, including the lovely small-box game Pixies (due out in September in the U.S.), Rauha, Orichalcum, the brand-new heavy game From the Moon, and others; of his games, the only one I haven’t cared for was Nautilus Island, which seemed a bit underbaked, which is definitely not the case with his other titles. His forte seems to be coming up with simple games that pack a lot of strategy into them for their size and weight, at least based on the small sample so far.

In Faraway, all players work from a deck of numbered Region cards, 1 through 68, each of which has at least one of these three elements: fixed or variable point scoring, element symbols, and/or required elements. The point-scoring may be unconditional, but for the most part they only score if you have the required elements on cards that are already face-up when the card is revealed. There are three elements in the game – animal, mineral, and plant – and cards may require two or more of these symbols, the same ones or any combination. Many cards also show one or two symbols in the upper right that are then available to fulfill requirements for cards that appear later. Some Region cards are also “night” cards, with their card number surrounded by a white circle, which can also factor into scoring for some cards. Some Region cards show a map symbol next to the card number, which I’ll get to in a moment.

You start the game with three Region cards, and you will play one of them face-down. All players reveal their played Region cards at the same time. The player with the lowest played Region card gets first draft from the market, which has one more card than the player count and is visible before you choose what to play in the current round, so you can factor that into your decision of what to play. This process continues for eight rounds, although in the final round you skip the market phase.

You play your cards left to right in a line in front of you, and the order matters in two ways. The first is that if you play a card with a higher number than the one you played right before it, you get one or more Sanctuary cards. These can either offer additional points, provide additional elements, add another night symbol, or even have a different card color to qualify for certain Region cards that score based on the colors of cards you have. If you have any cards in your row with map symbols, when you get Sanctuary cards, you get one extra one for every map symbol you have showing, and then you choose one Sanctuary card to keep.

When the eighth round is complete, players all turn all eight of their Region cards face down, but keep their Sanctuary cards face up. You then begin scoring by turning over your rightmost (last played) Region card, scoring it if possible; then you move to the left and turn over the next card, scoring that if possible, and so on. That last played/first scored card will only meet its requirements if you have those elements showing on Sanctuary cards. When you get to your first played/last scored card, however, all eight of your Region cards will be face up, and you will have everything available. That means that one fairly basic strategy is to play a high-point card with a lot of required elements in the first or second round, and then playing the rest of your cards to try to fill those requirements. I won a two-player game on BGA against a much higher-rated opponent where I only scored three of my Region cards, including zero of the last four I played. Those cards were worth 24, 13, and 12 (3*4) points, and I tacked on 17 more from Sanctuary cards to dance to victory.

There is a good bit of luck involved here in the card draws, and you can end up behind the eight-ball if you’re getting cards that don’t fit your plans but are also high-numbered enough to keep you from drafting first in subsequent rounds. I think that’s just baked into the game; you have to cope with some randomness and just plan around it as best you can.

There is a whole lore behind the game’s theme and artwork that didn’t do a whole lot for me, other than that I appreciated the bold color choices on the cards (with patterns on a horizontal line in each color’s design to allow color-blind players to distinguish them). I didn’t expect to like it because of the silly art, but it’s more of an abstract game with a theme that’s sort of pasted on. I’ve learned not to judge a board game by its cover, at least, and the art here doesn’t get in the way of the game at all. Pandasaurus has brought this one over to the U.S., along with Goupy’s game Pixies; another great small-box game, Knarr; and another in my review queue, Courtisans. Faraway is my favorite of the batch so far.

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→ August 31, 2024
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Stick to baseball, 8/31/24.

I’m back to work this week, having gone to Delmarva on Wednesday night to catch Boston’s latest teenaged phenom, Franklin Arias, and will have a long scouting notebook up in a day or two covering that and three other games I haven’t written up yet. I’m a little at odds and ends for next week, as it looks like the schedules of the local teams are pretty unfavorable, and I may have to wait and see on the playoffs.

Over at Paste, I reviewed the board game Rock Hard 1977, designed by Jackie Fuchs, a four-time Jeopardy! champion who happened to be the bassist for the influential rock band the Runaways under the name Jackie Fox. It’s fantastic, and spurred me to rank my five favorite thematic board games (meaning games where the theme is great and well-integrated with game play).

I’ve been holding off on a newsletter until that review went up, so I’ll try to get one out this weekend. You can sign up for free in eager anticipation.

And now, the links…

  • “The truth is that Staten Island kind of sucks.” I’d argue that’s half-right; Staten Island just sucks. It’s the worst of the five boroughs, lacking the culture or diversity of the other four – and it doesn’t have the subway. New York should just hand it to New Jersey. The two states should build a bridge from Jersey City straight to Brooklyn. But this Baffler longread argues that it sucks because it’s Trumpy and xenophobic, and that there are other “little Staten Islands” around the rest of the city, too. And now they’re talking about seceding from the rest of the city on which they depend for their financial existence.
  • The City of Philadelphia released a farcical economic “study” that purports to show that building a new sports arena in Chinatown will benefit the city even though the 76ers already play in a perfectly usable facility that doesn’t require destroying a historic neighborhood and displacing residents.
  • Once upon a time, Chipotle was the “good” fast-food outlet, trying to use better quality ingredients and cultivate relationships with farmers, but ultimately, the profit motive has won out – they’ve been accused of denying raises to unionized workers at a Michigan location in violation of federal law.
  • Lionsgate put out a trailer for the new Francis Ford Coppola film Megalopolis that included a bunch of fake quotes from movie critics blasting some of the director’s older and more acclaimed movies. Megalopolis looks like it’s going to be a giant disaster, after mostly bad reviews at Cannes and multiple stumbles already from the studio and the director.
  • Ohio Republicans, who have repeatedly shown themselves to be some of the worst enemies of democracy, have approved language for an anti-gerrymandering ballot question that is designed to confuse voters into voting their way. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who voted seven times to use district maps that were ruled unconstitutional by courts, drafted the confusing language.
  • A cop in Massachusetts raped a girl he met through the state’s program for kids interested in law enforcement careers and then murdered her when she became pregnant, according to charges filed last week. The article I linked refers to “sex acts” before the victim, Sandra Birchmore, was 16 years old, but doesn’t use the correct word for it: rape. This is statutory rape and we need to stop normalizing it by avoiding the term.
  • Mainstream news outlets complaining about the DNC’s credentialing of over 200 content creators are authoring their own extinction, according to Mark Jacob, whose newsletter covers the way right-wing propagandists have run rings around the MSM. Jacob argues that journalists need to refocus on real journalism, like investigative pieces, now that the subjects can often go around them to talk directly to their audiences/customers.
  • A conservative alumni group at the University of Virginia has pressured the school into suspending campus tours given by a student-run service because they talked about how Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and raped them. Really.
  • The denialist group Biosafety Now, which continues to push the debunked lab-leak theory and includes a wide number of prominent anti-vaxxers, has added economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, whose advice to then-President Trump on the pandemic was disastrous, to its board. This same group has worked closely with Republicans in Congress to push false claims that China is responsible for creating SARS-CoV-2 and should be held responsible for damages.
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→ August 28, 2024
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Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs.

I’m not a Gloomhaven guy, for a variety of reasons, but foremost among them is that I just don’t care for modern role-playing games. I did play a little pen-and-paper D&D in the 1980s, and got into several CRPGs, including the Bard’s Tale, before going all out on the Baldur’s Gate series. Those experiences cemented a style of RPG in my brain that’s hard to dislodge; if a modern RPG isn’t built on the same framework, it feels counterintuitive and slow to me.

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs gives me that same feeling, although I do respect the cleverness of the design and the way it packs a lot of game into a tiny box. Based on a fan expansion for the massive, $120, 20-pound Gloomhaven tabletop RPG, Buttons & Bugs is a strictly solo endeavor that has 20 scenarios to play through where your character gains levels, skills, and items … but the combat system at the heart of the game is so clunky that it drove me kind of nuts. (It’s between printings, but you can pre-order the second printing here, with shipping expected in September.)

In Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs, your intrepid hero has been debiggified (my word, not theirs) to a miniature size and must fight through a series of adventures to get back to some kind of final boss that will reverse the curse and make you full-sized again. The battles will increase in difficulty, and your character will gain some new skill cards, better items, and a very modest number of hit points as the game progresses.

The combat system revolves around cards, and I don’t care what Gloomhaven fans say – this is the clunkiest combat system I’ve ever seen. You start out with four cards in your hand, with two actions on each side. You’ll pick a top action from one card and a bottom action from another on each turn. If those are the A sides of the cards, you’ll pick them back up and flip them to the B sides, which have different actions. Once you’ve used all of the B sides, you have to rest to pick them back up, but you will lose one card from your hand each time you do this. If you ever have just one card left in your hand, you lose the scenario. (You also lose if you run out of hit points.) Top actions usually involve attacks; bottom actions usually involve movement. That means if you’re hemmed in by a monster and just want to attack with both your actions, well, tough luck – you’re going to waste some of your turn with movement points you can’t use. I played several scenarios as the thief, and there’s a lot of movement on the thief’s initial action cards that is close to useless on the early maps because there’s no place to run, literally.

There’s also a single die with three values on it that works as a sort of attack modifier for you and determines the monsters’ initiative and exact actions (skewing towards more movement or more offense) on each turn. It’s fine for the monsters, as it mixes things up a little bit, but for you it’s just a nuisance – it adds a tiny bit of randomness in most cases, adding or subtracting one from your attack value, except very rarely it can either double your attack or void it entirely. Remembering to use it and then move the peg down the board to track the current modifiers was more trouble than it was worth.

I think the design here also presupposes some familiarity with Gloomhaven’s combat system, icons, and terminology. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what one symbol meant, since it’s not explained on the one reference card with the game itself, so I had to read the online rules (accessible with a QR code) and then go re-read them to find the symbol, which was just off to the right of my phone’s screen. It’s a dark element, and while it appears on one of the thief’s starter cards, there’s no explanation anywhere in the box of what elements are, and I don’t think you can even use that bonus action (+2 to your attack if you have consumed a dark element) with that initial card set.

I absolutely love the idea of this game – a solitaire dungeon-crawl with a solid story that’s a little bit funny and that has some great components to keep the game truly compact, like the hit point dials you use for yourself and for your adversaries. A whole campaign in a box the size of a new set of business cards is awesome. If the game had a more user-friendly combat and item system, I probably would have played it all the way through. It’s just too fiddly for me, and that may be just a function of my own experiences playing RPGs with other ways of handling combat.

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→ August 27, 2024
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Outer Banks eats.

We spent last week in the small town of Corolla, North Carolina, at the northern tip of the Outer Banks – beyond Corolla, there are houses, but the roads aren’t paved, and you may wake up to find a wild horse hanging out in your yard. It’s very quiet, which was wonderful, but also has enough amenities that we could get whatever we needed, which also meant we could cook in the house we rented or head out to eat. So while this is probably the most obscure place for which I’ve ever written up restaurants, here’s the rundown of everything we ate on the trip.

There were two restaurants I’d recommend regardless of where they were – they weren’t just Corolla good, but legitimately good. Mama Easley’s is a fried seafood place with a solid beer selection, and the seafood was superb across the board. We were down there with another family of four, so I got to try a little of everything – the fried shrimp were the best item, but everything was fried perfectly, with no excess oil anywhere. The French fries were too spicy for the kids, with something Old Bay-like but without that odd stale flavor of actual Old Bay (sorry, Marylanders, I just think it’s overrated), while the hush puppies were a hit. My wife got the grilled bay scallops, the one non-fried item we had, and they were cooked just the way I like them, which is just the hotter side of rare – I know scallops are usually just seared so that the center is still slightly translucent, but I like it pushed a touch farther than that so they’re hot through but still tender. I ate way too much fried stuff that night, and drank a local beer (I don’t remember what sort), so I didn’t exactly feel great the next morning, but I have no regrets.

Agave Roja was the other big hit, a Mexican restaurant in a strip mall (across from the Food Lion) that goes upscale from typical Mexican restaurants in that area. We ordered take-out, so we probably missed out on a little of the experience, getting four different types of tacos – fried shrimp, fried fish, carne asada, and pollo asado. I skipped the steak, but the other three were all excellent and the shrimp was not spicy despite what was supposedly a mango-habanero salsa and chipotle aioli. The fish and shrimp came on flour tortillas, while the other two came on corn; the latter should have been doubled as they fell apart almost immediately. There was a ton of flavor on all of the tacos, both in the protein and the various toppings, although I’m not sure what was listed on the menu was exactly what we got on top of each taco.

I grabbed lunch one day at Sooey’s, a barbecue spot in the same strip mall as Agave Roja, and it was perfectly average BBQ. I got a half-rack of ribs, which the host said was her favorite item on the menu, and some collard greens and fried okra, because I was in the south and I love both of those things. The ribs were smoked properly, with a visible ring and the meat coming free from the bone, and had enough flavor on their own that they didn’t need the sauce (which was not that interesting anyway). The collards were the best item of the three, while the okra needed more salt.

We tried two pizza places in Corolla, with Corolla Pizza (located at the northern edge of town) the better of the two; it’s pretty close to New York City pizza but the crust needed to be cooked just a little more, as it had zero color on the under side. Giant Slice’s pizza was cooked more, but the toppings were nowhere near the same quality and the sauce was too sweet.

For coffee, I would suggest seeking out The Kind Cup, which is in Corolla Village, the closest thing there is to a town center here, and a short walk from the lighthouse and museum. The Kind Cup roasts their own coffee to a variety of levels, with a medium-roast for their espresso; I was a little bummed that they didn’t have any light roast on drip or for sale as whole bean that particular day, as they do roast and sell some single origins. The building is also a small art gallery and craft shop, and it’s across the street from a modest, well-curated bookshop called The Island Bookstore. I also tried the coffee and gelato at Doppio, with the gelato very good (I had the dark chocolate) and the coffee darker than I like it. Our friends got a bunch of pastries from Northern Lights Bakery & Coffee; I don’t even usually like sticky buns, but theirs was outstanding. Apparently there’s a line out the door most mornings within an hour of them opening, according to the locals.

Beyond food, Flying Smiles Kites is in the same shopping center as Northern Lights, and they sell an impressive selection of board games – they had Trio, Castles of Burgundy, Scout, Carcassonne, and more beyond the games you’d find at Target. We ended up buying a kite … and, most fittingly, they also had the real-time game Kites in stock. They do ship games, too, so if you wanted to pick up Trio from a friendly local game shop, it’s here.

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→ August 17, 2024
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Stick to baseball, 8/17/24.

I’m on PTO from the Athletic this week and next, so there won’t be any new content from me over there until the week of August 26th. I had some plans to hit a Blue Rocks game last week, before my PTO, but 2+ inches of rain in our area scotched that (although they did play on one of those days, which flabbergasted me because that field doesn’t drain well). I was on the road a ton this week – something like 23 hours in the car in the last five days – so I don’t have as many links as usual, either.

I’ve got a review filed to Paste for Rock Hard 1977, the board game designed by Runaways bassist Jackie Fox (Fuchs) that was also my #1 new game from Gen Con this year.

I do have a newsletter half-written, so feel free to run over and sign up (it’s free) before I finish the damn thing already.

And now, the links…

  • The plastics industry is pushing to change the rules on what they can label “recyclable” – in short, if something could, hypothetically, be recycled, they want to label it as such, regardless of whether such recycling is readily available or feasible. I see this crap already with things labeled “compostable” that require access to industrial composting, so you can’t just throw it in your home compost bin or pile.
  • The chief of police in Millersville, Tennessee, is under investigation by the state for all kinds of malfeasance, and when Channel 5’s Phil Williams spoke to him, the chief called Williams a pedophile.
  • These weirdos’ attacks on Vice-President Harris for not having kids will only backfire on them, writes Jess Grose of the NY Times. I think it already has, to some extent.
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→ August 10, 2024
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Age of Wonders: Planetfall.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a 4X video game from Paradox Interactive that came out in 2019 and, from my reading, had all of the trappings of that genre, from resource management to economic and military development to a tech tree. Hobby World published a board game adaptation from a first-time designer that borrows the art from the video game but has nothing more to do with it, slapping the IP on a bad Splendor clone that might be more fun to play if it didn’t try so hard to get the sci-fi art and theme involved in game play.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall has seven decks of cards representing the seven planets players will “explore” over the course of the game, with cards in each successive deck increasing in cost and value. Cards can require you spend either strength or energy, and they may have a minimum experience level before you’re allowed to purchase it. For each round, you shuffle one planet deck and deal either all of the cards (4-5 players) or all but three cards (2-3 players) to the center of the table in three rows, next to the operations board that shows levels I, II, and III; each card shows three levels of costs and they become slightly less expensive at higher levels.

Players will go twice per round, moving their ship to a card or a space on the operations board, resolving those, then repeating the cycle before all remaining cards are removed from the game to make room for the next planet. The turn order depends on what cards players chose in the last turn; you resolve cards left to right, starting with level I, and then move each player counter to the topmost empty spot on the ops board to show turn order for the next round. You can choose any card on any level as long as you have the resources and/or experience required to buy it; every deck has several “power-up” cards that just give you energy and maybe a victory point or two, and you can also choose one of the three spots on the operations board to get 5-7 free resources or victory points or experience, so you can’t end up without a legal play.

Each player has an individual player board with four tracks, three in the middle and a victory point track around the outside. Strength and energy are expendable resources; you spend them to gain cards, and each has a maximum you can get at one point. Experience and victory points never go down, with experience maxing out at 10 while VPs have no limit. You have to gain experience as the game progresses or you won’t be able to acquire valuable cards from later planets.

Most points in the game come from the VPs you get as you go from cards, but each game also begins with three goals (public objectives) players can shoot for, some of which are competitive (points for having the most of something) while some are open to everyone (e.g., one point for every strength you still have left at game end). A few cards also provide game-end bonuses, although those only appear in the last 2-3 decks so you can’t plan ahead too much for those.

It’s a light engine-builder along the lines of Splendor but with the sliding resource scales seen in dozens of other games, such as The White Castle and Kh­ora. The art and card names are kind of a distraction here, and I didn’t feel the theme at all – the rulebook even talks about combat against a neutral opponent but that just means you can buy some cards with strength instead of energy. Instead, it’s Splendor in Space, except that game already exists in Space Explorers, which I think does a better job of grafting Splendor’s engine-building framework on to a space theme, and gets a little better with some of the expansions. I haven’t played the actual video game here, but from reading about it I don’t see where the connection is – this seems like an IP extension to cash in, without a lot of meat to the game behind it.

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→ August 10, 2024
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Stick to baseball, 8/10/24.

I’ve been tied up the last few Saturdays with other things, so here’s a quick rundown of what you might have missed.

I wrote 14 different trade-deadline reaction pieces at the Athletic but there isn’t a single link to all of them beyond my author page, so if you missed anything that’s the place to start.

You can see my annual Gen Con recap post, which covers every game I saw at the convention plus my top ten games from the show and which this year ran over 10,000 words, over at Paste. I also reviewed the light family game Biomos, which I kind of liked when I first played it but eventually decided had too much randomness for me.

Stadium has changed its programming schedule and I’ll no longer be going to Chicago, but instead will be doing remote video work for them that will appear before their broadcasts of minor-league games (it’s all AAA games this month) or will show up on Amazon Echo devices and MSN. Unfortunately, I know several people lost their jobs in the changeover there, with some resources moving to the new Chicago Sports Network.

And now, the links – just some of the ones I saved over the last three weeks:

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→ August 2, 2024
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Music update, July 2024.

July finished with a bit of a bang, from a music perspective, at least, as this playlist doubled in size over the final week of the month. It also had two of my favorite new albums of the year so far, from Griff and Childish Gambino, as well as new singles from three contemporary artists I really like – from three entirely different genres, too. As always, if you can’t see the playlist below, you can access it here.

Griff – Tears For Fun. Griff’s full-length debut, Vertigo, came out this month and was a huge success in her native UK, coming in at #3 on their album charts in its first week. It’s an incredible record of lush pop tracks, replete with sophisticated melodies, the sort of record that should appeal to fans of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, etc. if American fans even hear any of her music.

Lotte Gallagher – This Room. I assume I won’t be the last person to wonder if she’s related to the Oasis boys, but she’s not; she’s a singer/songwriter from Melbourne, Australia, which seems to be producing as much great indie pop/rock music per capita as any country in the world right now. I wish I’d come up with the comparison to Sam Fender, but I saw it in a fluffy profile of Ms. Gallagher and I can’t find a better one.

Michael Kiwanuka – Floating Parade. The first new track from the 2020 Mercury Prize winner since the 2021 single “Beautiful Life” is a gorgeous, bass-forward track with meditative lyrics about the struggles of daily life and how we seek out ways to escape it.

Sampha & Little Simz – Satellite Business 2.0. Theoriginal “Satellite Business”was an 84-second filler track with no percussion on Sampha’s 2023 album “Lahai,” but this version is blown out to 4:53 with a drum machine and a bangin’ guest verse from Little Simz. It completely reimagines the track with a big, frenetic energy that makes it one of Sampha’s best songs to date.

Jorja Smith – High. Smith appeared on Bando Stone and now returns with her first new solo track of 2024, not counting the ‘reimagined’ version of falling or flying she released in May. “High” really showcases her voice over a smooth house beat, with production that puts her vocals front and center, where they belong.

Childish Gambino feat. Foushée – Running Around. If Bando Stone & the New World is indeed the last Childish Gambino album, it’s a real tour de force and a hell of a swan song. Donald Glover bounces across all manner of genres, even going full emo on this track, in a broad, unpredictable, ambitious record by a mad musical genius. I also recommend “Lithonia,” a ballad with a great twist at the chorus; and the instrumental “Happy Survival,” featuring Khruangbin.

Crows – Bored. Crows’ third album, Reason Enough, comes out on September 27th; this lead single seems to lean harder into their punk roots, which I suppose isn’t that surprising for a band on IDLES’s record label.

Japandroids – Chicago. Japandroids released this new single off their upcoming album Fate & Alcohol with anote that this record will be their last. It’s their first new music since 2017’s Near to the Wild Heart of Life.

Pastel – Deeper than Holy. Pastel’s handful of singles so far have shown a deep reverence for the heyday of Britpop, often bridging the gap between that era’s biggest rivals, Blur and Oasis.

Primal Scream – Love Insurrection. Primal Scream’s first new music since 2016 sounds like they paired up with Khruangbin to reimagine late-1970s funk/disco. Their twelfth album, Come Ahead, comes out in November.

Los Bitchos – Kiki, You Complete Me. Los Bitchos play cumbia-influenced rock, mostly instrumental, with this particular song recalling 1960s surf rock and spy-movie soundtracks.

O. – Sugarfish. That’s about as SEO-unfriendly a band name as you can conceive. O. is a duo from London that works with saxophone and drums, but they run the sax through all kinds of effects pedals to make it sound like other instruments, including a distorted guitar. Their debut album, the appropriately titled WeirdOs, dropped in June.

Sunflower Bean – Shake. This title track of an upcoming EP from the Brooklyn trio is probably the heaviest thing they’ve ever done, driven by a single guitar riff, with Julia Cumming ceding most of the lead vocal work to Nick Kivlen.

Hinds – Superstar. This is the fourth single from the duo’s upcoming album, Viva Hinds, which drops in September, and continues a trend of cleaner production and tighter songwriting that preserves the chaotic nature of their overlapping vocals.

Katie Gavin – Aftertaste. Gavin is the lead vocalist for MUNA and will release her first solo album, What a Relief, on October 25th on Phoebe Bridgers’ label. This is unabashed folk-pop and utterly infectious.

GIFT – Light Runner. The fourth single from GIFT’s second album, Illuminator, which is due out August 23rd, is my least favorite so far but does continue in a similar vein of shimmering, layered psychedelic rock, just without as strong of a hook as “Wish Me Away” or “Going in Circles” offered.

Blossoms – Perfect Me. Blossoms’ latest album, Gary, comes out in September, and they’ve released two singles so far, with this upbeat indie-pop number miles ahead of the drab, pretentious title track.

The Beaches – Takes One to Know One. The Beaches had a minor hit last year with their album Blame My Ex and the track “Blame Brett” – I mean, with that big brain on him, who else would you blame? – and now they’re back with what appears to be a one-off single that has a similar sound to the last record, with a sunny pop-rock vibe belied by the cynical lyrics.

Alison Goldfrapp – I Wanna Be Loved (Just a Little Better). I can’t believe Goldfrapp is 58, but, then again, I can’t believe I’m 51. This is her first single on her own record label, coming on the heels of her first solo album, last year’s The Love Invention. The backing music, a new wave/disco blend, sounds like it could have been an outtake from a Yaz record, although the vocal style is obviously quite different from the other Alison’s.

Envy – Beyond the Raindrops. I was completely unfamiliar with Envy before I heard this track, even though they’ve been recording since 1998. They’re a Japanese post-hardcore/post-rock band who started out in the ridiculously-named “screamo” scene, a term that seems to mean nothing at all at this point other than that I generally don’t dig bands lumped under that umbrella. This track, from Envy’s upcoming album Eunoia, is somewhere between post-hardcore and shoegaze, with a darkly atmospheric vibe and spare vocals.

Glass Animals – A Tear in Space (Airlock). Glass Animals’ latest album, I Love You So Fucking Much, is their first since the global success of “Heat Waves,” which now holds the records for the longest stay on the Billboard Hot 100 and the longest time on the chart before hitting #1. There’s nothing on this album to rival that track or “Life Itself;” it’s consistently good, without any huge standouts. If you like Glass Animals in general, you’ll like the album.

Flotsam & Jetsam – Burning My Bridges. The second track from their fifteenth album, I Am the Weapon, due out on September 13th, finds these 1980s thrash icons just a little bit mellowed, but still thrashing away, with just two members remaining from their debut album. I prefer the previous single, “Primal,” but this is still a solid throwback to the Bay Area thrash sound that marked their first couple of LPs.

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→ July 25, 2024
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Klawchat, 7/25/24.

My ranking of the top 60 prospects in baseball is now up for subscribers to The Athletic.

Keith Law: I’m sick and I’m tired of reasoning. Klawchat.

Not Bryce Harper: Can the Phillies realistically add a good relief pitcher and RH hitting OF without giving up Painter, Miller and Crawford?
Keith Law: I would think so – those types of deadline adds don’t usually return top 50ish prospects.

Patrick: What gets you excited about a prospect?
Keith Law: Talent – and that comes in many forms. It can be big tools, athleticism, explosiveness, or even just great instincts. I just like good players.

Patrick: My beloved Brewers seem to be achieving with smoke and mirrors. Should I be anxious they don’t move pitchers up as aggressively as young hitters, or trust in their track record?
Keith Law: I’d look at the individual pitchers – is there someone they aren’t moving up fast enough? I don’t think that’s the case.

Sevento: If you had been drafting at pick 16, and intended to overslot Carter Johnson at pick 56, who would you have taken?
Keith Law: I don’t think I can fairly answer that question because I don’t know the signability of the other options. Could I have gotten Ryan Waldschmidt at the same price Morlando got? (I doubt Waldschmidt/his agent knew he was sliding to 31.)

TomBruno23: Enjoyed that updated Top 60 and, as a BFIB, great to see J.J. Wetherholt slotted in at #22. Also, unsolicited rec that the Arjun Nimmala doc on MLB.tv was entertaining.
Keith Law: I’m willing to bet on Wetherholt getting healthy, especially being with a new training staff. It really is a fantastic swing & approach.

KC: Is Dansby Swanson done? Or was he never that great to begin with?
Keith Law: Bit fast to give up on a guy after a really solid year in 2023, no?

Rick Rude: What do you think of Luke Dickerson getting 3.8m? Were teams valuing him as the top ~22 pick that this would entail?
Keith Law: I had heard of one or two teams (Yanks?) possibly on him in the late first. Good for him for getting paid. He’s pretty talented and I’m not going to bemoan a player getting $500K more than I might have thought he would get.

John: hey Klaw, do the Dbacks have the prospect depth to make significant additions. I know you’ve said they are pretty top heavy in the past.
Keith Law: I’d rather ask if it’s worth them giving up major prospects for what is basically a wild-card run. I’d be okay with them standing pat.

James: Has your opinion on the runner on 2nd to start extras changed at all? Do you like it? I thought I remember you didn’t like that change initially
Keith Law: I still hate it.

Troy: Is the Miz (Brewers) a reliever for sure? Could he help this year in that role?
Keith Law: I can not imagine a guy with that delivery AND that level of command/control ending up a starter.

James: So the Angels regret not trading Shohei you think?
Keith Law: I’m sure the baseball folks wish they had, but the owner is probably fine with the extra revenue he got in that last month-plus.

James: Saw your post about the NYT Crossword – great to see you do them also! I can only seem to do Monday and sometimes Tuesday but they get exponentially harder Wed-Sun – as the week progresses are you able to compete all days of the week? Or does it get too hard for you by a certain day?
Keith Law: They take me longer as the week goes on but I do finish every day – I think my streak is approaching 300 days now. I just hate the gimmick ones like today’s. I’m a traditionalist. My grandmother was a big crossword solver too. She used to buy the Star tabloid just to do its crossword.

Johnny Mo: Is Quinn Matthews a GUY at all?
Keith Law: He’s a real prospect. I don’t know if he’s a starter with that delivery.

Bye Bye Balboni: What would Jonathan India cost prospect wise for NYY? Also do you see any surprise bats become available next week? Market seems limited at this point. Thank you for all the great content!
Keith Law: Probably a better question for Ken or Jayson … I don’t track the trade market much.

James: Do you think Mike Hazen with the Dbacks ignores scouting and just uses your guide? He seems to grab guys you have ranked higher than most that are still on the board when he picks
Keith Law: I know they scout pretty heavily, but they’re just one of the scouting departments that values players along similar lines to me (Reds too).

Matt K: Thanks for chatting, Keith – love your stuff!  Big Brewer fan, and I notice a couple of ’23 drafted high schoolers who have made the top 60 today. Is Cooper Pratt a guy that isn’t far away from there?  Once he taps into more power??  Also has Eric Bitonti showed as much in ACL as one would hope to have him on that same track?  Thanks!
Keith Law: I love Pratt’s bat but I need to see more game power/hard contact and then I’ll buy in completely. Bitonti’s probably been a touch better than I expected – still striking out just slightly more than you’d like, but the hard contact is there.

James: Would you still take Dylan Crews over Paul Skenes if the draft was today?
Keith Law: Does Skenes have the splinker? He didn’t in college. That’s a huge difference for me.

Matt Murton Enthusiast: Where do you think Moises Ballesteros’ work behind the plate ends up on the 10 to 2014 Kyle Schwarber scale? Am I wrong in thinking the bat is ready for ’25?
Keith Law: Aside from his weight, he might also have the issue where the bat is ready well before his defense. 2025 might be aggressive but I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.

James: Hear a lot of chatter about the White Sox dealing Crochet… why not just sign him long term or keep him?
Keith Law: He’s already blown out once and had a shoulder issue in college. This is the most he’s ever pitched in a calendar year at least going back to HS.

John S: What’s a hypothetical package you’re putting together for a SP if you’re the Orioles? I’d love to include a current player on the roster (a la Mountcastle/Urias/Injured Mateo) but figure Seattle is the only team that would be interested.
Keith Law: Mountcastle + Norby + Basallo + 4th guy from lower in the system (Estrada?) should get you anyone on the market, no? Again, not my beat and I know I’m out of my lane here.

Howie: Hi Keith, thank you for your work and these chats. I know that you’ve been a bit lower on Spencer Jones than others, and this year he hasn’t done much to argue against your view of him. If you are the Yankees, would you let him go for a rental (maybe one additional year) of a player like a Rengifo? He can help, but will he really move the needle? I know Jones is becoming more like a lottery ticket – but I’d hate to lose out for a mid-return….
Keith Law: No, I wouldn’t give him up for a rental of a guy who may not even be worth a win for the rest of the year. Hold on to Jones and see if he can make adjustments … I am skeptical, because he really hasn’t done that before, and I don’t think he has Judge’s aptitude, but if you think in terms of expected value and there’s a 5% chance he can improve his approach for more contact, esp. in zone, that’s a superstar, and the value of 5% superstar and 95% up-and-down guy is probably more than the value of two months of Rengifo.

Mike: Hi Keith – As an M’s fan, I’m a little concerned that they are going to squander this incredible group of starting pitchers they have, since they were cheap in the offseason when it came to bolstering the offense. If you were the GM, would you dip into their wealth of prospects to add 1 or 2 of the better available bats before the deadline, or stand pat and let those bats mature? Thanks!
Keith Law: I’m not sure if calling them cheap is fair, but I would definitely be willing to part with Young, Arroyo, or Ford for an impact bat.

Buck: The Brewers don’t seem to trust Tyler Black anywhere in thr field. He’s fast, but has no arm. Seems odd they’ve completely abandoned 2B & until recently the OF. He hasn’t looked great at 1st. Is he a DH?
Keith Law: I think he can handle first base if he gets more reps there. He’s a good athlete. He just can’t really throw.

Oz: I know you don’t grade drafts, but are there any classes you think really stand out?
Keith Law: Loved the Reds, Dbacks, Nats, Rockies, Red Sox.

Howie: Roderick Arias – I get it that short season disappearing has an impact here, but do you send him to AFL to help him figure it out? Is it a lack of understanding of the strike zone? How worried should we be?.
Keith Law: He’s actually hit much better the last few weeks, which could be just randomness but I’d at least monitor to see if it lasts. I do expect a lot of these teenaged hitters in low A to have seasons where they struggle badly in the first half because they’re overmatched, and some of them turn the corner in the second half once they’ve figured some things out, made adjustments, etc. Not all, but some.

TFT: While the Red Sox have 5 players in your top 60, they are all position players. Are there any Sox pitchers close to making your top lists?
Keith Law: No … Perales was off to a great start but he blew out, and it’s a tough delivery to repeat. Wikelman’s a likely reliever. I liked the Tolle selection but he probably isn’t a top 100 type right now.

James: Rockies CF Brenton Doyle just a guy? Seems to be great at defense and the bat is OK? Haven’t looked at the box scores or advanced metrics on him but been impressed just watching
Keith Law: Elite defender, the bat is just OK but he’s benefited greatly from his environment. More than ‘just a guy’ as long as he’s a Rockie.
Keith Law: As in, I don’t think the bat holds up if he’s elsewhere.

Howie: Kamala has a big choice coming up. I recognize that picking a VP from a swing state is important. And people like Governors – so Shapiro has my interest a bit. But Mark Kelly has so many positives from my perspective. He has first hand knowledge (and is reasonable) on the border, swing state, combat pilot, first hand understanding of the importance of gun control. Seems like a slam dunk candidate. What do you think?
Keith Law: I agree. Kelly is #1 on my top 60 VP prospects ranking.

James: Thoughts on inflation in America?
Keith Law: It’s come down substantially. It’ll probably remain around where it is as long as the economy keeps growing at this rate – inflation is almost inevitable in an expanding economy. What we lack is comparable wage growth to balance it out, and that’s a complex problem to fix, although the weakness of our labor laws is one factor.

Zihuatanejo: Who among the Dodgers’ young starters is most likely to be included in a deadline trade package?  Who (if anyone) should be considered safe from a trade?
Keith Law: Don’t they need all/most of those guys, now and next year? I’m not sure I’d rush to trade any of them unless it’s for a multi-year starter candidate.

James: If you had to choose a coffee creamer flavor what flavor choosing?
Keith Law: I don’t use them, but I do think vanilla + coffee is a great flavor combination.

Tom: Keith, thank you for the chat. As a Mets fan, I am curious if Clifford would be “close” to a top 50 ranking, perhaps more like a 50-100th slot? Also, following Sproat, who do you view as their next best Pitching prospect? Big fan of your stuff on The Athletic.
Keith Law: Clifford’s a no. Plus-plus power, minus hit. Their next best pitching prospect is Jonah Tong. (Also, Jesus Christ what the hell is happening in Syracuse?)

Jack Z: Keith – the Braves don’t have any top 60 prospects currently and are starting to reach a point where position player depth could become an issue. Do you see any players in the system with future top 50 ceilings? Do you like their draft this year?
Keith Law: I am not a fan of leaning on HS pitching like that, but Caminiti was the best HS arm in the class and could end up a top 20 guy in a couple of years.

Chris: How far off was farmelo from your top 60? Would he be top 100 or does his swing and injury make it to be determined for you?
Keith Law: It’s all injury. He was on my top 50 in May, but ACL tears suck and speed/defense is a big part of his game.
Keith Law: That’s one of the more upsetting injuries of the year.

Jibraun: I’ve seen a lot about Wetherholt’s bat, but not much about his glove. How do you project his defense? And which position do you think he ultimately settled at?
Keith Law: 2B for me. Good hands, limited range at SS.

Ken: I guess the home run derby didn’t ruin Bobby Witt Jr. swing
Keith Law: Can we just kill that narrative? Throw it on the pile with the Verducci effect.

addoeh: With more NIL and scholarships coming to college baseball, at least for the SEC and maybe one or two other conferences, and the potential for for MLB to get rid of another level of the minors, how much is the calculus of the decision of signing vs college changing for HS seniors?  It seems MLB wants to outsource the cost of development to college baseball more and more.
Keith Law: I think it’s shifting substantially. I believe JJ Cooper tweeted that this was the lowest % of HS players to go in the top ten rounds? I know I noted it was the most college-heavy first round ever.

Zihuatanejo: Just for fun, which of your top prospects would make the best potential running mate for Harris?
Keith Law: Oh, Max Clark, hands down. He’d crush it. I don’t know his political views – this is just on personality.

Moke Rizzo: Thomas and Finnegan for George Klassen and a lotto ticket or two? Feels about right.
Keith Law: I might do that. Depends on the lotto ticket – Caba’s too much, Tait might be a little light?

Bob: Is the Democrat strategy going forward to replace any candidate that might not win the election regardless of the primary.
Keith Law: (charlie brown teacher noises)

Danny: Hey Keith! I suspect you won’t answer the speculative, but around where would you slot River Ryan if he wasn’t in the majors? (Yes I read the note!)
Keith Law: He was around 45 on the top 50 in May, so it’s not that speculative.

JeffG: Have you ever seen so many popup guys in a midseason list? Is it mostly promotions/draft class or is player dev driving it?
Keith Law: Oh I love it. Makes the job fun. All of the above – lot of graduations, a lot of guys falling (Colson, Lesko, Termarr), middling draft class that didn’t place a ton of guys on the list, and some real development wins.

Adam: What’re your thoughts on Kelenic so far this season? He has shown flashes of what he was supposed to be and has made some tangible change. Wish he would walk more than once a week though
Keith Law: I’m comfortable saying this is probably what he is. 2.5-3 WAR guy, could be more if he does learn to walk more than once a week.

KC: With thousands of minor league players, is it hard to keep track of them all? Is there something that makes you seek out what a certain player who wasn’t on your radar is doing now?
Keith Law: I don’t keep track of all of them, just a sliver off the top. If a scout mentions a player, or I notice some unusual production, I dig deeper.

Guest: Are you heading to Mondegreen next month? We’re really excited about it and have been looking for good two-player boardgames specifically good for travelling if you have any recs.
Keith Law: Yes, probably just two days of the four as I’m dropping my daughter off at college that week. Jaipur, Yokai Shuffle, Patchwork, That’s Pretty Clever, Silver & Gold all travel well and are good with two.

Andy: Is it bad the Salas is almost giving Cartaya vibes at this point? Obviously, I didn’t see either at this stage of their careers, but should San Diego be worried?
Keith Law: Very different to me.

Ben: I’m excited to see so many Red Sox prospects make the top 60 (and understand just because a player isn’t on the list doesn’t mean they are terrible). Has anything changed in their approach to drafting and scouting that has yielded so many exciting prospects? Or does this reflect that they’ve had a few years with really high draft picks?
Keith Law: I think they’re developing hitters better the last few years.

Scott: Speaking of the Orioles, who is a guy in their system that wasn’t on your radar in January that you now think could turn into a GUY ?
Keith Law: Arias & Estrada were well off the radar – I knew of them, but didn’t consider them near that top tier – who have taken steps forward this year. Interesting that their draft guys are not taking steps forward, though.

KC: Is there some possibility that the Trump shooting attempt was staged and that shooter is a patsy? Pretty odd he didn’t just spray bullets and stopped shooting so quickly and pretty odd that Trump who ran away the last time someone came near him acted so tough
Keith Law: No. I’m not interested in insane conspiracy theories.

Mike: Alec Burleson is a confusing guy for me. I wasn’t high on him coming up based on things I read. He doesn’t walk but doesn’t strike out. He squares the ball up really well and hits for power but is awful on defense. I remember you weren’t high on him. Any change? Maybe a guy you could use as a platoon bat at DH?
Keith Law: Yeah, that’s fair. Platoon DH and apparently a pretty solid DJ.

Kamala Harris: The early returns on Biden dropping out seem to be overwhelmingly positive right?
Keith Law: Yes. 100%.

Sevento: Xavier Edwards is looking like Luis Arraez with speed and solid 2B defense. Are you buying that he can be your Arraez replacement?
Keith Law: Doesn’t hit the ball hard enough.

addoeh: How much criticism should Hoyer get for never addressing 3rd since 2021?  Every option the Cubs have tried since they traded Bryant has been internal and had serious deficiencies going in (Wisdom, Bote, Madrigal, Morel, Mastrobuoni).
Keith Law: Well now it’s Shaw and Smith in line for the position so I think it’s been addressed – and I don’t blame them for giving Morel a shot given how hard he hits the ball.

James: I heard something interesting on the ESPN broadcast of the draft… talking about GM’s might be more incentivized to take college guys that will be in the majors soon to help make them look better sooner so can get new contract etc – any truth?
Keith Law: That has always been true. This was my 23rd draft and there has never been a time when this wasn’t the case.

Chris: Re: Top 60, do you have concerns with Eldridge?  I understand being limited to 1B lowers his value, but in comparing him with someone like Kurtz, they both appear to be 1B with power and Eldridge is two years younger with a year and a half of success at age appropriate levels
Keith Law: Eldridge is 6’7″ and has to prove he can control that giant strike zone.

Paul: Assuming the Nats are able to improve King’s approach (not a guarantee I understand), do you think he could justify his selection at number 10 on his own merits? I’ve seen mixed opinions on the selection and wanted to read your opinion on that specifically.
Keith Law: Yes. Loved the pick.
Keith Law: I liked King more than scouts/FO people I talked to over the spring.

Doug: Keith, please endure yourself to M’s fans and call the ownership cheap. We’ll love you forever.
Keith Law: Are they? I actually don’t know the answer to that.

Adam: Whatre your thoughts on Drake Baldwin?
Keith Law: At worst he’s a solid backup.

John: I have a question for you. Do you think there is any way to change the way we educate people regarding probabilities? It feels like we live in such a binary world today, which just feels so disorienting to me. Are concepts like expected value and randomness really too difficult to teach to the masses?
Keith Law: Yes, and I would much rather see American high schools teach statistics than calculus – even though I fucking loved calculus so much I took multivariate calculus as an elective in college. It’s just not useful.

Josh: Caveats of SSS and scouting the stat line given, are there signs that maybe Termarr Johnson is on the rebound/starting to figure it out? Saw he wasn’t on the Top 60 today, can he regain Top 60 status by the end of the year?
Keith Law: I know of no signs he’s rebounding. I saw him right before the ASB and the approach & swings were not good.

Gordon: Hey Keith! I suspect the Cubs agree with your Owen Caissie evaluation based on their handling of his development. What would you do with a player like him? Trade him before he makes the big leagues? The power is obvious but lots of other questions. Is it worth sticking with him in the 5% chance he puts it all together?
Keith Law: I’d be willing to trade him for something more than a rental.

Zirinsky: Hi Keith. What do you do as an organization when you have a team like the Yankees that looked amazing for 65 games or whatever and has now looked dreadful for 40 or so. Are there ways of determining which is “real” and which isn’t? And if they’re both “real,” then what? I guess the question is how much can a front office/coaching staff do when a team is playing so poorly.
Keith Law: Isn’t the most obvious explanation that they’re the team they’ve been for the last 105 games? That would always be my default answer unless the composition of the roster has changed in a significant way.

Mike: With high auto loan rates:  buy or lease ?
Keith Law: Isn’t leasing a terrible idea from a financial perspective? Not my area but I personally would not lease a car.

Chris P: Rough start for him in the bigs, but do you think Adam Mazur can be a 3-4 guy in a rotation?
Keith Law: More a 4-5.

Caleb: What’s the biggest message Dems need to send to voters this fall?  Other than ‘Fuck Trump – he needs to go’
Keith Law: If I were running comms for them I would not stop talking about abortion rights and Project 2025. And maybe educating all candidates on how to counter a Gish gallop.

Doug: Keith, how quickly do you think Seattle can move Emerson? If he can finish the year healthy and play in the ACL, is a 2025 AA debut and a late 2025 call up out of the question?
Keith Law: If he’s the guy I think he is that is not out of the question.

Jwr: Rumors of deals based on Mayo for Skubal.  Good potential deal for both sides?
Keith Law: I think Detroit has to try to get more, no? Not saying it’s an unfair deal, but you have to maximize what you get here.

Cody Schoenmann: Any thoughts on twenty one pilot’s new record ‘Clancy’?
Keith Law: I absolutely fucking hate that band.
Keith Law: HATE.

Rob: Saw Jarlin Susana was up to 103 recently and his K/9 rates are impressive.  Does he have the stuff to stay a SP or is he destined for backend of the bullpen in your opinion?
Keith Law: Almost certainly a reliever with the delivery and poor control.

Honkus Wagner: Have you noticed any meaningful changes in the Rockies scouting department/methodology the last couple of years? or are us fans doomed to continue suffering the meddlings of ownership. give me hope
Keith Law: Loved their draft this year. I think Danny Montgomery’s doing a good job.

Adam D.: What would you say is a reasonable timeline for Tibbs to land in San Francisco?
Keith Law: Possible end of 2025, at worst early 2026. Advanced SEC/ACC bats are getting there as fast as ever.

JR: Do you think Vientos has figured things out and can maintain this level going forward? Would you let Alonso walk, move Vientos to 1B and give Baty another shot at 3B this fall?
Keith Law: Yes and yes. I don’t think I want to invest long-term in Alonso.

C: It seems the Yankees have experienced almost system-wide regression (Jones, Arias, Warren etc). Is that the consensus around the industry or is there still some optimism that this is an aberration?
Keith Law: It’s been a rough year for them.

Mik: I definitely like Kelly too. I think Shapiro makes a ton of sense. Anyone else you like or don’t like for running mate?
Keith Law: Beshear is great on multiple levels, although if you think a candidate can help you win a state – and I’m not sure that’s true any longer – Kentucky’s pretty unlikely to flip blue. Cooper might be better for that reason.

JeffG: You’ve got a lot of Catchers on the list, how close was Ralphy Velazquez?
Keith Law: He’s not a catcher. He hasn’t caught a game all year.

romorr: Curious of your opinion on Mayo. Rumors of trading Mountcastle are out there. Would you personally do this to get Mayos bat in the lineup?
Keith Law: I’d much rather trade Mountcastle and promote Mayo than trade Mayo.

Punk in drublic.: Owen Cassie didn’t make your updated top 60, how close was he to making it and what were the reasons he didn’t make it?
Keith Law: Check the comments under the article.

Seth: What in the world has happened to Ke’Bryan Hayes? I knew there was a chance he would not hit for much power, but he has been a zero with the bat.
Keith Law: This has been a Pirates problem for a while – who has improved their power or at least contact quality since entering that system? – and I don’t have an answer.

JJoe: I didn’t drop out, I was forced out.
Keith Law: Once again, I am not interested in insane conspiracy theories.

Brent: How far down has Colson Montgomery slid?
Keith Law: He hasn’t been the same player since the back injury, on offense or defense.

Tartrazine: Was Luke Keaschall close to making the top-60?
Keith Law: No.

Adam: Is Pittsburgh the nicest park in baseball currently? Am in the best area?
Keith Law: My favorite MLB park.

Honkus Wagner: Noticed Xavier Isaac was off your top 60. he seems to be getting a lot of hype the last couple of months. curious what your thoughts are there
Keith Law: Also went into that at length in the comments. The hype is not justified.

The Sloth: First of all, Any Phish on your schedule this summer (Mondegreen is in your backyard, right?) Second, how worried are you about Dylan Lesko? Thanks!
Keith Law: Worried enough that he’s not on today’s update.

Ethan: Given the uncertainty around Marte and impending free agency of bader, what do you think the cost would be for the nets to acquire Luis Robert Jr. If they attach benintendi’s contract would that lower the acquisition cost?
Keith Law: I don’t think the White Sox are that concerned with saving money – they need to add talent any which way.

Corey: Which of Boston’s top prospects – Teel, Anthony, Mayer, Campbell – do you think will open next season in the majors ?  Is there a spot for Meidroth in future or should they trade him and Yorke for pitching ?
Keith Law: I know Meidroth is having a good season but I am not on that swing at all.

JR: Do you ever fly southwest airlines? They have a big presence in my city and I fly them regularly. I’m excited for the end of unassigned seats, but not all are.
Keith Law: Used to fly them all the time when I lived in Phoenix, but post-pandemic they cut most of their nonstops out of Philly so I had to switch to American.

Honkus Wagner: re: Xavier Isaac. to expand on my question,  am curious what difference there is between him and Basallo on a macro level. Does Basallo have a significant chance to actually catch? he looks big for it already. Are the bat profiles between Basallo and Isaac that different?
Keith Law: Huge difference in the bats, yes.
Keith Law: Also I think Basallo has a significant chance to catch, although not in Baltimore.

Drew: Boy, if the Republicans really want to teach the Democrats a lesson they should replace THEIR nominee, huh?
Keith Law: Great idea!

Corey: Where would you start Braden Montgomery next season and how quickly does he reach the majors ?  Sox will have a lot of OFs to choose from the next season or two, who stays ?  Duran I’m assuming, who else ?
Keith Law: Of the top college bats in this class, he’s the one I would say might need a slower progression. I don’t think he’s as advanced right now as Kurtz, Bazzana, Condon, etc., but has more upside than just about anyone except maybe Condon.

JR: Do you remember when you first started doing chats at the 4 letter? I feel like it’s been close to 20 years. Pretty impressive you’re still doing chats all these years later.
Keith Law: First one was July 2006, I think.

Scott: Better player long term: Colton Cowser or Heston Kjerstad?
Keith Law: Kjerstad for me. Cowser’s been exposed this year. Weird how I stopped getting angry tweets and comments about omitting him from my top 100.

DH: What are your thoughts on Chandler Simpson? Can his other skills make up for hitting the ball softly?
Keith Law: I don’t think he’s a prospect. 80 run, 20 power.

Henry: Excellent use of a Matt Johnson lyric (The The) in your most recent newsletter.
Keith Law: Thank you. He’s putting out a new album this year which made me delve back into their early catalog. I still can’t get into Mind Bomb but the stuff before that holds up.

Lars: You are very honest about when you “miss” on a prospect. In general, do you think your misses come more often from thinking players are going to be better than they turned out to be or vice-versa? Thank you for your time doing this.
Keith Law: I think it’s both. I probably have more misses in terms of thinking guys will be better, because that’s just the nature of the business, but the misses the other way are more notable (Sale, Goldschmidt).

DH: Thoughts on Charles McAdoo- Pirates late round draft guy last year looks great.
Keith Law: Too soon to say, definitely need to see a larger sample in AA.

Quan: Can you explain the difference between Lazaro Montes and Josue De Paula for you….as someone without near as much knowledge as you they seem so similar to me
Keith Law: Very different body types, positional outlooks, and approaches at the plate.

Johnny Baseball: Why did Ryan Sloan fall to the 2nd round?
Keith Law: He didn’t ‘fall.’ Lots of top HS guys go after the first round and get first-round bonuses, like Dickerson today, because that’s the right strategy for teams to maximize their total value in a draft.

KC: I do appreciate you still doing these chats. Was the best part of espn.com back in the day with you and some others. Like a better version of AMA
Keith Law: That’s why I moved them here – so I could keep doing them even after ESPN axed them and the Athletic was inconsistent about them. I know they help me promote my work at the Athletic, but I also enjoy doing them, and I feel like it’s a way to be accountable to all of you as well.
Keith Law: That’s all for this week – we have to take Susie (our new rescue dog) to the vet in a little while. Thank you all for your questions and for reading. I’ll have a bunch of pieces around the trade deadline as long as we get some hot prospect action. And I’ll be at Gen Con next weekend – if any of you are attending, let me know and we can try to meet up for some gaming. Stay safe!

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Stick to baseball, 7/21/24.

The draft is over, let us go in peace. I wrote a lot of words about it this week, including an analysis of every first-round pick, some general thoughts on Day One of the draft, and team-by-team draft recaps for all American League clubs and all National League clubs. Prior to the draft, I posted a final mock (where I got 9 of the 30 picks right, and am still mad about two I changed from the previous version) and updated my ranking of the top 100 prospects in the class while also posting 25-odd more scouting capsules for guys outside of the top 100. I also wrote up some thoughts on last Saturday’s Futures Game. That’s all for subscribers to the Athletic. On this site, I held a Klawchat on the Thursday before the draft.

I sent out a new edition of my free email newsletter on draft day. You can sign up here for more words from me.

I’ll be back in Chicago on Monday to appear on Stadium’s Diamond Dreams and other programming. You can watch via the Stadium app (visit watchstadium.com to download) or if you have the sports package on Youtube TV, Roku, etc.

And now, the links…

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