Baseball Prospectus - Chat with Craig Goldstein

Chat: Craig Goldstein

Welcome to Baseball Prospectus' Wednesday March 11, 2020 1:00 PM ET chat session with Craig Goldstein.

Craig Goldstein is the editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus and co-host of the Five & Dive podcast.

Craig Goldstein: Back from leave just in time to contract some diseases. JK I never leave my house.

Yuri (Israel): Welcome back, Craig. If we're being honest, I didn't miss you and enjoyed everyone else's chats far more than even your best one. But I did want to extend you a welcome back so people wouldn't think I'm just a total jerk.

Craig Goldstein: The feeling is mutual.

BSK (Baltimore): Who you rather have in a dynasty fantasy league: Ian Anderson or Spencer Howard?

Craig Goldstein: It's pretty close but I'd take Anderson right now. If you said you preferred Howard, I wouldn't scream at you until you cried, though. But I could. I have that ability.

Jojo (SD): At the risk of being press scrum cliche, 'talk to me about Jasson Dominguez.' But seriously...I'm facing a dynasty rebuild in a 16-team points league where each team has ~5 prospects, is this a Dude who you would be trying to rebuild around (insofar as you target 17-year olds to build around)?

Craig Goldstein: That parentheses at the end is kind of a big deal. I wouldn't be looking to build around someone like that, necessarily, especially with only five prospect slots. He's a big deal. We ranked him really aggressively for no stateside looks, but is the gap between him and say, Erick Pena, _that_ big right now? I guess some will say yes, but I don't see it that way. Lots of other prospects I'm interested in with different profiles/risk along with Dominguez (who I think will be very good).

Brent (Tacoma): Who are your top 10 prospects for 2021 first year player drafts? So basically, the guys that will be taken in this year's MLB draft.

Craig Goldstein: Sorry to disappoint, Brent, but I don't get too far into stuff like this until early May. Not enough has been determined for it to matter just yet (I don't play in open universe leagues on purpose). Might be a better question for Jesse Roche who is chatting on Friday.

Sean (Chicago): If Governments force sports events to have no fans, would there be any feasibility of teams to operate the beginning portions of their schedule in their spring training facilities?

Craig Goldstein: I made a face at this at first, but I suppose there wouldn't be a big reason for it to be an issue other than potentially park dimensions. I could see it if they wanted to keep players from traveling too much and adding exposure.

Jason L. (Tracy, CA.): How much will Diabetes hurt UCLA outfielder Garrett Mitchell’s draft stock? Is he more of an early or late First Round draft pick because of it?

Craig Goldstein: I don't think it is a significant issue given what he's been able to do thus far. Admittedly I don't key into this stuff til later on (as already mentioned), but the writeup of him from Keanan Lamb today was gushing (https://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/article/57624/bp-on-draft-the-race-to-be-1-1/). I can't see why it would be a major turnoff for teams.

Mike (Boston): Who do you like more long term, Alexfri Planez or Luis Toribio or neither have a bright future?

Craig Goldstein: I admit I don't go to bat hard for guys who under ten games of stateside experience unless I've heard something from a source I trust implicitly. That's not the case for either of those two right now, so we're in wait and see mode.

PM (NJ): All spring training stat caveats included. Would you rather see a prospect display power in spring or plate discipline

Craig Goldstein: Oh I like this question. I'll say power, just because you're going to get a lot of guys who are not MLB pitchers missing the zone a ton. By the same token sometimes a guy is just "working on stuff" and gets hammered (I heard a pitcher postgame the other day say he threw more changeups in that outing than he will throw all year), but I'd rather see the pop, all the same.

Bob (Atlanta): Who is the better fantasy prospect in Atlanta’s system: Pache or waters?

Craig Goldstein: It's Pache right now but I really like Waters and I do see various scenarios where he's the more valuable guy.

redsfan47 (Ohio): U think baseball season is getting cancelled cuz of this virus?

Craig Goldstein: I don't think the season will get cancelled but I do think it will be significantly affected, through June or so, at least.

Dynasty (Dynasty land ): Hi Craig! Thanks for the chat. If you had to pick a pitcher and a hitter currently out of the fantasy 101 that could leap into the top 50 by mid season (or 2021 If you prefer), who would it be?

Craig Goldstein: I like Jose Garcia and Liover Peguero as options for hitters (Monte Harrison too, but he'd get too many ABs if he does well enough to jump that high), and Edward Cabrera and Nick Lodolo as arms. Brailyn Marquez has that talent, too.

We Demand More Hegelbon (Casino Night Zone): How is BPro the only prospecting outlet talking about Randy Dobnak? He’s a great story and seems to have had a ton of success so far. I know you don’t normally comment on other site’s lists but what’s causing him to be so slept on?

Craig Goldstein: I didn't know we really were talking about him that much. Definitely a great story and I definitely read other outlets info in an effort to be as informed as possible. I don't know that he's really slept on though? He's a major leaguer but probably not a ton more than that and Minnesota did well to add enough arms to not have to rely on him.

mlbrandomfandom (Oxford, OH): How do you take your (spilled) coffee?

Craig Goldstein: Iced with a splash of half and half, thanks.

Jonny (California): I'm in a dynasty league where we settled on a cut date months ago. However now everyone is very concerned at the time of day cuts occur. Some want it during the day. Others want it at the very last possible minute in case there's a devastating injury. One guy is pretending he has no idea who he's cutting (reminder: deadline day has been known for months). What time do you think we should do it?

Craig Goldstein: This year you gotta do it at the agreed upon time unless the entire league is good with changing it. Next year you can let the league vote on what time of day is best for everyone, but the leagues I'm usually in just use midnight the day that we agreed upon for cuts. Never seen much contention over something like this.

carg (denver): which major league do you think moves first in this game of coronavirus chicken to enact wider measures?

Craig Goldstein: I suppose I'd bet on the NBA if I had to, though the NCAA is coming close - not sure if you're counting them as an option.

Yandy's (Diaz): Best bet to receive most helium this year: Noelvi Marte, Orelvis Martinez, George Valera, Or Aaron Bracho?

Craig Goldstein: I like this one. I am going to say Orelvis because he's not as high on radars right now. Marte and Valera probably still rank higher at the end of the season though (with good reason).

Jordan (South Dakota): I run a dynasty league and one of my owners offered his Michael Chavis and Deivi Garcia for another owner's Ozzie Albies. The second owner then tweeted a fantasy expert asking if he should do this trade. Other members of the league saw the tweet and began circulating it. First of all, this would've been a terrible trade, right? Second, if you were offered the same deal, would you have gone to Twitter first seeking industry advice or gone to the league's trade block and posted to see what else is out there for Albies? Almost every team in the league could've beaten this offer probably, right?

Craig Goldstein: Yeah that's a bad offer. I don't think it's a problem to try and find an expert opinion if you want, though I will say this is a great reason why the Bat Signal we offer is so useful. You get that opinion without anyone knowing you've asked. That said, yeah it can never hurt to say "I've got an offer for X and am considering it, if you want to make a bid, inquire within." I see that all the time in my leagues and it at least gives you the option of telling someone who complains about your trade "you should have beat it when I posted."

Chansen8895 (Salt Lake City): how long will I get to watch Jo Adell here before the angels stop being scummy?

Craig Goldstein: I'm guessing we see him in the majors sometime in late April. Brian Goodwin isn't the worst stopgap option in the outfield until then.

Jojo (SD): How do you value Andrew Vaughn in dynasty? I love the bat but he's seemingly blocked by Abreu/EE this season.

Craig Goldstein: Highly? I'm not that worried about this year alone when it comes to Vaughn, and EE hasn't been the most durable guy anyway.

Jojo (SD): I know these are all league/context specific buttttt, what would you be looking to do with Chris Sale in dynasty points? I want to trade him before the TJS shoe drops and am obviously willing to accept a discount. What is the minimum hitter you would be willing to accept for him - dare I venture into Kyle Lewis territory?

Craig Goldstein: I'd aim well higher than Lewis but I'm also showing a bit more caution there than others in buying back in (though I'd love for him to be the real deal again). I'm terrible at pulling a minimum baseline type name, but while I appreciate the concern about TJ, I'd probably still be looking for a top-50 prospect to give up an arm like his.

Doug (Milwaukee): Please order your preference in a 6x6 OBP dynasty rookie draft? Carlson, Kelenic, J-Rod, Luciano, Jasson

Craig Goldstein: A wealth of options! Rodriguez, Carlson, Kelenic, Luciano, Dominguez for me right now. Very flippable on those back two if you have a strong preference.

Jojo (SD): Congrats on joining the fatherhood ranks - what is your 80-grade dad tool thus far?

Craig Goldstein: Thanks so much! I think I'm really nailing that thing where you just start singing whatever you're doing in a nonsense song that drives everyone else mad, thus far. Also sleeping through massive blowouts. I'm a champ at that.

Craig Goldstein: Thanks for the chat everyone! Glad we got some late questions and could go for 30 or so minutes. I'll do better about posting/promoting next week's. Come back on Friday for a fantasy chat with Jesse Roche.