Baseball Prospectus - Chat with Craig Goldstein

Chat: Craig Goldstein

Welcome to Baseball Prospectus' Tuesday June 23, 2020 1:00 PM ET chat session with Craig Goldstein.

Craig Goldstein is the editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus.

Craig Goldstein: Hey we have a baseball season, might as well have a chat.

sportsguy21792 (Madison, WI): I was contacted by a ticket rep asking if I would like to roll over my ticket package to 2021 or receive a refund for the lost games of 2020. I have become so disgusted and angry over the failed negotiation between players and owners that the only voice I have it to decide if and when I come back. I attend 20-30 games a season so it is not a small investment. I am really on the fence as to how to respond to my ticket rep. Get my $ now or roll it forward. Any insight as to how I should move forward? I do not need the $ but don't want MLB to have it either with an eye to 2021.

Craig Goldstein: I'd probably just get the refund if it won't impact your ability to get tickets in 2021 (and you think you'll want them). We don't even know how much of a season we'll get next year because of COVID-19.

Yuri (Israel): Hi Craig, long time no chat. I, like most others, have been social distancing, so I've been staying away from you people even in these chats. Reading your answers to questions has historically made me feel sick so I didn't want to take any chances. Anyway, I don't miss too much about the way things were, especially not your chats, but I definitely miss baseball. Do you think baseball will come back in 2020 and what do you think the odds are there will be a work stoppage in 2021 anyway? Wear your mask.

Craig Goldstein: I feel pretty good baseball will come back at this point (cheating, I know). I don't think there will be a 2021 work stoppage, but I'd expect a lockout in 2022.

Arky Vaughn's Ghost (Washington DC): Removing for a moment all the extenuating circumstances that led to a 60 game season,it has potential to be fun right? Teams who don't normally make the playoffs could (my Pirates for example). Seems like a short season offers a more chaotic version of baseball which could be interesting.

Craig Goldstein: Yeah, absolutely! If you can get by the threat of disease and the acrimony that led to this, a 60-game sprint to the finish line is going to be messy and potentially quite fun. We all love variation and randomness, but the flip side of that is when two double-digit seeds square off in the final four...it's usually not the quality we want. Not saying the same thing is likely here, but just something to keep in mind.

Arky Vaughn's Ghost (Washington DC): Can we get a ranking of all the MLB commissioners? Like where does Manfred lineup against Kennesaw Landis or Happy Chandler (who should rank high bc of his name)?

Craig Goldstein: Immediately farming this out to Steven Goldman, but man talk about a miserable bit of research. Generally choosing between a bunch of bad options, imo.

CyMature (Cooperstown Rest Home): Nick Yorke with an "e"? Please advise.

Craig Goldstein: Listen, I don't like it but it appears to be what he's going with.

skyric (st louis): Does BP's DRC+ metric for minor league players account for park effects and league?

Craig Goldstein: Yes, DRC+ takes park into account for the minor leagues.

Craig Goldstein: Alright everyone, thanks for the quick chat, my child needs some tending to and I think I'm the guy to do it.