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Craig Goldstein is the editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus.
Craig Goldstein: Let's get it started!!
Chris (Washington): Kyle Lewis is awesome
Craig Goldstein: Less of a question than a statement, but I have to agree that I'm enjoying everything he's doing. We're still looking at 23 strikeouts in 18 games, and that's a concern, but he's shown an ability to adjust to adjustments. I don't know that the profile always looks *this* good, but major-league starter seems to be less and less of a question.
Ralphie (Boulder): Bryce wilson,Tucker Davidson Ian Anderson or pray for rain?
Craig Goldstein: Wilson is already up so we're getting close. I've been talking with Jeffrey Paternostro about Anderson a lot. On some level I understand the hesitation, on another level...he's the best starter not currently in the rotation and I think they need to stop messing around there. If you build your system around talented arms, why remain gunshy on using those talented arms when attrition strikes? Let's see what they've got.
Biff hooper (Bayport ): You think mike hazen is going to regret the mad bum signing? Looks like it’ll be an albatross for the dbacks.who do you like as mad bums replacement? Alex young?
Craig Goldstein: Yeah, I think there's a good chance they do. I don't think the terms are so bad that it's an albatross, but it's a bunch of money that doesn't look like it is well spent given the velo drop. If rest and rehab can bring some of that zip back to his fastball I don't think it's a nightmare situation, but...not a good start. And yeah, I'd expect young and maybe Widener to get some looks in the meantime.
Quincy ( Ames): Robbie ray has faced Houston Colorado and the dodgers. New windup hasn’t appeared to be a panace. Time to drop him in a nl only league?
Craig Goldstein: Man...I'd have a hard time dropping him in an NL-Only just because of the general scarcity of talent, but if you're in a league like mine with no bench, you kinda have to consider it, don't you? If you do have a bench I'd just sit tight, but it's not looking good.
Alex (Austin): What pitching can I expect to get in return for Marcel Ozuna in a dynasty? Specifically in a QS league and competing this year.
Craig Goldstein: Look, I'm terrible at this so I took the question straight to my benevolent overlord Bret Sayre, who said someone in the vein of Jose Berrios or Frankie Montas--a top 25ish arm with limited mileage. I think Montas might be a stretch just because of how hot he's been, but Ozuna's been good too.
Muhammad jugdish sidney (Clayton): Thought on tj antone? Has looked good so far. Seems to have come out of nowhere
Craig Goldstein: Yeah I'm interested! Lucas Apostoleris ran down some of his numbers in his Up in Arms column (https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/60530/up-in-arms-cristian-javier-tejay-antone/)and they're pretty promising. The new fastball velo looks legit and the breaking balls have what you look for in high spin rates. Plus, working with the Reds pitching staff, especially Derek Johnson, is a nice benefit. I'm a fan.
Chris (Washington): Are the Astros actually bad now due to injuries?
Craig Goldstein: I don't think they're bad but they've proven to be a lot less inevitable than it seemed. The injuries on the pitching side especially are taking a toll, and the pure number of unproven (but not necessarily low quality) arms in their bullpen has to be a concern. Still, I think assuming they're bad just because we're unfamiliar with some of their players underplays the quality of guys like Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier. There's definitely more variance in play, though.
Joe You (Under a Cap): Given Jasson Dominguez’s recent bulk gains and the lack of Pauson footage, does Erick Peña have a solid argument for the top international bat from this latest J2 class?
Craig Goldstein: Paternostro said this offseason that Pena had more of a possibility as emerging as the top player from this class than people thought, just in terms of room for development. He mentioned it in this piece: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/article/58102/the-view-from-behind-the-backstop-lets-all-meet-up-in-the-year-two-thousand-and-twenty-five/ and that was well before the video on Dominguez. That said, I don't think "lack of Puason footage" is part of the issue at all. Lack of footage doesn't mean we can't get info or that Puason is any worse than anticipated.
Chris (Washington): When will trades start?
Craig Goldstein: Oh, so you're just ignoring Ildemaro Vargas and Ariel Jurado? smh.
Chris (Washington): Is Kyle Lewis more George Springer or Joey Gallo?
Craig Goldstein: I don't think he has close to Gallo's power, ultimately, so if I'm picking between those two, Springer.
bgawlowski14 (Seattle): Jeff and I had a debate about whether Stroman or Bauer is the better pitcher. Purely for baseball reasons, who would you take over the next 3-4 years?
Craig Goldstein: I'd probably take Bauer, especially if his, uh, spin rate jumps, uh, hold. I saw your convo with him and I looked at some of the last four years stuff and the gap in DRA- was like 3-4 points. That's not nothing but it's also not huge, to me. I do think both are a bit overrated but there's also a perception gap in terms of quality that overrates Bauer relative to Stroman, if that makes sense?
stevegoz (Chicago): Confirm or deny? Unless Mike Trout ends up on a ventilator, MLB is seeing this weirdest of seasons all the way through.
Craig Goldstein: I think that's right. They want to get to the playoffs, and even if they did have to shorten the season, I think they'd concoct a tournament to get that playoff money, somehow.
Kellen Heller (Chi Town): Is Brailyn Marquez coming up this year? And can he bring it all together to become the homegrown ace the Cubs so sorely need?
Craig Goldstein: If he does I suspect it would be in the pen. I like Marquez a lot generally and he made some really nice refinements towards the end of last season. There's still a lot of talk about him winding up as a reliever. I think he can stick in the rotation but am less gung-ho about "homegrown ace" than you'd probably want.
coffeeguy8806 (Summer): What do you think baseball will be like in 50 years?
Craig Goldstein: Look, this is a copout because I'm not remotely imaginative enough to give this a deserving answer, but: let's focus on getting through this year before thinking about a half-century from now, huh?
Craig Goldstein: On that note, it looks like we're out of questions. Short one today, but thanks to everyone for chiming in. We actually have some afternoon ball to watch, so go enjoy the baseball stylings of Tim Anderson's home run celebrations. See you next week.
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