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Hey! It's the first of the month! And also MLB's trade deadline! 

Drop your question below for this month's exclusive Patreon video Q&A. Could be about baseball, Youtube, or life in general. I'll return in a week or so with my answers.

Comments

Gaermph

Hey Foolish! I’ve always wondered with you being a Braves fan if you‘ve ever considered doing anything major on Hank Aaron? I grew up outside San Francisco, and Aaron basically became my GOAT, learning everything about him as Bonds approached the home run record. Love the newest A’s video btw!

Carl Mizell

How mad should I be that the Tigers didn't trade Eduardo Rodriguez? This seems like a major misstep for Scott Harris.

Ralph Davis

Any idea what's going on with Varsho this year offensively? Obviously he was never known for his skills with the bat but it seems weird to have a young healthy player go from solid and improving numbers to looking completely lost at the plate for most of this year.

JonJonH

Idk if I'm the first to think of this but for a while now I've been theorizing managerial run value, i.e. how many runs per game a manager is able to manufacture through their tactical decision making. Is there a hypothetical stat you'd like to see but for one reason or another is not measurable?

Ben Muschol

Assuming an normal season from all other players (e.g. best WAR is around ~8), what type of performance would a high-leverage reliever have to put up to deserve MVP in your opinion? would such a season even be possible?

ajnrules

Justin Verlander’s 2023 hasn’t been ideal, but he had been pitching great of late in recording his 250th win, and just got traded back to the Astros. Does his chances of getting to 300 change in your eyes or is it still near zero?

Robert Matheson

What is your number 1 "butterfly effect" deadline trade? Meaning a trade that seemed unimportant or involved small pieces that ended up causing a massive effect on the league years later.

Brandon Lippincott

Do you think the trades for Giolito, Lopez, Cron, and Grichuck coupled with near returns of Trout and O'Hoppe will be enough to push the Angels over the finish line into the playoffs?

EanieBeanie

From one Brendan Ryan enthusiast to another - who's your favorite glove-only infielder in 2023?

Peyton Smith

Why do the Yankees put in an extended state of hell Bailey? And what is your season outlook for 2024, based on what you’ve seen this year, and teams’ additions and subsequent subtractions today?

Onni Peltola

Greetings from Finland! Just wanted to say that your videos got me into baseball so keep up the great job! If there was a stat that could measure vibes, who would be the all time leader in vibes+? And who would lead currently? Also I just rewatched your White Sox OOTP save and started to wonder if there will ever be another long OOTP save?

Ezra Mendelson

Who do you think will be next season’s biggest deadline acquisition, and which teams will be involved?

Will

I hear the phrase "hit like the back of his baseball card" a lot when people talk about a player reverting back to their mean after an extended slump or hot streak. Given all the advancements in real time feedback when it comes to pitchers adjusting to hitters and vice versa, do you think that we're going to see more erratic behavior in players' stat-lines and less season to season (and month to month) consistency?

nick podd

Hey Bailey, I really enjoyed your video on your favorite Baseball Reference page. I was wondering if you had a favorite page from the early days of baseball (pre-1900)?

Quichelover420

You make a deal with the devil for your soul (humor me) and in return you become a HoF quality reliever with any sort of pitch mix and style you want, along with longevity by being immune to major injuries. However, there are a couple conditions. If you either tell anyone about the deal and conditions or give up a grand slam, you immediately and violently shit your pants on the spot and lose your abilities. Everyone will notice. What is your strategy to get into the show?

Leo Barlach

The baseball season has a lot of games, 162. This leads to a certain type of personality being successful as a baseball player, someone who can perform with the same consistency on a random Tuesday afternoon with an empty stadium and on the big stage of a crowded weekend game against a rival. How different do you think the game would be if it played more like football, with few, high-stakes games in a season? Would you get more aggressive players? Would it make those fewer games more interesting? Or do you think it wouldn't work?

Bo Brown

Need new single player games. Gimme a few pls (not Souls/can be old or new). Also Tonkin for Comeback PotY.

genderdruid

Which three teams do you think will emerge from the chaos that is the AL and get the three AL wildcard spots this year?

Sam Aronow

Assuming Fisher does successfully move the A's to Las Vegas, and that Montreal is the top contender for expansion, what new market do you think would most likely get an expansion team?

ad23

Here's a two parter, both about Julio Rodriguez: 1. Is Julio's regression this year variance we should come to expect with his high swing%, or an actual concern? 2. Is his horrible production in high leverage spots (203 ba, 660 ops) just bad luck, or is he pressing too much?

Henson Burk-Fawcett

Why isn't Sean Murphy in MVP discussions? I promise I'm not pandering to a braves fan. He is +9 in fielding run value and is one of the best hitters this year. At the catcher position, that is extremely valuable.

Jeremy Jones

Hello Mr. Foolish. I would love to get your thoughts feelings and opinions on the San Francisco Giants and their deployment of Openers. The Giants have two pitchers (Webb, Cobb) who are being used as traditional starters every 5 days. The rest of the games are often games where Ryan Walker Scott Alexander or John Brebbia (60 IL) will throw 1 or 2 innings and will be followed up by Bulk Relievers (Manaea Stripling and Wood usually) who throw 3-4 innings. This seems to be working out well, as the giants are 10 games above .500 and have the 3rd best record in the NL (at the time I am typing this). But do you believe this is a viable strategy that can win a 7 5 or even 3 game playoff series??? Personally I am a fan, but many Online Boomers™️ complain about them (I suspect for aesthetic reasons) I’ll hang up and listen

Paul

Is it just me, or has catcher framing gotten worse recently? To be clear, I don’t mean less effective but rather less aesthetically pleasing. For example, when I watch clips of a Molina brother framing he’ll generally move his glove only an inch or two to catch the edge of the zone. Today, it seems like even good framing catchers just yank everything 18” so that it’s middle-middle and the umps still buy it I know that framing is one of the reasons why some fans support human umps over the robozone, but at this point doesn’t it seem a little un-sporting?

Paul Bauer

What minor leaguer traded at / near the deadline do you think will have the brightest future?

Ryan McGovern

Is there any broadcaster past or present that you think deserves the Ford Frick Award, but hasn't been given it yet?

Leo Thomas

Why does Baseball Reference pitching WAR use runs-per-nine (a purely result-based stat that doesn’t account for fielding errors) and position player WAR not give players credit for getting on base or advancing extra bases through fielding errors? EDIT: If you've already started working on an answer for the above question, then ignore this, but I have one I'd rather answered now if you haven't: what would Shohei's next two months have to look like for him not to win MVP, assuming he hits every game and never misses a start? Can't remember there ever being a bigger joke of an MVP race than this one

Evan A

During your last Q&A, I said to pretend I was from the future. I claimed that a perfect game would be pitched in 2023, and weeks later, Domingo German did it. I have returned from the future again to tell you that the first four homer game since 2017 will be hit in 2023. Once again, you get three guesses -- who did it?

Chris Waind

If you could add facial hair to a current player or take a current players facial hair away, who would you add/take and why? If you would like you could also choose two players to swap facial hair (or lack of facial hair for one of them).

Thomas Gentry

Thanks for everything, F.B, love the stuff you put out! Two questions: Do you think Matt Olson is on a HoF trajectory? My hottest take is that Lance Berkman is a better player than David Ortiz, and I think it is criminal that Ortiz was a slam dunk first balloter, and Berkman fell off on his first, (albeit very crowded), ballot. So the Q is: what is your rapid fire take on Lance Berkman's HoF case?

StatMatt

Should baseball reference increase it’s plate appearance threshold for postseason batting stats or are you a sicko like me who just loves telling people that Colby Rasmus is the all time postseason leader in OPS?

Keegan Tatum

Are you surprised by the Padres this year? Fangraphs projected them to have the best record in MLB entering 2023. Also curious if the 2021 collapse surprised you.

Seán Meehan

A thought I had recently with the draft happening is there a way to see what the average draft position of all the players on the 26 man roster on every team? I did a quick Google search for the answer and couldn't find it. Maybe it something that isn't even really tracked but was just wondering if you knew or could tell me a stat resource that could give the answer. I know only 70%-ish of players are from the draft and the remainder of international signings, etc so they would have to be excluded. Thanks in advance

Tristan Wille

how do you think about positional value in making the foolish 50? do you think it's all wrapped up in WAR, or would you, splitting hairs, put a 3B over a 1B, for instance? What about pitchers vs. hitters? Is that why a reliever has never (I think?) made it on to the list? edit: screw it, while I have you, would you consider Yennier Cano or Felix Bautista to be in the top 50 best/most valuable players in the league right now?

David Pulido

Cody Bellinger has been a super interesting player to watch this year. What are your thoughts on his apparent resurgence?

Josh Getto

Can you explain how some of the advanced base running stats work? How much of an impact do these stats have on overall value stats like WAR?

Nicholas Fu

What do you think the Angels should do if Ohtani leaves after the year? They clearly went in (as much as someone can with the 29th best farm in baseball) but with being 5-7 games out still, how best do they handle the twilight of Trout and a bleak prospect list? Could trading Trout and pulling a Mets by "buying" prospects be an option in this scenario?

Chris Collum

Hey Bailey hoping you can help me and my wife out with something—it’s kind of urgent. So for the last couple of days we’ve been going about our lives minding our own business and then suddenly we’ll abruptly cry out something like SEE THE MAN HIT THE BALL or OUR SCORE BUG IS IN THE SONG in the middle of what we’re doing, totally without warning, and in this kind of strained sing-songy voice. The second phrase in particular we ALWAYS seem to sing in a kind of cracking high-pitched voice. Can’t control it or predict it and the episodes are getting more frequent. Anywho, can you recommend a good hypnotist who could maybe get us to stop doing this? It’s really starting to affect our professional and home lives. My regional sports network is Bally Sports Midwest if that helps with the referral. Thanks in advance!

alursai

Do you think Paul skenes stuff will be good in the majors? Especially his fastball? also, thoughts on Henry Davis? Thank you always for making great content foolish.

Paul Richards

Will the mariners make the playoffs? Also I noticed you often wear an Atlanta United jersey, do you follow European soccer at all?

Francis Alipranti

How big of a mistake did my Padres make by buying instead of selling Snell and Hader? Because we need to go at least 600 for the rest of the season, which I think is possible, but we also need three teams of the following to go under 500 for the rest - the Giants, DBacks, Marlins, Brewers or Reds, and Phillies - which I cannot imagine happening (I expect 2 will but not 3). Also, is it good for the sport that organizations with a good team but a bad record like the Pads and Angels buy to try to attempt a (probably futile) run when probably the smarter move would be to sell?

Stephen

What do you think the actual longest home run ever hit was? I don't believe that those old guys actually hit the ball the far.

Sean McGee

M’s fan here; What do you think the potential of Dominic Canzone and Ryan Bliss are?

Noah Dorroh

What do you think was the most underrated trade made during the deadline. Just watched your alexis diaz video on Foolish Bailey btw, top notch as always 🔥

Victor Fucci

do you consider steve cohen's tenure with the mets a failure?

Big Al

In regards to tacos, hard shell or soft shell?

Luke Nicholson

what are some of your favorite SABR bios? why did you switch from l to | in your titles starting with the stephen strasburg video?

Sam Schepleng

What do you forecast the Orioles future to look like over the next 5 years including this current season?

Jason Coppe

If you could put any one player in the Hall of Fame who is not in (or won’t get in) who would it be and why?