As Members of our website, you most likely know by now that FanGraphs goes darkish on most nationwide holidays, as we had been the previous two days. We consider our employees deserves to get pleasure from holidays with out having to fret about working, and our readers are inclined to have plans that don’t contain studying about baseball or gazing statistics on a display. The exception is when information breaks that will immediate our readers to cease what they’re doing and rush to the positioning for evaluation, corresponding to a serious transaction involving a star participant. So for just a few hours on Wednesday afternoon, as chatter picked up that Dylan Stop was nearing a take care of the Blue Jays, Meg and I each ready for the likelihood that we’d have to work a bit on Thanksgiving, particularly as a result of the workforce in query performs in a rustic that doesn’t observe the vacation on the identical day Individuals do. Fortuitously — ahem, fortunately — Stop agreed to a seven-year, $210 million contract with Toronto in time for Michael Baumann to write down up the information and for us to edit and publish it Wednesday evening.
The Stop signing was the most recent transfer in what has already been a reasonably lively offseason. The Cardinals traded beginning pitcher Sonny Grey to the Purple Sox on Tuesday, two days after the Mets and Rangers made a one-for-one swap of former All-Stars. I realized of the Brandon Nimmo-for-Marcus Semien alternate round 2 AM Central European Customary Time on Monday, after I made the chaotic choice to get up and watch the Rams-Buccaneers sport earlier than what turned out to be a roughly 24-hour journey day from Italy to New York. Following my preliminary shock, I couldn’t assist however marvel if Nimmo’s former teammate Matt Harvey would as soon as once more pitch for Group Italy within the upcoming World Baseball Traditional.
We gained’t be protecting any of those strikes on this week’s mailbag. As an alternative, we’ll be answering your questions on the most effective unmade baseball film, JJ Wetherholt, the marginal worth of workforce runs scored and particular person offensive manufacturing, and extra. Earlier than we do, although, I’d wish to remind you that this mailbag is unique to FanGraphs Members. In case you aren’t but a Member and wish to hold studying, you possibly can join a Membership right here. It’s one of the simplest ways to each expertise the positioning and help our employees, and it comes with a bunch of different nice advantages. Additionally, should you’d wish to ask a query for an upcoming mailbag, ship me an e-mail at mailbag@fangraphs.com.