Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

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mikechamp
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Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

Post by mikechamp »

These comments came from a chat with MLB Trade Rumors' Mark Polishuk that occurred on September 25.

Same number of Q&As as the past 2 weeks. I included 1 off-topic, off-day bonus Q&A and another about official wins and losses for managers.

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-live-chat-14013.html

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Do you think the Cubs have interest or a chance to sign Rodon? I read his family still lives there and he has interest in coming back to Chicago.

Mark Polishuk
That would be an interesting add for the Cubs, and a sign that they're really trying to contend in 2023. I'm still wary about exactly how much the Cubs will spend this winter or how much of a push they're going to make to win next year.
Not to say that they won't, but I'll have to see it to believe it.
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Who was the better baseball player: Roberto Clemente or Albert Pujols?

Mark Polishuk

Who was the better player?
Clemente (52.5% | 451 votes)

Pujols (47.5% | 408 votes)

Total Votes: 859

No wrong answer when you're gauging two of the very best ever.
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What are your thoughts on the Pirates picking up Miguel Andujar?

Mark Polishuk
Seems like a no-lose move for the Bucs to bring him in for a couple of weeks of evaluation in the majors, plus the offseason. Andujar is a potential non-tender, though he won't cost much, and Pittsburgh is always open to lower-cost bargains.
Whether Andujar can be such a bargain remains to be seen, but it absolutely seemed like if he had a turn-around in him, it wasn't happening in New York.
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Who's the the likelier extended Brewer: Brandon Woodruff or Corbin Burnes?

Mark Polishuk
My assumption is that the Brewers would prefer to keep Burnes because he's younger, and because his peak is higher than Woodruff's peak. (Not that Woodruff isn't also an excellent pitcher.)

Now, "prefer to keep" is different than "likelier to extend," and in that case Burnes also has the higher price tag of the two. My guess is that Milwaukee has talks with both pitchers, and will lean towards the one that is more open to re-signing at terms closer to what the Brewers are more comfortable spending.
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Odds the Brewers luck into a wild card? If so, odds they get past the first round (knowing past the second round ain't gonna likely happen)?

Mark Polishuk
All nine of the Brewers' games are at home, and they're only 1.5 games behind Philly for the wild card. The Phillies, meanwhile, have only road games.

It'll be tough for Milwaukee but it's hardly the biggest deficit that has ever been overcome. However, the Brewers will have to actually overcome it --- in the event of a tie, the Phillies get the wild card due to a better head-to-head record.
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Does Franmil Reyes stay or go? Oh, just kidding… probably going back to Cubs for about $2M.

Mark Polishuk
The Cubs have arbitration control over Reyes for the next two seasons, and if they tender him a contract, he'll get some kind of a raise over his current $4.55MM salary. That's still a pretty reasonable flier to take on a player who put up big power numbers as recently as 2021. My guess is that Chicago keeps him.
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Ricketts was quoted saying Hoyer has control of spending. True or pointing blame elsewhere?

Mark Polishuk
I mean, ownership ultimately has "control" of spending. I assume Hoyer is working under a budget, and he is allowed to spend however he wishes under the ceiling of that budget. Like, if the Cubs sign a guy to a $2MM contract, Hoyer probably doesn't have to check upstairs first.

If Hoyer is considering signing a guy to a $100MM contract, of course, then he will need to get the green light.
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What do you think about what Pujols has done?

Mark Polishuk
It's been a pretty incredible run, especially considering that he was posting pretty uninspiring numbers as recently as midseason. But, it made for a magical time for Cardinals fans and baseball fans in general.
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Coolest rock concert you've ever attended?

Mark Polishuk
Bruce Springsteen's show at the Rogers Centre in 2012.
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Why does LaRussa still get official credit for all his teams' wins and losses and not Cairo, when LaRussa isn't even at the ballpark in most cases?

Mark Polishuk
It's weird, I'm not really sure about how MLB's rules concerning "interim manager" wins work. Like last year, DeMarlo Hale's wins as Cleveland's interim manager were credited to Terry Francona... but if Francona hadn't returned as manager this year, Hale would've then been retroactively credited with those victories.
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Spider John
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Re: Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

Post by Spider John »

I don't think there's any question AP is the better player. For one thing, Albert has 460 more HR's than Clemente in only 641 more ABs.

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Popeye_Card
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Re: Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

Post by Popeye_Card »

Hitter, for sure Albert is better. But Clemente was also a legendary defensive RF. Depends on how you factor in that defensive value into "better player".

Spider John
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Re: Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

Post by Spider John »

Popeye_Card wrote:
September 26 22, 2:47 pm
Hitter, for sure Albert is better. But Clemente was also a legendary defensive RF. Depends on how you factor in that defensive value into "better player".
He definitely had the better arm.

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Felix The Cat
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Re: Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

Post by Felix The Cat »

One player had a six year peak of 6-7 fWAR/yr

The other had a seven year peak of 7-8 fWAR/yr

(now whether defensive WAR/adjustments from the 1960s are precise enough for this discussion is up for debate)

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TheTimeIsNow
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Re: Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

Post by TheTimeIsNow »

Let's just agree that if you put Albert Pujols and Roberto Clemente together into one human then you have the greatest player ever lol

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Radbird
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Re: Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

Post by Radbird »

In their prime they both were players who most fans would’ve picked in the “If you could pick one player to start a team…” poll of their era.

I love defense and therefore lean towards Clemente. But not sure I could pick him over Pujols. They’re both definitely on my all-time team (if I had one, lol)

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