FanGraphs Audio: Bill James Updates His Rankings

Episode 911 This week we welcome an all-time great of baseball analytics, discuss Fernando Tatis Jr.’s big 14-year contract, and assess one of the frustrating teams in the NL Central. To begin the program, David Laurila welcomes baseball writer and statistician Bill James to the show. David and Bill reflect on The New Bill James Historical Abstract (2001), Bill’s rankings of the best players at each position, and how his opinions may have changed in the two decades since. How does new research inform what we know about the greatest players of all time, and how do the new greats match up? And how does Bill feel these days about his “most underrated player of all time?” [2:37] After that, Jay Jaffe and Kevin Goldstein get together to talk about Fernando Tatis Jr.’s extension. Jay recently wrote about Tatis’ Cooperstown chances while Kevin covered the future of giant contracts like Tatis’, and both topics come together in a conversation about the many ways things could go for the new face of the San Diego Padres. [18:48] In the final segment, Ben Clemens sits down with Dan Szymborski to talk about the Reds. Dan has written on Cincinnati’s disappointing offseason, which comes after a few encouraging winters. The pair discuss what they would like to see from a team that seemed to have found a window of contention — especially in a division that feels winnable. [50:39] To purchase a FanGraphs membership for yourself or as a gift, click here. To donate to FanGraphs and help us keep things running, click here. Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @dhhiggins on Twitter. You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things. Audio after the jump. (Approximate 1 hour 11 minutes play time.) var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source