Episode 1155: Hoffman Kluber Meets the MarlinTigers

## Summary

*Ben Lindbergh and Steven Goldman answer listener emails about the best and worst times to write about baseball (and the most and least rewarding ways to do it), Nolan Ryan’s Cy Young Award goose egg, Trevor Hoffman vs. Corey Kluber and Hall of Fame standards for relievers, Brandon Belt vs. Eric Hosmer, gaming the luxury-tax rules, the feasibility of one team signing both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, combining the Marlins and Tigers into one competent team, the catching implications of instituting robot umps, and the problem with too many teams rebuilding at once, plus a Stat Blast on some of the most prolifically losing players of an earlier era.*

## Topics

* Best and worst times to be a baseball writer
* Nolan Ryan's lack of Cy Young awards
* Trevor Hoffman, Corey Kluber, and Hall of Fame election of relievers
* Comparing Brandon Belt and Eric Hosmer
* Players with the most losses per era
* Combining the Marlins and Tigers to make a contender
* Large free agent contracts and avoiding the luxury tax
* Signing both Manny Machado and Bryce Harper
* Catcher implications for robot umpires
* How many rebuilding teams can MLB support?

## Banter

* Steven Goldman is joining as a guest co-host while Jeff is away on vacation.
* Steven's podcast *The Infinite Inning*

## Email Questions

* Gianni: "When is it good, fun, or enjoyable to be a baseball writer? Maybe when writing a deep dive piece or that week in July when lots is going on. Sometimes, I daydream about having your jobs but then I contemplate the reality of it and it seems like it would be super taxing."
* John: "Why did Nolan Ryan never win a Cy Young award?"
* Colin: "In Trevor Hoffman's career he tossed just 1,089.1 innings while another former Padre, Corey Kluber, has hurled 1,091 innings. While these two pitcher's stats are similar Kluber has an undeniable edge but Kluber would not be a first ballot Hall of Famer if he retired tomorrow. Do you care to comment on the Kluber/Hoffman comparison or on the candidacies of any of those bubble starters?"
* Jim: "I have seen Brandon Belt and Eric Hosmer compared frequently. How would Belt's market compare to Hosmer's if Belt were a free agent this year and Hosmer were not?"
* Dan: "If the Tigers and Marlins were combined into one team with 50 roster spots, would they make the playoffs?"
* Henry: "Looking ahead to the Harper, Kershaw, and Machado contracts I wonder what kind of creative salary structures we are going to see teams employ to get around the cap. Do you think a team will pay Harper $50 million in the first year, $50 million in the second and $1 million in the third year to reset the luxury tax? Will we see this or other creative accounting?"
* Jacob: "Is it remotely possible that the Yankees could sign both Harper and Machado next year?"
* Owen: "If we move to robot umpires, how quickly do catchers who derive most of their value from pitch framing get cut?"
* Rob: "How many rebuilding teams can MLB sustain at one time before it becomes an inefficient strategy?"

## Stat Blast

* Steve uses the Baseball Reference game finder to find the player that "was marooned" longest on a losing team. This was inspired by the current status of the Miami Marlins and players that have stuck around for longer on perpetually losing teams.
* From 1920-29 Cy Williams played on the Phillies and was on teams that lost 807 games during that decade.

## Notes

* Nolan Ryan only won 20 games in a season twice during his career. He often was never quite the best pitcher in MLB during his career.
* Ben initially thinks that combining the Tigers and Marlins would result in a playoff team, but after looking at their rosters he is not so sure.
* The average annual value of a contract is how the contract is calculated against the luxury tax.

## Links

* Effectively Wild Episode 1155: Hoffman Kluber Meets the MarlinTigers