Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe. I’ve got regionals on the tube but may sneak out to Extended in about an hour, so I’ll try to move through your draft questions as fast as possible.

Tommy N.: Chances Vaughn can be serviceable at a position other than 1B?

Eric A Longenhagen: slim

Teddy: The mock mentioned Lodolo to Atlanta at 9 because it was a good value. Was that you and Kiley’s opinion, or do you think that is Atlanta’s opinion?

Eric A Longenhagen: both, we think, but I expect we’ll have a different name there Monday.

Steven Tobolowsky: Are the Tigers connected to Michigan LHP Tommy Henry in any way?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon and welcome to another edition of my Thursday chat. I’m in a spicy mood today thanks in part to having spent several hours listening and transcribing Tuesday evening’s cringeworthy Pirates broadcast while Derek Dietrich hit three home runs  (article forthcoming). That and the leftovers from dinner at Han Dynasty which will constitute today’s lunch. Anyway, on with the show…

fan of graphs: hypothetically, if the padres were to shut down chris paddack. what functionally happens? does he remain on the 25 man roster and just doesn’t pitch? does he get put on an inactive list? sent down?

Jay Jaffe: It would depend upon the date. Assuming the Padres wait until September, they would have the roster space just to let him be. Otherwise, they could option him (which would have service time ramifications and be kind of a dick move) or place him on the IL with, say, shoulder fatigue,

Birch: Any thoughts on Bridich’s comments about beat writers?

Jay Jaffe: Travis Sawchik and Dan Symborski saved us the trouble

Jay Jaffe:

Kiley McDaniel: Hello from ATL, I’m back home and just got back from lunch. Scout is in the backyard policing the squirrel/chipmunk population and occasionally glaring at me through the window when she wants a play partner.

Kiley McDaniel: Today Eric and I published our latest mock, this time the full 78 picks that go on day one: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mock-draft-3-0-two-rounds/

Kiley McDaniel: With that nav bar at the top of the page you can see what else we have planned for draft week, including a few things that are draft-related that aren’t up there

Kiley McDaniel: Lastly, your questions about which player we prefer at this moment for the draft, or any future draft, or for July 2 or for the minors can all be answered at THE BOARD, which is quickly reaching ludicrous size: https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2019-mlb-draft?type=0

RP: If the Phillies go underslot for Hoese or Henderson, any names they could float to 71? That’s a long way.

Kiley McDaniel: Yeah that would be tough. We don’t think they cut much from that pick and often when the savings+overage is about $1M and the gap to the next pick is long, it doesn’t all get spent on the 2nd pick. You’d need to target 4-6 players that all have a chance to get to 71 to have any real chance of getting one there. Often just taking what gets to you for slot is a better plan

Kiley McDaniel: Hello! I’ve taken a mini vacation to regain my sanity from going to baseball games but I’m also still doing some work so I guess I can never really escape these things.

Kiley McDaniel: On a brighter note!

Kiley McDaniel: Went long on the Carter Stewart Japan signing and broke it down into six big takeaways from the signing, which I think is being underrated for it’s long-term effects on the industry: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/how-scott-boras-got-carter-stewarts-groove…

Kiley McDaniel: Also went long once again on one topic: the international draft. Jeff Passan and Eric joined me to walk through all the parties involved, possible structure (trading of picks!!!), and motivations: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/fangraphs-audio-presents-the-untitled-mcdo…

Kiley McDaniel: A mock is coming next week. I would guess it will be on Tuesday and it will be different in format than the last one

Kiley McDaniel: Here is the previous one: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mock-draft-2-0/

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon folks. I’m in a brief delay here as I get today’s piece, on the Indians’ failing offense, off my plate. Back in about 15 minutes.

Jay Jaffe: OK folks, I’m back. Couldn’t quite beat the clock…

JD Drew Barrymore: Is the Indians offense really failing? D- maybe? What’s the key to a turnaround? JRam getting right probably would go a long way on its own

Jay Jaffe: The Indians have the largest wRC+ fall-off from last year to this one 26 points (104 to 78); they’re scoring 1.13 fewer runs per game. Jose Ramirez’s slump has been brutal, but their failure to secure some production from their corner outfielders — which was quite apparent all winter — has really bit them hard as well. Note that they’ve withstood the losses of Kluber and Clevinger reasonably well; it’s the offense that’s let them down.

stever20: How much longer will the Nats give Dave Martinez?

Jay Jaffe: I honestly don’t know, but yikes, those vultures must be getting tired of circling. I wouldn’t be surprised if his number comes up by the end of this month; if they get embarrassed by the Marlins in this upcoming four-game series, as the Mets did with their three-gamer, that could be all she wrote.

Eric A Longenhagen: Hello from Los Angeles. Let’s get to it.

Tim: When’s the next mock?

Greg: Any new top 10 buzz?

Big Fan: Can we hope, wish and dream about a new Mock Draft soon?

Tommy N.: Any draft rumblings for the top 10 specifically with the Padres?

Eric A Longenhagen: yeesh, it’s barely been a week, guys.

Dan Szymborski: Unleash the Chatken!

Egg: How impactful are hitting coaches really? Do you think there is anything to the correlation between Mets, Cubs, and Red Sox all struggling under Chili Davis, with a complete lack of power?

Dan Szymborski: That’s a tricky thing in that’s it hard to really separate out a hitting coach’s contribution. It’s more of a leadership role for the manager to figure out than anything that is data driven.

Dan Szymborski: Unless someone smarter than me has found a way to isolate hitting coaches.

Voldemort: Do you have confidence in Matt Carpenter and/or Jesus Aguilar to turn things around this year?

Dan Szymborski: Carp more.