Kiley McDaniel: Hello from ATL. Scout it outside running around like a maniac and the house smells like garlic because I’ve been cooking and I’m a little heavy handed on that front

Lilith: When can we expect to see a new mock draft?

Kiley McDaniel: well we haven’t done one yet and it’s a little silly at this point. we have some concept of the types of players or a couple on the shortlist for clubs in the top 5-10, or maybe clubs lower in the draft that have a very specific type (the Nationals are one) where we can narrow things down pretty well. but at least half of the top 30 picks would be mostly a guess at this point and that’s not content that meets our guidelines.

The West is Wild: Is Geraldo Perdomo the most publicly “under the radar” prospect for the Diamondbacks?

Kiley McDaniel: Sure, he and Blaze Alexander were the two popup guys in the short minors for Arizona last summer. Both are strong 40s or 40+s at this point. The guys ahead of them that aren’t top 132 are mostly high picks, so yeah that would be the top sleeper names for the DBacks

Mark: Will you guys be releasing more detailed scouting on draft prospects?  (by this I mean the scouting grades are great, but the description bubbles are a little light at this point)

Meg Rowley: Hi everyone! We’ll get started in a few minutes here. Just need to get a few editorial things sorted. You can blame all the of the baseball teams doing all of the baseball extensions.

Meg Rowley: A minute more. Apologies, apologies.

Meg Rowley: Ok, here I am.

Meg Rowley: Sorry folks, I had to confer with Tech Wizard Sean Dolinar on Matters of Great Import

Lilith: How cool is it that the Reds have a guy that can play both shortstop and catcher on their roster?

Meg Rowley: It is indeed very cool.

Dan Szymborski: Boomshakalakagravyfries

Andy: Which team needs Dan Strailly the most?

Dan Szymborski: Bowie Baysox?

Anonymous: Do you find yourself underreacting to small sample sizes?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think so.

Iron Man: Is it worrisome that Keuchel hasn’t found a home yet?

Eric A Longenhagen: Howdy howdy, let’s chat

GPT: Have you had the opportunity to see Giants spring training yet, any standouts if so?

Eric A Longenhagen: yes was there yesterday, actually. Sean Hjelle looks pretty good, certainly the fastball does. 92-94 with tough angle and some life. Gregory Santos was 93-95 yesterday, some plus sliders. Marco Luciano looks incredible but we knew that already.

David: More total future value: The three first-rounders the Padres signed in 2016 (Quantrill, Potts, Lauer), or the three future first-rounders (Rolison, Bishop, Bleday) they called but didn’t sign on day three?

Eric A Longenhagen: the latter group

Edgar: Is late 2020 a feasible debut for Andrew Vaughn? Despite height, can he be a 25 HR guy?

Jay Jaffe: Hi folks, welcome to today’s chat! I’m in a brief not-rain delay as I finish up a quickie Instagraph on Ichiro. Will join the party soon.

Jay Jaffe: OK, I’m back. Had a quick brainstorm for something to say about Ichiro that I found interesting. Thanks for waiting that out, happy 2019 MLB season to those celebrating, and on with the show!

Russell: Do you think MLB/HoF will make Ichiro wait a full five years or make a special exception for him?

Jay Jaffe: I briefly address this in the forthcoming post but at this point, I don’t see the Hall making an exception. He’ll be eligible for the 2025 ballot instead of 2024, but I think the tradeoff — the chance to retire on his own terms, in his native country — was well worth the delay.

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Jesus Luzardo is out for a month. What a bummer!

Jay Jaffe: Fuuuuuuuuuuuudge.

I’ve only seen bits and pieces of his work but I’ve been a Luzardo fan since I first heard his name, on the basis of its similarity to The Jesus Lizard, a kick-ass 1990s band that is either number 1 or 1A when it comes to live acts (the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and the Waco Brothers are the other two vying for that title). They blew the doors off every venue I saw them at from about 1990 to 2017, when they came out of retirement for a final tour. Oh, and their best album is called GOAT.

Get well soon, Jesus Luzardo.

Kiley McDaniel: Coming to you live from ATL a little later than usual because I’m moving onto my third contractor now. Scout has chased all the squirrels and chipmunks and is taking a nap next to me. On to your questions:

Ben M: It feels like to date we aren’t getting the same type of negative reports on the high schoolers that caused players like gorman to slide last year. Is that accurate?

Kiley McDaniel: Not a question I get very often. I think Gorman may have stood out more because he was a top 10 overall prospect for us wire to wire but had some clear deficiencies that got a little worse during the spring

Kiley McDaniel: That said, we kept him in the top 10 (we settled on him at 7th, he went 19th overall) because we thought those things were fixable and the strengths were too good to pass up

Kiley McDaniel: So I wouldn’t say that was a unique amount of negative info on a top prospect. We have said Abrams probably can’t play SS longterm, Witt has real hit tool questions, Espino has a really long arm stroke and may throw too hard too early, etc. which is on par with the Gorman stuff

shf9: What’s going on with Carter Stewart?  He’s falling fast down your draft rankings.

Eric A Longenhagen: Hi everyone. Links to all the prospect stuff can be found at fangraphs/com/prospects so let’s get started. This will be my new chat time for a while since it doesn’t conflict with minor league spring training.

Mike from Tempe: I’m going to go to Giants minor league spring training games next weekend, at their facility. Any advice on where to sit or any other pro-tips? Also when does BP happen? 1.5 hrs before game? Thank you Eric!

Eric A Longenhagen: My advice is to not go to the Giants facility for their minor league spring games. It’s not a viewer-friendly place to watch games for you or I, I’m just staying away. Go to their road games.

Santa’s Reindeer: You guys listed Josiah Gray and Michael Grove as potential top 100 guys on next year’s list. What’s the biggest thing you guys are looking for from each/both of them this year that would move them up?

Eric A Longenhagen: Gray would be development of a third impact pitch, Grove is a blind dart throw based on LA’s track record with injured college arms.

Anthony: Did you read Ben’s piece on the old Reds scouting reports? If so, how different do you think current scouting infrastructures look now than they did 20 years ago?

Meg Rowley: Hi everyone, and welcome to the chat!

Dr. Strange: What’s your opinion on the suggestion of lowering the mound/ moving it back?

Meg Rowley: I think two feet is super aggressive, and is probably a bad idea.

Meg Rowley: The effect it’ll have on perceived velocity is likely to be pretty significant, and I’m not convinced the league has a great handle on just how significant.

Scarlet Witch: How much money will Trout demand? Over/under $375 million?

Meg Rowley: Over. He should demand the over.