Brendan Gawlowski: Finishing a call with Eric and James, so I’m going to get started a tick late today. My apologies.

Brendan Gawlowski: My Angels list went live last week, as did Eric’s Phillies list.

Brendan Gawlowski: There may also be some polls in this chat

Brendan Gawlowski: First up: We’ve got prospect week coming up soon, and I will (probably) be doing some sort of feature in addition to the Top 100, helping on the college baseball update, picks to click, etc. What would be of most interest to you?

Brendan Gawlowski:

Brendan Gawlowski: Okay, sorry for the delays, let’s roll

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! Greetings from Brooklyn, where it’s almost freezing — which seems genuinely balmy after temperatures in the teens all last week. We’re apparently in the midst of the longest stretch of sub-freezing days in NYC in the past 65 years. Hoping my new space heater arrives today, but wish it had been around last week (I have a lower-powered but less energy-efficient one).

Jay Jaffe: After taking a few days off last week to recuperate from te Hall of Fame election cycle crunch, yesterday I wrote about the Giants signing Luis Arraez to a one-year deal https://blogs.fangraphs.com/on-second-thought-giants-sign-free-agent-l…

Jay Jaffe: Today I have the first of a two-piece series covering the still-available free agents. This one rounds up the position players and will probably go up while I’m mid-chat; apologies if I have to duck out here and there to answer an editorial query.

Jay Jaffe: Two things to note before we get started, both of which went by on Bluesky. First, today is the day that the BBWAA has published the ballots of all Hall of Fame voters who granted permission; apparently it includes about 100 which aren’t in Ryan Thibodaux’s Tracker. He and his team will be adding those. https://bbwaa.com/26-hof-ballots/

Jay Jaffe: Second, distinguished FG alum Eno Sarris has updated Stuff+ and the new data will be making its way to our site soon (https://bsky.app/profile/enosarris.bsky.social/post/3mdxtcmtwi2)

Jay Jaffe: and now, on with the show

Eric A Longenhagen: Hey everyone, good to be with you again on a crisp Friday morning in the desert.

Eric A Longenhagen: Please go check out the Phils scouting reports: Philadelphia Phillies Top 34 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball

Eric A Longenhagen: and the Angels Los Angeles Angels Top 36 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball

Eric A Longenhagen: And for the newbs, see that there’s all sorts of other cool stuff on The Board The Board | FanGraphs Baseball

Matt: Since the Angels list just went up from Brendan, curious if you have any “system overview thoughts” about the Angels system?

Eric A Longenhagen: I think it’s a little more fun than it is good. I really like the toolsy international guys, I like Alvarez, Quintero, Flores (all potential top 100 guys twelve months from now), they find hard throwers that don’t always develop in other ways but sometimes they do (Jose Soriano turned out to be good)…

Dan Szymborski: Greetings friends! I am enjoying a balmy 14 degrees now, a full 24 degrees of warming in the last four hours!

Dan Szymborski: If only my mazda was a convertible so I could go enjoy the day

Datt Mamon: The Cubs seem like they’re poised to be better in 2026, so what accounts for an only 87 win projection?

Dan Szymborski: ZiPS doesn’t necessarily see them as better

Dan Szymborski: It already liked PCA a ton. Sees Bregman/Tucker swap a wash. No more excited about the rotation and nobody has a projection as good as Steele last year. Likes bullpen a bit better

JC: Does the qualifying offer have to be exactly the number provided by MLB or at least that number? Could a team offer $35m for a player that may want to reconsider going to the market?

Brendan Gawlowski: Hello everyone. In case anyone missed it, the Jays list went live last week. Eric is publishing Philly’s list… tomorrow, I think. It’ll be soon. I also have LAA in the hopper, that’ll probably go live  Friday.

Brendan Gawlowski: Otherwise, let’s get to it.

mike: Will any Twins minor league hitters debut this year, or will they keep them down for control purposes (esp. given the likely lockout)?

Brendan Gawlowski: I would be surprised if you see huge shenanigans, honestly. Like, if Walker Jenkins rakes in AAA to start the year, I wouldn’t expect him to be stuck there all year.

Big Christmas: What do you make of the Mariners linked to CJ Abrams? Good idea to give Colt Emerson a few more games at AAA? I know he’s great, but only 40 games above A+ would give me pause in fully turning over an infield spot in the spring for a contender

Brendan Gawlowski: If you’re in the midst of your competitive window an you can acquire a player like Abrams at a tolerable price, you do it.

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! It’s a very chilly day here in Brooklyn (21 degrees) with the snow piled high on the curb. I think we got 10-12″ on Sunday. My basement office is cold enough to hang meat, to borrow a phrase from the late, great voice of the Utah Jazz, Hot Rod Hundley.

Jay Jaffe: Yesterday I published the final article of this year’s Hall of Fame election cycle, my look at the next five elections. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/peering-into-the-crystal-ball-the-next-fiv…

Jay Jaffe: For the first time, I went back and audited my own performance at this exercise, which has always been more art than science. Last week of course I had the Hall of Fame results (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/centers-of-attention-carlos-beltan-and-and…) and the candidate-by-candidate breakdown (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/a-candidate-by-candidate-look-at-the-2026-…)

Jay Jaffe: Finally, I’m one of four FanGraphs writers nominated for a SABR Analytics Conference Research Award. You can vote here: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2026-sabr-analytics-conference-research-aw…

Carter: Hi Jay! Hope all is well and thank you for standing up for Minnesota.

Jay Jaffe: Gotta stand up for what’s right! Melt ICE

And now, on with the show

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe where the new neighbors have people gutting the house for the next week plus, and jackhammering has been involved.

Eric A Longenhagen: I think we’re gonna go long today, so buckle in, throw on some music or a pod, and play pepper in the queue with me for the next little while.

Brown: Any news/speculation on what the Giants are doing with the IFA money they just traded for?

Eric A Longenhagen: Actually, no. Lemme see if I can source the amount of space traded during chat today. (Note from Eric after chat: the amount acquired was $250,000, probably for someone they had already agreed with, according to a source)

Potato: Eric, is it funny that Semien first moved to 2B in deference to Bo at SS in Toronto, and now Bo is moving to 3B instead of 2B in deference to Semien in NY? Or am I reaching?

Eric A Longenhagen: It is kind of fun and cool that these two have now played together at multiple spots but I don’ know that I’d say Bo is what moved Semian off of shortstop, Semien kinda moved himself out of there. Great hitter, wasn’t a great shortstop.