Jay Jaffe: Good day and welcome to another edition of my Thursday chat. If I’m a little distracted today it’s because my parents are visiting from Salt Lake City and are prone to (figuratively) tugging at my sleeve for a bit of guidance. With that in mind, let’s get to it!

Duck Duck Goose: Why did I fly into the scoreboard last night?  Bad launch angle or was my exit velo too low?

Jay Jaffe: I’m going to go with bad eyesight on that one. Yeesh.

CJ Cron: Am I making the All-Star game? And how much better would the Angels have been with me around and Albert Pujols gone?

Jay Jaffe: I’ve never been much of a Cron-head, but yes, you’re off to a pretty good start (.269/.332/.486, 125 wRC+, 1.0 WAR for those who can’t be bothered to look it up), and yes, that’s 1.2 WAR ahad of Pujols at a fraction of the cost. I’m not sure that’s really All-Star caliber, though, and might suggest that catcher Wilson Ramos (.313/.356/.479) is putting together a more impressive season at a less crowded position, ASG-wise

Greg: Do you agree with Buster that less stolen bases and less hit and runs makes the game less interesting?

Kiley McDaniel: Hello everyone coming to you live from rainy Orlando while I’m waist deep in scouting notes that will be showing up on THE BOARD soon. Here’s what we have at the moment: https://www.fangraphs.com/scoutboard.aspx?draft=2018mlb&type=0&pos=all…

Greg: What’s the upcoming mock schedule?

Kiley McDaniel: One on Thursday or Friday, then another on Monday

Larry: Would you still put Gorman as the most likely pick for Atlanta?

Kiley McDaniel: Yes, but there’s a growing sense that, with teams in their meetings and little details leaking out, that beyond the top 5-6 picks, there’s a lot of uncertainty, private workouts and shifting opinions. And some crazy rumors in the top 5 at teams price shopping to figure out what all their options are.

Tommy N.: Any late draft whispers for the Padres and their newly acquired bonus pool money? Less likely to go underslot at 7 now?

Meg Rowley: Good morning! I hope everyone had a good long weekend, and isn’t too sad about going back to work.

Meg Rowley: And hey if you are, well you’re reading a baseball chat, so hopefully that helps.

Dane: Vlad Jr. When will he be up and what do you expect from him this year?

Meg Rowley: It’ll be interesting to see how, if at all, Donaldson’s injury shifts things for them. I know he described it as minor, but the Blue Jays’ hold on contention is verrrry tenuous.

Meg Rowley: I still think the service time stuff holds him down because I am cynical and bit mistrusting by nature, but there is an opening.

Meg Rowley: And I expect him to just hit the crap out of the ball. All the way to Jupiter a lot of the time. There will likely be defensive silliness, but you won’t mind because he will just hit the crap out of the ball, in my considered opinion.

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: Sorry about that delay — very much podcasting this morning and afternoon for some reason

Put me in coach: Worse contract at this point – Heyward or Pujols

Jeff Sullivan: Pujols. Heyward, despite everything, still isn’t an overall negative

Jeff Sullivan: It is too bad though — earlier this season, it seemed like Heyward was showing some real signs of life. They’ve all but disappeared, although in fairness he has experienced a concussion

Eric A Longenhagen: Morning from Tempe. Let’s get right to it…

Mertz: Is Corbin Burnes’ recent mediocre performance more of a function of his home park/league, or is he really having problems?  Do you see him making any MLB starts this year?

Eric A Longenhagen: Very likely the ballpark. Not sure he debuts this year because so many other viable guys are already on the 40-man and Burnes is not. Houser, Woodruff, etc.

Larry: Still feel like Gorman is the most likely pick for Atlanta?

Eric A Longenhagen: Yep

Dan: Thoughts on Cubs pitching prospects so far this year? From Underwood to Albertos, a lot seems to happening, good and bad.

Jay Jaffe: Hey hey, folks!  Welcome to another edition of my Thursday chat. As I’m less than 24 hours away from flying solo with a 21-month-old toddler who can channel the Antichrist, i’ll be cutting this a bit shorter than usual so that I can figure out which whiskey will knock her out the longest. And with that, let’s get to the questions…

John Oleruds Helmet: Mr Jay! Shine thy light upon this chat!! Grace us with thy wisdom!!!
Is it possible after Mariano and eventually Mussina and (possibly) Schilling that we may not see another pitcher inducted into the Hall until Verlander??

Jay Jaffe: The late Roy Halladay is eligible for the first time this year, and I think he’s got a chance to get elected, if not this year then soon. Lee Smith will be eligible for the first time on the Today’s Game ballot, and given that he broke 50% on the writers’ ballot before, you have to figure he’s got a shot in that format. But those two and the three you mentioned might be the only pitchers who get in until somebody currently active, and as I noted last week, Verlander is pretty much at the head of the pack now given his age and recent dominance.

Dave: Howdy!  Robinson Cano seemed like an eventual shoo-in for the HOF before his PED-related suspension.  What are his chances now?

Jay Jaffe: I’d say they’re pretty low, but we’ll see how the voters handle Alex Rodriguez when he becomes eligible in 2022. We’ve yet to see a previously PED-suspended player top 23.8%.

bonnie: If you were casting a baseball flavored remake of Space Jam, who would be your star and who would you pick to make up the MonStars?

Meg Rowley: Good morning, and welcome to the chat!

Meg Rowley: I am clearly not Kiley, who is off watching college baseball.

Meg Rowley: I am a sad Mariners fan, which the queue has clearly guessed at. Let’s get started.

The Old Buccaneer: Is the Mariners’ second base situation worse than the Dodgers’?

Meg Rowley: Let’s assume that the world isn’t so cruel that Gordon’s injury will require more than 10 days. In that case, no, at least not among starters. Dee Gordon is good!

Meg Rowley: Obviously losing Cano until August is this horrible, devastating thing and I am sad about it every day, but if Gordon is back soon, they’re probably better off than what Utley and Forsythe offer? Maybe? Let me have this, ok?

Kiley McDaniel: Kiley is here but Scout needs a quick potty break, so we’ll get going a few minutes behind schedule

Kiley McDaniel: Okay we are back

Kiley McDaniel: Quick update on my schedule: headed out tonight to see Mason Denaburg vs. Triston Casas in the FL state HS playoffs and will head out tomorrow morning to Clearwater to see Shane McClanahan face Wichita State in the AAC conference tourney, may run back over on Thursday to see Tim Cate as well, but may also stay here to see Florida/Tampa if the pitching lines up

Kiley McDaniel: Now to your questions…

Jim in Chicago: If Casey Mize doesn’t go #1, where does he end up?

Kiley McDaniel: This seems to be the question of the moment. Detroit is seriously thinking about other options at 1-1, and the talk of this got around right after out mock came up. The specifics about what medicals Mize has shared, what Detroit has, what other teams have and what those medicals say is a little hazy and some of the answers are protected by HIPAA so we won’t get everything we would like to know pre draft.

Travis Sawchik: Happy Monday, folks

Travis Sawchik: Let’s get started, shall we?

Zock Jr.: I don’t know what’s better: Mookie’s performance or the fact that xwOBA thinks he’s actually deserved better results.

Travis Sawchik: Trout is still the best player in the world but Mookie is making it an interesting conversation. He’s always had elite eye-hand skills and now he’s learned to produce game power

westcoaster: Travis! Mookie is on pace for like a 50/40 season. No question really, just wanted to point that out.

Travis Sawchik: Not bad

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

Jack: Is C.J. Cron for real?

Jeff Sullivan: I’ve always liked Cron as an obvious source of power. There were hints of some development that got hidden in his “down” 2017; the Rays jumped on the chance to land some upside

Jeff Sullivan: That being said, he’s neither a premium defender nor a premium pitch-taker, so he’s limited in how valuable he can become. I think, at the time, it made enough sense to basically swap Dickerson for Cron, but not because Cron was on the verge of becoming a four-win player or anything

greg: What kind of trade value does Scooter Gennett have?