Meg Rowley: Hello and welcome to the offseason chat! Boy oh boy, it sure is the offseason.

Nick: What do you see the Cubs doing with Addison Russell? What do *you* think they should do?

Meg Rowley: I think they’ll probably cut and I think that makes good sense.

Meg Rowley: I was never that hype on him as a player, and now I’m even less in on the guy as a person.

Meg Rowley: I’m sure he’ll resurface somewhere, but I don’t expect him to play another game for the Cubs.

Tom in SD: Any chance the Yankees trade Stanton to the Dodgers and sign Harper?

Dan Szymborski:

Dan Szymborski: Greetings everyone!

david s: Where in the hell are the 2019 ZiPS, Dane?

Mark: Dan, can you give me a quick ZiPS projection on when I can care about baseball again.

Matt: Kinda weird how infatuated with the Yankees the Red Sox fans seem to be, eh?

Dan Szymborski: You can still care about baseball! Stuff is happening.

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

Dylan: What do you make of Brodie Van Wagenen being the frontrunner for Met GM? Is this a good idea or is the lack of experience too much to overcome?

Jeff Sullivan: Let me put it this way: I am excited by the prospect of a team making such an outside-the-box hire. But if I were a Mets fan, I’d prefer to have Bloom, because I wouldn’t want my team to be an experiment

Elwood: Are you still watching the Senators this year? As an Avalanche fan that went through 16-17 I can tell you I’ve never learned more from a season.

Jeff Sullivan: They haven’t been terrible yet!

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe where we’re approaching the Fall League halfway point. Let’s chat for a bit.

NotGraphs Revivalist: What kind of prospect package would ATL or SD need to put together for Syndergaard?

Eric A Longenhagen: I’d be surprised if the the Mets move a big fish this winter. The new regime is going to be operating with incomplete information, there’s real risk of making a bad deal.

Tommy N.: Padres ownership seems to want to make a splash this offseason. It would be unwise to start trading top prospects with where the Padres are at in the rebuild process, right?

Eric A Longenhagen: They have to start consolidating talent at some point and I do think we’ll see some action this offseason, even if it’s just on the fringe of the 40-man.

Ace: When evaluating pitching prospects, what mechanical aspects of a pitcher’s delivery point to SP vs RP? Is it a certain arm slot, arm path, stride length, violent delivery, etc. Thanks

Craig Edwards: Welcome everyone. We’ll get things going in a moment, so keep the questions coming, but first a poll.

Craig Edwards:

Dan Szymborski: GRAVY FRIES

Dan Szymborski: I like opening with a non sequitur.

Dan Szymborski: We are hear for the base ball match. Thank you all for joining us on your telematronic typescribers.

Bjorn from Swedish Sex Dungeon: How many “The Price is Wrong” headlines if Price scuffles?

Kiley McDaniel: Kiley is here. Some quick plugging of things I’ve done lately

Kiley McDaniel: Podcast with
1. Jeff Passan on sign stealing
2. Eric and I about structuring a scouting dept
3. Jake Mintz of Cespedes Family BBQ on the ballad of Barbecue Yee
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fangraphs-audio-presents-the-untitled-…

Kiley McDaniel: The even orgs most likely to win the next 5 world series: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/heres-who-will-win-the-next-five-world…

Kiley McDaniel: I tweeted this morning that it sounds like Doug Melvin is the favorite for the Mets job (though it obviously isn’t a done deal yet):

Kiley McDaniel: Lastly, I just bought a house and am currently dealing with contractors. May not recommend that one, but it’s what I’ve been doing

Tommy N.: Do you think the Reds will eventually trade Eugenio Suarez with Nick Senzel and Jonathan India waiting in the background?

Jay Jaffe: Hey folks, it looks like I’m throwing out first pitch here! Welcome to our World Series Game 1 chat.

Joe: As writers, do you prefer this kind of matchup of big money teams with lots of stars, or is it better to have an underdog?

Dan Szymborski: Yah, boo.

DodgeGuys: I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful work you all do. Looking forward to your coverage of the World Series! Hope it’s a good one!

Jeff Sullivan: It isn’t all wonderful

Carson Cistulli’s Moustaches: Would Yasiel Puig benefit spiritually from growing out a moustache in homage to that sported by Bill “The Butcher” Cutting from Gangs of New York?

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: Congratulations to the Red Sox, who are very good

Jeff Sullivan: So long to the Astros, who were very good

Phil: Best defeat over the past two days: POSTSEASON NARRATIVES.

Jeff Sullivan: I don’t know if it’s some kind of contrarian instinct or what, but I always, without fail, root for the players to turn those stories upside down. Very happy for David Price

Eric A Longenhagen: Hey there, everyone. Time to chat.

RS: Giants catcher in the AFL, Matt Winn, profile good enough to be a major league backup?

Eric A Longenhagen: Several caveats when evaluating AFL catchers: they’re probably tired, they’re catching a whole new staff of guys, they’re catching once or twice a week. So the error bar around evals of catchers here is greater. Having said that, I’d answer your question with a ‘no’

Jay: Should the A’s let Lowrie walk and give Barreto a shot at 2B, or trade Barreto for pitching?

Eric A Longenhagen: I’d hold onto Barreto

Pip: Who’s the better prospect moving forward, the National’s, or the Phillies’ Luis Garcia?

Jay Jaffe: Hey hey, folks. Welcome to another edition of my October chat. Forgive me for being a bit late and a bit frazzled. The impact of this crazy-ass postseason on the Jaffe-Span household — late nights and an accommodating but not entirely unforgiving 2-year-old — is taking its toll. We’ll see if I can give you a few good innings, though.

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Two teams are a win away from the World Series. Which is more likely to choke?

Jay Jaffe: I don’t think you can throw a choke label on a team up 3-2 losing the final two games on the road in the same way that you could with regards to a team up 3-1 with the cushion of going home even if they lose Game 5.

But I’m not really a fan of the term “choke” in general. These are four excellent teams with strengths and weaknesses and very skilled players who nonetheless have their vulnerabilities. The routes they take may confuse us but I’ve seen enough baseball that no outcome from among the remaining series would surprise me.

stever20: why is Kershaw so hot and cold in the playoffs these last 3 years?  When he’s great like yesterday he’s great (1.13 ERA last 3 years).  When he’s bad, he’s awful(7.63 ERA last 3 years).

Jay Jaffe: Why does anyone have good days and bad days? How the hell does any pitcher survive throwing the ball hard a hundred or so times a night to various locations while avoiding discernable patterns against skilled hitters outfitted with incredible means of decoding those patterns?

Baseball is hard. That’s why Kershaw, Price and anybody else in October struggles at times.

Wes: Bregman or Benintendi over the next 10 years?