Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning, everyone.

Roadhog: Is Franklin Barreto traded for an impact player?

Eric A Longenhagen: No idea. I don’t know why Oakland would trade a cost-controlled 21-year old with tools that big and who has already had success at Triple-A.

Paul R: Is McKay better suited as a pitcher or first basemen? If the latter, what kind of power numbers you see from him?

Eric A Longenhagen: I preferred him as a pitcher but I can see why some scouts liked him at first base. He has effortless plus raw power and some scouts thought, if he focused on hitting, he’d be a 55 or 60 hitter, too. So that’s like .280 with 25 homers or so.

Mozeliak: Any sleeper prospects in cardinals minor who may get into next years top 100?

Travis Sawchik:

Travis Sawchik:

Travis Sawchik: Greetings!

Travis Sawchik: I put on about three pounds in six days

Travis Sawchik: Not in the best shape of my life

Travis Sawchik: Now let’s talk about Ohtani …

Dave Cameron: Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Dave Cameron: I have to get my turkey in the brine so we’ll start in a few minutes after I do that.

Dave Cameron: Alright, let’s get this thing started.

Zonk: Mashed Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes?

Dave Cameron: I prefer sweet, but we serve both.

Zonk: Which of these ingredients belong, or don’t belong, in stuffing:  Sausage, Apple, Nuts of any kind

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody! FYI you’re all underrating pecan pie!

hscer: There’s more than one kind of “cranberry sauce” y’know!

Paul Swydan: Ah touche.

Eric A Longenhagen: Mornin’. Let’s get right to it….

Dan: Assuming he comes over this winter, will Ohtani be the #1 prospect in baseball?

Eric A Longenhagen: Yup, I noted he’d be #1 on last year’s 100. Did have some injury issues in the past year, though.

Tommy N.: What do you think of Cal Quantrill now after his first year? Seemed like his breaking pitch needs a lot of refinement

Eric A Longenhagen: Agreed, that’s been the book on Quantrill for a while. Velo, command, changeup all in place. How much can the curveball progress?

Bobv: Anyone not protected from the Rule 5 draft that surprised you?

Travis Sawchik: Greetings, folks

Travis Sawchik: Please let me know one thing you are thankful for before submitting your next question! Tis the season

Travis Sawchik: Let

Travis Sawchik: ‘s get started …

dominik: regarding context neutral: would you like to go fully context neutral and use xWOBA for WAR (and possibly also awards)? I can somehow understand james argument, if you consider other luck based factors on award votings (BABIP and HR/FB …) why not go fully context dependent and use leveraged stats? you would need to normalize for team strength but that shouldn’t be hard to do.

Travis Sawchik: I think award voting and player skill are two different things

Eno Sarris: old school, well titled

emlazar: What kind of market is out there for Stephen Piscotty?

Eno Sarris: I bet there’s a decent one among the rebuilders. He’s shown the ability to hit for power and the fly ball drop last year was not so precipitous that you can’t see it coming back.

BK: Judge or Altuve tonight?

Eno Sarris: Guessing Altuve, people going to talk about how well rounded he is.

emlazar: Could you see TOR or SEA targeting someone like Joc Pederson? What kind of a return would LAD be looking for?

Dave Cameron: Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Dave Cameron: Since it comes up from time to time, a book recommendation for others with toddlers: Ella and Penguin is our current favorite book. Definitely worth checking out. Dragons Love Tacos is a close second.

Dave Cameron: And on that note, let’s talk some baseball!

Ned Yost: I understand the hype behind Ohtani. But let’s be real: even the surest of sure things in baseball go bust. I haven’t seen one person even suggest there is any possibility that he turns into merely, say, a number 4 starter rather than a franchise changing mega-star. Listen, there is nothing wrong with being a number 4 starter! Nothing! That’s still a good outcome. But why does it seem like everyone has predetermined stardom for a kid who is coming off an injury riddled season in a completely different atmosphere in Japan?

Dave Cameron: Maybe we’re reading different things, but I haven’t seen anyone say there’s no risk here. People are talking about him passing up a $200M contract if he were a free agent; $200M free agents still come with downside, as J.D. Martinez currently illustrates.

Dave Cameron: Of course there’s a chance he’s not as good as the hype. I think there’s a real chance the two-way thing doesn’t work and he’s just a pitcher in a few years.

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

Beni and the Betts: Being a Red Sox fan, I can’t say I’m too upset with this, but it seems like Judge is being slighted in the MVP race, no? He leads Altuve in most relevant categories (both old fashioned and sabermetric) and yet most writers are acting like Altuve is a no doubter.  What say you?

Paul Swydan: I don’t think either of them are no doubters, but I would agree that the media narrative has landed on Altuve’s side. We’ll see Thursday I guess. I honestly don’t care either way.

Eric A Longenhagen: Hi everyone, give me like 2 min (I’m wrapping up a call about Cubs prospects)

Eric A Longenhagen: (sorry)

Eric A Longenhagen: Okay, thanks.

Eric A Longenhagen: The Cardinals list is up on the site (but you probably already knew that)

Eric A Longenhagen: Let’s begin

Bloop and a Blast: Any chance Senzel moves to MI in the MLB? My fantasy team needs a SS…..