Eric A Longenhagen: Okay, believe we are ready to go here. Thanks for coming, everyone.

Tommy N.: Hypothetically if the Padres acquired Ohtani would this elevate them into the best farm system in your opinion?

Xolo: If the Padres land Ohtani, do they have the best farm system in baseball?

Nolan: If the Padres manage to sign Ohtani, does that change their long-term plan at all? Should they still be looking to trade guys like Hand or Solarte, or should they start to consider going after controllable MLB talent? Yelich comes to mind, and they certainly have the prospects.

Go Go Gadget Hamate Bone: True or Flase: Adding Ohtani to the Padres gives them the best farm system in the game.

Eric A Longenhagen: We could have a philosophical debate about whether you even include Ohtani on a prospect list, but yeah off the top of my head I’d say adding Sho gives them the top system. You could argue they have the top two prospects in baseball at that point.

Travis Sawchik: Greetings!

Travis Sawchik: Looks like there was some issue with the queue prior to the start of the chat almost certainly my fault

Travis Sawchik: My apologies. Let’s talk ..

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Is it shocking to you that Alex Rodriguez is currently more popular than Derek Jeter?

Travis Sawchik: ARod’s turnaround as an analyst is a great comeback story

Travis Sawchik: I suspect he’s going to have a better run as an analyst than Jeter will as an executive

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: We either have very much or very little to discuss. I don’t know

The Average Sports Fan: Are the Phillies in a position to make a couple small-medium adds and be a wildcard contender?

Jeff Sullivan: I don’t think so, not yet. I see how the core could be forming, but they’d need huge seasons from, say, Hoskins, Crawford, and Altherr or something. And they’d need more than just Nola in the rotation

Jeff Sullivan: I think that 80 wins would be a greatly successful season. Sights set on 2019

Eno Sarris: dedicated to Giancarlo Stanton, this is how much I got on his contract

Xolo: Please tell me why signing Hosmer isn’t a terrible idea for the Padres.

Eno Sarris: Can’t imagine why it *would* be a good idea.

Hannah Hochevar: At this point I’d be sad if the O’s resign Chris Tillman but also sad if they don’t resign Chris Tillman. What’s a fan to do?

Eno Sarris: Be sad, I guess.

CubFan: With the Cubs saying they are willing to use Ohtani in the OF as well as pitching how much have they improved their chances of landing him?

Dan Szymborski: It begins.

The Average Sports Fan: Is Piscotty a real trade piece?  Does his contract help or hurt?

Dan Szymborski: After his 2017, it probably hurts a bit.  I don’t think he’s a real trade piece at this moment.

Nate: Give us a hypothetical return if the Giants trade Bumgarner this winter, pretty please?

Dan Szymborski: Given two years, I think he’d land a top 20 prospect and a second somewhere in the top 100 and some lotto tickets.

Ubaldo Jimenez: Should the Orioles resign me to a 100 million dollar contract?

Dave Cameron: Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Dave Cameron: I’m gettting a little bit of a late start today, but we’ll fire this thing up in a couple of minutes.

Andrew : Will Stanton be traded by the Winter Meetings and too what Team?

Dave Cameron: Since we’re dealing with a guy who has never run a team before, it’s hard to know what Jeter is going to do.

Dave Cameron: My guess is the teams that are interested will eventually tell the Marlins that they’re moving on if they don’t get an answer.

Dave Cameron: And I wouldn’t be shocked if that happened next week.

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

Paul Swydan: Just me tonight. Jeff is out of pocket.

MattyB: Does Keynan Middleton have a reasonable shot at taking over the Angels’ closer role during the 2018 season?

Paul Swydan: His chances probably depend on 1) can he cure his home run problems? and 2) Who gets hurt in front of him. But certainly not impossible.

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