Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

Guest: If The Avengers were a baseball team, who would play where, what would their WAR be?

Paul Swydan: Oh my gosh, I’ve thought about writing this up before.

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning, everyone. Let me tweet a link to this thing and we’ll get started.

Eric A Longenhagen: Okay, just a heads up that my Diamond Mind draft is currently going on. If I step away for a minute it’s because I’m aggressively trying to move up.

Eric A Longenhagen: Also, Cubs prospect list is done and being edited so expect that in a day or so. Brewers are next. That system is fun.

JimLindeman15: Have you scouted Jordan Hicks, RHP in the Cardinal organization? If so, thoughts? Made two League Top 10 lists, but doesn’t crack anyone’s Cardinal Top 10-20 lists.

Eric A Longenhagen: I haven’t seen him but it’s 90-93, will show you 95 and it comes in at kind of a funky angle. Flashes above average slider. Good body, delivery is okay. He’s a solid prospect, 45 FV type of arm.

DR: How much does age of a player factor into your draft ranking? Looks like more and more HS players are 19+ at the draft. Do teams discount for age?

Travis Sawchik: Greetings, everyone. Welcome to Episode No. 2 of the Sawchik Chat…. Long way to go to catch up to EW podcast.

mtsw: Are we, savvy baseball fans, really meant to believe Jose Bautista is turning down bigger offers to return to Toronto? These “better offers” seem about as real as your middle school buddy’s Canadian girlfriend.

Travis Sawchik: Players, of course, generally take the best offer, so I doubt Bautista would take a lesser offer to remain in TOR. As Dave Cameron wrote last week, it appears the market for Bautista-types has over-corrected

Justino: What can you tell me about Trevor Clifton?

Travis Sawchik: If the Cubs begin to develop pitching, if more arms take jumps like Clifton did in ’16, then the rich get a whole lot richer. The Cubs have not developed much of their own pitching to date, one of the few weak areas

Travis Sawchik: I can also tell you it appears Clifton had his number retired:

Jeff Sullivan: All right, everybody, let’s baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: I’m fresh off two and a half weeks away, and I’m writing to you with a fever, but let’s see how this goes anyhow!

Jeff Sullivan: Oh, I forgot. Hello friends!

Bork: Hello, friend!

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friend

Wayne : If Atlanta has a dreadful 1st half do they consider moving any core pieces like Freeman, Teheran, or Ender?

Eno Sarris: love this, all of it

Sterling Malory Chris Archer: Eno, my dear Eno, I’m hungover today. Make me laugh.

Eno Sarris: oh you think I’m a clown, funny like a clown, funny ha-ha?

Ryan: Who’s a better bullpen arm next season: Greg Holland or Joe Blanton?

Eno Sarris: Floor for Blanton, ceiling for Holland. If I liked my closer, I’d get Blanton.

BL27: what to expect about Miguel Sano in 2017 ? 35 HR – 90 RBI ?

Dan Szymborski: MAKE CHAT GO NOW

Dan Szymborski: Like start, I’m not demanding you guys leave.

Dan Szymborski: Also, Carson had the chat originally set to go at noon in a vile attempt to undermine me from the start so that he can get the upper hand, so some of the questions were submitted hours ago.

Terry: What is the likely ceiling for Jurickson Profar?

Dan Szymborski: He still has a fairly high ceiling, but the prob of *reaching* it is lower than it used to be. He’s still very talented but he’s lost a lot of time.

Wren: Robert Gsellman or Lucas Giolito and why?

CamdenWarehouse: How has the response to the Ad Free Membership been?

Dave Cameron: Really good. We continue to be really happy with how the community has responded, both to our basic membership and our ad-free option. We look forward to being around for a long time, and you guys are helping make that possible. A sincere thank you to everyone who has joined.

NatsFan: Two questions:

1) Are the Nats the best possible fit for Chris Coghlan? (Lefthanded insurance for Werth and Zimmerman while also being middle infield depth)

2) Is this the first time you’ve thought about Chris Coghlan this offseason?

Dave Cameron: I think Seth Smith was the best fit, but Brandon Moss would work too. Not sure you want Coghlan playing 2B much anymore.

Dave Cameron: And yes, I had forgotten he existed until 15 seconds ago.

The Average Sports Fan: If the Rockies are really a contender. Don’t they make the most sense for Archer? Missing bats seems like the best way to survive in Coors.

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan:

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

Hank: Do you see the Angels signing a reliever? If so who? A low cost veteran?Setup Guy?Lefty?

Paul Swydan: They probably need to sign one of all of those types of people.

Los: As a Pats fan, are you completely overlooking the Texans and are you rooting for the Steelers or Chiefs?

Eric A Longenhagen: Hi everyone. There’s actual baseball being played here in AZ this week, rejoice rejoice.

Eric A Longenhagen: Oh, the Pirates list is done and being edited, I’d expect that tomorrow.

Eric A Longenhagen: Let’s begin

Owen: Dylan Cease: SP or RP?

Eric A Longenhagen: SP until he proves he can’t do it. I like the progression he’s shown since returning from TJ, less violent delivery, better fastball and curveball control.

Zonk: Is there something Mark Zagunis can do to get more interesting for you as a prospect guru?

Travis Sawchik: Welcome to my FanGraphs debut chat, everyone. I am sipping a generic seltzer water from Aldi and I am ready to go …

Matt: Aaron Nola? Thoughts? Does the UCL sprain concern you at all? At peak, is he anything more than a mid-rotation guy?

Travis Sawchik: The UCL sprain is obviously concerning, though Tanaka has been just fine having not had surgery to correct the issue … Nola has done really well controlling what he can control: K/9, BB/9, GB% and he might have more upside than that of a mid-rotations arm, 2017 is going to be interesting for him,

Guest: Why aren’t there more MLB players from Taiwan? All those kids who throw 75 in the LLWS and nobody grows up?

Travis Sawchik: Interesting question. In general, I’m surprised more MLB teams do not commit more scouts to Asia. Some teams have one scouting roaming an area where much of the world’s population resides …. There could be some undervalued markets remaining there.

BranBran: Greinke seems to be ranked around SP20 territory this preseason. That seems high for someone unusable in home starts, no?