Craig Edwards: Hello all.

Craig Edwards: Jeff Sullivan is either here or will be here soon as well.

Craig Edwards:

BOBBBBY: Will Jason Heyward ever start a game this series?

Craig Edwards: If he didn’t start the first two games, not sure what would change the situation for the rest of the series. He’s a defensive replacement at this point.

Craig Edwards:

Dave Cameron: Happy Wednesday, everyone. Probably a happier one if you’re a Cleveland fan.

Dave Cameron: Let’s talk some World Series, or if your team is already out of it, we can work in some offseason stuff too.

Guest: What are your thoughts on last nights game? As a Cubs fan, even with a loss I saw a lot of optimism there, more specifically vs Miller. Obviously upset with a loss, but I was more mad in the LA shutouts.

Dave Cameron: Yeah, if you’re the Cubs, I think you’re fine with last night. Miller is spent, Schwarber looked good, and you’re not going to keep giving bombs to Roberto Perez all series. You just look at that one, say they needed it more, and realize you’re now in a great position to take the next two.

Baller Status: The Coghlan/Heyward decision got me thinking about hot streaks/slumps. This doesn’t really exactly apply here, because Coughlan wasn’t hitting that great. But if a guy like Heyward has looked lost recently, and if another player seemed to be really locked in, would that sway your decision on who to play? Even if their projections were similar or even slightly lower for the player who was on a hot streak?

Dave Cameron: Hot streaks have been extensively studied, and they basically have no real predictive value. Which is to say we can’t identify ahead of time when a hot streak is over.

Dave Cameron: Welcome to the World Series!

Dave Cameron: This should be a fun series.

Dave Cameron: Let’s start with a poll.

Dave Cameron:

Bork: I love that they used the Imperial March when the Cubs came in. Because when I think of evil baseball empires, the Cubs are the first team that comes to mind.

Kevin: When napoli got announced it felt like it was about the 6th time he was in the world series… turns out its only 3 but with 3 different teams so still impressive

august fagerstrom: hello!

august fagerstrom: World Series chat!

august fagerstrom: I went to bed at 5AM last night!

august fagerstrom: get those questions in and I’ll kick things off about 5 after

august fagerstrom: Chat soundtrack: Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

august fagerstrom: alright, let’s just get it going now

Eric A Longenhagen: Hey everyone. I’m at Sloan Park in Mesa for BP. I’ll probably hold tight to an hour today to grab a seat. I’ll try to hustle through as many questions as possible…

Greg: I know you raved about Demeritte defensively. Have you seen any improvement offensively out in Arizona, or any reason to believe he can be an offensive contributor in the future?

Eric A Longenhagen: His approach remains over-aggressive.

Keith, Farmington, CT: Thanks Eric. Heard a report that Yoan Moncada’s infield defense is atrocious enough that Boston needs to move him to the outfield in the spring. Is that fair? Too harsh?

Eric A Longenhagen: He’s so new to 3B that you have to excuse most of the hiccups at this point. I’ve seen enough promising footwork to be optimistic of his future at 3B.

John: What is Kolby Allards Floor/Ceiling?

Jeff Sullivan: Well geez everybody

Jeff Sullivan: Let’s Friday baseball chat

Bork: Hello, friend!

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friend

TBJESE: Jon Lester is so weird!

Jeff Sullivan: In entirely unusual ways he has to be the most awesome player in baseball to overanalyze

Eno Sarris: this is not a comment on any baseball player or team, I just like this song

Art Vandelay: Well, I lost my first shipment beer in the four years I’ve been trading. Unfortunately, it was a bottle of Ensorcelled I picked up for my brother-in-law! Even more strange is that fedex repacked all the other beers and sent them back to me!

Eno Sarris: That is super strange!

Buck Saltwater: Should the Jays offer a QO to Saunders?

Eno Sarris: Yes.

Not Ryan Merritt: World Series odds currently on Playoff Odds page:

Dodgers – 35.4%
Indians – 32.9%
Cubs – 31.7%

Even if the Indians are the underdogs to both the Dodgers and Cubs, shouldn’t they be a little closer to 50%?

Dave Cameron: Happy Wednesday, everyone. Who else is excited to see the guy with Jerry Blevins fastball start against the Blue Jays today?

Dave Cameron: Let’s chat about the playoffs, or if your team is out of it, the coming offseason.

@outfieldgrass24: Dave, thanks for the chat and welcome to Oregon! Are you surprised the D-backs were able to pull off the Hazen move? Also, loved your piece yesterday. Which of the two paths you described would you be most inclined to go down?

Dave Cameron: Not that surprised; as much talk as there was about people not wanting to take that job, there are still only 30 guys in the game who get to make the final call on baseball ops decisions, and people want those jobs. Hazen had no path to that job in Boston, given that Dombrowski isn’t going anywhere, and I think the evidence is growing at this point that the guys who stuck around under Dombrowski didn’t feel all that welcome. Since DD got to Boston, they’ve now lost a good chunk of the high ranking guys who initially stuck around.

Dave Cameron: In terms of what I think Arizona will do this winter, I think they’ll take a conservative path. I imagine he’ll try to rebuild the bullpen, improve the defense, and look for depth pieces, but I think they’ll push the big “blow it up” decision down the road a year.

Greg: As a Braves fan, watching Javy Baez break out this season reminded me of multiple Cubs writers reporting that a Baez-for-Shelby Miller swap was close last offseason. Seeing how it played out and the return Atlanta eventually got for him, would you rather have Baez or the haul from Arizona?

Paul Swydan: Hi everyone! So sorry I lost track of time!

Suzanne2: Can you make a Jays fan feel better about the team’s future?

Paul Swydan: Well, yeah, what’s wrong with the team’s future? They have a good front office, and good players under contract for the future. The whole rotation comes back intact, and low-salaried players like Devon Travis and Roberto Osuna are still there. They still have good bones.

adam: in the parallel universe that this series goes 7 games, would you start andrew miller in game 7?

Paul Swydan: No, I want to keep him for higher leverage situations. You start him, and he can only go 2-3 innings, which means you’re really sweating the last 6-7 innings.

Pete: What would you do if you were Mike Hazen? Blow up the roster and do a total rebuild or try to do some tweaks and keep trying with the same core?

august fagerstrom: hello!

august fagerstrom: I now have bagels, so I am ready to begin the chat

Bork: Hello, friend!

august fagerstrom: hello, Bork!

Bork: Is Bauer done for the off-season? That finger looked naaaaaaaaasty.

august fagerstrom: well, if the Indians advance, they wouldn’t *need* Bauer until Game 3 of the World Series, which is on October 28