august fagerstrom: hi all! we’ll get this thing started shortly after noon EST

august fagerstrom: soundtrack: The White Stripes – White Blood Cells

august fagerstrom: let’s begin!@

The Dude of NY: After reading your Gallardo article, would you say, as of now, the White Sox are the most star-and-scrub team in baseball?

august fagerstrom: them or the Angels

Bork: Is this where we talk about the big Leafs/Sens deal???

Dan Szymborski: Boom.

Zonk: Is Peyton Manning the greatest football player of all time?

Dan Szymborski: Sorry, I gotta go with Montana.

curious: What types of player generally gets big differences between Steamer and Zips, and why? In which cases should we lean toward one projection or the other?

Dan Szymborski: Honestly, I haven’t found a clear pattern one way or the other. There will be some differences at times, but it doesn’t appear to come down to a matter of player *type*

Dan Szymborski: I would keep in mind both systems and simply be aware when there is disagreement.

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Let’s baseball chat until we stop

Jeff Sullivan: or drop

Alex: If both careers ended right now, whose would you rather have, Tim Lincecum or Buster Posey? 2x Cy Young,2 other top 10 finishes, and 3x WS winner, vs RoY, 1x Comeback, 1x Hank Aaron, 2x Silver Slugger, 1x MVP, and 3x WS winner?

Jeff Sullivan: I think I’d rather have Posey’s, for a variety of reasons, including how his career in this example would’ve ended abruptly whereas Lincecum has trailed off

Jeff Sullivan: Posey hasn’t shown signs of weakness or decline, while we’ve watched Lincecum disappear into almost nothing. Granted! I’m very interested to see what Lincecum is in 2016, since there’s some chance his hip surgery will restore his stuff. Stay tuned!

Eno Sarris: Until I get here, listen to what my three-year-old calls robot music

Eno Sarris:

Bork: I WAS ONCE LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ENO

Eno Sarris: Bork/d

Minty : Last year you seemed to be a big fan of Berrios. How would you rank Giolito, Berrios, and Urias for this year, next 3?

Eno Sarris: In that order

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody! Let’s do this.

Paul Swydan: Jeff will be along momentarily.

Cwsoxfan: Ethier and Hernandez for Avi and Danks. (LAD love old LHP?)

Paul Swydan: You’re dreaming. Garcia and Danks are both terrible.

Sean: How much playing time will Refsnyder get in the majors this year? Is defensive issues the main problem with an early call up?

Paul Swydan: We have him at 105 PA right now. I think a lot will depend on how well Castro takes to second/the AL. http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=9#2B

august fagerstrom: it’s February!

august fagerstrom: we’ll chat at noon

august fagerstrom: chat soundtrack: Pixies – Come On Pilgrim

august fagerstrom: and then probably also Surfer Rosa because Come on Pilgrim is so short but damn if that’s not one of the best EP’s ever

Joe in GA: Are you the prospect guy or just the weird name guy? I forget.

august fagerstrom: weird name guy only

Dan Szymborski: And so it begins.

Dan Szymborski: OH GOD THERES NO QUESTION QUEUE I’M SCARED

Matt: How was your weekend?

Dan Szymborski: Sleepy. I ate way too many cookies Friday.

The Dude of NY: Why does ZiPS project K/9 rather than K%?

Dan Szymborski: ZiPS doesn’t explicitly project K/9 or K%. Probably easier for Cistulli to calculate since I don’t give him TBF in the base readout.

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to baseball chat

Joe G: Does it make sense for ChiSox to sign Desmond and play him at SS until Anderson is ready? Afterward moving him to OF?

Jeff Sullivan: White Sox are a definite fit to me. Them and the Diamondbacks are both obvious. And the White Sox might not even need to worry about moving Desmond for Anderson — could just end up a short-term arrangement

Bork: Since the Rockies FO is obviously reading FG for advice. What should their next move be? To get a new FO?

Jeff Sullivan: I’m not convinced the FO is the problem. From what I’ve heard, what I’ve read, and from my interactions, the group is sharp enough. They’re just dealing with a unique situation and ownership that hasn’t made choosing a direction very easy

Eno Sarris: we have the love here, or at least we will, shortly.

Eno Sarris:

Chad: Will Shane Greene get a chance to start again?

Eno Sarris: Mike Pelfrey is currently their fifth starter. Yes.

the eno, the one, the matrix: eno time –

Chad: Does Sean Nolin get the #5 spot in the A’s rotation?

Dave Cameron: Okay, the queue is pretty full, so let’s get this thing going.

Alex: Don’t the Braves feel like a natural fit for Corey Dickerson? Tons of pitching prospect in the Atlanta system, and the Braves are desperate for young, controllable hitters.

Dave Cameron: Dickerson doesn’t strike me as their kind of player, honestly. I’d imagine if they’re going to give up arms, they’d rather do it for a guy with more upside.

Tripping Olney: Did you read Buster Olney’s article, where he basically said that your article on teams tanking is way off base, and everyone within the industry thinks it’s a serious problem?

Dave Cameron: I did not. I did read the numerous messages I got from people within the industry thanking me for the piece I wrote on Monday, though, so I’m pretty sure not everyone in the industry thinks its a serious problem.

Bubba: Mets or Nats? Do you think it’ll be a close race?