august fagerstrom: hey guys! gonna be a few minutes late today but I’ll make up for it by chatting long

august fagerstrom: get those questions in, and I’ll be here shortly after noon EST

august fagerstrom: ok! I’ve now equipped myself with a reuben sandwich and am ready to chat. chat soundtrack is this live Fela Kuti recording:

Chad: Your thoughts on Low tier SP, Kyle Ryan, Shane Greene, and Steven Wright?

august fagerstrom: certainly isn’t a promising group, but out of the bunch I’ll take Greene, for the upside.

FTF: What would be your NL East favourite ?

Dan Szymborski: I see like the first 10 questions in the queue are off-topic. Saving most of them for the Lightning Round.

Guest: If the Astros do end up signing Gallardo, where would a rotation of

Guest: Where would a rotation of Keuchel/McHugh/McCullers/Fiers/Gallardo rotation rank in the AL if the Astros do indeed end up signing him?

Dan Szymborski: Ah, found the rest farther down.

Dan Szymborski: Not doing final ranks until we get closer to the season. I’m not high on Gallardo though so I can’t say it would be significant.

Dan Szymborski: There are some very scary trends in Gallardo’s line.

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: Uncharacteristically on time this week!

Jeff Sullivan: Don’t get used to it

Guest: You sell your house to bet on baseball: which team do you bet on to win the AL pennant?

Jeff Sullivan: Red Sox

Eno Sarris: I’ll be here in a few. Here’s a good song.

Eno Sarris:

vader: it’s time, it’s time!

Zorak: Kershaw is gonna be suuuuuuuuper expensive to keep this year, like $70 ($300 budget). But jeez man, he’s been my anchor! Do I really risk throwing him back and trying to get him at auction? I’m keeping Lester and Stroman as well.

Eno Sarris: Geez. Projections, WAR, everything has him as clearly the best pitcher. I’ve seen a $60 challenge bid from Lawr Michaels in an NL-only league that went unchallenged, and that was in a $260 budget. I think I’d throw him back, personally. What the most expensive pitcher last year?

Jake: Sup Eno

Dave Cameron: Alright, the queue is open. Feel free and get your questions in now.

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

MK: Interested in your thoughts on the Nats offseason, it seems they’ve done a lot of settling for second, third, and forth options.

Dave Cameron: I think that’s probably true. But that’s also a hallmark of a disciplined organization, to some degree; teams that decide they want a guy at any cost do things like trade the farm for Shelby Miller.

Drew: Inciarte, Teheran, and Markakis for Soler and Contreras. Who says no?

Dave Cameron: Both sides. Cubs don’t need Markakis, and Braves probably not looking to give up that much present talent.

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody! OK let’s do this thing.

The Dude of NY: Why was George Steinbrenner villainized for spending so much money on free agents, while Mike Ilitch is praised for it? Is it because the Tigers are lost money last year, but Ilitch is spending anyway?

Paul Swydan: Probably because Steinbrenner spent his money on bonafide stars and did it with a sneer on his face, while Ilitch spends his money on second tier guys and mostly stays in the shadows.

Jeff Zimmerman: I think the Steinbrenner issue was how much he out spent people. The Yankees are still outspending the Tigers.

Paul Swydan: That too.

Codes: What does Blanton in relief look like in 2016 for the Dodgers?

august fagerstrom: Good morning! And soon-to-be afternoon! As always, I’ll be back around the top of the hour to kick things off, so let’s start filling up the queue

august fagerstrom: Today’s chat soundtrack: Boards of Canada – Music Has the Right to Children

august fagerstrom: alright, let’s begin

Bork: Mike Ilitch seems crazy. As in spend all his money on the Tigers while he’s still alive crazy. It’s awesome right now, but further on down the line could it really hurt the Tigers financially?

Q-Ball: Wow, the Tigers are headed for a financial train wreck! But Ilitch can’t take it with him, and Detroit isn’t going to throw a parade to Mike Ilitch’s fiscal prudence. Are the Tigers Exhibit A in how an owner can drive strategy in ways that doesn’t always make long-term baseball sense?

august fagerstrom: These two go hand-in-hand

Dan Szymborski: Fritter away one of your remaining hours of existence in fancy-but-futile fashion! It’s the Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat!

Zonk: The most regrettable FA signings of the offseason might be the two made over the weekend. Do you think that’s the case?

Dan Szymborski: I think Davis is overpaid, but I don’t think that’s the big regret – the issue with Davis contract is more the O’s other issues.

Dan Szymborski: But Kennedy seems to be a source of possible regret

Dan Szymborski: There really aren’t many awful signings this winter.

NutButters: If I am Brian Ashman, should I try to convince Doug Fister to sign for 1 year as a swingman to attempt replacing Warren? If not, where does he end up?

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: As far as I know this is the only baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: Right now

j6takish: Fun Fact : Jeff, you once wrote about Christian Guzmans rookie season. David McCarty’s rookie season was also worth -3.1war but he did it in an astounding 98 games/471 PA. Wow!

Jeff Sullivan: Here’s to the bad ones!

Eno Sarris: I’ll be here shortly. In the meantime

Eno Sarris:

Eno Sarris: Hey you people.

Archie: With there still being buzz about the Rays moving a starter, what do you see Erasmo Ramirez’s role being in ’16? Thanks!

Eno Sarris: Mostly a starter, but I might project for 175 innings or something to reflect some of the risk that their young guys provide. If he gets moved to NL, great!

Jones: Does Braves interest in Cespedes make sense? There’s not a lot in the next few FA classes as far as offense, so maybe getting a big guy that that now makes sense for them.