Jeff Sullivan: I can’t believe it’s a chat

Jeff Sullivan: I can’t believe it’s a chat for all of us!

Jeff Sullivan: Don’t ask bad fantasy questions! Nobody cares and I don’t care!

Comment From Jake
Carlos Ruiz’ ROS wRC+ projection: 109. That feel high to you?

Jeff Sullivan: He has a 110 wRC+ right now

Comment From Fish
The Royals! The Mariners! The Orioles! Wow!

Dan Szymborski: And awwwwwaaaaaaay we go!

Dan Szymborski: (No presidents again, I just got back home and just haven’t had the time to get it ready)

Comment From Mike
BJ upton joke

Dan Szymborski: It’s like we’ve used up all the B.J. Upton jokes that are possible to make. So all we can do now is just say “B.J. Upton joke” and skip the actual joke.

Comment From Xolo
Thoughts on Preller calling up Rymer Liriano as his first order of business in San Diego?

Dan Szymborski: It’s a good move – the Padres should try to see as much of him as quickly as possible and he killed in his brief AAA visit

Nicholas Minnix: Hello, folks! Fire away, and I’ll be with you at the top of the hour.

Comment From Jolly Roger
In the second year of a rebuild (dynasty) with good depth and potential if not production at every position, but I’m looking to concentrate value a bit more. Thinking of offering Belt, Arenado, and Gio Gonzalez for Rizzo. Other guy has Chris Johnson and Chisenhall at 3B, and his pitching staff is Samardzija and a bunch of OK to good prospects. Sound like a fair deal?

Nicholas Minnix: Sounds like a fair OFFER, sure. I’d like to come up with Rizzo at 1B in a keeper/dynasty if I could.

Comment From Jack
Would you drop Maikel Franco for Jake Lamb in a dynasty league? Who has the brighter future? Thanks!

Eno Sarris: hello! let’s start with a bang.

MystikalVEVO:

Comment From Astroglide
Ben Paulsen aquitted himself nicely while filling in for Morneau. Between him and Kyle Parker, who do you think has the better shot at being the Rockies future 1B and why? Thanks.

Eno Sarris: Kyle Parker because of age at level. Can’t forget that Paulsen is already 26.

Comment From Darth Stout
Is Bryce Harper your 2014 fantasy baseball LVP?

Eno Sarris: There’s still time to hit a few homers and improve the line, but yeah he’s been underwhelming.

Neil Weinberg: Hey everyone, let me remind you of the guidelines.

My job here is primarily to serve as something of a Site Educator. This means that I’m responsible for providing resources to readers about our data, advanced metrics, and how to make use of the features available at the site.

My Twitter handle is @NeilWeinberg44 and if you want to get in touch about these kinds of questions at times other than 3pm on Wednesdays, that’s where to find me. It’s my job, so take advantage of it.

With that said, I will prioritize “how does this work?” and “what does this mean?” type questions during the chats, but feel free to ask regular questions about anything as well. Although if you’re here for fantasy advice or prospect talk, I’m probably less helpful than some of our writers.

Think that’s it, queue is open and we’ll start at 3pm!

Neil Weinberg: Also, I’ve observed that people really like seeing pictures of Dave’s dog, so I am shamelessly posting a picture of my dog in the name of both science and friendship.

:

Neil Weinberg: Alright, let’s chat. If you’re new to the game, I’ll chat for at least an hour, but will happily go two+ if you pepper the queue with many excellent questions.

Comment From Pale Hose
Hi Neil. I have a couple questions on HR/FB. 1.) Are all HRs defined as fly balls? 2.) Does FB include IFFB? 3.) Would HR/(FB + LD – IFFB) make more sense? Thanks!

Neil Weinberg: 1) No. 2) Yes. 3) Not really. At least for the way I think about the stat. I think you could make the case that the stat you’re proposing is interesting, but a lot of line drives are 15 feet off the ground and that’s not what we typically care about with HR/FB%

Dave Cameron: It’s Wednesday, so let’s talk baseball for an hour or so.

Dave Cameron: The queue is now open and we’ll start in about 15 minutes.

Comment From Darth Stout
It’s Wednesday, so let’s talk Javier Baez for an hour or so.

Dave Cameron: The Alfonso Soriano comparison feels lazy, but also feels pretty accurate. Hope you enjoyed the Soriano experience the first time, Cubs fans, because you might just get it again.

Comment From Stanatee the Manatee
Apparently the Cards and John Lackey have come to some kind of unofficial agreement about his option for next season. Am I correct in assuming it’ll a 1 or 2 year deal at or slightly above market value to make up for being underpaid for one season?

Dave Cameron: Lackey said after the trade that he will honor the $500,000 option because he likes STL. He also noted he wouldn’t have done that for every city. I still wouldn’t be too surprised if STL made that option go away with a two year deal for real money.

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

I’ll be here at 9 pm ET to answer all of your base-and-or-ball questions. Jeff may be as well, I’m not sure, I forgot to ask him if he was available tonight. But either way, I’ll never leave you, faithful chatter!

See you soon!

Paul Swydan: Hi peoples

Paul Swydan: Let’s do this.

Paul Swydan: I never saw Jeff online, so I’m guessing he’s not going to be around tonight.

Comment From JV
How awesome is Jordan Zimmermann? He seems like another Wainwright to me. He is better than Sonny Gray, right?

Paul Swydan: Hmmmm…

Jeff Sullivan: Now’s as good a time as any to baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: So let’s begin to baseball chat!

Jeff Sullivan: Usual thing about fantasy questions, etc.

Comment From Edward
Fluke season for Michael Brantley or has he figured something out?

Jeff Sullivan: I believe in the power gain. Doubt he’s going to be a long-term five-win player, but he was always average before he improved so he looks like a good one for a while

Comment From Kris
Cubs go after Lester pr Max? or a year too early?

Dan Szymborski: And we are live.

Dan Szymborski: I’m not at home at the moment, so no election today.

Dan Szymborski: (and I have to strictly stick to 1 PM today)

Comment From Guest
With the Mets having one of the best farm systems in the league after the Twins Cubs and ‘stros, and the rest of the NL East teams having below average at best farm systems, can you forsee any time in the near future where the Mets run away with the division every year, or is that just every Met fans fantasy?

Dan Szymborski: I know I’ve talked about this before, but I’m a big fan of the Mets future, simply because they have so many of the necessary elements right there.

Dan Szymborski: The issue is ownership and on-field management.

Nicholas Minnix: Hello, everyone! Happy August. Looking forward to answering some questions. Be with you at the top of the hour!

Nicholas Minnix: Apologize for the delay because of the erroneous code post, folks! Be with you shortly!

Comment From Elias
Thoughts on Kennys Vargas and Anthony Ranaudo?