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?

Dave Cameron: So, we’re 75 minutes from the deadline, and most of the big moves have probably already happened, but we’ll spend the next couple of hours live blogging the rest of the run up to 4 pm, and the spillover that happens after. Come hang out with us.

Dave Cameron: Alright, I’ve got the chat on one screen and Twitter on another, so let’s chat for a while.

Dave Cameron: Plan is to go for a few hours, but things could change depending on what breaks. if David Price gets moved, I’ll have to go write about that, so we’ll see.

Dave Cameron: And, as you guys probably guessed, the queue is very full. Please don’t be mad if your questions don’t get answered.

Paul Swydan: Dave, I heard we traded Cistulli and a package of interns to the Rays for David Price? True, false?

Dave Cameron: And we have news: Asdrubal Cabrera has been traded somewhere.

Eno Sarris: I’m here! Barely! Much reduced.

dub0badger:

Comment From Billy Beane
Lester for Cespedes? Who in the blue blazes saw that one coming?!?!? Overall thoughts on the blockbuster?

Eno Sarris: It’s crazy. I don’t think I like it. They have to score some, too, and I thought Cespedes — who might be slightly overvalued — was a good foil to Donaldson and Moss. I like going three deep in the middle.

Eno Sarris: Of course that rotation is pretty sweet now.

Comment From Bobo
Is giving up Taveras in a 14 team keeper where he will be $9 next year worth it for a 2 month rental of Madison Bumgarner? Need a pitching boost.

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. Deadline questions welcome too.

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

Neil Weinberg: Also, two points of business: 1) There is a gentleman fixing my car’s windshield, so at some point I will disappear in order to pay him. 2) I injured by right index finger over the weekend so my typing is a tad slower than usual. I’ll make up for both by chatting for a long time.

Comment From Chris
That’s what you get for parking behind Fenway.

Comment From Jobber
Did you injure your right finger in the same travisty that harmed your windshield?

Neil Weinberg: I now realize how alarming those two facts were side by side.

Neil Weinberg: And no, they were not the same incident. Burned my finger in a small grease fire, windshield was hit by a rock. Windshield is fixed…finger less so. Let’s chat!

Dave Cameron: The trade deadline is tomorrow, but the guess here is that we see most of the notable action today, as the teams in on Lester, Price, and Hamels will want to have time to pursue a Plan B. So we’ll chat for awhile, and maybe Lester will get moved while we’re talking.

Dave Cameron: The chat will start at noon, but the queue is now open.

Dave Cameron: Going to start a few minutes late.

Dave Cameron: Okay, sorry about that delay folks.

Dave Cameron: We’ll definitely go long to make up for it.

Comment From Sad Jays Fan
FanGraphs teamed up with Sporsnet.ca? Awesome! PS: For those that don’t know Rogers Communications owns Sportsnet as well as the Blue Jays. Hopefully the Blue Jays Front Office actually increases their Analytics staff from only two people now (AA went on record to in a Sportsnet.ca article earlier this season that the Jays have an analytics staff of two guys). Did Sportsnet approach Fangraphs or did Fangraphs approach Sportsnet?

Paul Swydan: You. Me. TRADES.

That’s right, it’s the penultimate night before the trade deadline, so let’s talk some trade rumors!!! Jeff will be off watching live baseball, so you have me all to yourselves tonight.

9 pm ET. See you soon!

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody! I’ve got the last can of Summer Shandy cracked and a queue full of questions, so let’s do this thing.

Comment From Pale Hose
Hey Paul. Is Jackie Bradley figuring things out, or just having a good month in a bad season?

Paul Swydan: I think we need to wait a little longer before we call this improvement.

Paul Swydan: The general tone of the media is always going to be positive wrt Bradley, because everyone likes him. But it’s one month with a 110 wRC+, and for the season he’s still at 70. I want to see more.

Comment From Andrew (Ontario, Canada)
Hey Paul – How beautifully would Beltre fit in the Jays lineup? Move Lawrie to 2nd when healthy, that would be a scary lineup. Would a Norris+Pompey+Barreto package get it done?

Jeff Sullivan: ALL RIGHT EVERYBODY LET’S CHATTTTTT

Jeff Sullivan: FANTASY QUESTIONS ARE FOR SUCKERS! NOT GONNA GET EM ANSWERED HERE

Jeff Sullivan: MARINERS QUESTIONS TEND TO BE DISPROPORTIONATELY REPRESENTED

Jeff Sullivan: I WILL WORK ON THAT

Comment From bsfgbbfhfghdhdhdghdgbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
IS THIS CAPS LOCK TUESDAY???

Jeff Sullivan: I’m finished

Nicholas Minnix: Good afternoon and good morning, baseball fans! I’ll be with you for a little more than an hour, beginning at the top of the hour upcoming!

Comment From Sad Jays Fan
Marcus Stroman as a starter: 61 IP, 2.21 ERA, K-BB% of 17.2%, 2.93 FIP, 3.28 xFIP. Thoughts on him ROS? Thoughts on his ceiling long term?

Nicholas Minnix: Like him, like him. ROS as a starter, maybe 3.50, 3.75, kinda like the systems have him. I don’t think his ceiling is much higher than what he’s doing now, but I think he can do this (a 3.25-3.75 type ERA, not 2.21) in multiple seasons, occasionally wow, occasionally disappoint. Very polished, smart guy.

Eno Sarris: I’ll be here shortly.

MrRastajohnny:

Eno Sarris: Toots is a madman.

Comment From Matt Damon
MATT. DAMON.

Comment From Hase Cheadley
Hi Eno. I’m in an AL-only league and wondering if you think Chase Headley turns out to be the best bat coming over from the NL at the deadline?

Eno Sarris: I don’t think a big bat will move into the AL. I guess the only one that might is Oscar Taveras, and in the short term… Chase Headley has a lifetime .286 BA and .446 slugging away from PetCo. Is OT a definite to surpass that in his first taste of the league, in a pitcher’s park like Tampa? I take the bird in hand.