: Happy Friday… We’ll get started in about 15 minutes so get your prospect and general baseball questions in now!

Comment From greg
carson cistulli, drop or keep?

: Keeper all the way. He’s the life of every party…

Comment From LarryA
If all goes great, when could we see Glasnow in the Majors, mid-2015?

: That sounds about right, assuming he stays healthy and continues on the same development path.

Comment From Tripp
Do you see Jonathan Schoop ever becoming an impact player for the O’s?

Eno Sarris: Top of the hour!

Eno Sarris: lyrics of the day from a band I liked from the opening sounds of this song

Hey, what’s the matter? Nothing’s the matter.
That’s why I can’t leave my house.
You must get lonely. No. I don’t get lonely. So…
That’s why I can’t leave my house.
Well… Head into the city? Well, I guess it can’t hurt.
Nothing’s on the television. On the networks.

Comment From Jeremy
In a dynasty: Choo and Rendon or E5?

Eno Sarris: E5 even if he doesn’t have the long-term upside. I saw some behind the scenes decline in Choo’s numbers last year and he’s not the most athletic guy.

Comment From Bkgeneral
Will Matt Kemp provide any value this year? Or will he play just enough to tempt me to put him the lineup and then continue to disappoint as he has all season?

Eno Sarris: I think he’ll play every day fairly soon. They’ll need him to be hitting on all cylinders in the postseason, and the time off for his ankle probably helped his shoulder some.

Dave Cameron: We’ll be starting just as soon as I hit publish on this piece explaining some of the features of our new Playoff Odds page. The queue is now open.

Comment From Guest
how is the going rate of a win on the open market calculated?

Dave Cameron: We use projected values from forecasting systems like ZIPS and Steamer along with aging curves to create a forecast number of wins over the length of the contract. So, say you’re signing Jacoby Ellsbury for 7/150 this winter, and over the next seven years, Ellsbury is projected to accumulate 25 WAR. The contract would pay him an average of $6M per win over that span.

Comment From Smell the Glove
Can someone please explain Jed Gyorko? Crazy 2nd half, including going from decent-to-good BB% his whole professional career to a 1.6% in the 2nd half.

Dave Cameron: 2nd half is, what, 150 plate appearances? Things happen in small samples.

Comment From GSon
Excited to see how Taijuan Walker does in his first ML start on Friday?

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

Jeff and I will be coming at you live at 9 pm ET. Until then, read my take on Khris Davis, Jeff’s take on Matt Harvey, and pepper the queue with questions.

See you soon!

Jeff Zimmerman: I am working on an article about what I call “leaners” (maybe there is already a name). It looks at players who have a majority of their HBP happen in X-2 counts. Are there any known “leaners” you know of?

Paul Swydan: DEREK. JETER.

Paul Swydan: Sorry, the hate still flows strongly within me, I suppose. Anyway, let’s get this started.

Like we always do about this time.

Paul Swydan: But yeah, let Jeff know in the comments.

Comment From Sgt. Pepper
Is Carlos Quentin too obvious?

Jeff Sullivan: And now this is happening.

Comment From bdhudson
whoa, on time….

Jeff Sullivan: I am. You guys aren’t.

Jeff Sullivan: So hello there everybody. Let’s talk about Allen Craig and his batting splits, because that should occupy an hour or so!

Comment From Kris
How big of a nonstory is the Astros turning a profit?

Jeff Sullivan: On a scale from 1-10, it’s a 5 non-story. We don’t actually know the real true numbers, and of course the Astros are making money with a payroll of 11 cents.

: I’m all set up on the back deck of my house so we’ll get started in about 10-15 minutes…

Comment From zack
Who should the Mariners build around: Smoak or Montero?

: Of those two players, I’d lean more towards Smoak but I’m not sure if either player is a guy you’d want to build your club around… I’d wait and see if Franklin or Miller can be that guy… or some dude named Zunino, when he’s healthy.

Comment From Keeper? I hardly know her
What do you think of Zimmer, Syndergaard, and Stephenson? Is there a standout of the pack?

: All 3 are pretty impressive… I ranked all three of them in July: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fangraphs-2013-mid-season-top-50-prospects/

Comment From Andrew
Do you think Avisail Garcia will live up to the “Little Miggy” nickname? Thanks.

Eno Sarris: see you at the top of the hour!

Eno Sarris: lyrics o day, will be easy for some, so let’s all not google it.

Oh, Elizabeth, don’t keep me guessin’, I opened up the door and saw you undressin’. The words came out, one after another.

Comment From bdhudson
Least favorite ballpark?

Eno Sarris: Could be Anaheim, if you’ve been following along on Twitter. Lego/hospital ribbed plastic floors, strip mall food stands with stickers for signs, bad beer, bad food, fake rocks in center field. o.Co gave me food poisoning and has food problems, but at least you can find a Lagunitas anywhere in stadium.

Eno Sarris: (Shea and Fulton County Stadium, and Candlestick were all horrid)

Comment From jeff
Mike Napoli droppable in 10-team? Gattis, Ramos, Martin, Chooch available

Dave Cameron: It’s Wednesday, so let’s spend an hour or so talking baseball.

Dave Cameron: The queue is now open, and we’ll start up around noon.

Comment From Patrick
Have you ever seen a worse defensive OF than what the Phillies have fielded this month?

Dave Cameron: A few years back, the Twins had Cuddyer in center, flanked by Delmon Young and someone else who was just as bad. The Mariners OF defense this year is also horrendous.

Comment From T
X * RA9-WAR + Y * FIP-WAR = “True WAR”

What is your best guess for X and Y?

Dave Cameron: Probably something like 30/70. This is a question we’ve pondered a lot, and whenever someone figures out how to fill in the missing variables, pitcher WAR will take a significant step forward.

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

Well, it’s here. It’s FINALLY HERE!!!! Xander Bogaerts makes his glorious major league debut in all of its gloriousity, and we’ll be here to talk about it tonight at 9 pm ET.

You get in some questions and I’ll get up some polls. See you soon! (Polls at bottom of transcript)

Paul Swydan: One sec guys.

Jeff Zimmerman: Some shameless self promotion. Comparing Season playoff chances to game playoff chances: http://www.royalsreview.com/2013/8/20/4639768/converting-playoff-odds-to-a-game-win-expectancy

Paul Swydan: Boom. Alright, let’s do this.

Comment From Eddie Gaedel
On a scale of 1-10, how much do you love saying Salazar?

Paul Swydan: I’ll give it a 6. Six and a half maybe.