Dave Cameron: With the trade deadline behind us, we’re back to regular old Wednesday chats. All your (non-fantasy) questions are welcome.

Dave Cameron: We’ll get started in about 10 minutes, but the queue is open now.

Comment From Cream
If you had to place a wager at this point, which teams do you go with in the WS?

Dave Cameron: Detroit and St. Louis.

Comment From Byrd is the Word
Think Bogaerts gets the call right before Sept so he can be on the playoff roster or is he just going to get a cup of coffee?

Dave Cameron: Anyone can be on the playoff roster. The injury replacement loophole allows for this every year. But yes, I think Bogaerts will be up sooner than later.

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

Join at least me tonight at 9 pm ET, and we’ll talk baseball. If you’re going to ask me about A-Rod, it better be a creative or funny question. Otherwise, get in any questions you have, and we’ll fire it up soon!

Paul Swydan: Let’s fire this up! Just me for now.

Comment From SonnyCheeba
What ever happened to the ADR defensive ratings?

Paul Swydan: Not sure. Posting this here for the Dark Overlord. I liked those as well.

Comment From Bob Melvin
Why does Cespedes not learn that all he is going to see is sliders away until he doesn’t swing at it?

Paul Swydan: Also not sure.

Resisting the urge to make a Pablo Cerrano joke.

Jeff Sullivan: Good heavens, I think we’re starting on time.

Jeff Sullivan: I better publicize that this is live now.

Comment From Eminor3rd
DELAY! We’ can;t start on time!

Jeff Sullivan: I am not prepared for this either!

Comment From Swing and a Miss Puiggy
Jeff Sullivan and the chat long Victory lap

Jeff Sullivan: I am amazed myself

Comment From DRW
Wendy — do we have information on how MLB will calculate the “50 games” for players who are in the minor leagues, where the seasons end in early September?

Wendy Thurm: Welcome all. Thanks for the questions. I’ll do my best to get you answers.

Wendy Thurm: MLB stated in its press release that all suspensions will begin immediately, even for minor league players, other than for Jordan Norberto, who is not currently signed with a team. Minor leaguers will serve suspensions via minor league games. If there aren’t enough minor league games this year to get to 50, the suspensions will roll over to 2014.

Comment From Guest
Is the moral of Biogenesis that the league is wasting a large amount of time and money testing 1000’s of players for PED’s numerous times every year?

Wendy Thurm: It can be frustrating to see this kind of situation years after the players and the league agreed to a rigorous testing program. A few things to remember. First, players aren’t tested every day. Second, the biochemistry of PEDs is often a step or two ahead of the testing. That doesn’t make the testing meaningless. It just means that some PED isn’t captured but current tests. Expect the testing regime and the punishments to be strengthened.

Comment From Kris
Could/should/will the MLB ban the Levinson’s/ACES from representing MLB players?

Dan Szymborski: Welcome to this Haphazardly Scheduled Special Edition of Dan Szymborskirama.

Comment From juan pierres mustache
BREAKING: Szymborski suspended through 2014 for Twitter hijinks.

Dan Szymborski: Dave just got the link up now (good reaction time, he did it within a minute of me emailing him)

Dan Szymborski: But right now there are only *10* live readers (usual is about 700-1000), so it may be slow for a few minutes.

Comment From NobodyBeatstheBiz
Mets: Top 10 rotation in August 2014?

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, add in Montero and Noah Syndarg…Synderga…Smith and it’s looking pretty sweet with Niese, Harvey, Wheeler

: We’ll get started in about 15 minutes… get your questions in!

Comment From leaping hurdles
Has Andrew Lambo slugged himself into the conversation as decent prospect again?

: Not really… he’s still somewhat young so he could perhaps provide some left-handed pop off the bench but he has little to no defensive value and some pretty big holes in his swing.

Comment From Mr. Wrestling IV
Is Sonny Gray destined to be a reliever?

: That was the concern early in his career and when he was in college but he’s made enough adjustments to suggest he could be an impact starter — as long as he can keep a good downward plane on his fastball.

Comment From Andrew
What do you make of the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks? Ceiling and floor?

Eno Sarris: Here at noon!

Eno Sarris: Lyrics of the day, cause it’s a bloodsport, this baseball thing:

Forty-eight thousand seats bleats
And roars for my memories of you
Now that I’m fully clean
The matador is no more and is dragged from view

Comment From person hscer
What’s an Oberholtzer?

Eno Sarris: “Head Wood” in German if we go literal, but that’s kinda gross. So let’s instead talk about his arsenal: three pitches, getting almost a K per inning in the minors, great control, not great velocity, homer and BABIP issues in the minors, pitching in the AL in a homer park. I’d leave him to the AL-onlies.

Comment From person hscer
The Nationals are 11 games behind the Braves. The Marlins are 10 games behind the Nationals.

Eno Sarris: Never one to fluff my own feathers, I’ll just point out that I picked the Bravos to win the division this year.

Dave Cameron: Welcome to the FanGraphs Trade Deadline Chat Extravaganza. I’ll be here from 12-1, followed by Jeff Sullivan, then Eno Sarris, then Carson Cistulli will take you to the trade deadline at 4:00. I’ll come back at 4:00 and hang out for a bit to wrap up all the straggler deals that wander in after the deadline.

Dave Cameron: Obviously, we’ll be mostly focused on trade reaction/speculations today, but if nothing happens, we’ll talk about other stuff too. This isn’t going to be a typical Q&A, and we’ll try to keep it more real time then playing catch up on a backloaded queue, but I’d guess we’ll sneak in some regular questions here and there as well.

Comment From Guest
Yesterday on Twitter someone (I think Bowden) mentioned that the Cardinals should pursue Chris Owings with DD blocking his way at the MLB level. If they could make this happen at the deadline without giving up Taveras, Martininez, or Wacha do you think it improves the team (significantly) in the short term and long term? Also, excluding those 3, what do you think it would take? Maybe a package of Joe Kelly and Kolten Wong for Owings and something?
P.S. Your piece on Lee yesterday was excellent.

Dave Cameron: I wouldn’t give up Kolton Wong for Chris Owings straight up. Terrible plate discipline, PCL power.

Comment From Rexel
Do the teams realise the deadline is today?

Dave Cameron: They also realize that you can make trades in August, especially with the kinds of role players that are available.

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

The perpetual rebel intellectuals – aka Jeff, me and maybe even Chris – will be here at 9 pm ET to talk trades, trades, TRADES, TRADES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get your questions in, and I’ll get up some sweet, sweet polls action (posted at bottom of transcript). See you soon!

Paul Swydan: Both of the acquisition polls should read “most impactful this season.” I only made that clear on one of them.

Chris Cwik: I’m ready to light this candle. Just waiting for Swydan

Paul Swydan: So, there MAY be a three-way trade tonight:

https://twitter.com/jcrasnick/status/362372652251348993

but there is DEFINITELY going to be some three-way chatting, because the menage a chat is back, BABY!

Comment From Guest
So is this one of those “Very special FG’s After Dark Chats” like those very special episodes of bad tv series of the 80’s and 90’s?

Paul Swydan: Yes. Yes it is.

Jeff Sullivan: Hey guys and welcome to this chat

Comment From JEB
Gasp…are you actually, on time?!

Jeff Sullivan: lol no

Jeff Sullivan: Let’s talk about baseball and the trade deadline!

Jeff Sullivan: Let’s not talk about fantasy baseball

Jeff Sullivan: And if you ask me for a ROS projection, and I tell you to go to FanGraphs, it’s because they have better ROS projections than my human brain does