Dan Szymborski: Sorry I was slightly late, was finishing up my yearly trade dictator piece.

Kyle: Hey Dan! With Manfred staying on as commissioner thru another round of CBA negotiations, do you think we are headed toward another lockout? Missed games in 2027?

Dan Szymborski: I suspect we always were headed towards a less than smooth CBA after this one expires, but way too soon to tell if it results in missed games.

Dan Szymborski: On a fundamental level, the things that players are really unhappy about really haven’t changed all that much.

Dan Szymborski: Luxury tax threshold still grow slower than inflation and slower than MLB’s revenue growth.

Takao: Bryce Miller for Jonathan India – which team says no?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! Welcome to the last July edition of my FanGraphs chat

Jay Jaffe: I’m back from an exhilarating and exhausting Hall of Fame Induction Weekend in Cooperstown

Jay Jaffe:

Jay Jaffe: Had a blast there, got to do some pretty fun stuff!

Jay Jaffe: Back here on earth, the second installment of this year’s Replacement Level Killers is up, covering second basemen https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2023-replacement-level-killers-second-…

Jay Jaffe: The series began on Thursday https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2023-replacement-level-killers-introdu…

Ben Clemens: Good morning. Let’s get started.

171: Wow, Ben waking up to do a chat at 7 am local time. The dedication! Love this guy!

Ben Clemens: I’m leaving for a brief vacation today so I actually insisted on it

Jacob: Kinda a trade value q, do you think buxton will ever figure it out again or is he cooked

Ben Clemens: Man, I happened to catch a lot of his at-bats in this week’s Twins/Mariners series, and he’s clearly compromised right now

Ben Clemens: I think they need to try to get him healthy, he could play a long time like this and not figure it out

Dan Szymborski: https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/e86a78a7-713d-4d6b-8a93-4fad86923866

bk: Dan, how does ZiPS like Orelvis Martinez moving forward after his breakout season this year (so far)?

Dan Szymborski: Martinez is back to pretty much where his projection was – ZiPS was already aggressive with him

Dan Szymborski: His projection really fell off in the earl going, but he’s been much better last couple months

Kyle: Outside of the big names being thrown around (Ohtani/Soto) which players that will be available at the deadline do you think would best help the Phillies?

Dan Szymborski: Outside of the big names, it gets unimpressive quickly!

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks!

Jay Jaffe: Welcome to my first chat of the second half of the 2023 season

Jay Jaffe: I’ve got Hall of Fame on the brain after writing a four-part series on the active players making progress towards Cooperstown. Part IV just went live, covering relievers https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cooperstown-notebook-the-2023-progress-rep…

Jay Jaffe: Yesterday’s Part III addressed Ohtani and starting pitchers https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cooperstown-notebook-the-2023-progress-rep…

Jay Jaffe: Part II was shortstops and outfielders https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cooperstown-notebook-the-2023-progress-rep… and Part I catchers and the three bases https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cooperstown-notebook-the-2023-progress-rep…

Kyle B: Hey Jay! Over the all star break we heard a ton of talk about the new CBA and started hearing whispers about the next one….do you think we are staring down another lockout in 2026? Possibly missed games in 2027?

Eric A Longenhagen: Howdy howdy howdy

Eric A Longenhagen: Howdy from the fourth platform of Lumen Field’s Media Row.

Eric A Longenhagen: The power went out on the media platform so we’ll see how this goes. Luckily the wifi is working (sorta)

Eric A Longenhagen: Some links for you: final mock 2023 Mock Draft 2.0: The Day Of (Just Names) | FanGraphs Baseball

Eric A Longenhagen: Pushed slightly updated rankings, as well. The Board | FanGraphs Baseball

Ryan: Hi Eric! How are you today?

Dan Szymborski: Let’s slowly get this party started!

Dan Szymborski: Very slowly – I was late to set up the chat

Dan Szymborski: because I was over at mom’s because she incompetently broke her outside faucet and I had to go over there and fix it

Dan Szymborski: and it was *really* incompetent. She literally turned one of the handles until it fell off and then basically took the whole thing apart

Guest: If you could build a pitcher in a lab what’s their handedness, arm slot, and 3 pitch mix (spinrates or break measurement optional)? Fastball sits 93-95.

Dan Szymborski: Is this for aesthetics or optimization?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! I’m back from my annual foray to Cape Cod and at my usual battle station for the Tuesday chat.

Jay Jaffe: I just published a piece on Jordan Walker’s latest hitting streak and what’s changed (and hasn’t) since his return from Triple-A. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jordan-walker-tries-to-get-off-the-ground/

Jay Jaffe: Yesterday, I took a look at the debut of the Padres’ Matt Waldron, the first pitcher to throw a knuckleball in a major league game since Mickey Jannis in 2021 https://blogs.fangraphs.com/matt-waldron-brought-the-knuckleball-back-…

Jay Jaffe: Current listening: Sparks, since I’m seeing them at the Beacon Theater tonight.

Jay Jaffe: And now, on with the show

babbganoush: Thoughts on Manoah getting shelled by 17 yo kids?