Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to my Friday chat — my first solo chat of the 2022 regular season!

Jay Jaffe: First, some housekeeping: i’ve got a big piece today about this week’s rash of no-hit bids and their connection to the MLB-wide drop in offense. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/welcome-to-hitless-baseball/

Jay Jaffe: Second, the Hall of Fame dropped big news about another Era Committee reorganization right as I was filing that.

Jay Jaffe: I will cover this early next week, but for the moment it’s worth sharing that I confirmed with the Hall that yes, the four candidates who aged off this year’s ballot — Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, and Sosa — will be eligible for the 2023 Contemporary Players ballot.

Jay Jaffe: Finally, I’m going to go see some baseball nerd friends who are in a band — including Mike Petriello and Michael Clair — play a show in Brooklyn tonight. if you’re local, check it out

Jay Jaffe: Ok, on with the show

Dan Szymborski: April.

Nate: I know it’s still early, but are we starting to worry about Jared Kelenic again?

Dan Szymborski: April.

James: Can you give the devil’s advocate explanation for a lineup where Niko Goodrum bats third and Kyle Tucker 6th?

Dan Szymborski: A good one?

Dan Szymborski: No

Jay Jaffe: HAPPY OPENING DAY! And welcome to FanGraphs’ Opening Day chat

Jay Jaffe: Thrilled to be here, particularly in light of how bleak things looked regarding the start of the season just a few weeks ago. We’ve all made it through a very tough winter

Jay Jaffe: We’re gonna be clickety-clacking along this afternoon, starting with the Brewers-Cubs game. In the meantime, I’d like to pass along a quick message from Meg:

Harry Jerry: Just a note to say thanks for all the great content you all provide.  Really kept up quality work even through a pandemic and then a lockout.  You all are the best and I especially wanna say make Meg Rowley EIC For Life.

Jay Jaffe: Thank you for following along!

Wireless Joe Jackson: 38 degrees, windy, and a rain/snow mix in Minneapolis today.  Why did they schedule the game there instead of Seattle where there’s a roof?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! Welcome to the April 1 edition of my chat. This April fool is still recovering from having accidentally sent my mom’s birthday gift to my Brooklyn apartment instead of her Salt Lake City residence.

Jay Jaffe: In housekeeping news, my second entry in our Positional Power Rankings series went live this morning https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2022-positional-power-rankings-right-field…

Jay Jaffe: I also did first basemen https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2022-positional-power-rankings-first-base/. And before that I was visiting my folks and skiing (advance celebration for my mom’s 80th bday), which is why you haven’t seen much of me on the home page lately

Jay Jaffe: But… that’s about to change. I’ll cover the Pollock/Kimbrel trade for Monday — had to see it about 18 times before I was willing to concede it was real and not an April 1 conspiracy on the part of the industry’s newsbreakers.

Jay Jaffe: In other news, happy Jon Spencer and the Hitmakers release day to those celebrating! https://jonspencerthehitmakers.bandcamp.com/album/spencer-gets-it-lit

Jay Jaffe: And now, on with the show…

Dan Szymborski: Welcome to SzymChat! Now, we should have had baseball this week, but at least we’ll have it next Thursday instead of , say, nothing until 2023!

Fish: What’s for lunch?

Dan Szymborski: Probalby some leftover pizza.

Biscuit Barn: Daaaan !!!
How worried are you about Bellinger not being able to hit ?

Dan Szymborski: Quite. There were already reasons to be worried

Dan Szymborski: And while spring training doesn’t mean a LOT, Rosenheck showed some years ago that it means a LITTLE of something

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to my Friday chat! It’s a lovely day outside in Brooklyn and I’ve got spring baseball on my TV

Jay Jaffe: it’s been a busy week writing about transactions. Yesterday alone I wrote up the Kris Bryant deal (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/kris-bryants-enormous-payday-highlights-qu…) and the Zack Greinke/Mike Minor/Amir Garrett ones (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/zack-greinkes-return-to-kansas-city-headli…)

Jay Jaffe: and when I haven’t been covering transactions I’ve been burrowing into my Positional Power Rankings assignments. First up: first base, where you might have heard about a few transactions

>this guy<: Jay what is your favorite trade or signing since the lockout ended? and least fav?

Jay Jaffe: I don’t like anything about the Reds’ sequence of deals. Saw them as contenders for a Wild Card spot with a little TLC but they seem intent upon getting into the draft lottery.

Jay Jaffe: I’m not wild about the Rizzo signing by the Yankees but the projections for  him are stronger than my gut instinct. And I’m still not sure what to make of the Kris Bryant deal