Dan Szymborski: I’m here, sorry, got caught up in Hulk Hogan news!

Justin: Hi Dan, what is it about someone like Brandon Marsh that allows him to consistently have a high BABIP?

Dan Szymborski: Solidly above average speed, while he’s not a grounder machine, he hits a lot of *hard* grounders

Mitchell: Seems every article on deadline trade candidates includes Ryan McMahon. I get the guy packs a good glove, but he hits like a second division 2nd baseman, and that’s playing half his games in Denver. Why do we think he’s a desirable asset for a team trying to win?

Dan Szymborski: Theres’ the hope he got his crap together after an AWFUL April. He’s actually been solid since

Ryan: What lower level prospects are you intrigued by who no one is talking about?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks!

Jay Jaffe: It’s been a few weeks since my last chat. I missed one because of vacation, another because of the All-Star game, and last week at this time, I was sweating bullets because my Mac Mini, which I bought in late 2018, finally bit the dust to the point that its indicator light was flashing a Morse code S-O-S.

Jay Jaffe: Fortunately, I was prepared for this — had scoped out which model I was buying and was backing up my work like it’s my religion (I use Time Machine for on-site and BackBlaze for off-site). So I was up and running within 27 hours and didn’t miss a day of work. Anyway…

Jay Jaffe: Today is D(backs) Day at FanGraphs, in that Michael Baumann and I have done a point/counterpoint regarding whether Arizona should sell or buy at the July 31 trade deadline. My take just went up https://blogs.fangraphs.com/point-the-diamondbacks-should-sell-at-the-…, Michael’s will be along at 12:30, and David Laurila spoke to Merrill Kelly, one of their big trade targets, for another piece https://blogs.fangraphs.com/merrill-kelly-is-a-trade-target-who-thrive…

Jay Jaffe: Yesterday the D-backs popped up in my Worst Defenses Among Contenders roundup https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-worst-team-defenses-among-contenders-2…

Jay Jaffe: And last week was my Replacement Level Killer series, which begins here https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2025-replacement-level-killers-introdu… and covers 6 installments.

Eric A Longenhagen: Hello one and all from Battery Avenue in Marieta for our live draft chat.

Eric A Longenhagen: Meg and I walked from the hotel here and both were sweating profusely. I told her that her hair looks fine.

Eric A Longenhagen: My mock just went up. It sounds like Washington is still negotiating, however.

Eric A Longenhagen: In case you missed it, my final rankings are live:

Eric A Longenhagen: The Board | FanGraphs Baseball

Eric A Longenhagen: Here is the mock

Dan Szymborski: Sorry, took me some time to get in!

Tacoby Bellsbury: What is your favorite portdanteau?

Dan Szymborski: Dang, I know I have some but I can’t think of them!

Dan Szymborski: I did once describe the feeling of getting mad at Hall of Fame voters for not voting for deserving players as Blylevengeance.

Dk: What do you see the Mets doing at the deadline?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think they’ll go CRAZY, but they may add some depth, especially to rotation

Dan Szymborski: It’s time for a Szymborski chat
The man is sarcastic and fat
He’ll zing with a smirk
and plug his own work
and pretend that ZiPS WAR is a fact

Guest: Do we need a better way of calculating free agent contracts? Devers contract may be underwater but I would rather pay devers 8 240 (what’s rest on his contract) than vlad 14 500 or whatever insane number Kyle Ticker is going to get. Seems like a Devers would be the cheapest way to get talent / WAR on your team

Dan Szymborski: It’s complicated philosophically!

Dan Szymborski: And we tend to go through cycles. There’s a period where teams spend a lot and then there’s regret and everyone starts getting stingy for a year or two

Endy Chavez: Is Brandon Nimmo intentionally trading walks for home runs? Should he trade back?

Dan Szymborski: Honestly, his swing rate bump is fairly small, I’m not sure sure how conscious a decision is made

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folk! Greetings from Wellfleet, where I’m on my annual family (semi) vacation

Jay Jaffe: This is my working week up here, which kicked off with my tribute to the late Dave Parker, who sadly passed away less than a month before his Hall of Fame induction https://blogs.fangraphs.com/remembering-the-cobra-dave-parker-1951-202…

Jay Jaffe: I don’t think you have to be a strong proponent of Parker’s HOF case to feel the sadness that comes with the timing of his death. I’m glad he experienced the outpouring of joy, appreciation and love that came with the news of his election.

Jay Jaffe: I’m working on my annual midseason look at the best team defenses, and will have something on Clayton Kershaw’s run for 3,000 strikeouts later this week as well.

Jay Jaffe: Planning to take in a Cape Cod League game sometime after the 4th

Jay Jaffe: anyway, on with the show