Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! Welcome to my first chat of 2022. We’ve got a few inches of snow in Brooklyn from last night but against the odds, the kiddo is in school for the first time since December 17, the last time I chatted.

Jay Jaffe: Today I’ve got my third entry from among the one-and-done candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot, Ryan Howard https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jaws-and-the-2022-hall-of-fame-ballot-ryan…

Jay Jaffe: this completes a trilogy of first basemen who won the Home Run Derby and made several All-Star teams before their careers were indelibly altered by injuries. Prince Fielder (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jaws-and-the-2022-hall-of-fame-ballot-prin…) and Justin Morneau (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jaws-and-the-2022-hall-of-fame-ballot-prin…) preceded Howard. The explainer for my actual Hall of Fame ballot, which went into the mail on December 30, is here: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jay-jaffes-2022-hall-of-fame-ballot/

Jay Jaffe: Anyhoo, there’s not a lot going on besides Hall stuff given the lockout, so that will be the primary focus of this chat

TomBruno23: How can the wrong of Willie Davis never appearing on a ballot be righted?

Jay Jaffe: He’d be a candidate for the Golden Days Era Committee ballot, and the good news is that a whole lot of space just opened up there, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Past HOF ballot results probably play too big an impact in determining who gets first crack at making those ballots.

Zoned: Who has a better chance to exceed their zips projection in your opinion, Enrique Hernandez or DJ Lemahieu?

Dan Szymborski: Probably DJ as ZiPS is pretty bullish on Kiké

Dan Szymborski: Oh, and hello, and welcome to 2022!

BlueJayMatt: How does ZiPS see Matt Chapman’s offense next year? Is he a target for Toronto to fill the 3B hole?

Dan Szymborski: Cheating to try and see the projection early!

Dalton Wilcox: How does ZiPs like Cubs prospect Richard Gallardo? 90+ above average innings in A ball at 19 with a maybe 55% GB rate and 7-8% BB rate

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to my Friday chat. This is my first one since the end of the World Series, but also my last one for calendar 2021, a situation that owes mainly to the volume of coverage on my Hall of Fame beat.

Jay Jaffe: Anyway, we’re in the midst of a lockout, which sucks, but we have plenty to discuss today. Before we do, I’ll call attention to today’s entry in my HOF profile series, Bobby Abreu, who makes for a nice palate-cleanser after my Bonds/Clemens/Sosa/Schilling clearinghouse post and then my update on the Omar Vizquel situation(s). https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jaws-and-the-2022-hall-of-fame-ballot-bobb…

Jay Jaffe: Also landing today is the podcast spot I did with David Laurila in which we discussed our Hall of Fame ballot coping strategies https://blogs.fangraphs.com/fangraphs-audio-jay-jaffe-and-david-lauril…

Jay Jaffe: Anywhoo, there are a good number of questions in the queue, so on with the show…

Justin B: Hi Jay, I have been loving all the extra HOF coverage this year. Thanks for your diligent work! My question is about anonymous HOF voters. I read a suggestion a couple years ago that some might work for newspapers that don’t allow their writers to vote, but who want to anyway. Do you have any sense whether there are many such voters, or do you think most anonymous voters simply want to avoid ballot criticism?

Jay Jaffe: I think it has more to do with the latter, not wanting the criticism. If anything, in the last couple of years I’ve heard from some voters that they wish their outlets wouldn’t let them vote, and/or express relief that they’re not allowed to. I doubt there are many actively subverting their employers

Dan Szymborski: And it’s chat time!

Alex: Should the Giants trade for Juan Soto?

Dan Szymborski: Well, yeah, but in the sense that everybody should want to.

Dan Szymborski: Good luck, though!

Joe: What is the outlook on Gleyber Torres going forward? The power can’t be completely gone, can it?

Dan Szymborski: He’s too young and talented to give up on, but the last 1.37 seasons should make you extremely worried