Dan Szymborski: It’s chat time!

James: Half of the Astros current rotation is basically guys picked up off the scrap heap. Is their performance sustainable and do any of them have middle rotation potential going forward?

Dan Szymborski: This is something the Astros are really good at, though. And really, most of the rotation is just averageish, which is sustainable. Brown and Valdez being good really carries the group and there’s no reason to be suspicious

Galen: If the Twins decide to sell pieces off. What would you expect the market for Buxton and/or Correa to be?  Buxton would have to wave his no trade, but I think he might if they are out of the WC race at the deadline.

Dan Szymborski: I’d expect Buxton, if actually tradeable, would fetch a good price. Correa’s been kind of meh, so I don’t think the Twins would get a nice return if they’re not eating money

Dansby Swansong: Dan, what are the major issues with the expected lockout after the 2026 season?

Jay Jaffe: Howdy, folks! Welcome to another edition of my weekly chat! It’s a grey day in Brooklyn as we’re amid a week of rainy weather, and I’ve got the occasional sounds of workers demolishing our rotting backyard deck right outside my window (https://bsky.app/profile/jayjaffe.bsky.social/post/3lrst55laqs2y).

Jay Jaffe: Yesterday I wrote about Cole Ragans’ rotator cuff strain and the state of the Royals’ rotation https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-royals-have-lost-cole-ragans-for-awhil…

Jay Jaffe: Today I’ve got a piece on Jo Adell that should be published sometime during this chat. He had a dreadful March/April but has been very good since the start of May, and especially good in June.

Matt VW: Do you think the Devers trade would have still been there in two weeks? As a Red Sox fan, I hate the deal but would have to concede that the timing of it made it feel even worse than it was.

Jay Jaffe: Good question. This deal is a noteworthy exception to my recent declaration about how few substantial trades happen in May or June, with everybody looking to the deadline. I’ve seen conflicting reports about the extent to which the Red Sox tried to trade Devers — how many teams they spoke to besides the Giants. Given the underwhelming return, it sure doesn’t feel as though they dealt him to the highest bidder, and they’d have gotten more for him at a higher-leverage period in late July. Then again, this trade appears to be primarily about dumping his salary and sending a my-way-or-the-highway message to the impressionable youths in the Red Sox clubhouse.

Jay Jaffe: I don’t think there would have been much harm for the Sox in waiting at least until the end of June, but if they had continued winning, they might have talked themselves out of it. This way they get to look like hardasses, which as we know is the most important part of being a baseball executive.

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from dangerously hot Tempe, where I am coffee’ing at the kitchen island getting ready to work on Red Sox and Twins lists while prepping for the Combine.

Eric A Longenhagen: FOr those who missed it, please go read the Rangers list:

Eric A Longenhagen: Texas Rangers Top 45 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball

Eric A Longenhagen: And the Mariners list: Seattle Mariners Top 29 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball

Ken: Has Jack Perkins’ performance so far in Vegas moved the needle for you at all in terms of how you view his ability to remain a starting pitcher?

Eric A Longenhagen: Yes. Ran into him last week as I was working on Mariners and he carved. Physicality looks like he’ll be able to handle it even if he isn’t the most efficient strike thrower. Let’s keep in mind, though, that he’s looked like this (sitting 95-96 t98, plus slider, strikes) for like five weeks, six weeks? It’s not as strong a look as if he’d been doing it since April.

Dan Szymborski: Of all the writers how cover baseball, Dan is one of them!

RockiesFanGirl: Dan, you have a better sense of this than most, but this is a serious question: What can be done to fix the Colorado Rockies?

Dan Szymborski: I really think you either need new ownership or a change in approach from the current one to give the front office the resources they need to modernize the front office completely.

Dan Szymborski: There *are* people in the organization who are trying to modernize the organization, but they also need support and leeway.

Old MLB: With your 47th birthday coming up, who do you think among current major leaguers has the best chance to still be in the MLB at age 47? I guess Rich Hill has an outside shot but he largely looks cooked, and I don’t think Verlander or Carlos Santana are likely to last that long, so is it actually someone young with projectable long term skills like Soto? The plate discipline and power should still be in full swing a decade from now, but two decades is a crazy amount of time to project

Dan Szymborski: I think a reliever is most likely, maybe someone like Kirby Yates who doesn’t blow away batters anyway