Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe, everyone. Probably gonna hold things tight to an hour so I can split for some minor league ST action. Also, I get vaccine dose #2 today, so I’m two weeks away from making some very rash decisions. Look forward to seeing you out there.

Philip: Target date for the Padres list?

Eric A Longenhagen: Nationals early next week, then I start with the Northwest Valley Teams (SD, KC, TEX, SEA), which are the clubs I’ve been sitting on during the co-op and early minor league ST here in AZ. I’d guess the Mariners or Padres are first out of the gate since I expect there will be less movement there

Mike: Hey Eric – how concerning is Rocker’s decreased velo? It’s been a handful of starts now. If the velo just doesn’t come back (at least not before the draft), what’s his outlook?

Eric A Longenhagen: I’d bet he still goes somewhere in the top 10 if it doesn’t rebound. Rocker in the low-90s is still better than most of the other first round college arms. Maybe he’d slide past Madden but that feels like it. It’s not like Hoglund has a huge arm or anything.

Matt: When is your first scheduled mock draft?

Meg Rowley: Hi everyone! Allow me to fetch a seltzer and then we’ll get underway.

Sad, Confused Marlins Fan: Huge baseball fan and I just heard about this Atlantic League. Can you give me a atlantic league for dummies ? 🙂

Meg Rowley: Not a dummy – there’s a lot to know, but for your purposes, it is probably good to start with this piece on the most recent round of experimentation MLB is going to do there (they’re an MLB partner league): https://theathletic.com/2518208/2021/04/14/moving-the-mound-the-double… and how past players there have felt about testing other rule changes there: https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/07/25/baseball-rule-changes-atlantic-leagu…

Meg Rowley: Jay Jaffe will have more for you tomorrow!

Sammy So-so: Corey Kluber looks to my admittedly non-scout eyes like he might be cooked, but Jameson Taillon seems to still have something left in the tank even if the results aren’t there yet. But what does science say, Meg? Thanks!

Meg Rowley: There was always risk with Kluber given the injuries and the dipping velo (which he should be able to survive without given the strength of the cutter and curve but there is a limit to these things), and the early going here hasn’t been particularly encouraging but of course it is three starts (though, three brief starts!). Taillon I think you should be mostly encouraged by. Tony wrote a nice thing about him and Brent Honeywell Jr. that’s worth checking out: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/for-two-al-east-pitchers-results-arent-imp…

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! Welcome to my first official chat of the 2021 regular season.

Jay Jaffe: I’m pleased to report that I’m freshly vaccinated with my second shot, but I have to admit that while I wasn’t feeling any negative effects when I set this chat in motion about 90 minutes ago, the mere act of going to pick up my lunch seems to have set off some wobbly legs and general fatigue. Gonna try to power through this for as long as I can, but you might want to have the bullpen ready.

Jay Jaffe: I was up late playing beat-the-clock to finish this piece on Fernando Valenzuela and the 40th anniversary of Fernandomania before my symptoms kicked in https://blogs.fangraphs.com/remembering-fernandomania-40-years-later/. Remarkably, in 20 years of writing about baseball, I had never written more than a few hundred words at a time on one of my all-time favorite players.

Jay Jaffe: anyway, on with the show

Mike Trout: I am inevitable

Jay Jaffe:

Dan Szymborski: April!

Dan Szymborski: April.

LFC Mike: The over/under for the answer  “It’s April” has been set at 5 and a half for this first chat after a week of baseball. And now….the man you would let punch you in the face and then give you his autograph….Heeeeeeeere’s  DAN…

Dan Szymborski: Aprilteen

Guest: FYI – the current link on the homepage for this chat 404’s

Dan Szymborski: Should be working now!

Dave: Are you available to hit for the Cubs?

Meg Rowley: I have to chat!

Meg Rowley: Sorry, Cubs! Also, hello all, and welcome to the chat. Let’s get going here.

Saul: 6 games in, what are your way-too-early takes for the season

Meg Rowley: That it’s very cool to see Yermín Mercedes doing this, and that despite the risk and it perhaps not being the totally optimal way to use him, I hope Shohei Ohtani is healthy enough to justify him doing the two-way thing all season.

Meg Rowley: Really groundbreaking stuff, I know.

Kevin Goldstein: Hey everyone. We have baseball! Real games! Stats! Data! Video! Fights! All sorts of fun stuff. Let’s get to the questions….

Kevin Goldstein: It’s 2% of the season. No real conclusions to be made. Obviously Oakland had a horrendous weekend, but would you be shocked if they were over .500 in a couple of weeks? I wouldn’t. Some teams looked great like the Phillies and Astros, and some looked like dogcrap, like Oakland and Boston. Feel like it’s too early to get super excited or pessimistic until somewhere towards the end of the month.

Larry: Would Jud Fabian be better off opting out of the draft and going back to Florida for another year?

Kevin Goldstein: No. He’ll get picked and get paid, just not as much as he expected in say February. I wrote about his swing and miss issues in the first week of the season, and it hasn’t gone away. Last I looked he was the NCAA leader in whiffs. It’s a real concern, but he does have tools.

workermonkey: what’s it finally going to take to get rid of local market tv blackout restrictions for baseball?

Kevin Goldstein: RSNs generate an enormous chunk of revenue for teams, and as long as that’s the case, and it will be for quite some time, this isn’t going to change.

Kevin Goldstein: FanGraph After Dark in full effect! Good evening everyone!

Dodger Fan: I am very excited to watch Lucas Giolito face this Angels lineup.

Kevin Goldstein: You should be excited to see him face any lineup, no?

Eric A Longenhagen: Howdy from Phoenix Muni. I’m here to see Chase Silseth and will also be popping in and out of here.

P: This gap in live games seems like an oversite by MLB on opening day. Couple this with the fact that I couldn’t stream my team from the office and It kinda feels like MLB just can’t get out of it’s own way getting it’s product to the people. I know this is a broken record at this point by man, for a day we are all hyped for, the flaw is just so obvious.

Kevin Goldstein: I mean, hard to blame MLB for the Nats’ COVID issues.

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! Welcome to the 2021 baseball season and this, our Opening Day marathon chat.

Kevin Goldstein: Hi everyone, Jay is starting with the Yankees/Jays, while I’m sticking to my Midwest roots with Indians/Tigers in the SNOW.

Jay Jaffe: I’ll be joined here by Kevin Goldstein and David Laurila for the first leg of today’s action, and other colleagues will take the ball as the day (and night) continues.

JT in Town: For Kev – obviously everyone’s going to ask you about your time with the Astros from now until forever, so here goes – what’s the funniest/quirkiest thing you can remember from past Opening Days during your time with the team? Any kind of  superstitions or just general oddness? And I’ll hang up and listen.

Kevin Goldstein: I wish I had a good one, but I only think I did one Opening Day in Houston. I was a player evaluator and I didn’t live in Houston. I remember spending Opening Days watching college and high school games and I remember spending Opening Day night watching a amazing low-budget MLB whip around like show in my hotel in the Dominican. I wish I could get that channel here.

Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: Oh boy, every team will play today!