Meg Rowley: Hi everyone! I’ll be getting started in just a few minutes here – just wrapped recording Effectively Wild and need to grab a seltzer.

Meg Rowley: And am returned, with a seltzer and some chips. Let’s chat!

Scotty: Meg…. hello

Meg Rowley: Hi there!

dude: Rank these OF for 2021; Arozarna, Teoscar, Carlson, JD Martinez, Laureano, Mountcastle, Winker.  Going to be thinking about who to prioritize as keepers and trade bait soon.

Meg Rowley: My name is Meg and I am once again going to ask you to direct fantasy questions to our fantasy writers, as they know what they’re talking about when it comes to fantasy, and I decidedly do not.

Dan Szymborski: Last Thursday, you got to eat turkey. THIS Thursday, you get to talk with a big turkey!

DJ Tanner: Is baseball the only sport where teams in the draft don’t always take the best player available? Like Heston Kjerstad goes second overall but only went there cause they got him under slot. But wouldn’t how much better Austin Martin (or others) is be worth the extra $1.8M?

Dan Szymborski: I can’t say anything about hockey, but the NBA and NFL have a mechanism that works against this sort of thing: trading draft picks.

Chris: Was it a mistake that the Indians ZIPS includes Yasiel Puig? Or did I miss a signing?

Dan Szymborski: IMA GONNA MAKE YOU READ THE ZiPS DISCLAIMER

Turk: The non-tenderpocalypse was very underwhelming.

Chris: You’re back!?!

Bb: M-Ro is in da house!

Meg Rowley: Friends, I am indeed returned.

Meg Rowley: I appreciate your patience with my absence, but I should be able to be back in the mostly regular swing of things from now on.

Drew: Was the “flood” of coming non-tenders perhaps overestimated? Many of the bigger question marks such as Pham, Gray and Sanchez all seem on their way to tenders, and with the exception of Rosario so far no big profile name has surprised me much

Meg Rowley: I don’t think we can really gauge it yet. Outside of Rosario, you’re right that no big names have revealed themselves yet, but given the general uptick in non-tenders over the last few pandemic free years, I don’t imagine cost conscious teams are going to be suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of payroll generosity.

Dan Szymborski: Hello peoples!

Dbo: Happy Thanksgiving! Make sure to tell your family that lasagna is in fact a casserole

Dan Szymborski: I haven’t given much thought

Dbo: Dan, what do you put the Cubs odds of getting Theo Epstein at?

Dan Szymborski: Low considering he just left!

Pedro: If you were Preller, how would you go about replacing Clevinger?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to my hastily-assembled chat. With my wife on a conference call and the outdoor weather tolerable, I went out to lunch and sat down for tacos and tostadas, then realized at 1:55 PM that hey, it’s that time of the week. Anyway…

Jay Jaffe: I launched my Hall of Fame series on Monday to coincide with the BBWAA’s ballot release https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-big-questions-about-the-2021-bbwaa-hal… and posted my updated Scott Rolen profile today https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jaws-and-the-2021-hall-of-fame-ballot-scot…

Jay Jaffe: and there was also this, which, if you were among those who chimed in with kind words, thanks!  

Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: Is there a historical comp for the dumpster fire that is the La Russa hiring?

Jay Jaffe: Two come to mind. In November 2004 the Diamondbacks hired Wally Backman to manage before discovering that he had been arrested twice, once for a domestic incident with his wife, and once for a DUI; additionally, he had filed for bankruptcy. https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=1916771

Jay Jaffe: And then, of course, last fall the Mets hired Carlos Beltrán, but parted ways with him in January, before he could set foot in the dugout due to his central role in the Astros’ illegal sign-stealing scheme https://blogs.fangraphs.com/out-before-reaching-home-carlos-beltran-ex…