Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon and beware the Ides of September. As I wait for the queue to fill up, here’s the first look at MLB’s freshly-announced playoff schedule:

Jay Jaffe:

Jay Jaffe: This might be too much baseball:

Jay Jaffe: Note that after the so-called Wild Card round, which will be played at the sites of each league’s top four seeds, the rest of the games will be at neutral sites, hence no Dodgers in Dodger Stadium, etc.

Jay Jaffe: Because ties will be settled in the most exciting way of all — mathematically — this year’s Team Entropy is a bit less chaotic than the past, but I hope still helpful in explaining how this playoff format works. Here’s the NL picture https://blogs.fangraphs.com/team-entropy-2020-more-like-un-tropy-right…

Jay Jaffe: and the AL: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/team-entropy-2020-the-pecking-order/

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning, let’s dive right into it.

Eric A Longenhagen: ah, let me tweet a link i guess….

Matt: How would you rank: Tatis, Acuna, Bellinger, Soto going forward? Ignoring contracts

Eric A Longenhagen: the way you have them listed.

Philip: I know teams are especially secretive about what’s going on in alternate site but have you heard anything that would make you change a prospects ranking in either direction?

Eric A Longenhagen: Some. I moved up Rafael Marchan based on how he’s looked in camp, but I’ve seen that on video myself which is why I felt comfortable moving him already. Other teams video from the camp wasn’t published like Philly’s has been which means any opinions coming from camp are from the team in question, which should be heavily scrutinized because of their incentive to say their players are good.

Dan Szymborski: Let’s get this party* started!

Dan Szymborski: Disclaimer: There may not be an actual party

Travis: SSS or has Acuña taken the next step?

Dan Szymborski: I’m optimistic. Dude’s 22!

Dan Szymborski: Especially amazing given where he was after the first week

Peter Thomas: What do we think about Zach Davies? .248 ERA, 4.29 xFIP, 4.28 SIERA

Dan Szymborski: It is a time to chat!

Dan Szymborski: The chat is now!

Dan Szymborski: Now is the chat.

Fan Graphs Suck Up: Where can I get my ” I Know Who Dan Szymborski is and I am a Better Person For It”   T- Shirt?

Dan Szymborski: I’m just happy that there’s a Dan Szymborski character on a TV show! (Young & the Restless). I don’t need a Dan Szymborski t-shirt empire.

B: There are few things I love more than daytime baseball

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to the post-trade deadline edition of my weekly chat. While I wait for the queue to fill up, a bit of housekeeping:

Jay Jaffe: Here’s Craig Edwards on trade deadline winners and losers: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-trade-deadline-winners-losers-and-a-fe…

Jay Jaffe: Here’s Eric Longenhagen on the prospects traded: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/ranking-the-prospects-traded-during-the-20…

Jay Jaffe: Here’s my contribution to our coverage:

A’s Add to Rotation While Rangers Get Comparatively Minor Return
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/as-add-to-rotation-while-rangers-get-compa…

Phillies Upgrade Battered Bullpen with Phelps https://blogs.fangraphs.com/phillies-upgrade-battered-bullpen-with-phe…

Mets Add Three Players at Deadline, Though 2020 Impact Could Be Minimal
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mets-add-three-players-at-deadline-though-…

Jay Jaffe: And now, on with the show…

JJ: The Padres currently have 2.6 more WAR from their position players than the Dodgers and just 0.6 less WAR from their staff. They just added Clevinger. How tight is the gap in the west?

Dan Szymborski: And welcome to the last SzymChat of August and the first-half of the season?

Dan Szymborski: “half” lol

RMR: White Sox second in BaseRuns.  Are they actually like really good?

Dan Szymborski: I think they’re a good team! The highs are very good. There’s a lot to like in the starting lineup except for RF

Dan Szymborski: EE still could get going

Dan Szymborski: And Danny Medwick has made things interesting!