Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon and happy new year! It’s been awhile since I got into a rhythm with these chats, so it’s good to be back at it. Hope you all  had a nice holiday break.

stever20: when do you think the Donaldson saga is over?

Jay Jaffe: It sounds like it’s nearing the finish line given that there are apparently multiple 4-year offers out there. I’d imagine we get resolution in the next week

Thank you for the chat!: Would Bryant make sense for the Yanks? Some return around Andujar, Frazier, Deivi, or similar players?

Jay Jaffe: So much of Bryant’s value depends upon the outcome of the grievance and whether he has two years of control remaining instead of one. in the abstract, he’d obviously be a nice upgrade for the Yankees, but how much talent they give up for him hinges upon that decision, which will probably (but not definitely) go against him

Ernie Pantusso: Does Josh Donaldson have a path to the Hall of Fame? Injuries and the fact that he was such a late bloomer will keep his counting stats low, but he’s already met the 7-year JAWS peak standard and has a shot at the career standard since he’s still putting up 6 WAR seasons, plus he’s got an MVP in his pocket. Seems like an interesting case

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from brisk Tempe and Happy New Year, everyone. Hope you had a nice holiday. The 2020 scouting schedule begins in a few weeks here in AZ, so I’m very excited. Let’s talk about some stuff…

I don’t know: Help a debate. Is Yoshi Tsutsugo a prospect?

Eric A Longenhagen: He’s a *rookie* and you could argue we should slot him on the Rays list somewhere because of that. He’s going to be tough to FV since FV is mapped to one’s WAR during the years of team control, which for most everyone we evaluate means six-ish years. If we do that for Yoshi, that certainly encompasses his decline phase, unless perhaps we just do the length of his contract. We haven’t totally settled on it yet but there are problems with dropping him on a list.

Dusty: New year, new opportunity to hear your thoughts on Wander Javier and his upside?

Eric A Longenhagen: Upside is still the same (there’s power, body projection, INF athletic profile, etc.) but the likelihood he gets there feels lower since now we’ve seen a bunch of at-bats and there’s a clear swing and miss problem right now.

Lava: Who is more likely to become a true ace: Daniel Lynch or Tarik Skubal? What are the odds we see them matching up in the big leagues this season?

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe, folks. I’ll spare you links to this week’s work, you know how to find them.

Seth : I know it’s still early, but any 2020 draft prospects who have rapsodo friendly (ie a lot of rise) FBs?

Eric A Longenhagen: We have very little 2020 data at the moment, it’s been harder to source than pro stuff and our current focus is on the pro stuff

The West is Wild: Eggnog: bad or sick?

Eric A Longenhagen: I can really only do a small glass of eggnog/bourbon, too rich. But churn it into ice cream? Now we’re talking.

The West is Wild: Daulton Varsho’s best non-catching position is _________?

Kiley McDaniel: Hello from ATL, Scout is eating lunch and I have a bunch of errands to run once we finish up here

Kiley McDaniel: Twins list came out this week: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-43-prospects-minnesota-twins/

Kiley McDaniel: Eric wrote up the scouting reports of Rule 5 guys: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2019-rule-5-draft-scouting-reports/

Kiley McDaniel: Dan did the projections end of the Rule 5: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/projecting-the-eleven-players-…

Kiley McDaniel: Nats list is done and will be up tomorrow

Kiley McDaniel: Eric and I broke a little news about the data wars on the amateur side: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mlb-outlaws-amateur-trackman-data-exclusiv…

Dan Szymborski: It’s a-me, Szymio!

Mark6: When will Jays 2020 ZiPS projections be published?

Dan Szymborski: At a time I am aware of!

Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: You know what the Yankee pinstripes always needed? A curvy swoosh advertisement right on the front. Thank you MLB for continuing to advocate for what’s best for baseball.

tommy timberlake: Do you think the Mets are simply adding depth by signing both Porcello and Wacha, or could it be a precursor to a trade involving Syndergaard, Stroman or Matz?

Dan Szymborski: Who knows with the Mets. I think it’s more likely a trade would happen in the spring than now.

Kiley McDaniel: Hello from my San Diego hotel room, away from the huddled masses in the larger hotel down the street where everyone else is.

Kiley McDaniel: Eric and I have the lengthy Twins list that should be set for tomorrow

Kiley McDaniel: Some minor draft news on a 2020 player early enrolling to get into the 2022 class and skip being draft-eligible out of HS:

Kiley McDaniel: and, for those that haven’t heard, Eric and I are writing a book!

Kiley McDaniel:

Kiley McDaniel: Also, as long requested, we have a new drop-down menu that’s prospects only on the site, so it’s easier to find all of our stuff

Jay Jaffe: Good morning — or afternoon, depending upon your time zone — and welcome to the Winter Meetings edition of my lately-not-so-weekly chat. Post-Thanksgiving travel hell prevented last week’s installment, which strengthened my resolve to get this one in despite being 3000 or so miles away from home. I’m in the media room at the Hyatt and thus prone to distractions like greetings from folks around me but we’ll try to get this done.

Anyway, the big news here so far is last night’s Modern Baseball Era Committee result, which added the ridiculously overdue Marvin Miller and Ted Simmons to the Hall of Fame; you can see my writeup here: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/marvin-miller-and-ted-simmons-are-now-hall….

Jay Jaffe: And now, on with the show…

Vander: So… Whitaker… What the? Why?

Jay Jaffe: I know there was a lot of hype and hope for Whitaker this time around, and I’m sorry to see that he missed out. However, if you look at this year’s Modern Baseball ballot, every candidate besides Lou Whitaker and Dwight Evans had been considered multiple times by small (or not-so-small) committees, and the fact that both of those guys avoided the “less than X votes” cluster means that they’ll almost certainly get other shots. Miller and Simmons had each been considered at least three times before and both had missed by exactly one vote in the past. I’m not surprised the voters decided it was “their turn.”

Chris: Any chance we learn which voters didn’t vote for Miller or Simmons?

Jay Jaffe: Not unless they announce so themselves, which they are most definitely NOT supposed to do.