I assume this means Alex; I don't, for two reasons. One is that I don't think I would count on him for 180+ innings in 2017, given his low workloads the last two years. The other is that I don't think his command is there yet, or his curveball, for him to be more than an inconsistent, sometimes great, sometimes awful starter right now. Long relief would be great to start the year with the goal of moving him to the rotation by June or so.

I think the probability of him working out as a starter has dropped to below 50% at this point.

None that I know of. Some signaling has value; this does not.

I'd bet on Gsellman at this point. Lugo's high spin rate hasn't translated into production yet.

Saw him last night. He doesn't belong here. It's a bad joke.

I was getting tired of the woo arguments for the Giants and for Bumgarner. He's a great pitcher; let's stop conferring preternatural abilities on him.

Great arm, but he made 9 starts in full-season ball this year. I don't see any chance of that. 7 Ronin is great - hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

My hope all year has been that he would lose badly enough that the GOP would lose at least one chamber of commerce, and the resulting upheaval inside the party would force out some of his enablers (like Reince) and restore the more classical conservatives to power. Until the Republicans catch up to 2016 on some basic social issues, we're not going to have two viable choices for major offices in most of the country. You can't keep fighting marriage equality, pushing 'gay conversion therapy,' or passing these so-called 'bathroom bills' (that really forbid local authorities from providing LGBT with protection from discrimination), in a nation that is increasingly more tolerant on social matters but where conservative positions on economic or foreign policies remain popular.

I'll see him Saturday and will have an updated answer then. I can tell you though that he has some plus-plus hair. He's going for the Syndergaard look.

Jasrado Chisholm is the big name from the lower levels; he might have the highest upside of any realistic prospect in the system.

Reliever only. Good relief prospect but that's it.

Yes, because of his age and likely projections for his performance going forward. He may be a poor investment even if he's still a good player.

Still think it's very fluky. He's around a .225 BABIP with the Jays the last two years, something like 70-80 points below league-average and still 30+ points below his own career BABIP.

Play Soler. Getting him regular PT next year should be a priority; he's shown flashes of the ability when healthy, especially at the end of this season, although I've been disappointed in his reads on defense. Heyward in CF would make sense, but I'm not sure about Schwarber in LF off the knee injury. (Previous to that I thought he'd be capable out there.)

This is my thought as well. I think he is the greatest lyricist in music history, but I don't think that compares to the output of great novelists or short story writers. Ngugi wa'Thiongo was considered a favorite to win, and both of his novels that I've read are spectacular works of fiction.

Mid-rotation starter.

That CEO job is a business job, not a President of Baseball Ops job. Preller has to be scrupulously honest in all dealings, even to the point of going overboard in revealing information. That's the only way to rebuild trust. Also, people have asked about him getting fired post-suspension; that would be incredibly stupid for the Padres, given how late we are in the baseball calendar now. If you were going to fire him, do it rather than suspending him.

I think the international FA system (July 2) is a top priority. The draft is high up on the list for teams, who feel like they're spending more money in the draft on secondary talents. The MLB minimum salary is likely to go up substantially. I think players want to continue to limit required media access before/after games. September roster rules will probably come up. I personally hope the loss of a draft pick to sign a free agent ends this time around.

Well, how long did the top of the 9th take in the Giants-Cubs game 4? Every pitching change is about three minutes of dead time, if not four. That would be my main target; it sucked a lot of drama out of an incredible finish.

It is definitely a myth, at least as it is understood to mean that a hitter becomes more productive with a better hitter behind him. I've said here before I think it's a myth in MLB, but in an environment like college or HS, where you might see a gap between a team's best hitter and the guy behind him larger than anything we'll see in MLB, it may very well exist.

We should roll back the BIOS to the last clean install.

Saw him Tuesday. Same guy as before - good delivery, great pure stuff, 40 command tops. Let him start as long as you can, because the pure upside is enormous, maybe even #1, but it's hard to see how he ever gets there when there is no physical or mechanical obstacle to him commanding the fastball.

They're all lawyers, I think, so that's the first step. An advisor is an agent who isn't formally getting paid; once the player signs his first contract, he pays a commission to the advisor, who then becomes an agent. So it's all semantics and vocabulary there.

They made the right choice; I had Sanchez rated higher at the time, and perhaps Sanchez would have developed faster in the Mets' system, but given what we know the Mets did well to take Thor, who I thought was going to win the NL Cy this year for most of the season.

I am familiar with it. It's total bullshit and he's a quack. If your child (congratulations, by the way) has an egg allergy, then one vaccine won't be any better than four. Otherwise there is no reason to use this pseudoscientific 'alternative' schedule.

All have starter potential and bullpen floor. Reed seems the most likely to start to me. Stephenson has the highest upside.

I'd buy that.

He is, and I think he will after several years on the ballot. Would have helped if he'd won one of the MVPs he deserved rather than, say, his DP partner winning.

From what I've heard, that list of public is not accurate. I don't believe Bell is getting an interview, for example, although he's really highly regarded around MLB.

No shot.

He's 17; I wouldn't even pretend to project numbers on that. I think he has at least above-average regular upside, a corner guy with power and it appears some OBP potential too.

It's not important; it's useful, or valuable, but not important in any way.

Have not watched.

Yes. Gotta pick games that don't have that feature. Co-op games like Pandemic might be more your speed.

I didn't brine last year, I just "dry-brined," which means salting it a little ahead of time to dry out the skin and allow some salt to work its way into the meat via osmosis. Check Serious Eats for more on that.

Average regular in RF.

No. I don't think you can ever have too much of a valuable asset type.

I'm not sure they should do that, as good as Greene is. There's certainly risk there, HS pitcher risk as well as questions about how good the breaking ball is going to be down the road.

Yep. I think he can be more than a mid-rotation starter. He looked ridiculous last night.

Is Ronald Acuna still under the radar? I think he might be too well-known for that, but I think he's a star.

I kept telling Schur I was ready for a Parks & Rec cameo as "Corpse #2" but he told me it wasn't that kind of show.

Will Smith in particular. Or my son Derek, who shouldn't have started the inning if there was even a chance in Bochy's mind that Lopez would face Rizzo.

Nothing to advise really - they're not well attended at all, so just show up and enjoy.

I think it's the biggest insult to the player who didn't get that roster spot, or whoever's losing playing time to this stunt.

I agree and I think the criticism of Bochy for pulling Moore was totally off base. His one mistake was letting Romo face a LHB (after some reshuffling), which is a real tactical error. But otherwise it ain't his fault none of his relievers could hit a spot.

He needs to catch. He's more than capable.

I was disappointed with the lack of imagination in the candidate pool. These were pretty standard names.

Potential top five pick ... but I think he's likely a reliever in the long run and doubt I'll rank him that high.

Yep, this is exactly the type of postseason outcome I root for. Let's give some long-suffering fan base a championship. Cubs-Cleveland would be incredible no matter who wins.

I'd hang back till after. The mad rush postgame for the subway would be intimidating. Worse because so many people will be drunk.