Off the top of my head, no. I'm afraid in this case that it takes away his chance of staying in CF, which was never a given and now might be close to zero.

I think he's a great left-handed reliever. I also think Vogelbach had no value to the Cubs but could end up a league-average DH now that he's in the AL. As much as we've all mocked his lack of position and his, uh, physique, he has very real (70 or 80) power and a decent feel to hit.

Yep, the catching has improved, at least according to the scouts I've talked to. (I haven't seen him myself.) And if he stays back there and is even just fringy with the glove he's got a very good chance to be an above-average regular because I think he'll be a fairly high BABIP hitter (who never walks) with power.

I discussed him in the top 25 under 25. His mechanics are not very different and I'd still like to see his stride longer for his long-term health. His body, however, is very different and I think that's the cause of his jump in performance this year.

History is littered with guys who had adequate K rates in the minors and couldn't hold it in the majors. Sean Manaea punched out 146 in 121 innings in his first year in pro ball, but that hasn't held up. I like De Leon as a prospect but see a limited ceiling because he lacks that out pitch - and you're not telling me he has an out pitch, or what it is, but are just pointing to a stat line.

I assume he'll be up shortly. Another guy with good feel to pitch but probably lacking that swing-and-miss weapon.

I don't think Moncada will be in the big leagues to start next year nor should he be. Carter is a good comp for Bradley's ceiling although I don't think Bradley has that kind of present raw power - you're projecting on it quite a bit there. I saw Bradley again the other day and his recognition is really poor.

The defensive gains could be real - we've seen a lot of guys improve at the big-league level on defense because they're getting good coaching for the first time. But the power looks like a stone fluke.

Because writers need to eat.

I don't agree with the premise. He could fall apart at any point only in the sense that any pitcher could - I don't see any particular reason why he would. And I don't know that he brings back the impact hitter they need, not by himself; he's not getting you Benintendi, for example. He's good, not great, probably still improving but not as good as his ERA might imply. And I think they need him to be respectable next year in their first year at the Big Con.

He has nothing a front of the rotation starter needs. I'm not even 100% sold he's a starter, given the delivery. I believe he should start as long as he's able, because there's a good chance he's a mid-rotation guy, but front of the rotation? Top 20 in baseball? I don't see that at all.

Yeah, pretty much. Or rent a car. Might be cheaper. Nashville's a wonderful city, but the Gaylord is somewhere in the state of Franklin.

No. I think he could handle 3b or 2b but really right now he is their best SS option, and they're going to have to have that conversation with Correa this winter.

Heard he's the most promising of all the arms on that MV roster but it's still a lot of projection (meaning stuff to come in the future rather than present).

Neris is the one to keep, as he's younger and costs nothing. The other two, ship 'em out, then start trying other arms from within the system to fill the middle relief roles and see who can handle it. Every system has failed starters who could at least find value in the bullpen - even so-so starters like Pinto, Lively, Pivetta could break into the majors in relief, with an eye toward maybe sliding one or more into the rotation next year.

I think bench guy/below average regular.

Repeated AA, and wasn't even that great there. Now he's in the PCL, which is full of hitters parks, with a .426 BABIP (including HR). You tell me.

I saw him in 2013 and he was awful - out of shape, moving slow, appeared not to have a position. But scouts who saw him last winter and execs who saw him work out this past month raved - body in shape, quick twitch returned, bat speed better, actions in the field better. So he might be a star today who turns into a bench guy by the end of the deal (when he'll be at least 37).

I think he's going to have to work more on his conditioning. He's a great defensive 1b, but if he puts on 20 pounds he's going to be a DH. Another reader asked about his recent surge and whether i'd slide him up the rankings (he was #44 last week) - no, although I'm very glad to see his performance, it's over a fairly small sample and I prefer to see more extended success. The fact that he's striking out so infrequently is probably the best aspect of this little run he's on.

Might be #2 starter upside. Not sure I'll get up there as I have been spending most of my free time working on my book.

Blackburn's a command RHP, had projection in HS but stuff never ticked up. Might be a 5th starter, probably less. Pries is an org starter but I wonder if there's a thought to put him in the pen full-time and see if his fastball ticks up.

They need to build an internal analytics department, first and foremost. You can't operate in MLB right now unless you have that, if only for competitive intelligence purposes. I also have real questions about the MLB coaching staff, and the owner's statement that Molitor is the manager next year would really concern me if I were a Twins fan. It's a great job for someone - good market, great city, fantastic stadium, solid farm system, strong amateur scouting dept - but not if it comes with shackles.

I guess, but I don't think you worry as much about mitigating risk when you're rolling the dice on someone like Espinoza, who's about as good an 18-year-old arm as we've seen in pro ball in a while.

If he keeps up the contact rate, I'll be satisfied. But remember his brother, whom I was very down on as a draft prospect (not even on my top 100), had a huge GCL stint, and hasn't done anything since.

I certainly hope so. I figure there are probably some good restaurants to check out in Munich.

Yes, I feel I do. No, I don't use a statistical model; such a model would be worthless because of the subjective nature of the inputs. GIGO.

He was on my top 50 last week.

Kiriloff, although I understand why some people would argue Lowe.

Strikeout rate. Has plate discipline, but needs to be more aggressive when ahead in the count. Jeren Kendall is going to face a similar criticism next year but is more athletic overall and I think is a 1-1 candidate.

I think he's good enough to play every day, and I assume now that Fielder is out he will do so.

I think it's really out of nowhere. Glad they gave him the opportunity, though.

Yes, to me c/o ESPN, 1 ESPN Plaza, Bristol CT 06010. A couple of people have found my home address and sent something here, but I do ask everyone to respect my family's privacy and I will not return anything that comes here.

I would think the Cubs would.

Yes, almost entirely for the worse. I did not think this white-resentment strain of politics would be as popular as it is, but apparently I was quite out of touch.

More like future everydaydom.

Gallo is a way better athlete and a better pure hitter. Cozens' year is skewed by playing at Reading and he doesn't hit LHP at all.

I'm optimistic. Was always a fan, going back to HS, except for the year when he was with Arizona and they decided to screw up his delivery.

Speaking strictly hypothetically - I don't expect this call and don't want anyone to think I'm campaigning for any job here - I would say yes, it's a roadblock, and would want that on the table for discussion. I'd be willing to sit down and make the case for a managerial change, not just that I want to hire my own guy for its own sake. As for Mauer, I think he'd be close to untradeable, I doubt he or ownership would be amenable to a trade, and I don't know enough about his health to guess what kind of player he'll be going forward.

I think I had him as a potential 4, but I wouldn't argue the point here. Has touched 96, will pitch at average, curve is a potential out pitch and kills LHB.

Both are probably bench guys/4th OFs, although I think Slater could be more if he can make more hard contact. He can hit, but I would bet his exit velocity isn't very good.

Probably both. I would hope this silliness with the AAA manager benching Williams is over now.

I have always loved his swing. I think he can be an average defender at 3b. But he either has to take a walk or develop some above-average power to be more than a fringe guy. I'd probably still bet on him because I just really like the swing and I think where there's this kind of feel to hit there's always hope.

Nothing has changed except that Terry Collins appears to have lost his mind.

There's no easy answer to that. It depends a bit on the player's tools/skills, and also what you might want to see improve. So for Joey Gallo, we know he has power, but we want to see his K% improving. Same for an Aaron Judge. But I mentioned Slater above - his K% is fine, and probably always will be, so for him it's other things like more extra-base hits or more walks.

Aaron Gleeman mentioned Jason McLeod on Twitter yesterday, and I seconded it. He's got a good track record of success and has worked in several analytically-minded organizations, so he should be able to come in and help build that department. (I view that as the single most important criterion for the Twins in hiring a new GM. If you can't build that capability, you can't be the GM.)

I never watch that stuff. I'm voting straight-line Democrat this year and I still won't watch the DNC. Bunch of rah-rah bullshit.

He's been fine, not great, still not a good leadoff hitter, but they've had much bigger problems. The problem was, as you said, the process - they gave up way too much, especially given how bad he'd been the previous two-plus years.

I have been surprised all along that he was the only person accused in this, but absent any other evidence how could I claim otherwise?

I think Calhoun's a LF. Can hit, though. Yes on Mejia.

Reliever. Lacks a third pitch. Not sold on the delivery.