I think I know more about Espinoza now - a non-Boston exec told me "he might be Pedro" than Martes, but both are pretty clearly top 100, probably top 50 prospects

I already forgot about him.

It's a lengthy list, but they have an ideal candidate right there in Ray Montgomery. I did see the Rockies' Danny Montgomery (no relation) come up in a list of top candidates of color, and I'd love to see him get some more attention; sometimes the best guys don't get the most press.

I can't even fathom that happening. I've been out of a front office for nine years! But I think it's a very appealing job and can't imagine any serious candidate turning it down.

Yep. This absolutely reeks of a few writers violating the cardinal rule of journalism: Do not make the news, just cover it.

I buy the average/contact more than the power.

More long-term than individual games. It puts so much stress on your arm - shoulder, elbow, everything - to pitch like that, without generating velocity from your legs. Mind you I'm not rooting against the kid in the least; my job is to give opinions, and guys who pitch like he does, as does Reynaldo Lopez, are generally not able to last as starters.

30%?

I know of no fatigue reason, and he was held back in April (as was Lopez) to give him some flexibility for this point in the calendar. I don't get what they did at all - their gravest need was middle relief, and they had a bunch of candidates sitting right there in their own system to fill that spot!

Got a great report on that from the other night, too ... if that's the swing and miss pitch he's been lacking, then it would raise his ceiling. As a general rule, curveballs don't have the same potential for improvement as sliders; you might improve your command of a curveball, but its shape is determined so much by your hand and wrist that it's hard for it to get materially better.

I agree with everything you said - there is a point where you say, screw it, it was worth the cost. I would have bought into this more if the Mets were at the end of a run, if this were the last gasp of a dying contender, rather than an early arrival by a team that looked (really still does look) primed for 4-5 years of strong contention. Their starting pitching depth just took a hit, and you can just ask the Nationals if you can ever have enough starting pitching.

I think given enough time - he may struggle with contact at first - he's a five-tool player. I have always liked him over Nick Williams even when the latter performed better.

I've heard a few times that he's been up to 99 and sitting a lot of mid-90s as a starter, but I'd like to see the delivery in person.

Some pitching coaches/execs think it is. I also think it's not a coincidence that he hit 101 or 102 the start before his elbow screamed.

Top 50 for sure. Might have raised his stock more than any hitting prospect in baseball - him or Wilson Contreras with the Cubs.

That's too strong an interpretation. I'm surprised at the lack of ire directed at him, and how much blame seems to be directed at Dan Duquette. Is it a question of personalities? Buck plays well with the media, and Duquette might be the worst of the 30 GMs at dealing with the press.

Or he drops the K rate. But yes, your point is valid.

Crazy talk. But he's a legit star-caliber prospect. Trout was just otherworldly.

Trades/FA. Some back-end types in the system, but nothing more, even given their #GiantsDevilMagic history.

Strong. Maybe a little too prog-rockish for me, but overall very tight and clever.

I think this is about his offensive potential barring a swing change - he loads deep and I think tries to hit for more power than his body will permit. He's an elite defender though.

Not sure about Cameron; his fame outstrips his reasonable potential, as his scouting report is all 50s and 60s, not 70s and 80s. The others are. Appel (still just 23, inconsistent, but with premium stuff and control) and Feliz are also probably top 100 guys.

Given his plate discipline in the minors and very long swing, I think these 50 major league at bats are giving people false hope. He's a 70 defender in center with probably 20-25 homer power but I don't think he'll hit enough to get to that power upside.

All self-taught, unless you count watching every single episode of Good Eats as formal training. I keep emailing Alton to ask for a diploma but he only sends back videos of farting sock puppets.

I think he'll always be a high-strikeout guy, 150 or so a year. It's a huge strike zone to ask anyone to cover. He's also made a ton of adjustments already and I think the current problem he has, covering soft away, is something he can address with more repetitions/exposure.

Here's who I think is least at fault: Matt Harvey. He has the most to lose from misuse or overuse and had nothing to gain by this becoming public.

Goldschmidt, probably.

You're welcome. Readers have asked about helping defray the cost for the software. As far as I'm concerned, if you all keep reading them over here, it's money well spent.

Killing the leg kick should help, but there's a big mental adjustment to be made too and I don't see evidence that's happened yet.

Nothing - I did one yesterday.

The software is from Dilmot, and the chat appears on their site too, I believe.

Well I can at least take the question so you can get your pun in.

There is always a strong anti-intellectual streak in these arguments. Writers who long held the exclusive right to tell you what players were good have lost that podium with the explosion of statistics and of independent writers who have greater insight on the question, so their way to rage against the dying of the light is to deny the facts.

I thought he did a really nice job with the rebuild, actually. Not enough to keep him - that whole department needs new blood, and people didn't like working for Amaro anyway - but I don't want that to be forgotten as we shovel dirt on the grave of his tenure.

This year he's probably a bench bat or not on the playoff roster. Long term he doesn't have the range he'll need for shortstop.

It's fringe stuff with major-league command. I think he can be a big-league starter, probably a fourth or fifth guy, just without upside because he's not going to miss a ton of bats. He's better than Eric Surkamp.

Back end types. Nice to have, but if the Mets have a bad rash of injuries to their major-league rotation - again, not rooting for that in the least - they are going to sorely miss what they just dealt.

I don't think anyone is in line for 1-1 right now. He's one of a half-dozen likely lads for that spot - Corey Ray, Alec Hansen, Jason Groome, maybe AJ Puk. Someone brought up Avery Tuck for that the other day - I think he's too raw right now, but if he blows up in the spring don't say I didn't warn you.

Totally legit. I think the biggest thing is that he got healthy, and now he's moving so well he might even be able to handle center, not that the Twins need that.

Has to play second - can't play short. Legit shot at a 70 hit tool, so a frequent .300+ hitter in the majors.

Mookie.

There's 20-25 homer power in there, but I think Stanford worked so hard to force him and all thier other guys to go the other way that he's still not totally comfortable dropping the bat head and pulling the ball.

I bet he makes 20+ starts for them next year, if healthy, which he wasn't in 2014.

I mentioned Ray Montgomery above. Ben Cherington would be an outstanding fit. John Coppolella has to be on everyone's list at this point given what he's managed to do with Atlanta. Jason McLeod should too - if the Brewers decide to go outside, he should be on their short list as he's also a minority candidate. Mike Elias is getting a lot of buzz within the industry because he's been so successful in Houston and his staff speaks very highly of him.

He's a reliever, not sure if that's the seventh inning or the ninth. Just don't think he can start.

I think you can patch that major-league roster in a weak division, but whoever comes in has to fix what might be the majors' worst farm system. Their drafts haven't been productive, their international efforts haven't been much better, and the handful of decent prospects who've come into the system have regressed.

No, just had to be in the organization on 8/31.

This seems less buggy, at least. But ESPN's was free and this will be a tiny bit more work for me. Reader Patrick threw together a Python script I can use to try to turn this into a straight HTML transcript when we're done.

Just don't go too crazy. Two or three times is fine. Ten is annoying. I'm getting a ton here which is fantastic but of course i can't get to all of them.