Live Chat With Greg & Tom: Tuesday, 3 pm ET

[whale4evr]

Who gets the most saves for the Dodgers, Angels & A's?

Other than Duda, who gets the most OF AB's for the Mets?

Will Profar get enough AB's to make a meaningful contribution this year?

[Tom Kessenich]

So Cleveland brings in Reynolds, Swisher, Bourn, Stubbs, Myers and Bauer while losing Choo.

Enough to make it interesting in the Central, or are they bottom feeding with the Twinkies again?

Offensively they look real interesting to me. If Stubbs ever realized his full potential the lineup could be lethal. Whether they can contend in the division likely comes down to their rotation. They had plenty of issues there last season and on the surface I don't see much improvement, if any, heading into 2013.

[Tom Kessenich]

Bourn is in Cleveland. So who takes that last spot in the Texas outfield...Martin or Gentry?

Looks like Martin will get the first shot.

[Tom Kessenich]

Is Justin Morneau all the way back (say 25+ HR with a .280 BA)?

I don't think he'll ever be the player he once was. If he can make it through spring training without incident I'll feel a little better about him.

[Tom Kessenich]

Closer to home, does Yovani Gallardo take the next step into Kershaw/Verlander land in 2013?

I don't believe so. I've always viewed Gallardo as more of a No. 2 than a No. 1. I like the strikeout potential and he's a good bet to log 200+ innings but I don't think he has ace makeup. His ERA is always a bit higher than you'd like and with one exception (the full season of being paired with Greinke) is WHIP has never fallen into that ace level either.

[Tom Kessenich]

Is D'Arnaud a June arrival? Earlier? Later?

I think he opens in the minors and is up before the end of May. But a big-time spring could change that.

[Tom Kessenich]

some hometown questions:

can carlos gomez continue with what he did last year? how many at bats do you envision?

will we see the good axford or the bad one this season?

do you expect segura to hold off alex gonzalez this year? prediction on his stats?

thanks..

I'm not a believer in Gomez. He's very fast and a fine defensive center fielder but he swings for the fences too often. I think his HR total last season was a fluke and I think he regresses to the mean this season.

I like Axford. I think he bounces back and is more consistent. My biggest concern with him is save opportunities. I don't think the Brewers will be very good so I don't view him as having a high ceiling for saves.

Segura is expected to start and Gonzalez has already been told that. .275-5-50 with 25 SBs seems reasonable.

[Sack]

When can be expect Mike Massotto to be invited on to the Sirius show? Sooner or later you'll run out of Champions to interview, at least he will be entertaining if you let him talk about himself.

Back to the Thursday viewing party. Games will start very early out in Vegas that day, probably at 9:30am. Most of
us compulsive degenerate's will be in the Sportsbook. What time do you think we will have access to the Viewing
room on that afternoon?

With Tom coming to Vegas, what restaurant is he picking up the tab for to show his appreciation? Will your Brother (Greg)
also get an invite to Sin City? Hey, the guy put me on his payroll last Fall. Promised him I'd look after him!

Have to ask one baseball question. I heard Terry Collins talking "Mets Baseball" earlier. Man, everybody thinks they
have a chance in February. Because the Mets signed Marcum, I'm going to guess he will be bust. Do you think he is
damaged goods after last season?

[Tom Kessenich]

Two kinda fun questions...

Who are your top 5 values according to the adp at this time?

I'll address this one. As far as values:

1. Ryan Braun if he falls out of the Top 3.
2. Bryce Harper, although he's moving up
3. Jose Reyes, major injury concerns but he's a Top 10 player when healthy
4. Curtis Granderson, average is scary but I think his SBs return to prior norms
5. Zack Greinke. Love his potential. There are only 6 starters I'd definitely take ahead of him right now.

[ToddZ]

When are you gonna have that Zola guy on for a chat -- he's awesome!

[76erfan]

How concerning is the Madson setback? should frieri be jumping up draft boards?

[Greg Ambrosius]

So Cleveland brings in Reynolds, Swisher, Bourn, Stubbs, Myers and Bauer while losing Choo.

Enough to make it interesting in the Central, or are they bottom feeding with the Twinkies again?

I give the Indians credit for trying and spending some money in a division that management believes it can win. Heck, even the Tigers have warts. The Indians could contend if EVERYTHING goes right. Plus, they had the second-lowest attendance last year, so they HAD to do something to bring the fans back. A few signings and trades makes everything look better heading into the next season.

Let Choo go. The Bourn signing was fair, although I read it was the most guaranteed money ever given to someone who never has had more than 10 homers in a season. Amazing. But the guy can play defense and he will cover a lot of ground in the outfield. Outside of the guaranteed money, it's a signing that will help this team because now it's pretty darn good defensively up the middle.

However, there's a lot of free swingers here. Look at the potential strikeouts of this lineup:
Reynolds: An AVERAGE of 200 strikeouts per season since 2008
Stubbs: An AVERAGE of 180 strikeouts per season since 2010
Swisher: Okay, career .361 OBP, but he still strikes out 140+ times per year

Still, this is a team with a lot of hitters who know how to get on base. Here's a look at their potential starting lineup and the OBP from last year:

CF Bourn (.348)
2B Kipnis (.335)
SS Cabrera (.338)
RF Swisher (.364)
C Santana (.365)
LF Brantley (.348)
1B Reynolds (.335)
DH Giambi (.372)
3B Chisenhall (.311)

Their starting rotation needs Bauer to grow up and step up, and Masterson to put it all together. There are still a lot of holes with this team, but at least it's trying. That's more than I can say about some teams.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Bourn is in Cleveland. So who takes that last spot in the Texas outfield...Martin or Gentry?

Well, the upside play here from a fantasy standpoint is Leonys Martin. He's still just 24 and capable of a 20-20 season. He hit .359 at Triple-A with 12 homers and 10 SBs in 55 games, but bounced between Round Rock and Arlington due to Hamilton's injuries. He never really got a starting chance and hit just .174. I still like his upside and I think he will get the first shot here.

That being said, Gentry is more than capable of hitting .280+ with 20 SBs, but there is no power potential here. From a fantasy perspective, we'd all love to see Martin win this job and blossom this year. I think he's a potential bargain with an ADP of 385.

[Greg Ambrosius]

DH only, do you see Berkman getting 450 AB this year?

Geez, I guess anything is possible, but Berkman could just as easily get hurt running to first base or swinging and missing as he could playing the field. His knees just look shot, but the Rangers must think he has some life left in him if they signed him for $10 million. If he's hitting third in this lineup, he has run-scoring potential. I'm just not buying that he can stay healthy for 450 ABs. I'll take the under here. Others are thinking the same thing as his ADP is 328.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Do you see Julio Teheran succeeding as the 5th for the Bravos?

I do. Maybe he needed a season like last year to reduce expectations and to get him back on track. He dominated at Triple-A in 2011 and maybe last year was an eye-opener for him and the Braves. He certainly pitched well in the Dominican League (3.32 ERA, 24/9 K/BB ratio over 30 2/3 innings) and the No. 5 job is his to lose. Maybe the thread of being traded will ground him and get him back to the basics. What we have here is a lively arm, just 22 years old, potential to strike out 8+ per 9, good mechanices, etc. I like all the ingredients here for a late round flyer. His ADP is 415, so grab him Wayne in the 28th round. This one could pay off.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Closer to home, does Yovani Gallardo take the next step into Kershaw/Verlander land in 2013?

I agree with Tom, I don't see Gallardo ever quite stepping into that tier of SPs. He has four straight seasons of 200 or more strikeouts, but he sure works hard for them. He is certainly a solid starter, but I liked him a lot more when Greinke was No. 1 in the rotation and Gallardo was No. 2.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Is Justin Morneau all the way back (say 25+ HR with a .280 BA)?

I'll take the under Wayne. ANYTHING can happen on any given day to knock him back on the DL. If he duplicates what he did last year -- which I didn't think he was even capable of (.267-19-77 with 505 ABs in 134 games) -- I'd take it.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Is D'Arnaud a June arrival? Earlier? Later?

I think he is a late May, early June arrival. He played in only 67 games last year because of his thumb injury, so he needs work at Triple-A. But the Mets will need a spark to boost attendance at that time and he will be that guy. I mean, how long can you continue to start John Buck and his .192 average?

[Greg Ambrosius]

some hometown questions:

can carlos gomez continue with what he did last year? how many at bats do you envision?

will we see the good axford or the bad one this season?

do you expect segura to hold off alex gonzalez this year? prediction on his stats?

thanks..

I'm not a believer in Gomez, but he's all they have in centerfield now. I expect him to swing for the fences even more this year, negating his OBP and stolen bases. He just doesn't listen to coaching.

Good Ax. Once he regained his job down the stretch, the Brewers started winning. He blew way too many saves before September, but over that last month he allowed a .156 opposing batting average and struck out 22 in 15.1 IP. He gave up only 9 hits during that time and collected 13 saves. He relied more on his fastball and stopped nibbling and getting behind in the count. I think he will continue that way this year.

YES!! Gonzalez is bench fodder. Segura is here to stay. He already covers more ground defensively than the Brewers have had there in awhile. He could steal 20-25 bags and should hit .265+.

[Greg Ambrosius]

When are you gonna have that Zola guy on for a chat -- he's awesome!

You're hired!! Pick a day that works and you can work your numbers magic. Shawn is still a week or two away, so let's do it.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Who gets the most saves for the Dodgers, Angels & A's?

Other than Duda, who gets the most OF AB's for the Mets?

Will Profar get enough AB's to make a meaningful contribution this year?

League over Jansen, but I hope it's Jansen.
The Madson news is not good. I'm not touching him now. Frieri.
Ball-Four gets the job.

Oh my goodness, that outfield is PATHETIC. I can't even take a guess. Marlon Byrd??? Sure, why not!!

I think he does. The Rangers aren't afraid of taking chances and if they need to move him to the outfield to get his bat in the lineup they will. He needs to prove that his bat is worthy enough to stick in the majors, but this is one franchise that isn't afraid to move folks around and make this happen. Maybe Kinsler slides to first base and Profar goes to second base. I don't know. But I do think he gets enough ABs and we look back a year from now and say DAMN, I knew he was going to bust out. Talent is talent and it finds a spot in the lineup. That's the case with Profar.

[Greg Ambrosius]

When can be expect Mike Massotto to be invited on to the Sirius show? Sooner or later you'll run out of Champions to interview, at least he will be entertaining if you let him talk about himself.

Back to the Thursday viewing party. Games will start very early out in Vegas that day, probably at 9:30am. Most of
us compulsive degenerate's will be in the Sportsbook. What time do you think we will have access to the Viewing
room on that afternoon?

With Tom coming to Vegas, what restaurant is he picking up the tab for to show his appreciation? Will your Brother (Greg)
also get an invite to Sin City? Hey, the guy put me on his payroll last Fall. Promised him I'd look after him!

Have to ask one baseball question. I heard Terry Collins talking "Mets Baseball" earlier. Man, everybody thinks they
have a chance in February. Because the Mets signed Marcum, I'm going to guess he will be bust. Do you think he is
damaged goods after last season?

We'll get a lot of folks on SiriusXM this year, including MTM. With any luck, we'll get that New York Super League broadcast live or at least get the participants interviewed the next day and results mentioned. Mike would do fine on the air.

Las Vegas First Weekend is getting so big that we do need 4 of us there to work the events. There will be myself, Tom, Dennis and yes, my brother Mike. He's all set to go and will be working hard for us. Should be fun to see two Cheeseheads working together.

Yeah, last year the NCAA finished the early games and then took like an hour off for local news, etc. I think the night games start around 6:30 or 7 pm ET, so we'll start the party between 3 and 4 pm PT. That way we can all hang out at the sportsbook in the morning -- it's an ELECTRIC atmosphere there -- and then go down the hall for our private party. The setup will be very similar to last March in the exact same room. Should be fun. I'm planning on 75 people and if we get more we'll need the Monet 2, too.

All I know is that Marcum was damaged goods last year. But he really is a gamer and pitches hard. I just don't trust him to stay healthy again this year. I'm not buying. In fact, I don't think I'm buying ANYONE from the Mets outside of David Wright.

[Greg Ambrosius]

How concerning is the Madson setback? should frieri be jumping up draft boards?

VERY concerning. I mean, he's just trying to loosen up and he's feeling pain. NOT GOOD. His ADP is 225 and Frieri's is 246. That is going to flip-flop in a hurry, folks.

[ToddZ]

When are you gonna have that Zola guy on for a chat -- he's awesome!

You're hired!! Pick a day that works and you can work your numbers magic. Shawn is still a week or two away, so let's do it.

I'll get in touch via e-mail later in the week -- Mixed LABR tonight so a bit busy.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Okay, stock market above 14,000 again today!! That's a GREAT sign as Pitchers & Catchers report!!

Thanks for the questions all. Feel free to post more throughout the day and we'll answer when we can. Thanks.

And don't worry about Tom and I involving Ryan Braun. Trust me, we're NOWHERE near as big of Brewers' fans as we are Packers' fans. We're just trying to analyze the impact of the latest news and we'll do so again in our first segment of STATS Fantasy Advantage. It's interesting to see how owners are taking this news and analyzing it during their drafts. There's no question it's scary that his name surfaced again and I don't blame anyone for NOT taking him in the Top 4 picks. And yes, we don't have $150 or $10,000 on the line, so we can talk smart when we say we'd take him first overall. But at this point I know we both would. It will be fun to see where he goes over the next 6+ weeks and hopefully he stays clean and stays in the lineup for 162 games.