Baseball Prospectus - Chat with Baseball Prospectus Staff

Chat: Baseball Prospectus Staff

Welcome to Baseball Prospectus' Monday April 01, 2013 12:45 PM ET chat session with Baseball Prospectus Staff.

Baseball Prospectus Staff: Welcome to the 2013 Opening Day roundtable question area. Please submit your questions and comments here, then check http://www.baseballprospectus.com/rt/rt.php?rtId=35 for responses from Baseball Prospectus Staff.

Erix (Stuck inside NYU): Is it baseball yet?

Baseball Prospectus Staff: Yes!

drive2fast19 (Baltimore): With Andrus locked up at SS for the Rangers, Oscar Taveras for Jurickson Profar looks better than ever! Would a front office ever make this kind of deal, or is there just too much downside for the guys who pull the trigger?

Baseball Prospectus Staff: It makes sense to satisfy immediate needs for this year, but do you make a challenge trade to fill a single need this season? For example, if you're Texas and you need an outfielder, do you need to trade Profar to get one? - Carleton

Shane (Fort Worth): Andrus' deal seems like a good one. They lock him up, but it's still a very tradeable contract if they eventually want Profar to take over, right?

Baseball Prospectus Staff: I think it more likely signifies that Texas wants Andrus/Profar up the middle for the foreseeable future, but I don't disagree with your take. If they want to move Andrus the contract certainly won't be an issue for the acquiring team -Faleris

tommybones (Brooklyn): All kidding aside, doesn't Profar for Taveras actually make a ton of sense for both teams at this point?

Baseball Prospectus Staff: These deals tend not to happen because teams are reluctant to move elite young players with whom they are intimately familiar for unprovens -- even if that unproven is also an elite young player. -Faleris

derekross (Boston ): Why is Jose Fernandez being rushed on the Marlins?

Baseball Prospectus Staff: Because it's the Marlins? :) Honestly, who can figure them out anymore?

Jason Pennini (Denver): How many home runs will Bryce Harper hit this year??

Baseball Prospectus Staff: At least 324, we KNOW that. (Joking aside, 30-33ish, IMO) -Paul Sporer

Steve (Bayshore): Can I expect Samardzija to pitch like this throughout the year? Wow, he looked good, especially with that upper 90's heat in the 8th inning. Is this guy a potential top of the rotation pitcher that Theo will consider a building block? Is there any other arms deep in the Cubs farm system that have #1 or #2 upside?

Baseball Prospectus Staff: Well, not eight shutout every time out, but definitely as a high-quality arm. If you look, his blip last year was due to some lowered usage of the devastating splitter. Once he brought it back, his dominance returned. He's a stud. (Sporer)

Baseball Prospectus Staff: OK, thanks for all the questions. Hopefully we answered yours in tonight's roundtable. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more roundtables.