You Are Cordially Invited

[A Boy Named Seo]

To spring training! But not to join the roster yet, chill.

linky: https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/mets-announce-15-players-invited-to-major-league-camp-90001ae1b0a6https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/mets-announce-15-players-invited-to-major-league-camp-90001ae1b0a6

[Edgy MD]

If Grant Hartwig isn't assigned the number 2541, I'll be very disappointed.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Stuff I just learned about Grant Hartwig:



He's really good?

RHP Grant Hartwig went 6–2 with a 1.75 ERA (11 ER/56.2 IP), 83 strikeouts and led all Mets farmhands with 13 saves in 39 relief appearances combined with Single-A St. Lucie, High-A Brooklyn, Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse. Over his final 29 games of the 2022 season, Hartwig pitched to a 0.86 ERA (4 ER/42.0 IP) with 10 saves and held opposing batters to a .472 OPS. The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder signed with the Mets as an undrafted free agent out of Miami (OH) University on July 22, 2021.

He'll be 25 this season so if he keeps doing that thing at AAA, maybe he'll be the first Met assigned a 4-digit number.

[Fman99]

I feel like I watched half of these dudes here in the Cuse last year

[A Boy Named Seo]

That Josh Walker guy is pretty intriguing, too. Giant 6' 6" lefty whose K/9 really jumped when they used him as a reliever (38 Ks in 22 IP last year). He's 27 so your time is now, bruv.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy MD wrote: If Grant Hartwig isn't assigned the number 2541, I'll be very disappointed.

I don't understand.

[Edgy MD]

Drummer/songwriter Grant Hart (whose name is very much like that of Grant Hartwig) was the co-leader of seminal (I kinda hate that word) Minneapolis alt-rock legends Hüsker Dü. The names converge even more when you consider that the band's last indy album was called Flip Your Wig.



The guy's solo career was spotty, not because he didn't still write terrific songs, but because he abused a lot of drugs and wasn't particularly good at any instrument once he came out from behind the drums. But he still had some highlights, and one of his most beloved songs is the heartbreaking split-up song "2541."



Yeah, that's a lot to muddle through for an obscure reference, so you have my apologies, especially since I know that music ain't really your thing (despite your glorious Parody Challenge victory). But just listen to this song.



'Coustic version:

[media=youtube]GjJC5e4VpDY[/media]



'Lectric verision:

[media=youtube]G71dWFXJ0FY[/media]

[Benjamin Grimm]

Thank you for splainin' me! No, that's not a reference I ever would have gotten. And thanks for remembering my Parody Challenge victory! It was way back in 2005!

[Frayed Knot]

That wasn't an obscure reference. It would have to be clearer by several orders of magnitude just to get to obscure.

[kcmets]

Before Edgy's explanation I googled 2541 and the guy's name came up.

I was like ok name is similar and then went on to see who the heck he was

and the Husker Du thing came up and I said oh yeah that Australian band

he and a few others talked about here year's ago.



Australia, Minneapolis... I was close. I was afraid to watch the caustic version

of the song but later saw it was 'coustic.

[Edgy MD]

If you click, the likelihood that you'll love that song is dramatically high. Marshall Crenshaw has subsequently made it a staple of his setlists. His studio version is below because the 100 clips on YouTube have iPhone-quality recorded sound, but it's always a highlight of his shows.



[media=youtube]rr37VTZQsDI[/media]





[FIMG=300]https://collectauctions.net/ItemImages/000028/E3537b_lg.jpeg[/FIMG] [FIMG=300]https://images.footballfanatics.com/new-york-mets/tom-seaver-new-york-mets-autographed-white-cooperstown-collection-jersey-with-multiple-inscriptions_pi4298000_altimages_ff_4298695-597c7f7664175af98161alt2_full.jpg?_hv=2&w=900[/FIMG]

[MFS62]

One of the prospects who won't be invited to camp is Matt Allen.

The Mets announced he underwent UCL Revision Surgery which will idle him for the entire year.



https://metsmerizedonline.com/matt-allan-underwent-ucl-revision-surgery/https://metsmerizedonline.com/matt-allan-underwent-ucl-revision-surgery/

This is the third surgery for Allan over the last couple of years that started with Tommy John in May of 2021 and then ulnar nerve transposition January of 2022. Allan was taken by the Mets in the third round of the 2018 draft, but is yet to pitch since 2019.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Wow. At what point do they stop considering him a prospect?

[The Hot Corner]

For me, I have pretty much reached that point. He may have been a very talented prospect, but he has had the misfortune of suffering three elbow injuries (surgeries0. By the time he is likely recuperated and ready to begin throwing again, he will have been essentially out of commission for 4-5 years. He may still be young, turns 22 in April, but his elbow is much older. I would be very surprised to see him ever don a Mets uniform at the major league level.

[Edgy MD]

It's all a matter of degrees. He's a prospect, I'm a prospect, you're a prospect, Tim Tebow's a prospect, and Tina Yothers is a prospect.



He's just less of a prospect than he was. On the other hand, he's still at the top of the list of prospects in this post.

[bmfc1]

Sam Coonrod - 45

John Curtiss - 46

Zach Greene - 65

Stephen Ridings - 66

"Broadway" Danny Mendick - 15

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Big news is Drew Smith rising 22 places to 40, so that Quintana can have 62