Rest of the Bullpen - 2006

[Centerfield]

With Wagner in place, I have these guys making up the remainder of the pen:

Heilman
Shades
Takatsu
Zambrano (technically)
Bell
Hamulack

We need a LOOGY, and it would be nice to have an 8th inning guy leading to Wagner in the ninth, but if we went to war today, I could live with this.

Do we bring back Looper? How about Bert? Is this the season age catches up to him?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Is Royce Ring still in the picture?

Is Bartolome Fortunato still Mets property?

[Guest sharpie]

I'm down with the Bring Back Bert campaign.

[Centerfield]

Sorry. I was going with the guys from the 25-Man thread.

Fortunado, along with Yates, are due back from injury I believe.

I have no idea what the deal with Royce Ring is.

[Elster88]

I appreciate Bert's performance last year. Let's leave him alone and let lightning strike him for the second time somewhere else.

[Valadius]

Fortunato's still around. And Ring's still here.

Some of these guys will probably be traded. At least one of them will be.

[seawolf17]

Thank you, Elster. I thought I was the only person who was very much in the anti-Bert camp.

[Valadius]

I wouldn't mind seeing Berto back, but I wouldn't be crestfallen if he goes somewhere else.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]Heilman Shades Takatsu Zambrano (technically) Bell Hamulack

Ishii is still technically in the picture also.

I farmed out the Ham.

[duan]

i was one of the bert naysayers but unless he's looking for silly money I think he did enough for the Mets to be worth another whirl.
1.5 guaranteed up to 2.5 in incentives?

[smg58]

Bert made less than a million last year. I'd offer $1M to bring him back, but no more than that, and for one year only.

Oh crap, we still have Takatsu. If he makes the roster, it had better be because he had a surprisingly good spring.

With Eyre gone, I don't know if there are any LOOGY's on the market or the block, in which case Ring and/or Hamulack had better step up.

I'd like to see a fair competition for the last two spots, with a number of guys already in the organization capable of filling those roles.

[DocTee]

It's taken me months to ask this, but try as I might I can't figure it out:

What the hell's a LOOGY?

[Theoldmole]

]I farmed out the Ham

To the Nippon Ham Fighters?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Don't be so shy about asking about goofy-assed Crane Pool acronyms.

LOOGy = Lefthanded One-Out Guy

[DocTee]

I was close: Lefty Only One (and then) Gone

[Guest Rotblatt]

Here's a quote from the Times that warmed my heart:

]The search for a setup man for Wagner should be somewhat easier. The Mets may already have him. Minaya said yesterday that he was elated with the emergence of Aaron Heilman and indicated that he became less tradable once Wagner signed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/30/sports/baseball/30mets.html?pagewanted=all

[Elster88]

Minaya's elation with Heilman, now that Wagner is here, may be "Great, we have Wagner to close, so Heilman can go back to the rotation."

Of course, the line directly preceding that makes it seem like Omar thinks Heilman will be a setup guy.

I've been clamoring for a response from Healey for a while but I think he hasn't been around recently, but this is just another example of how a writer can be pulling ideas out of a certain orifice without risking his career, his reputation, or death and dismemberment.

He is taking Omar's words and making it seem like Omar is saying Heilman will be a setup guy, when in fact his elation over having Heilman AND Wagner may have nothing to do with the setup role.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Daily Snooze, 12/13:

AMAZIN' DESIRE: Antonio Alfonseca would like to fill the void created by the loss of Hernandez in the Mets' bullpen.

"Antonio loves the direction they're going in and they're one of the teams he asked me to contact. I hope in the near future I speak to Omar Minaya about that," agent Juan Iglesias said.

The 33-year-old righthander went 1-1 with a 4.94 ERA for the Marlins last season. He appeared in only 33 games because of a stress fracture in his pitching elbow that sidelined him for three months, but Iglesias said the injury has "healed perfectly."

[seawolf17]

Yes! Sign Jimmy Six Fingers! One of my favorite pitchers.

[metirish]

I'm surprised he's only 33, sign him now Omar.

[Guest Edgy DC]

What part of 4.94 ERA says "now"?

[metirish]

That ERA was in 33 games, in 04 in 79 games he had a 2.57 ERA, of course in 03 pitching in 60 games he had a 5.83 ERA, I think he'd be a good addition.

[Elster88]

I'm not following your logic, Irish.

This:

metirish wrote: That [4.94] ERA was in 33 games, in 04 in 79 games he had a 2.57 ERA, of course in 03 pitching in 60 games he had a 5.83 ERA

does not seem to go with this:

metirish wrote: I think he'd be a good addition.

[metirish]

Well he's some what proven and I'm confident Peterson would help him.

[Guest sharpie]

I dunno. Whenever I've seen him in recent years he's been way hittable.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

He's a body-type dead ringer for Benitez. But I'm kinda intrigued rooting for a team with a full "freak show" complement: Oldest Player, 6-finger guy... maybe we can bring Jim Abbott out of retirement.

[Guest sharpie]

We'll need a midget.

[seawolf17]

For the record, I just want to sign him to see him set the club record for Most Career Fingers.

[Frayed Knot]

"Whenever I've seen him in recent years he's been way hittable"

And whenever I've seen him in recent years he's been at weigh stations, apparently exceeding most highway regulations.

Bob Costas still had the best line when he referred to Alfonseca as a pitcher who's been "digitally enhanced".

I'm not sure he's be a lot better than any random guy off the farm.

[Guest Edgy DC]

About whom was it said in the Freak Injury Thread: "That's not a freak injury; that's an injury to a freak"?