Murphy's Knee

[seawolf17]

Frayed Knot wrote: Car-Ter -- Car-Ter -- Car-Ter

"Absolutely, Joe. I could go out there and give them .250/.280/.400 with ten home runs in April. Absolutely."

[Valadius]

[nymr83]

I hope the Mets give Carter a shot, but either Carter or Jacobs could do better than the 2009 Murphy. I'm hoping that one of them has a big year and/or Davis is wrecking AAA and forces a callup around June 1st. Murphy would look better on the bench.

[batmagadanleadoff]

seawolf17 wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Car-Ter -- Car-Ter -- Car-Ter "Absolutely, Joe. I could go out there and give them .250/.280/.400 with ten home runs in April. Absolutely."

"Plus, Joe, I'm very ready to manage the team if a Mets' shaky start should jeopardize Jerry's job."

[Frayed Knot]

Nymr83 wrote: I hope the Mets give Carter a shot, but either Carter or Jacobs could do better than the 2009 Murphy. I'm hoping that one of them has a big year and/or Davis is wrecking AAA and forces a callup around June 1st. Murphy would look better on the bench.

I think there's a better chance that Murphy v.2010 improves on the 2009 Murphy than there is that Jacobs has a better season than the 2009 Murphy.
Of course we don't have that option from day, 1 but I'm not going into this CAHNfident that either Jacobs or Carter is likely to put Muffy out of a job.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I just love to see professional hitters like Carter get a crack.

Too much of management is focused on what a guy can't do. Ask a guy to show you what he can do. Carter has gone .306 / .380 / .510 // .890 in 726 minor league games. YOu traded an All-Star closer for him. Find a place to use him.

[metirish]

Edgy DC wrote: I just love to see professional hitters like Carter get a crack. .

professional hitter = what again?

[Benjamin Grimm]

A guy who gets paid to hit, and who also likes crack.

[soupcan]

Murphy, one of the few Mets to avoid injuries last season, had been anointed the starting first baseman, although Ike Davis, the Mets� top position prospect, is expected to push Murphy aside by 2011. But for now, Davis will head to Class AAA Buffalo while the veteran Mike Jacobs takes over at first. With the Mets also deciding on Wednesday to delay Jose Reyes�s regular-season debut, it means that their opening day lineup will include at least three backup players � Jacobs, Alex Cora and either Angel Pagan or Gary Matthews Jr. In discussing the Murphy situation with reporters, General Manager Omar Minaya did not wait to be asked about the 23-year-old Davis, who had a standout spring, before dismissing the possibility of his starting the season in Flushing. �Right now, our plan is to let Ike Davis develop in the minor leagues,� Minaya said. Jacobs had been a strong candidate to be a left-handed power hitter off the bench for the Mets. Now that he will probably be starting for a while, it opens up roster possibilities for Chris Carter, who on Wednesday hit his fourth home run of the spring, this one off Florida�s Josh Johnson, who will face the Mets again Monday in the season opener at Citi Field. Jacobs, who was signed to a minor league deal during the off-season, has hit only .194 in spring training, with two home runs. But he has experience, and power from the left side. Last year, he hit 19 home runs for Kansas City; in 2008 he hit 32 homers with 93 runs batted in for the Marlins

[Guest Edgy DC]

So the suggestion is that Jacobs has the start, and Carter and Catalanotto* are competing for a single spot.

Professional hitter is a guy who hits well year in and year out. He's maybe got good power approaching very good. Good contact approaching very good. A good guy eye approaching very good. But not arising to All-Star excellence in any of these areas, and offering very little in terms of defense or baserunning, he only keeps a job as long as he hits, which he tends to do, year in and year out. Their patron saint is Joe Randa.

*For anybody haveing trouble spelling this, it's a single t the first time through and a double tt the second. Look at this way... break it up into two parts. The first part is the root of Catalan, like the Catalan culture and the Catalan dialect. The second part is the suffix -otto, indicating largeness. This suffix is the opposite of -etto, idicating smallness. We are used to other languages having an equivelant of -etto, such as Spanish (-ito) or Irish (-een). This suffix is called the diminutive, and is common because diminutive nicknames are often given as a term of endearment, frequently during childhood. The Italian -otto suffix we find here would then be the augmentative, found in fewer languages. Anyhow, his name translates to "Frenchy the Big Guy from Catalonia."

[bmfc1]

A BOC nomination to Edgy for the *explanation of "Catalanotto."

[Benjamin Grimm]

While we're giving spelling lessons, here's a trick to remembering how to spell the name of the Mets right fielder:

It's starts with FRANCO, like John and Matt and Julio.

Then you just have to add the first three letters of the continent that's the source of French people: EURope.

FRANCO EUR

FRANCOEUR.

[metirish]

bmfc1 wrote: A BOC nomination to Edgy for the *explanation of "Catalanotto."

Yeah that was good stuff, and with Grims help above I am sure to never misspell Francoeur again.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

My issue with Catalanotto wasn't the T's or the OTTO but spelling CATALAN as CATALON.

I had a friend named Catalanotti, which would mean many large guys from Catalan, I guess.

[ashie62]

Valadius wrote:

I concur

[MFS62]

Kudos to Edgy, for providing the definitionotto of the year.
And the Joe Randa mention brought a tear to my eye.
Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frayed Knot wrote: Nymr83 wrote: I hope the Mets give Carter a shot, but either Carter or Jacobs could do better than the 2009 Murphy. I'm hoping that one of them has a big year and/or Davis is wrecking AAA and forces a callup around June 1st. Murphy would look better on the bench. I think there's a better chance that Murphy v.2010 improves on the 2009 Murphy than there is that Jacobs has a better season than the 2009 Murphy. Of course we don't have that option from day, 1 but I'm not going into this CAHNfident that either Jacobs or Carter is likely to put Muffy out of a job.

SI is picking the Mets to finish 4th and reports that Murphy might develop into a +20 HR man in 2010 thanks to his new hitting approach.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1167911/index.htm

[ashie62]

Now SI is picking on Murphy?