Sack One

[metirish]

Buffalo is really run down huh?



Ike Davis boards the train bound for NYC

Some great pix in here if early Japanese baseball

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?25550-Early-Japanese-Baseball.

[Benjamin Grimm]

bmfc1 wrote: Tweets now say that Ike will be at CF for tonight's game.

I first read that to mean he'd be playing center field.

[Frayed Knot]

bmfc1 wrote: Tweets now say that Ike will be at CF for tonight's game.

Hope they don't give him an obstructed view seat.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Do we think he's going to be platooning?

By which I mean, does anyone doubt he'll be platooned?

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Do we think he's going to be platooning? By which I mean, does anyone doubt he'll be platooned?

Why wouldn't he be platooned? I mean, Tatis has the experience. no question. Gotta go with experience, Tatis, he's a guy that if we can get him going can really hit one out for us.

[metirish]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Do we think he's going to be platooning? By which I mean, does anyone doubt he'll be platooned?

What would be the point of platooning him with Tatis?, Fernado has been just rubbish.

[Centerfield]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: bmfc1 wrote: Tweets now say that Ike will be at CF for tonight's game. I first read that to mean he'd be playing center field.

I thought he was coming to my place to watch the game.

[Frayed Knot]

I wouldn't object too loudly if Davis were sat down against the occasional tough LHP.
The biggest questions about him coming off last year was his ability to hang against LHPs and to hit breaking balls. I somehow doubt all of that has been erased on account of a few dozen ABs in ST and early April in Buffalo.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ceetar wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Do we think he's going to be platooning? By which I mean, does anyone doubt he'll be platooned? Why wouldn't he be platooned? I mean, Tatis has the experience. no question. Gotta go with experience, Tatis, he's a guy that if we can get him going can really hit one out for us.

What's it called when you sigh and laugh at the same time? "Schuckling?"

[Centerfield]

Frayed Knot wrote: Ceetar wrote: the +1 year of arbritration or whatever is like tomorrow, so might as well at least wait until then at this point. There is no 'arbitration cut-off' date. There is point at which a player called up gets credit for a full season - I think that's 20 days into the season and today should be about day 15). That's something which could affect his FA status six years from now, so if we assume that Davis gets called up now he'd hit FA-gency a year earlier than if he were called up in another week or two (after the 2015 season instead of after 2016). All that, of course, assumes he's up here to stay and never gets sent down again, something which is hardly a given. Arbitration is a different story since it's based on a player's service time as compared to all other 2-3 year players. Usually you have to leave a player down on the farm until the end of May in order to delay his arb-eligible days by a year but there's no way to know for certain since there are too many variables.

I'm happy to see Ike get the call too, but assuming Ike is good (like we hope he will be) wouldn't it benefit the Mets (and us) to hold him back another 5 days to push his free agency back one year?

I mean, when our All-Star 1B is soliciting multi-year offers in 2015, are we going to think "Sure, we will have to pay lots of money to bring him back next season, but at least we had him for those 5 critical games back in April of 2010..."

[Ceetar]

Centerfield wrote: I'm happy to see Ike get the call too, but assuming Ike is good (like we hope he will be) wouldn't it benefit the Mets (and us) to hold him back another 5 days to push his free agency back one year? I mean, when our All-Star 1B is soliciting multi-year offers in 2015, are we going to think "Sure, we will have to pay lots of money to bring him back next season, but at least we had him for those 5 critical games back in April of 2010..."

That depends, do we make the playoffs by one game, does Ike hit a walkoff tonight?

Apparently it's a done deal, but hopefully the Mets just sign him to a long contract after his 2011 MVP to follow up his rookie of the year award and second consecutive world series ring.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Even if good, it's altogether possible that he goes down for at least some time when Moify comes back.

[Centerfield]

From the IkeGT:

attgig wrote: the mets front office is smart with ike! (not so with meija) http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/04/ike-davis-strasburg.html Talking to MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith, I learned that teams can now safely promote minor leaguers for their MLB debuts with no chance of the player amassing 172 days of service in 2010. By promoting '08 first-rounder Ike Davis today, the Mets ensured that he will be under team control through 2016 instead of 2015. In contrast, the Braves have Jason Heyward through '15.

Well that's that. Mets = Smart. CF = Dumb.

[Frayed Knot]

What that means is that players get credit for a full season as long as they're within [u:26ub99d8]TEN[/u:26ub99d8] days of one, not the twenty days we've been assuming here.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

There's a tidy explanation of the Ike Service-Time issue from Mark Himmelstein over at Amazin' Avenue.

Article V--Scheduling A) Length of Season During the term of this agreement, each club shall be scheduled to play 162 games. A championship season will not be scheduled over a period of less than 178 days or more than 183 days. -pp 3 Article XXI--Credited Major League Service A. Definitions Those Player rights expressly set forth in the Basic Agreement for which a Player's eligibility is dependent upon credited Major League service will be determined as follows: (1) One full day of Major League service will be credited for each day a player is on the Major League Club's Active List. A total of 172 days of Major League credited service will constitute one full year of credited service. A player may not receive more than one year, 172 days, in one championship season. Major League service will be computed commencing with the date of the first regularly scheduled championship season game, through and including the date of the last regularly schedule championship season game. This rule shall apply uniformly to all Players and Clubs notwithstanding differences in a particular Club's schedule. -pp 82 B. Optional Assignments If a Player is optionally assigned for a total of less than 20 days in one championship season, the player will be credited with Major League service time over the period of such assignment. -pp. 82

Ike, as Mark points out, wasn't on the 40, and-- as such-- wasn't on "optional assignment;" as a Bison, he was just a straight-up minor-league player. Therefore, he's not accruing time toward the ML service-time target while playing at AAA, and simply needs to stay under 172 days' time to stick around under club control through 2016. There are only 168 days left in the season, so he'll do that.

There is, however, a weird little sticking point that I hadn't foreseen with Chris Carter-- he IS on optional assignment right now, and had a previous month of major-league time logged with Boston. Basically, the Mets would have to wait longer this season to promote Carter to delay his service time than they do for young Ike. Of course, the major-league need is kind of dire enough to warrant flushing these concerns. (And, of course, the org would have to remember that Carter is on the roster before worrying about his service-time concerns.)

[Benjamin Grimm]

I would also think the Mets are a lot less concerned about Chris Carter's future free agency than they are Ike Davis'.

At this point, anyway.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I would also think the Mets are a lot less concerned about Chris Carter's future free agency than they are Ike Davis'. At this point, anyway.

Yeah, I would assume no one's hanging around the Mets front office panicking Carter might hit the open market earlier than expected.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Picketing? Hell, I would expect that if you asked 10 random Mets FO employees entering or exiting CitiField about Chris Carter, 7 would not know about whom you were talking.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wait. Who mentioned picketing?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Somehow "panicking" turned to "picketing."

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't think it's right that Met executives have been
picnicking! Out there with their baskets and thier
gingham picnic cloths. Considering all that's going
on with this team, I think it's disgraceful!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: I don't think it's right that Met executives have been picnicking! Out there with their baskets and thier gingham picnic cloths. Considering all that's going on with this team, I think it's disgraceful!

"I wouldn't think they'd have time for dessert, much less to be consulting a cherry manual!"

I plead "sleepless dad-ism."

[seawolf17]

They'd think you were talking about the former Vikings WR, who was actually still on Omar's fantasy football team this year.

"Well, Cris Carter catches touchdowns, y'know what I'm sayin'?"

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

If Carter is so brutal with the glove that they can't use him in the field, why did they trade for him? Hoping that the NL goes DH suddenly? Hoping to spin him to an AL team in a trade?

Seriously, wouldn't it have been better to take a draft pick when losing Wagner that a player you don't think you can bring up for anything than a pinch-hitter or DH for inter-league games?

[MFS62]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: If Carter is so brutal with the glove that they can't use him in the field, why did they trade for him? Hoping that the NL goes DH suddenly? Hoping to spin him to an AL team in a trade?

Someone in the front office must have heard a Red Sox announcer say "Carter is a much better fielder than Big Papi".*

Later

* = if you get the Suzyn Waldmann reference, you listen to too many Yakee sound bites.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I have a lawn sculpture in the yard that's a better fielder than Big Papi.

[soupcan]

BOC nominee!

[metirish]

soupcan wrote: BOC nominee!

Got there before you. I believe if you tried to nominate it you would be turned down.

[MFS62]

Rockin' Doc wrote: I have a lawn sculpture in the yard that's a better fielder than Big Papi.

Exactly! That's the point I alluded to about a Suzyn Waldmann quote. She once said that " __________ (I forget the player) is a much better fielder than Jason Giambi."
So is that lawn sculpture.
Jason and Papi both field like Dick Stuart was their boyhood idol.

Later

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

FREE CHRIS CARTER WATCH:

ROCHESTER-- 3-4, with a 2B and HR.

TOTALS: 49 PA, 2 HR, 8 XBH, .261 BA/.306 OBA/.565 SLG/.871 OPS, 1 Rochester Pitcher Obliterated w/Intensity-Propelled Mind Bullets