Brown Town

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Andrew Brown will join the Mets in Atlanta this weekend, according to The Rube's secret sources.

Catcow has to be on the way down.

[smg58]

The .367/.440/.622 line is nice, but Lagares wasn't that far behind that when he got the call.

I'm perplexed by Collins' handling of Cowgill -- he gives him the starting job, Cowgill gets a grand slam on opening Day, then doesn't start against righties after that -- but Cowgill didn't do enough with his opportunities when given the chance. Pitchers were baiting him with borderline strikes on the outside corner when he was ahead in the count, and he kept swinging. Patience was never his problem in the minors, so I think he got too easily frustrated and it snowballed. Hopefully a few weeks of regular playing time will do him some good, because I still think there's some upside there.

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Andrew Brown will join the Mets in Atlanta this weekend, according to The Rube's secret sources. Catcow has to be on the way down.

Release Byrd. there is zero reason to keep him. he's older, can't play center, is slower. No reason to keep him over Cowgill besides the Trash Men.

[Edgy MD]

Actually, while I don't disagree to the general point, I think Byrd has looked better on D than Cow.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Actually, while I don't disagree to the general point, I think Byrd has looked better on D than Cow.

Yeah, probably. Don't know if it'll be that way going forward, and we have Lagares, Valdespin and Nieuwenhuis so it's not like the CF thing matters. It's really six of one in terms of which guy to get rid of. I'd even accept "the coin said tails" as reasonable justification of one over the other.

[Edgy MD]

Well, while I agree that Byrd likely won't always be the better outfielder, (a) we don't currently have Nieuwenhuis, ( center isn't the only issue, as Byrd has looked better in right, too, and © if you really think it's too close to call, then reason usually suggests you send down the guy with options.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Well, while I agree that Byrd likely won't always be the better outfielder, (a) we don't currently have Nieuwenhuis, ( center isn't the only issue, as Byrd has looked better in right, too, and (c) if you really think it's too close to call, then reason usually suggests you send down the guy with options.

Yeah, i'm just lobbying for Byrd myself. Options matter, but I'd rather play the younger guy if I think he has any chance of helping ever.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yes the Cow's dee was probably an issue in limiting his starts and in calling on Lagares. Not very good at all to my eyes.

You figure we got CF covered now between Lagares, Valdy and Byrd in an emergency. Cowgill is just extra.

[MFS62]

While they were discussing Brown, I hope Collins had a chance to talk to some of the coaches who saw Lagares play last year. I followed the minor league box scores pretty closely last year, and it seemed that Lagares hit much better in the top half of the order than when batting in the lower half. Maybe he felt he had to try for more power down there and changed his swing. I don't know where to find data to back this up, but it was noticeable.

Later

[Ceetar]

MFS62 wrote: While they were discussing Brown, I hope Collins had a chance to talk to some of the coaches who saw Lagares play last year. I followed the minor league box scores pretty closely last year, and it seemed that Lagares hit much better in the top half of the order than when batting in the lower half. Maybe he felt he had to try for more power down there and changed his swing. I don't know where to find data to back this up, but it was noticeable. Later

Don't see batting order splits, but he DID hit much better against pitchers older than him (presumably these are the retread/non-prospect guys and the younger ones are the actual talent?)

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: You figure we got CF covered now between Lagares, Valdy and Byrd in an emergency. Cowgill is just extra.

One of the saddest things ever written about the Mets.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

When Collin Cowgill's bat is making you feel ill you can always go
Brown Town
If Marlon Byrd is older than Tony Curtis you can always go
Brown Town

When balls are hit at Duda he gets frozen like a waffle
And Brown is no Clemente but he isn't all that awful
How can we lose?

The stats are inflated there
But when we see who we've got here we really don't care

Let's go Brown Town
We need a hitter, go Brown Town
This year's in the shitter, go Brown Town
Bid Collin Cowgill adieu.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

One of the saddest things ever written about the Mets.

Feel free to relive the glory days of Pepe Mangual anytime.

[MFS62]

Swan Swan H wrote: When balls are hit at Duda he gets frozen like a waffle And Brown is no Clemente but he isn't all that awful How can we lose? The stats are inflated there But when we see who we've got here we really don't care

I can just hear Petula Clark singing those lyrics.
Beautiful.

Later

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

[Edgy MD]

And in what will forever be known as the "How now, Brown Cow?" transaction, the Mets demote Colin Cowgill and add themselves some Brown.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Brown wore 77 in the spring, is wearing 21 at Las Vegas, and is listed in 47 on the 40-man roster. I think he looks like a 22.

[Frayed Knot]

Goodbye Cowgill from the stands

[Guest Swan Swan H]

G-F called it way back in December:

G-Fafif wrote: If he gets off to a bad start, let's hope he's capable of a reverse Cowgill.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Swan Swan H wrote: Brown wore 77 in the spring, is wearing 21 at Las Vegas, and is listed in 47 on the 40-man roster. I think he looks like a 22.

47, according to the roster on Mets.com.

[Edgy MD]

In a flash of deja vu, Brown once again joins the Mets as they take on Atlanta, and once again displaces Collin Gowgill.

When healthy, this guy has absolutely been the bee's pancreas in Las Vegas, going .346 / .432 / .660 // 1.093 in about 180 trips to the plate, which would make him third, first, second, and first in the league in those categories with a handful more plate appearances to qualify him. He's got 15 doubles, six triples, and 15 homers, knocking in 41 and scoing 39.

If he can produce at 80% that level in the bigs, we could use him. Heck, if he can produce at 60% that level, we could tolerate him.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The outfield is so complicated. I think there are seven guys for 3 jobs at the moment.

Brown
Duda
Nieuwenhuis
Lagares
Young
Byrd
Valdespin

I suppose for the moment we can take Doodoo out of the mix and consider him the 1B but still. Is Young a bad enough CFer that Lagares/Nieuwy continue to platoon there?

Does Brown take over for Byrd, or the LF of the day?

Now that Young is here, does Valdy make any sense to keep around?

[metirish]

Plus Young is the lead off man we have been looking for(well, not really but that role is his I assume)

[Edgy MD]

The outfield is so complicated. I think there are seven guys for 3 jobs at the moment. Brown Duda Nieuwenhuis Lagares Young Byrd Valdespin I suppose for the moment we can take Doodoo out of the mix and consider him the 1B but still. Is Young a bad enough CFer that Lagares/Nieuwy continue to platoon there? Does Brown take over for Byrd, or the LF of the day? Now that Young is here, does Valdy make any sense to keep around?

I have it this way:

LF: Nieuwenhuis/Brown
CF: Young/Lagares
RF: Byrd, with odd appearances by Valdy, until Byrd stops hitting or Valdy starts and the equilibrium changes.

Duda is at first.

And, as circumstances on the ground warrant, Duda can become an outfielder again, and perhaps Young can become an infielder.

Basically enough PT go around that anybody who can make a statement will have an opportunity to. Such is the way of things on teams that aren't hitting.

[MFS62]

As the old baseball expression goes, if I were Valdespin, I wouldn't be sending out my laundry. Who knows where they might have to deliver it.
Young seems to fill the same role.

Later

[seawolf17]

Except EYJr is basically Jordany without the pop. I don't get why he'd replace him, unless they're really fed up with JV1 in the clubhouse.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Is Brown Town a suburb of Chocolate City?

[Edgy MD]

seawolf17 wrote: Except EYJr is basically Jordany without the pop. I don't get why he'd replace him, unless they're really fed up with JV1 in the clubhouse.

Initially, he's replacing Turner. But Jordany's shrinking profile is clear.

[Fman99]

You can lobby but they usually won't let you, uh, park your vehicle, in Brown Town.

Wait, what are we talking about?

[Ceetar]

Brown charged my $5 to divert my All-Star Tickets to my wife's office since they demanded a signature during the day. Screw you Brown.