If we bring back Bartolo ...

[Frayed Knot]

Who knew that Atlanta would wind up as the stopping off point for aging ex-NYM pitchers?
Probably because it's on the way to south Florida where all the rest of aging New Yorkers end up.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Interesting. We should get back at them by signing a Braves legend like Tom Glavine!

[Benjamin Grimm]

Or Matt Wisler!

[Centerfield]

Well this sucks.

I get that this makes sense. $12 million is better spent on other areas. But man I will miss the big guy. My son will bummed.

This week needs to be over.

[Guest cooby]

sheet

[Frayed Knot]

Do you suppose the Braves are worried that he'll take their big contract and come into camp out of shape?

[RealityChuck]

Frayed Knot wrote: Do you suppose the Braves are worried that he'll take their big contract and come into camp out of shape?

How could they tell?

[Guest themetfairy]

Little Sexy weeps

[Benjamin Grimm]

Poor Little Sexy.

[Lefty Specialist]

Centerfield wrote: Well this sucks. I get that this makes sense. $12 million is better spent on other areas. But man I will miss the big guy. My son will bummed. This week needs to be over.

This. He was a good soldier but not worth $12.5 mil. Always entertaining, and he'll be missed. But he has to fall off a cliff sooner or later and I'd rather part ways too early than too late.

[Zvon]

Well, this shocked the shit outta me.

I felt that if he did stay he would have to be in the rotation at seasons start as other options shake out or work themselves in. If Sandy couldn't promise him that maybe we are in better shape than I thought going into 2017.

I wish him all the best and would like to see him pass Marichal. He needs 10 wins to reach 233.
Damn, I really hoped to see him do that as a Met.

[RealityChuck]

I think it was simple. He wanted ten wins. He was not likely to start regularly for the Mets, who have six young pitchers ready to go, so he went with a team that could promise him he'll be pitching every five days.

[Centerfield]

RealityChuck wrote: I think it was simple. He wanted ten wins. He was not likely to start regularly for the Mets, who have six young pitchers ready to go, so he went with a team that could promise him he'll be pitching every five days.

Plus they can score a bit. Second half Braves were 6th in all of MLB in runs scored.

[Frayed Knot]

Do you suppose the Braves are worried that he'll take their big contract and come into camp out of shape? How could they tell?

As the classic fat man's joke goes: 'Whattya mean I'm out of shape ... round is a shape!'

[seawolf17]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Centerfield wrote: Well this sucks. I get that this makes sense. $12 million is better spent on other areas. But man I will miss the big guy. My son will bummed. This week needs to be over. This. He was a good soldier but not worth $12.5 mil. Always entertaining, and he'll be missed. But he has to fall off a cliff sooner or later and I'd rather part ways too early than too late.

Agree. We need to spend that $12.5M elsewhere.

But seriously, an all-time favorite Met for me.

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Lugo and Gsellman are hardly "proven", and don't possess overpowering heat. Let's see what they can do the second time around the league. I'm a bit skeptical.

Who needs him? He's due to break down big time. Plus, we got Lugo and Gsellman.

[Zvon]

If he wasn't willing to be a safety net from the get-go in 2017 I'm actually glad that he will continue to start somewhere. Colon broke down years ago, when he went from 98mph heat to 81mph finesse. I think Bart can pitch like he does now for as long as he pitches.

I really think we could have used him in a number of ways, primarily such a simple thing: his presence. And there's his experience and his example. Our young guns may have learned how to hurl heat coming up, but if they payed any attention at all to Bartolo Colon, they learned how to pitch (I hope).

We may not need him now but he was so needed during his time here.

I also like the 12 mill now available, so.... I'm over it.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I will miss him., but I understand that it is probably better to invest the money it would have taken to keep him to fill other needs on the team.

[Frayed Knot]

I didn't realize that Bartolo made "only" $7.25 mil last year (for some reason I was thinking his 2016 salary was somewhat north of $10) so this move not only represents the better chance to pitch, start, and go for the Wins he's after, but he's also getting better than a 70% raise for his troubles. Nice work if you can get it, but also even less of a reason to keep him around for reliever, mop-up, and emergency starter chores.



Another thought concerning Bartolo occurred to me the other day, one which briefly sent me dashing to BB-Ref for an answer.
I was thinking that maybe his first home game next season could be the third Atlanta ballpark he's pitched in but, alas, it turns out that his ML rookie season was in [u:1p9d5n45]1997[/u:1p9d5n45] thus making him one year too late (and in the wrong league) for games at the old Fulton County Stadium.

[Zvon]

Maybe he can solve the logo problem.

Work of graphic logo designer Todd Radom.
He's not like me. He's a real logo designer.
And this is brilliant:

[fimg=400]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cw_lW4fXUAAY1lG.jpg[/fimg]

[Frayed Knot]

Zvon wrote: [fimg=250]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cw_lW4fXUAAY1lG.jpg[/fimg]

Ah yes, I was going to ask if anyone else had seen that one. Brilliant!!