Benjamin Grimm

I voted my fear instead of my hope. Bronx.

I am too. I thought they had closed that loophole.

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http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/TCD.png> Vote for the cover that you prefer. Voting will run for seven days. IT COULD BE YOU! New York Daily News, November 3, 2023. Winner of https://phpbb3.leaptoad.com/mets/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32892Round 1.22 http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/2023/20231103_NYDN_02.jpg> RE-PETE OFFENSE Newsday, July 26, 2023. Winner of https://phpbb3.leaptoad.com/mets/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32880Round 1.18 http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/2023/20230726_NSD_02.jpg>

The Mets also have Kodai Senga, for however much (or little) that may be worth. I really think Yamamoto is going to end up in New York. I really don't know which borough, though. This is a very high-stakes offseason.

Not good, but he has plenty of time to recover.

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http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/TCD.png> Vote for the cover that you prefer. Voting will run for seven days. LIKE WE NEVER MET New York Daily News, January 11, 2023. Winner of https://phpbb3.leaptoad.com/mets/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32832Round 1.03 http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/2023/20230111_NYDN_02.jpg> DIDDLY SQUAT! New York Daily News, July 15, 2023. Winner of https://phpbb3.leaptoad.com/mets/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32876Round 1.17 http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/2023/20230715_NYDN_02.jpg>

=ashie62 post_id=142550 time=1702143830 user_id=90] I expect them to sign Ohtani and Yamamoto, today

I just looked up Fred McGriff. I only remembered him as a Blue Jay, but he played almost as many games with the Rays (only one fewer game than in Toronto) and more games with the Braves than anywhere else. I don't remember him as a Brave at all; I'll have to file these facts in my head for future Immaculate Grid reference. December 9, 1982: Traded by the New York Yankees with Dave Collins, Mike Morgan and cash to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tom Dodd and Dale Murray. Boy, that's a bad trade. Dave Collins (I remember him!) had a couple of pretty good years with the Jays before moving on. And Tom Dodd (???) would be released by the Yankees before he ever played a game for them. Years later, he would appear in eight games for the Orioles. And that was it for his big league career. And Dale Murray had a better stint with the Mets than he would with the Yankees, so there's that too.

=Marshmallowmilkshake post_id=142510 time=1702064077 user_id=119] =metirish post_id=142509 time=1702063131 user_id=72] X is going wild right now with rumors he signed for the Jays

He was the fourth-oldest living Met, and one of only four living nonagenarians. (The remaining three are Willie Mays, Jim Marshall, and George Altman.) With Hicks' death, Cliff Cook moves into the top ten, Larry Elliot into the top twenty, and Larry Stahl into the top forty.

I struggled with that one too. I ended up going with Casey Stengel!

If this Juan Soto trade doesn't bother you as a Mets fan, your really aren't one. I'm sure all teams have fans like this, but I only pay attention to the Mets, and I have to say that I'm really tired of this. If you're old enough to have a job, pay bills, and you're no longer a virgin, you should have more of a sense of perspective about the teams you root for. Enjoy when they win, but don't go out of your way to generate angst for every little thing that doesn't go your way.

Jeez, somebody needs to tell these people that it's December 7, not March 1.

Well, I guess we have to hope that it turns out to be a one-year rental, and that in 2024 he'll be in Queens. Or Toronto or some other AL city.

Sox Prospect News wrote: With the 298th overall pick in the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Red Sox selected Ryan Ammons, a left-handed pitcher out of Clemson University. Ammons opened the 2023 season as Clemson's Friday night starter and made two starts for the Tigers before missing nearly two months with a left forearm strain. Upon returning to action in late April, the 22-year-old southpaw was used strictly out of the bullpen, pitching to a 5.40 ERA with seven strikeouts to five walks across 10 innings of relief. Coming into the spring, Ammons had forged a 4.55 ERA with 49 strikeouts to 20 walks over 34 relief appearances (31 2/3 innings) in his first three seasons at Clemson. The 6-foot, 205-pound southpaw has experience closing games and works with a fastball that reaches 94 mph as well as a solid breaking ball, per our own Ian Cundall. A redshirt junior out of South Carolina, Ammons is the second lefty to be selected by Boston in this draft, joining a fellow ACC product in Virginia's Connelly Early. The slot value for the 298th overall pick is $167,900. http://news.soxprospects.com/2023/07/red-sox-select-ryan-ammons-with-10th.htmlhttp://news.soxprospects.com/2023/07/red-sox-select-ryan-ammons-with-10th.html

I assume that Ammons isn't a Rule 5, so the Mets won't have to keep him on the big league roster for the entire season. Slaten was closer to being ready, but Ammons is easier to keep in the organization. That's probably the rationale behind the deal.

This is from FanGraphs, July 2023. They have Slaten as the Rangers' 19th best prospect. The Rangers have finally moved Slaten to the bullpen and he's carving. He isn't throwing any harder than he was in 2022, but Slaten has taken to a single-inning, air-it-out approach and isn't walking anyone. He's sitting 94-97 with plus-plus carry, bending in his usual knee-buckling low-to-mid-80s slider, and he's also added a cutter. Slaten's delivery is violent and he has a high-maintenance frame, so his prospectdom is a little less stable than a premium on-mound athlete's, but he has late-inning stuff and seems to have taken a step forward from a control standpoint. He could be in Texas' big league bullpen by the end of the year and, if not, is almost certainly a post-season 40-man add who'll debut next year. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/texas-rangers-top-43-prospects/https://blogs.fangraphs.com/texas-rangers-top-43-prospects/

26 years old. Spent most of 2023 with Frisco of the Texas League (AA) in the Rangers organization. 3.16 ERA over 51.1 innings. 35 games, all but one in relief. 16 walks, 76 strikeouts, 9 homers allowed.

Smart move, too. I expect that Yamamoto would appreciate the effort and see it as a sign of respect.

It's just a matter of time.

It's a risky signing, no doubt, but for a team with pockets as deep as the Mets have, it's a risk worth taking. I'll be very disappointed if Yamamoto ends up elsewhere.

We've now seen the first three polls of the second round, which will have a total of six. We'll take a break now, and the remaining three polls from this round will be presented next week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That will be followed by a holiday break, and third-round voting will begin in January.

I'm surprised at the big lead that BUCK STOPS HERE has built. I was pretty certain that this one was going to break for BREAKING OPEN.