Benjamin Grimm

That last Boston Brave is Del Crandall, whose 91st birthday will be in March. https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/26/26-162Fr.jpg> https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/8666/8666-497046Fr.jpg>

Huh! I wonder... How many Brooklyn Dodgers are left? Boston Braves? Philadelphia Athletics? St. Louis Browns?

You know what? If Kelenick decides to become a superstar, let him! I'm not going to spend the next twenty years gnashing my teeth over Jared Kelenick. It was a bad trade, and a dumb trade, but it happens. Meanwhile, we got Keith Hernandez for Neil Allen and David Cone for Ed Hearn. And John Olerud for Robert Person. It happens the other way too.

Fun facts: 1. Sean Reid-Foley was born in Guam! He has a chance to be the first Guamian Met! 2. Two of the three players, Reid-Foley and Diaz, have appeared in big league games with the Blue Jays. 3. If Edwin Diaz's parents had decided to name him "Yennsy", the Mets would have two guys named "Yennsy Diaz".

That's how I feel too. I would have let him go for nothing.

One-time Schaefer award winner. April 2019. http://leaptoad.com/mets/cards/StevenMatz1972.jpg>

I had him pegged for Florence of the Frontier League.

I don't think that's a real dog.

What's Jared Porter been up to? He's not returning my texts. 😕

I suddenly loathe Darren O'Day.

Maybe we can ask him to bat right handed instead. Actually, I think I'd rather have an outfield of Smith, Nimmo, and Conforto, accepting the loss of defense, than making Smith a spare part and losing his bat. There are probably metrics that would say if this is a good or bad idea, but I don't have a handle on all these newer stats. Not that I disbelieve them, I just don't have the motivation to try to understand them.

What? People with jobs can't have hobbies?

As long as he doesn't ask for a tent...

I would start with Familia or Matz plus the shit prospect.

Hannah Keyser's question really did stand out. I'm not sure, though, if talking to women who worked with Jared Porter would have made a difference. It's entirely possible that he kept things professional at work and restricted his creepiness to his relationship pursuits. But it was a good question to ask, and I thought Sandy's answer was pretty good. (Not everyone agrees with that.) One thing that Sandy did get some criticism for, although I don't think it was widespread, was that he revealed the nationality of the woman who Porter was texting. It was reported that English wasn't her first language, but when Sandy said what country she was from, it made it a lot easier to identify her. (I won't mention the nationality here, but I think many of us heard Sandy say it. And it didn't help me identify her, but it very possibly would have if I paid more attention to the overall pool of baseball reporters.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/mets/2021/01/26/trevor-bauer-mets-offer-contract/4258036001/Mets offer to free agent pitcher Trevor Bauer would approach record-setting average annual contract It's unknown whether Bauer has any other formal offers, but it's unlikely any team has made a higher bid, establishing the Mets as the clear favorites to land baseball's top free-agent pitcher.

Maybe, maybe not. (On Davis being included.) The Mets might want to keep Davis for depth. Jared said that he thinks it's important to have depth and redundancy. (Jared is gone, I've heard, but that may still be the organization's philosophy.) So maybe Davis for Bryant. Or it might be Familia or Betances or Matz. (I say this not having any idea what the Cubs' needs are. I just know that each of the three makes a lot less than Bryant will.)

https://www.nj.com/yankees/2021/01/mlb-rumors-mets-turn-to-ex-mvp-as-plan-c-after-whiffing-on-yankees-dj-lemahieu-blue-jays-george-springer.htmlMets turn to ex-MVP as Plan C after whiffing on Yankees' DJ LeMahieu, Blue Jays' George Springer

Cactus League is asking MLB to delay the start of spring training. Things are especially bad in Arizona right now, and the forecast is that things will be a lot better by the middle of March. But starting spring training on March 15 for 15 of the 30 teams would make Opening Day on April 1 pretty close to impossible. I don't know if there's a possibility of the 15 teams starting workouts elsewhere. We'll have to see how this plays out. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30776834/cactus-league-asks-mlb-delay-start-spring-training-covid-19-pandemichttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30776834/cactus-league-asks-mlb-delay-start-spring-training-covid-19-pandemic

I've read that the Mets have a couple of deals in place that would divest them of Familia and Betances if they want to shed some additional salary. They can also trade or release Matz. I have no idea how long a shelf life those Familia and Betances deals might have.

I really doubt that George Springer is a nifty tidbit "descendant" of "Johnny Big Lunch Box". (Now that's a weird sentence!)

I was able to root for Lenny Dykstra, so I think I could root for Trevor Bauer.

Davey is out of the hospital and resting comfortably at home. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30761256/davey-johnson-hospital-covid-19-treatments-former-new-york-mets-spokesman-sayshttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30761256/davey-johnson-hospital-covid-19-treatments-former-new-york-mets-spokesman-says

MLB.com wrote: Each year, clubs that exceed a predetermined payroll threshold are subject to a Competitive Balance Tax -- which is commonly referred to as a "luxury tax." Those who carry payrolls above that threshold are taxed on each dollar above the threshold, with the tax rate increasing based on the number of consecutive years a club has exceeded the threshold. A team's Competitive Balance Tax figure is determined using the average annual value of each player's contract on the 40-man roster, plus any additional player benefits. The threshold was $189 million from 2014-16, but the following increases were put in place per the 2017-21 Collective Bargaining Agreement: 2017: $195 million* 2018: $197 million 2019: $206 million 2020: $208 million 2021: $210 million *For 2017 only, clubs that exceeded the threshold paid the average between what their luxury tax was under the 2017-21 Collective Bargaining Agreement rules and what it would have been per the previous CBA. A club exceeding the Competitive Balance Tax threshold for the first time must pay a 20 percent tax on all overages. A club exceeding the threshold for a second consecutive season will see that figure rise to 30 percent, and three or more straight seasons of exceeding the threshold comes with a 50 percent luxury tax. If a club dips below the luxury tax threshold for a season, the penalty level is reset. So, a club that exceeds the threshold for two straight seasons but then drops below that level would be back at 20 percent the next time it exceeds the threshold. Clubs that exceed the threshold by $20 million to $40 million are also subject to a 12 percent surtax. Meanwhile, those who exceed it by more than $40 million are taxed at a 42.5 percent rate the first time and a 45 percent rate if they exceed it by more than $40 million again the following year(s). Beginning in 2018, clubs that are $40 million or more above the threshold shall have their highest selection in the next Rule 4 Draft moved back 10 places unless the pick falls in the top six. In that case, the team will have its second-highest selection moved back 10 places instead. So if the Mets have a payroll of $211 million this year, the penalty would only be $200,000. Therefore, going "slightly" over the threshold isn't a big deal, but it does set you up for larger penalties down the road. Maybe the Mets want to stay under this year, knowing that with Cano coming back they're very likely to be over next year. But I think that if the extend Lindor (increasing his AAV over the $22.5 million it's currently at) and/or Conforto, combined with a possible signing of Brad Hand, they're likely to go over anyway. In that case, $25 million to Springer would have actually cost them $30 million, in addition to potentially marginalizing Dominic Smith. The other wild card in this is that the current CBA, with its rules and its thresholds, expires this year. There may not even be a luxury tax in 2022 and beyond, and if there is, the thresholds and the penalties might be very different. I expect the players will demand a requirement that clubs have a minimum payroll to counter the luxury tax.

It's not so hard to understand. It says that by the time Cleon Jones was born, he had already been friends with Hank Aaron for eight years.