Benjamin Grimm

I tried looking into that. Apparently Manaea is progressing, throwing from 75 feet. According to an update from Mendoza a couple of days ago, he expects that Manaea will be activated before Montas, barring any setbacks, of course.

An update. I'm not sure how much faith to put in any of this, but I'll just report what I've been told. This site has, for quite a few years now, been hosted by a company called JustHost. They were recently acquired by a company called BlueHost, and that may be what triggered things going so badly. Until this week, however, I was still able to access the tools on the JustHost server. Now it forces me to a BlueHost login, and from there I can't even get to the files or the database. So even if I wanted to migrate to a different host (and it's definitely being considered!) I can't get access to anything. They tell me that there's an issue with the migration. Something about database cross references. I couldn't get a clear explanation. But they're working on the issue. ("Rest assured," they tell me.) The "Too Many Requests" errors, they say, are because of database pointers that need to be resolved. I opened a case on Tuesday and was told it would take 48 hours to resolve. I checked in today, and they're asking for another 48 hours. Needless to say, I'm not filled with confidence. I guess that if the issues get resolved and things look good, we'll stay where we are. And if not, I can start looking for an alternative once I get access to the files and database once again. Migrating to a new host is more of a project than I care to take on, but if I have to I'll get to it when I can. And that's where we're at.

I was just looking at some site metrics, and found that in the last month, 60 percent of traffic came from Georgia (the U.S. state, not the Eastern European country) and was sourced from Facebook's site in Ireland, somehow. I've blocked the series of IP addresses used by Meta Ireland in Georgia. We'll have to see if that helps.

I'm not sure if the tampering rule applies to comments from players.

I agree with that, but I wonder if the Marlins' ask will be too big. Alcantara looks like the kind of guy for whom you'd trade three or four young players. It took four players to get Johan Santana. Four to get Lindor (and Carrasco) Three to get Piazza. The Mets got four for Seaver. This seems like it would be a similar kind of deal. So which three or four players would it take? I really don't know.

I think it's inevitable that there will be a lot of speculation about the Mets and Alcantara. He's under team control through the 2027 season, and the Marlins apparently want to use him to bolster their farm system. So the price will be steep. I know the Mets have been loathe to trade prospects recently, but is this the guy for whom they'll make an exception? My guess is that he won't be a Met, but I'm far from certain about that. I don't know who the Marlins would demand, and who the Mets would be willing to trade and who they wouldn't. What do we think about this?

The last time I was out in Western Pennsylvania, I saw a sign at the city limit that said, "Welcome to Pittsburgh, the Land of R.J. Reynolds"

That's what I was thinking too. Use the "torpedo bats" until they get banned.

I would count Soto first because he would have been announced into the starting lineup* before Holmes was. (I remember Bob Murphy used to say "lineups and batting orders" which may have implied that there was a time when there was a distinction between the two, with the "lineup" being how the players were aligned on the field, while the batting order was, well, the order in which the players batted.)

Maybe a cannoli for Staten Island, and a raspberry for the Bronx?

Looking at the log files, ultimatemets.com has had a larger number of hits in February and March than in any of the twelve previous months. I suspect that most of the additional traffic is, sadly, non-human. But I talked with customer support and for a nominal increase in cost (just five dollars per month) we're being migrated to a higher-capacity server. This will go into effect some time today, if it hasn't already.

Yeah, this is dumb, but who cares? And the Mets have been doing silly between-innings entertainment for years. There's no point pretending that New York City is above this kind of thing.

I'm going to have to escalate this. I was essentially told to figure it out myself (not in so many words) but if I can't get satisfaction I'll look for another hosting company.

I was on with customer support again this morning, and they told me there are too many background processes, but wouldn't explain further. They did a few things but I'm not sure how well it will work.

I just contacted the hosting company and they tell me the issue has been resolved. (They cleared cache on the server.) I guess we'll see how it goes.

1. What will the Mets' record be? 91-71 2. Predict the NL East standings from 1 to 5: Braves Mets Phillies Marlins Nationals 3. Will the Mets make the playoffs (if so, as the division champ or 1st, 2nd, or 3rd WC)? Second Wild Card 4. If so, how far will they go? NLCS 5. Who will be the World Champion? Guardians 6. Number of regular season HRs for Pete Alonso: 33 7. Who will be on the cover of the 2025 winner of the Tabloid Cover Derby? Soto

I liked it, but it would have been better without that final twist.

That seems to be against his nature.

So much for that.

It's like he was the executive to be named later in the David Stearns deal.

That may very well be. It has a good cast.

The only one I've seen, so far, is Conclave. (Just last week, on Peacock.) It was good, but it didn't really smell like a Best Picture.

I don't think he's so easily placated.

Didn't Willie Randolph put a similar rule into effect when he took over as manager of the Mets?