Benjamin Grimm

It sadly occurred to me this morning that more than seven months will pass before the Mets again play a game that I really care about.

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He's right handed, by the way.

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Kristie Ackert, in today's Daily News: After two straight seasons upended by injuries in their rotation, Sandy Alderson said that going into next season, the Mets will not look at their rotation as the foundation of the team. Okay, I'm good with that. Tilting the balance of power a bit more towards the offense seems reasonable. The Mets GM said the goal will likely be to get five innings out of their starters and then turn to, what Mets fans have to hope, is a much-improved bullpen. UGH! I'm not good with that. I hope she misunderstood. Planning to get four innings out of your bullpen every game seems like a recipe for disaster.

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d'Kong76 wrote: No Maureen McGovern here, made ya look! J. Nicolino (1-1, 4.56) C. Flexen (2-1, 7.02) Can we at least call in Maureen McCormick?

I think Sherman is wrong about that. I'm pretty sure that if he retires, the money goes away.

Finding a Mets third baseman, from status quo to flipping Matz By Joel Sherman August 17, 2017 | 3:13pm Sandy Alderson publicly acknowledged the obvious this week — that you cannot assemble a contender with hope and heart. David Wright failed to conquer his spinal stenosis enough to play regularly as a productive third baseman in 2017, and Alderson stated the Mets would not wait around for a baseball miracle in 2018. The Mets know they must add another impact bat this offseason and that third base and second base are the most obvious places to address this; and, yes, this is probably another moment to note this is the team that let go both Justin Turner and Daniel Murphy – the NL OPS leaders at third and second, respectively. For now let’s focus on third. Wright has three years and $47 million left, and insurance will continue to take care of a large swath of that if he does not play or retires. At this point, his return would only complicate matters for the Mets financially and structurally since they cannot know how long he will stay on the field and at what level. So where can they turn? 1. The simplest act would be to pick up Asdrubal Cabrera’s $8.5 million option and continue to use him, Wilmer Flores and T.J. Rivera as a stopgap (Mets third-base OPS this year has been a middle-of-the-pack .758), and then try to bulk up at second base by trading for someone such as Minnesota’s Brian Dozier. This way, if Wright does return, it is easier to sit Cabrera than a more significant addition. 2. Go stopgap but with grandiose plans. The assumption has always been the Yankees will be huge players in what is setting up as the spectacular free-agent class of 2018-19. But why couldn’t the Mets plug third base in 2018 and then try to sign Josh Donaldson or Manny Machado the following year? You think the Subway Series would be more interesting if, say, Machado were a Met and Bryce Harper, that same offseason, signed with the Yankees? 3. Go to the top of the market now. That would mean signing Mike Moustakas as a free agent. But keep in mind, coming off his age-27 season, Pablo Sandoval received five years at $95 million, so you should expect a Scott Boras client coming off a career year (35 homers, .885 OPS so far) in his age-28 season will demand a lot more. And just a word on Moustakas: He is not Sandoval, but I would worry about his body as he reaches his 30s. Plus, having spent a lot of time around the Royals in the 2014-15 postseason, I believe Lorenzo Cain or Eric Hosmer would thrive in New York. I did not get that same vibe from Moustakas. 4. Make Steven Matz available. He is the most logical piece that the Mets would at least think about moving to upgrade elsewhere. I can’t imagine they would do that for a one-year rental even if Toronto and/or Baltimore decided to shop Donaldson and/or Machado. Would you think about it to land the massive power/strikeout reality of Texas’ Joey Gallo? How about Seattle’s Kyle Seager, who is in the midst of his worst full season? How about if Tampa decided it was time to get out of the long money on Evan Longoria (signed from 2018-22 for $86 million)? 5. Pick someone from the field you like. Houston’s Marwin Gonzalez is having a career year and is a free agent after 2018. St. Louis’ Jedd Gyorko, like Gonzalez, would offer positional versatility. Those players would necessitate a good return price. The Marlins would take practically nothing back if you took on the final two years at $28.5 million on Martin Prado, but his body has begun to betray him. After Moustakas, Eduardo Nunez is probably the best free-agent third baseman, followed by Todd Frazier. Is either a big enough upgrade to pursue? The Mets could probably get Chase Headley from the Yankees, but their recent non-deals for Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda and Neil Walker suggest it might be a while until the New York teams find common ground on a trade. It's true: David Wright has, sadly, become more of a complication than anything else. I'd be surprised if Moustakas got five years at $95 million, given that teams are weary of one-dimensional sluggers, but you never know. I'm not sure I see any real distinction between options 1 and 2. They both involve "stopgap" solutions for second and third base for 2018. What do we think of Eduardo Nunez and Todd Frazier? I know nothing at all about either of them. I certainly have no problem with making Steven Matz available, but how much can you realistically expect to get for him?

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I think maybe the Mets do need a new look, we've swung back to conservatism now for several years and I think we can all agree it's time to break to with that shit, and there's hardly any way to continue that now. Junk the pinstripes! Let's get some orange happening! LETS FUCK THINGS UP No, I don't agree with that. I like the traditional look.

I'm also hoping for a quick bounceback year. The fact is, the Mets have never really had one of those, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.

I think we're also aware of how absorbed we were in the Mets last year and the year before at this point in the season. I very much hope that the Mets do something over the winter that gives us renewed hope for the 2018 season. Maybe they can sign Vince Coleman and Bobby Bonilla?

d'Kong76 wrote: I gave up early this year, so maybe I'm just more emotionally disconnected than in years past. That's pretty much where I am. I've been pretty much observing the Mets from a distance since they went to California in June.

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If your name is "Garrett Cooper" and you play first base for the Yankees, you definitely should go by the name of "Gary".

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As if that image isn't bad enough, the presence of Trump makes it all the worse. That's a 2006 Trump who had probably never even heard of Barack Obama. Or Kenya, for that matter.

Thrift-store find is a bargain of a bat I imagine that some good deals can be had at a thrift store that doesn't bother to evaluate its merchandise but instead simply sells it by the pound. This student got a Pie Traynor bat worth a couple of thousand dollars (or more) for $2.22. Not bad!

I'm sure that if any claim had been made, the Marlins would have pulled him back. Maybe the Mets passed on Stanton in the slim hope that he would clear waivers and the Marlins would trade him out of the division?

We have had three pitchers earn "Bench Player" points so far this season: Steven Matz 0.38 Zack Wheeler 0.16 Robert Gsellman 0.14

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Montero will throw a two-hit shutout! You heard it here first!