Benjamin Grimm

Cast your vote!

Well! That actually sounds promising.

I approve of 22 for Dom Smith. I don't know what that means for Kevin Plawecki, though. Whatever became of him anyway?

Looks like he'll be wearing number 22 (according to the roster at Mets.com). A good number for a Mets first baseman. Maybe he'll be a World Series MVP for them some time in the near future.

All-time strikeouts by a Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom has moved into an 11th-place tie with Craig Swan. If he can strike out another 44 batters this year, he'll bump Bobby Jones out of the Top Ten. 1. Tom Seaver 2541 2. Dwight Gooden 1875 3. Jerry Koosman 1799 4. Sid Fernandez 1449 5. David Cone 1172 6. Ron Darling 1148 7. Al Leiter 1106 8. Jon Matlack 1023 9. Jon Niese 838 10. Bobby Jones 714 11. Jacob deGrom 671 11. Craig Swan 671 13. Tug McGraw 618 14. Johan Santana 607 15. John Franco 592 16. Rick Reed 590 17. Steve Trachsel 580 18. Matt Harvey 579 19. Gary Gentry 563 20. Al Jackson 561

Wow! I had no idea that they were having such a dominating season! I guess I haven't been looking at the standings at all. The only team (other than, now, the Dodgers) that I could have told you was in first place was Washington.

Cast your vote!

Do the Yankees have any 40th-round draft picks that they can spare?

I have a hard time seeing every move the Mets make as a reflection of how evil Sandy Alderson is.

G-Fafif wrote: ...he was no less than the 2017 Mets' third-most valuable player, which doesn't sound like much, but I have no idea who the fourth-most valuable Met of 2017 is. Schaefer Top Ten, through yesterday's game: 1 Jay Bruce 72.71 2 Michael Conforto 72.25 3 Jacob deGrom 70.49 4 Curtis Granderson 44.89 5 Jose Reyes 42.56 6 Wilmer Flores 39.46 7 Asdrubal Cabrera 39.30 8 Lucas Duda 38.59 9 Neil Walker 35.65 10 Yoenis Cespedes 32.75

Cast your vote!

I imagine that all three wives asked that. Although I'm not expecting it, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Bruce returned to the Mets this offseason. The player they got back seems like little more than a warm body, but who knows, maybe the Mets see something in him. I would have rather they had kept Bruce. It might have been fun to see him try to get to 40 homers.

From the Daily News. I like that Tommy Milone, Brett Gardner, and Matt Holliday decided not to play along. I have a feeling I would have done the same. METS - Noah Syndergaard, 34: Thor - Matt Harvey, 33: Harv - Zack Wheeler, 45: Wheels - Jacob deGrom, 48: Jake - Yoenis Cespedes, 52: La Potencia - Jay Bruce, 19: Bruuuce - Steven Matz, 32: Reno - Jose Reyes, 7: La Melaza - Michael Conforto, 30: Scooter - Curtis Granderson, 3: Grandyman - Wilmer Flores, 4: Catire - Juan Lagares, 12: Angelo - Neil Walker, 20: Walkie - Rene Rivera, 44: Moncho - Paul Sewald, 51: Paulie - Josh Edgin, 66: Edge - AJ Ramos, 40: Junior - Travis d'Arnaud, 18: Lil D - Tommy Milone, 29: Milone - Rafael Montero, 50: Fugarra - Robert Gsellman, 65: G-Man - Seth Lugo, 67: Quarterrican - Matt Reynolds, 15: Rey Rey - Jeurys Familia, 27: La Fama - David Wright, 5: D-Dub - Fernando Salas, 59: Ferny - Asdrubal Cabrera, 13: Chiquitín - Jerry Blevins, 39: Gordo - Hansel Robles, 47: El Peñaco - Josh Smoker, 49: Brown Bear - T.J. Rivera, 54: T-Butta - Brandon Nimmo, 9: Nimms - Erik Goeddel, 62: Goopy YANKEES - Aaron Judge, 99: All Rise - Gary Sanchez, 24: Kraken - Brett Gardner, 11: Gardner - Starlin Castro, 14: All-Starlin - Dellin Betances, 68: D. Dawg - Luis Severino, 40: Sevy - Masahiro Tanaka, 19: Masa - Aroldis Chapman, 54: The Missile - Didi Gregorius, 18: Sir Didi - Clint Frazier, 77: Red Thunder - Austin Romine, 27: Ro - Adam Warren, 43: Rocket - Chase Headley, 12: Head - Jacoby Ellsbury, 22: Chief - Chad Green, 57: Greeny - Luis Cessa, 85: Quique - Aaron Hicks, 21: A-A Ron - Michael Pinea, 35: Big Mike - Sonny Gray, 55: Pickles - David Robertson, 30: D-Rob - Greg Bird, 33: Bird - CC Sabathia, 52: Dub - Jaime Garcia, 34: J Gar - Matt Holliday, 17: Holliday - Todd Frazier, 29: Toddfather - Jordan Montgomery, 47: Monty - Ronald Torreyes, 74: Toe

What kind of a trademark would there be on PAULIE D? Marvel Comics has a trademark on the image of their superhero Thor, but the Norse God of Thunder has been around for over a thousand years and is surely in the public domain by now. He even predates Betty Boop!

BROWN BEAR, also known as SUPER GAY, is Josh Smoker.

I didn't realize that that said "LIL D". I thought it that Travis d'Arnaud's nickname was LILO, as in Lilo and Stitch.

I like Frayed Knot's idea of making the wall out of some super flypaper. The bonus that comes with that is when some drunken idiot leans over the wall the try to grab a ball, he'll be stuck, forever, to the wall and his rotting corpse and eventual skeleton will become part of the lore of the stadium.

That image makes me realize that I don't know uniform numbers the way I used to. I don't know who BROWN BEAR, MONCHO and GOOPY are. Why is Steven Matz known as RENO? And Jacob deGrom seems to have the most boring nickname ever.

I thought it meant that cats get angry at Wilmer Flores, but I looked it up. It's Spanish for "blonde".

I know I advocated for Moustakas in a previous post in another thread, but that was entirely based on his 32 homers. This is the first time I've taken a closer look. So no, the post above wasn't intended to be an argument in favor of Moustakas, just an impartial relating of what I just learned about him. Given what we're seeing about the market for one-dimensional sluggers being depressed, Moustakas is likely not going to be a $20-million-per-year player. If he can be had cheaply enough, then I still think he's worth considering. But I see now that I don't want him to be the centerpiece of the Mets offseason. I would, however, like to see them bring in a veteran infielder to go along with Rosario and Smith, someone who will provide more than we would expect from Cabrera or Reyes. That guy doesn't have to be Moustakas.

I looked up Mike Moustakas. He's represented by Scott Boras. Currently on a two-year contract that paid a total of $14.3 million. His current numbers are .274/.304/.552 and his OPS is .857. 427 plate appearances with 32 homers, 16 doubles and only 18 walks! Before this year his previous high in homers was 22 in 2015. He only played 27 games in 2016, but in his other seasons he's had between 500 and 614 plate appearances.

FINAL REMINDER: Voting for all remaining games from the month of July will close on Sunday morning.

Cast your vote!

Joel Sherman in the New York Post suggests that the Brewers might be interested in Cabrera, Walker, or Granderson. Milwaukee lines up as perhaps the Mets’ last, best hope to trade veterans this month, because the Brewers have a need for both a lefty-hitting center fielder such as Curtis Granderson and a lefty-hitting second baseman, such as switch-hitters Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker. Full article: Mets have one last hope for veteran selloff

Oh, and you definitely picked the right Marx Brothers movie!