Benjamin Grimm

Both McCutchen discussions have been split from their original threads and combined into this one. Let's talk about Andrew McCutchen!

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: 5 years for Matz = 1.5 years for normal people. It's about even Good point.

Don't knock it. It spares us 15 minutes of suspense.

My Spidey sense tells me this is more likely to be bad news than good news. My sense is it's something about his recovery from surgery. On the other hand, I'm hoping it's something nice, like he's announcing a new charitable endeavor.

Five years of control for Matz vs. one year of control for McCutchen. You have to figure that into the calculation.

I no longer have a whole lot of faith in him, but I'd be reluctant to trade him.

I like that idea better.

I expect that the price for McCutchen would be rather steep. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says: The Pirates discussed a McCutchen trade with the Washington Nationals, the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners, the sources said, and are looking primarily for prospects in return. And also: The Pirates’ biggest need this offseason is starting pitching. With a weak and pricey free agent market, their best avenue to acquire quality pitching is via trade. Does Matz get it done? And is it something we'd be willing to do?

I felt the same way, until November 8, that is.

Mine is Tim Raines.

The old way, during the LCS there were two possible cities where the World Series might open. Now there will be three. Not such a big difference. I agree about the All-Star Game thing. I'm glad it's no longer tied to home-field. It wasn't really important to me, but it was stupid, and now there's one less stupid thing in the world.

That homer by Cabrera may have been the best single moment from the 2016 season. It's too bad it didn't yield any great covers. I voted for Newsday's version because it's the only one of the three that didn't make a stupid pun on the word "Ass".

The Washington Post wrote: ● Compensatory draft picks: Under the old CBA, teams that signed most free agents were obliged to give up a first-round draft pick in return. In the new deal, that compensation will be tied to a team’s payroll. If a team that signs a free agent is over the threshold for the competitive-balance tax, it will relinquish two picks. If the signing team is under, it will give up just one pick. No first-round picks will be exchanged as compensation. ● What remains the same: MLB had pushed for an international draft that would have subjected prospects in the Domincan Republic and other baseball-rich countries to the same point of entry as players in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, and Canada; the union successfully rejected that proposal. Roster sizes remain the same at 25 in the regular season, but can still expand to as much as 40 in September, despite a proposal that would have changed them to 26 during the regular season but with a more aggressive cap in September. I haven't seen anything definitive on whether the QO system remains in place. I had thought that they were going to eliminate the clause that has teams losing draft picks if they sign a free agent, but it actually looks like it's been expanded, in that some teams could lose two picks. I'm not clear on what that last sentence in the first paragraph means. Is it saying that any lost picks would not be from the first round?

I doubt it. Everything isn't about the Cubs.

Vote for the tabloid covers that you like the best. You may select up to three choices. Voting will run for seven days. 11TH HEAVEN Newsday, September 23, 2016. MATZ ALL, FOLKS New York Daily News, September 23, 2016. KISS MY AS! New York Daily News, September 23, 2016. SAVING THEIR AS' New York Post, September 23, 2016. RELIEF! Newsday, September 24, 2016. ONE STREP CLOSER New York Daily News, September 24, 2016. SAY AHH… $#*%! New York Daily News, September 24, 2016. COMFORT ZONE New York Post, September 24, 2016. TEARS FOR JOSE Newsday, September 27, 2016. ONE FOR JOSE New York Daily News, September 27, 2016. TEARS FOR JOSÉ New York Post, September 27, 2016. THUNDER & BOLTS Newsday, September 28, 2016. JOIN THE CLUB New York Daily News, September 28, 2016.

The four-way tie was averted, and MATZ INCREDIBLE got the win. This is the seventh first-round win so far for a Newsday cover. The Daily News has 12 wins and the Post has 3.

ESPN.com wrote: "The league that wins the All-Star Game no longer will get home-field advantage in the World Series, which instead will go to the pennant winner with the better regular-season record"

We're almost through with Round One. By Sunday morning we'll have seen all of the covers (the count is currently at 380) and second-round voting will begin on Monday, with a matchup between two Daily News covers, YA GOTTA RELIEVE! and WHAT A HAM! Unlike last year, there will be a pause of a little over a week between the second and third rounds. (We found that voting hit a low ebb during the week between Christmas and New Year's when many of us are busy doing other things.)

I know of a group of Buddhists at a community center in Maspeth, Queens who have long appreciated Jeff Wilpon: (I wonder what Drew and Edith are doing in Tower B?)

I think it means that Verrett has been eclipsed by Gsellman and Lugo.

Probably a free-agent relief pitcher. Or if not that, then Giancarlo Stanton.

My guess is that part of the deal with Cespedes was a promise to not have him play center field. I agree with being cautious about counting too much on Conforto. They should give him every opportunity to have a great year, but have a ready backup plan in case his 2017 turns out like his 2016 did, which is, unfortunately, a very real possibility.

That YO GOTTA BE KIDDING loss was the one that would have gnawed at me if the Mets had missed the postseason by one game.

I wonder if the Mets might be more willing to consider Fowler if a new CBA goes into effect that would prevent them from losing a draft pick. I'm guessing not, because I suspect the issue is more with the budget than with the draft pick, but maybe I'm wrong.

Oh, I think there's definitely an argument to be made for the pessimistic viewpoint. Conforto and d'Arnaud will bounce back. Or they won't. Walker and Cabrera will be approximately as productive as they were last year. Or they won't. Reyes and/or Flores will be able to cover for all of the games that Wright will likely miss. Or they won't. Wheeler may not pitch at all. Or he may suck. Harvey may be compromised. Matz may frustrate us with his frequent injuries again. How will Duda's back hold up? Bringing back Cespedes doesn't make them a sure thing for a post-season spot, but it does make it a lot more likely, so even if you're of a pessimistic bent, this has to be happy news.