Benjamin Grimm

This was from February 2023: Wow.

There's one fewer first base option for the Mets. If they were torn between Walker and Pete, for example, then their decision is made for them. Or maybe they can go for Pete Walker.

You're right! I've pretty much blocked 1994 from my memory.

Yes, but just for one year. In 1997, the Tigers were in the East and the Indians were in the Central, along with White Sox, Brewers, Twins, and Royals. But in 1998, when the Devil Rays entered the league, they joined the East and Detroit was bumped to the Central. And the Brewers switched to the National League.

Half of us got this one right.

The Tigers are further West than Cleveland.

This article out of Austin, Texas says that city may be the next home of the Rays: https://www.chron.com/sports/article/austin-texas-mlb-team-rays-19990224.phpRays to Texas? Austin floated as new home for Tampa MLB team. The source for this is an article by Jeff Passan of ESPN. He says that the seven most likely places for the Rays to relocate (if they do) are Austin, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Montreal. Portland would require a divisional realignment. The most logical choice would be to put the Astros in the East, but I think they'd fight to stay in the same division as the Rangers. But this is all very hypothetical, of course.

Helps our Pete chances, but significantly reduces our Christian Walker chances.

All second-round polls have now closed, and our field is down to sixteen covers. The Daily News leads with nine, followed by Newsday with five and the New York Post with two. The Tabloid Cover Derby is now in a holiday hiatus, with third-round voting beginning on Monday, January 6, 2025. Meanwhile, those of you who had a perfect Schaefer voting record this year, remember that you've earned yourself a dance with Maja at the CPF Christmas party. You'll be limited to sixty seconds, and be aware that this limit is strictly enforced! The matchups for the third round will be: January 6: FALL CLASSIC (Newsday) vs THROW BOMBERS FROM THE TRAIN (Daily News) January 7: YA GOTTA BELONG! (Daily News) vs ALONSOMG (Newsday) January 8: HAIR FORCE WON! (New York Post) vs PURPLE TRAIN (Daily News) January 9: CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' (Newsday) vs NO MERCY! (Daily News) January 10: BLASTOFF! (Daily News) vs NO SLEEP TILL THE BRONX (Daily News) January 11: PICCADILLY CIRCUS (Daily News) vs TALL AT SHORT (Newsday) January 12: LUIS ARM STRONG (New York Post) vs NO MORE MAGIC (Daily News) January 13: SUPERMANAEA (Newsday) vs ONE MORE GAME (Daily News) SWEET SIXTEEN [th]Year[/th][th]Daily News[/th][th]New York Post[/th][th]Newsday[/th] 2015583 2016925 2017646 20181024 20191015 2020673 2021619 20221213 2023619 2024952 [th]Totals[/th]793249 http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_01.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_02.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_03.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_04.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_05.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_06.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_07.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_08.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_09.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_02_10.jpg> http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/images/2024/2024_brackets_002.png>

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Frayed Knot wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: Those are three significant years. As in, the three year age difference between the two is a significant gap, ... or, that the removal of the three years from the previously claimed six year gap is significant? Never mind, both are significant in their own way. I meant that there can be significant decline between the ages of 31 and 34.

Those are three significant years.

Homophobic comments, I think?

CANNING CAN'T

I think Stearns did an outstanding job of improving the roster as the season progressed. (The results obviously bear that out.) I don't want to draw too much of a conclusion from his one season so far with the Mets. Was he extraordinarily lucky? Or was this an example of his acumen? I hope it's the latter, of course. But we'll have to see how he responds to similar challenges in future seasons. (But hopefully, we'll never again have to see him deal with a Mets team that's eleven games below .500.)

This was the closest poll in the second round, decided by only a single vote.

MERV-OLOUS! Griffin goes distance, fans 11 (This is a headline that only the over-60 crowd might get.)

I had a 113 today. I had a lot of single-digit numbers, but went with two obvious choices (Baez and Pujols) which brought my score way up. [th][/th][th]CUBS[/th][th]ANGELS[/th][th]<= 3.00 ERA[/th][th]TIGERS[/th]Javier Baez 35Frank Tanana 11Mickey Lolich 5[th]REDS[/th]Randy Myers 4Frank Robinson 7Tom Browning 2[th]CARDINALS[/th]Ernie Broglio 3Albert Pujols 39John Tudor 5 A few days ago, I scored a 13, which I think is my second-lowest score. And I did it with nine Mets: [th][/th][th]OUTFIELD[/th][th].300 SEASON[/th][th]ONLY ONE TEAM[/th][th]100+ RBI[/th]Todd Hundley 0.4Mike Piazza 1Pete Alonso 4[th]PITCHED[/th]Jesse Orosco 2Eric Cammack 0 !Jose Butto 0.5[th]6+ WAR[/th]Carlos Beltran 0.9Willie Mays 2David Wright 2

i don't hate it either. He may suck, in which case he'll be gone, or he may be a good contributor. There seems to be a tendency among some, when the Mets get a so-so player, to complain that we could have done better. Not every player can be the best player. I'm not going to judge the rotation until the end of spring training. There are more moves to be made. And still more will be made after the season starts.

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Well, Soto was traded by the Nationals and the Padres because neither team thought they'd be able to sign him to a long-term contract, and they wanted to get something more than a draft pick in return. I think Pete will be back because he's probably worth more to the Mets than to anyone else, and the Mets can also afford more than anyone else. I think he'll be a productive player for at least another five years although his best days are likely behind him.

This showed up in my Facebook news feed: NL East from 2010 through 2024 [th][/th][th]W[/th][th]L[/th][th]Pct.[/th][th]GB[/th][th]Braves[/th]12601066.542--[th]Phillies[/th]11691159.50292[th]Nationals[/th]11671160.50293.5[th]Mets[/th]11611167.499100[th]Marlins[/th]10201306.439240 In other divisions, the Cardinals have a 48.5 game lead over the Brewers in the NL Central. The Dodgers are 180 games ahead of the Giants in the West. In the American League, the Yankees lead the Rays by 56.5 games, the Guardians over the Twins by 110.5, and the Astros over the Rangers by 37. The team in the deepest hole is the Rockies, 337 games behind the Dodgers. Other teams more than 200 games behind (in addition to the Rockies and Marlins) are the Orioles (214), padres (258) and Diamondbacks (260). Clearly, no team has been as dominant in their division over the last fifteen years as the Dodgers.

I think deGrom will get his number retired if he finishes his career with the Mets, or if he becomes part of the Mets community after he retires. But if he stays in Texas and never looks back, I think it will be less likely. I agree with DiComo's takes on Lindor and Alonso. Not so sure about Nimmo. I think the next number that will go up there will be 12. But obviously not for quite a while.

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Bregman to third base and Vientos to first, if it happens, still leaves room for young players to push their way into the lineup at second base or center field, for example.