Benjamin Grimm

Edgy MD wrote: He gets no guaranteed money from me. Or perhaps very little. If this report is true, it sounds like the Mets are hedging their bets at shortstop. Sandy said recently that they may not be able to address each one of their weaknesses. If it turns out that Drew and Peralta are looking to be too expensive, the Mets may instead decide to throw Furcal into the Tejada/Quintanilla/whoever mix and spend their money at other positions. I don't know who the "shortstop of the future" might be for the Mets, but it does at least look like Furcal is not likely to hold the position for them until a guy like Gavin Cecchini might be ready.

Jorge Castillo, N.J. Star Ledger wrote: ...the Mets have contacted the veteran [Rafael] Furcal, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The person requested anonymity to speak freely on the matter. Furcal missed the entire 2013 season with the Cardinals after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March, but took part in fielding drills before Cardinals postseason games without noticeable hinderance. The Dominican turned 36 years old last month, which makes him a short-term option for a ballclub. But Furcal represents an upgrade at shortstop for the Mets, who had their shortstops post a .561 OPS in 2013, and he can double as a leadoff hitter, which the Mets could also use.

I suspect that Beltran will accept the offer from St. Louis.

Of eleven voters so far, I'm the only one who's cutting all ties.

I guess it would become a legacy site. I'd become one of those people who keep the light on for extinct franchises like the St. Louis Browns and the Philadelphia Athletics.

I'd walk away from baseball entirely.

bmfc1 wrote: MLB Trade Rumors http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/11/2014-top-50-free-agents-with-predictions-1.html 13, 14, 23, 49. In order of likelihood: Arroyo, Drew, Halladay, Granderson.

Sure. Baseball is still hugely profitable, and has many many fans and/or followers. It only looks weak when you compare it to the prominence it once had in American culture. That's gone forever (most likely) but it doesn't mean that baseball is doomed. Far from it.

Do we have any shot at a Silver Slugger? Murphy maybe? (Disclosure: I have no idea what any other second basemen in the league have done this season.)

I hope the kids get her eyebrows.

I'm not sure that opening the World Series in a neutral site makes it any more of an event. You don't need to know the site in advance in order to hype the hell out of it. And if I wasn't interested in watching the Cardinals play the Red Sox in Boston, why would I care to watch them play each other in Honolulu or Memphis? And if the World Series was going to be played in my home town, I still wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars for tickets unless I knew the Mets were going to be playing, and I wouldn't know that until just a few days before. I remember a few years ago MLB had those "Do your duty, Judy" commercials, implying that even if my team wasn't in the playoffs, I should still feel obligated to watch. I don't get the impression that that campaign worked especially well. I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest recently. It took place in 1963, but was filmed about ten years after that. There's a scene where Jack Nicholson desperately wants to be allowed to watch the World Series. Watching it now it seems so dated. I do recall when the Series was as big an event as the Super Bowl, but I really doubt that will ever happen again. A big part of that is that it's just one game, as was said above. Also, you have a half-time with some star-studded show. So many people who watch the Super Bowl do it because of either the half-time show, the commercials (stupidest reason to watch anything) or because they're at a party. I don't know how baseball can get that kind of vibe with a Tuesday night game. And since Game 1 or Game 2 doesn't decide a championship, it just doesn't seem as consequential.

Well, I wouldn't say that the Mets are "well-stocked" at first base. They have quantity, but not a lot of quality. And other needs may be more pressing, but not by such a wide margin. The next four or five months might be very interesting. I'll be glad when the World Series gets out of the way and the off-season will get started in earnest. For someone like me, who has no interest at all in a postseason that doesn't include the Mets, October is the deadest month.

I'm not at all impressed by the "glut" at first base. I hope the Mets don't really think that they're set at that position.

I haven't heard Francesa in years, but that was really good. (I loved the part about the Underground Railroad.) What's with the white gloves?

I'm afraid that newspapers are becoming "online outlets" that just happen to also have a printed version.

He hasn't been around long enough. A big part of the Gold Glove is name recognition.

The case against Shin-Soo Choo By Matt Meyers | ESPNNewYork.com The Mets have turned their attention to the offseason, amid expectations that the Wilpons will be spending like it�s 1998. And the apple of the Big Apple�s eye appears to be Shin-Soo Choo, the Reds right fielder who was second in the NL in on-base percentage. Choo is a fine player, and I can see why he will generate interest as a free agent, but when I look at Choo I see the next version of Jason Bay -- a 31-year-old outfielder with severe flaws coming of a year he is unlikely to replicate. The biggest problem with free agents -- particularly those coming off of great years -- is that it�s easy to assume that their most recent season is their true level of performance when it�s most likely not. The Mets can look at Choo�s .285/.423/.462 line and think he will repeat that for a few years, but what if his future performance is more in line with his 2011 performance: .283/.373/.441? Or even worse, 2010: .259/.344/.390. Considering Choo�s age, he�s much more likely to get worse than better. That would be palatable if he was starting from the level of a superstar, where he would hit the �very good� and �good� levels on his way down. But when you�re starting from �very good,� your decline phase gets ugly a lot quicker. (See "Bay, Jason".) Another other issue for Choo is that he�s useless against left-handed pitching, hitting .215/.347/.265 versus southpaws this season, not far off his career marks. While that OBP is respectable, it�s fueled by 13 hit-by-pitches. That�s actually a repeatable �skill,� but it also makes him more of an injury risk. Also, that slugging is putrid, so you can forget about extra-base hits against southpaws. You want to pay eight figures per year for that? �But he kills righties,� you might be thinking, and that�s true. The problem is that his weakness can be exploited by lefty relievers late in games, so it�s easy to imagine a situation when the Mets are actually playing meaningful September games and their second-best hitter can be neutralized by the Luis Avilans of the world. Furthermore, Great American Ballpark is a great place for left-handed hitters, with a home run factor of 126 for lefties in 2012. (In other words, lefties hit 26 percent more homers there than at an average park.) Citi Field had a home run factor of 92 for lefties that year, which means lefties homered 8 percent less frequently than at the average park. This plays out in Choo�s numbers, as he has a .948 OPS at home and .823 mark on the road. It�s worth remembering that Bay signed with the Mets after playing in Fenway Park, a perfect spot for right-handed power hitters. Citi Field, not so much. Choo would be leaving an environment perfectly suited to highlight his strengths and going to one that is almost certain to diminish them. Factor in his age and his impotence against lefties, and that�s the recipe for a free-agent disaster. The Mets are in good position to sign Choo because they have a protected draft pick. Therefore, they don�t have to give up their first-rounder to sign him, which makes him, or any high-profile free agent for that matter, a lot more attractive. He�d almost certainly be an upgrade over what the Mets have, but with all due respect to Andrew Brown and Lucas Duda, that�s faint praise. And when you consider that Hunter Pence just got a $90 million contract from the Giants without even testing the free-agent market, it�s probably going to take more than that to sign Choo. If the Mets end up giving Choo the $100-plus million it will likely take to sign him, I have a feeling their front office and fans are going to be severely disappointed. I know Mets fans are tired of waiting, but free agency is not a quick fix, and Choo is by no means the cure for what ails New York.

And you did it without even mentioning ice cream!

batmagadanleadoff wrote: If you're not obsessed with the Wilpons, then your head's in the sand. I would say... if you're not obsessed with the Wilpons then you have a healthy perspective about what is and isn't important in your life.

Unless you extend Joan Payson's life as well, I suspect that Gil gets fired by M. Donald Grant, or quits in frustration to go to another team, somewhere around 1977.

I wouldn't discount the "whole lotta standing around". I'd be curious to know the average number of seconds between pitches in 2013 compared to in, say, 1978.

Blah.

Thanks everybody, and you're welcome. I feel a little sheepish taking credit for "hard work" since this Schaefer stuff only takes a few minutes per day, but I guess the minutes do add up. My favorite part of this is the final payoff, when we see that array of baseball cards that opened this thread. Strange to not see David Wright at all, but I looked back and he didn't appear at all in 2011 either. As always, I tried to make sure that each of the years from the 1970s was (almost) equally represented. The cards are as fun for me as they are for you guys. The ones this year that most evoked the smell of bubble gum for me were the 1972 Murphy and Rice cards, and the 1977 Byrd. And who would've guessed that Juan Lagares would get more points than Ike Davis and Lucas Duda?

He would have the right to demand a trade, and if his team didn't trade him, he'd have the right to opt for free agency. Players would often withdraw their demand if not traded (I recall Darryl Hamilton doing this with the Mets) because they don't want to risk that their next contract would be less lucrative. I don't know if that rule is still in effect, though.

THE SCHAEFER METS PLAYERS OF THE YEAR, 2013 PLAYER OF THE YEAR The Schaefer Mets Player of the Year for 2013 is first-time winner DANIEL MURPHY. Murphy, the only Mets position player to remain on the active roster the entire season, led the Mets in 2013 in multiple categories: Games (161), at bats (658), runs (92), hits (188), doubles (38), runs batted in (78), and total bases (273). PITCHER OF THE YEAR The Schaefer Mets Pitcher of the Year is also a first-time winner, the much-celebrated MATT HARVEY. Harvey was so far ahead of the other Mets pitchers that, even though his season ended in late August, he still earned almost 14 more Schaefer points than runner-up Dillon Gee. Harvey was 9-5 in 26 starts and 178.1 innings. He led the club in strikeouts with 191 and his 2.27 Earned Run Average was also the team's best. When asked to comment on his Schaefer Mets Pitcher of the Year award, Harvey said, "Qualcomm ideas power the mobile devices, networks, and services that connect us to what matters to us most." RELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEAR The Mets Relief Pitcher of the Year is yet another first-time winner, LATROY HAWKINS. Last year's winner, Bobby Parnell, had built a solid lead in the competition, but his season ended abruptly on July 30, opening the door for Hawkins to take over his closer role and, in the final weeks of the season, his Schaefer lead as well. LaTroy, a 40-year-old journeyman pitcher, had a 2.93 ERA in 72 games, and saved 13 games, all in August and September. He is the oldest player to win an annual Schaefer award since 41-year-old Tom Glavine was Pitcher of the Year in 2007. BENCH PLAYER OF THE YEAR The Bench Player of the Year is a repeat of last year's champ, the volatile JORDANY VALDESPIN, whose Mets season ended on July 13, but he built an early-season lead (accented by and aggressive pie-in-the-face attack at the hands of John Buck) the proved to be insurmountable. Jordany earned 8.70 of his total 18.09 points in games in which he was not in the starting lineup. Runner-up Andrew Brown scored 7.88 points as a reserve player, but his bench days virtually came to and end in September after the departure of Marlon Byrd opened up an outfield spot. SCHAEFER METS PLAYER OF THE WEEK, 2013 Week ending April 6: John Buck, 7.21 points. Week ending April 13: Matt Harvey, 9.04 points. Week ending April 20: David Wright, 6.24 points. Week ending April 27: David Wright, 4.68 points. Week ending May 4: Ruben Tejada, 5.03 points. Week ending May 11: Matt Harvey, 5.94 points. Week ending May 18: Daniel Murphy, 10.08 points. Week ending May 25: Daniel Murphy, 6.86 points. Week ending June 1: Daniel Murphy, 5.80 points. Week ending June 8: Omar Quintanilla, 4.59 points. Week ending June 15: David Wright, 6.68 points. Week ending June 22: Omar Quintanilla, 5.20 points. Week ending June 29: Matt Harvey, 8.78 points. Week ending July 6: Kirk Nieuwenhuis, 6.19 points. Week ending July 13: Jeremy Hefner, 8.13 points. Week ending July 20: Marlon Byrd, 4.46 points. Week ending July 27: Matt Harvey, 10.15 points. Week ending August 3: Daniel Murphy, 4.59 points. Week ending August 10: Wilmer Flores, 5.73 points. Week ending August 17: Marlon Byrd, 5.96 points. Week ending August 24: Marlon Byrd, 5.74 points. Week ending August 31: Daniel Murphy, 6.68 points. Week ending September 7: Daniel Murphy, 4.46 points. Week ending September 14: Daisuke Matsuzaka, 7.14 points. Week ending September 21: Daniel Murphy, 6.64 points. Week ending September 28: Aaron Harang, 6.02 points. Thanks to everyone who participated!