Benjamin Grimm

seawolf17 wrote: Who's the guy next to Wright? Capuano? My guess is Carrasco, but I'm really not sure.

Yeah, Martinez's demotion shows that, at least at the moment, Duda is ahead of him in the Beltran replacement derby.

Santana wasn't the winning pitcher in the game that Pelfrey saved.

I thought those caps were in honor of Bo Derek.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Rodriguez Not Frankie, surely? No real surprises there. If Beltran ends up on the DL to start the season, Martinez may end up getting un-cut, but I suspect he won't. Duda appears to be higher on the depth chart, at least for now.

Holy crap... after I submitted the above post I got a sense of deja vu all over again.

Hasn't this happened before? I seem to remember him falling and being hospitalized some time in the last couple of years?

Ceetar wrote: drives in Nieuwenhuis, who I'm determined to learn how to spell. too many vowels. He's a Schaefer-tallier's nightmare.

Here's the full freakin' list. Please have it memorized by Tuesday. 30 Jones/Franco 23 Leiter/Benitez 19 Gooden/Franco 18 Fernandez/McDowell 18 Trachsel/Benitez 17 Viola/Franco 16 Darling/Orosco 15 Darling/Myers 15 Gooden/Orosco 14 Glavine/Wagner 14 Pelfrey/Rodriguez 14 Reed/Franco 14 Seaver/McGraw 13 Cone/Myers 13 Darling/McDowell 13 Leiter/Franco 12 Falcone/Allen 12 Perez/Wagner 12 Santana/Rodriguez 12 Wendell/Benitez 11 Cone/Franco 11 Gentry/McGraw 11 Saberhagen/Franco 10 Clark/Franco 10 Koosman/Lockwood 10 Koosman/McGraw 10 Matlack/McGraw 10 Rusch/Benitez 10 Zachry/Lockwood 9 Cook/Franco 9 Espinosa/Lockwood 9 Fernandez/Orosco 9 Glavine/Looper 9 Isringhausen/Franco 9 Maine/Wagner 9 Martinez/Wagner 9 McAndrew/McGraw 9 McMichael/Franco 9 Mlicki/Franco 9 Swan/Lockwood 8 Aguilera/McDowell 8 Aguilera/Orosco 8 Astacio/Benitez 8 Franco/Benitez 8 Gooden/McDowell 8 Gooden/Myers 8 Hampton/Benitez 8 Hernandez/Wagner 8 Leach/McDowell 8 Lynch/Sisk 8 Swan/Allen 8 Trachsel/Wagner 7 Cook/Benitez 7 Feliciano/Wagner 7 Fernandez/Myers 7 Lynch/Orosco 7 Ojeda/McDowell 7 Ojeda/Orosco 7 Reynoso/Franco 7 Scott/Allen 7 Seaver/Lockwood 7 Zachry/Allen 6 Appier/Benitez 6 Cone/McDowell 6 Dotel/Benitez 6 Fernandez/Franco 6 Gentry/Taylor 6 Heilman/Wagner 6 Orosco/Sisk 6 Seaver/Taylor 6 Seo/Looper 6 Torrez/Orosco 5 Berenyi/Orosco 5 Burris/Allen 5 Dipoto/Franco 5 Feliciano/Rodriguez 5 Gorman/Orosco 5 Harnisch/Franco 5 Koosman/Frisella 5 Leiter/Looper 5 Mahomes/Benitez 5 Matlack/Apodaca 5 Matlack/Lockwood 5 Parker/McGraw 5 Reed/Benitez 5 Sadecki/McGraw 5 Sanchez/Wagner 5 Sisk/Orosco 5 Sosa/Wagner 5 Stone/McGraw 5 Terrell/Orosco 5 Weathers/Benitez 4 Bomback/Allen 4 D'Amico/Benitez 4 Darling/Franco 4 Hernandez/Looper 4 Jones/Allen 4 Leiter/Weathers 4 Lidle/Franco 4 Maine/Rodriguez 4 Manzanillo/Franco 4 Martinez/Looper 4 McAndrew/Frisella 4 Orosco/McDowell 4 Rojas/Franco 4 Ryan/Frisella 4 Schourek/Franco 4 Smith/Ayala 4 Strickland/Benitez 4 Swan/Apodaca 4 Takahashi/Rodriguez 4 Trachsel/Looper 4 Whitehurst/Franco 4 Yoshii/Franco 3 Allen/Hassler 3 Berenyi/Sisk 3 Bohanon/Franco 3 Bomback/Reardon 3 Bradford/Wagner 3 Cardwell/McGraw 3 Chen/Benitez 3 Clark/Henry 3 Dickey/Rodriguez 3 Fernandez/Sisk 3 Frisella/McGraw 3 Gentry/Koonce 3 Glavine/Benitez 3 Gooden/Aguilera 3 Guetterman/Young 3 Hershiser/Franco 3 Jacome/Franco 3 Jones/Benitez 3 Kobel/Murray 3 Koonce/Taylor 3 Koosman/Apodaca 3 Koosman/Taylor 3 Lolich/Apodaca 3 Lynch/Allen 3 Machado/Franco 3 Maddux/Franco 3 McDowell/Orosco 3 Minor/Franco 3 Moreno/Looper 3 Mota/Wagner 3 Murray/Lockwood 3 Ojeda/Myers 3 Parnell/Rodriguez 3 Pe�a/Franco 3 Puleo/Allen 3 Pulsipher/Franco 3 Reardon/Allen 3 Reed/Wendell 3 Ryan/McGraw 3 Santana/Wagner 3 Schourek/Young 3 Seaver/Apodaca 3 Seaver/Frisella 3 Seaver/Orosco 3 Swan/Orosco 3 Tanana/Franco 3 Viola/Pe�a 3 White/Benitez 3 Wilson/Franco 3 Zambrano/Looper 2 Acosta/Rodriguez 2 Aguilera/Myers 2 Apodaca/Lockwood 2 Apodaca/Parker 2 Benson/Looper 2 Bruhert/Lockwood 2 Burke/Franco 2 Capra/McGraw 2 Cardwell/Taylor 2 Cone/Young 2 Cornejo/Lockwood 2 Crawford/Franco 2 Darling/Aguilera 2 Darling/Sisk 2 DeJean/Looper 2 Fernandez/Maddux 2 Fernandez/Young 2 Figueroa/Wagner 2 Frisella/Taylor 2 Gee/Takahashi 2 Glynn/Allen 2 Gooden/Pe�a 2 Hall/Baldwin 2 Harris/Allen 2 Hassler/Murray 2 Hausman/Lockwood 2 Hausman/Reardon 2 Heilman/Looper 2 Henry/Franco 2 Hershiser/Benitez 2 Innis/Franco 2 Innis/Young 2 Jones/Henry 2 Kobel/Allen 2 Koosman/Sanders 2 Leach/Myers 2 Leary/Sisk 2 Leiter/Wendell 2 Linton/Franco 2 Lynch/McDowell 2 Marshall/Allen 2 Matlack/Frisella 2 McAndrew/Taylor 2 Mlicki/Henry 2 Mlicki/McMichael 2 Myers/McDowell 2 Myrick/Lockwood 2 Ojeda/Franco 2 Padilla/Heilman 2 Parker/Miller 2 Pelfrey/Takahashi 2 Pelfrey/Wagner 2 Person/Henry 2 Redding/Rodriguez 2 Reed/Cook 2 Reed/McMichael 2 Riggan/Benitez 2 Ryan/Taylor 2 Sadecki/Parker 2 Sadecki/Taylor 2 Santana/Ayala 2 Seaver/Baldwin 2 Seaver/Sisk 2 Seo/Benitez 2 Sisk/McDowell 2 Smith/Franco 2 Stokes/Rodriguez 2 Stone/Capra 2 Stone/Parker 2 Taylor/McGraw 2 Telgheder/Franco 2 Telgheder/Maddux 2 Torrez/Sisk 2 Trachsel/Stanton 2 Twitchell/Glynn 2 Weathers/Looper 2 Williams/Frisella 2 Yates/Looper 2 Yoshii/Benitez 1 Aase/Myers 1 Acevedo/Wendell 1 Aguilera/Cone 1 Aguilera/Leach 1 Allen/Falcone 1 Allen/Glynn 1 Allen/Miller 1 Allen/Orosco 1 Allen/Reardon 1 Anderson/Orosco 1 Apodaca/Aker 1 Apodaca/Sanders 1 Armas/Wagner 1 Bacsik/Benitez 1 Bell/Looper 1 Benson/Heilman 1 Berenguer/Reardon 1 Berenyi/McDowell 1 Bernard/Cornejo 1 Blair/Franco 1 Bohanon/Lidle 1 Boitano/Allen 1 Bottalico/Looper 1 Burris/Glynn 1 Byrd/Franco 1 Byrd/Henry 1 Candelaria/McDowell 1 Candelaria/Myers 1 Capra/Frisella 1 Capra/Parker 1 Capra/Taylor 1 Castillo/Franco 1 Cerda/Benitez 1 Clark/McMichael 1 Cone/Guetterman 1 Cone/Leach 1 Cone/Pe�a 1 Cone/Schourek 1 Cornejo/Murray 1 Cornelius/Dipoto 1 Cornelius/Franco 1 Cornelius/Henry 1 Crawford/Rojas 1 D'Amico/Strickland 1 Darling/Aase 1 Darling/Fernandez 1 Darling/Gardner 1 Darling/Pe�a 1 Dessens/Acosta 1 Dessens/Rodriguez 1 Diaz/Allen 1 Diaz/Sisk 1 Dickey/Takahashi 1 Dickey/Valdes 1 Dipoto/Henry 1 Dipoto/Mlicki 1 Dipoto/Wallace 1 Draper/Young 1 Ellis/Glynn 1 Espinosa/Koosman 1 Estes/Benitez 1 Falcone/Leach 1 Falcone/Orosco 1 Feliciano/Looper 1 Feliciano/Putz 1 Feliciano/Takahashi 1 Fernandez/Anderson 1 Fernandez/Innis 1 Fernandez/Leach 1 Fernandez/Lynch 1 Fernandez/McClure 1 Fernandez/Pe�a 1 Figueroa/Ayala 1 Figueroa/Parnell 1 Figueroa/Rodriguez 1 Florence/Dipoto 1 Fortunato/Julio 1 Fortunato/Looper 1 Franco/Innis 1 Franco/Looper 1 Frisella/McAndrew 1 Frisella/Ryan 1 Gaff/Diaz 1 Gentry/Frisella 1 Glavine/Franco 1 Glavine/Heilman 1 Glavine/Hernandez 1 Glavine/Padilla 1 Glavine/Stanton 1 Glynn/Hassler 1 Glynn/Reardon 1 Gooden/Aase 1 Gooden/Burke 1 Gooden/Innis 1 Gooden/Lynch 1 Gooden/Maddux 1 Gooden/Whitehurst 1 Gooden/Young 1 Gorman/McDowell 1 Gozzo/Franco 1 Gozzo/Manzanillo 1 Green/Rodriguez 1 Guthrie/Benitez 1 Hall/Apodaca 1 Hall/Parker 1 Harnisch/Henry 1 Harris/Reardon 1 Hassler/Hausman 1 Hausman/Allen 1 Hausman/Scott 1 Heilman/Franco 1 Heilman/Weathers 1 Herbel/McGraw 1 Hernandez/Green 1 Hernandez/Heilman 1 Hernandez/Heilman 1 Hernandez/Rodriguez 1 Hershiser/Isringhausen 1 Hershiser/Wendell 1 Hillman/Franco 1 Hillman/Young 1 Holman/Orosco 1 Holman/Sisk 1 Hudek/Franco 1 Innis/Gozzo 1 Ishii/Looper 1 Isringhausen/Minor 1 Isringhausen/Wallace 1 Jackson/Reardon 1 Jones/Falcone 1 Jones/Innis 1 Jones/Maddux 1 Jones/McMichael 1 Jones/White 1 Jones/Young 1 Jordan/Franco 1 Kashiwada/McMichael 1 Knight/Ayala 1 Kobel/Glynn 1 Kobel/Koosman 1 Koosman/Capra 1 Koosman/Folkers 1 Koosman/Gentry 1 Koosman/Hennigan 1 Koosman/Parker 1 Latham/Orosco 1 Leach/Orosco 1 Leach/Searage 1 Leach/Sisk 1 Leary/Orosco 1 Leiter/Cook 1 Leiter/Guthrie 1 Leiter/Rojas 1 Leiter/Stanton 1 Leiter/Strickland 1 Leiter/Wheeler 1 Leiter/White 1 Lloyd/Benitez 1 Lockwood/Apodaca 1 Lockwood/Cornejo 1 Lockwood/Glynn 1 Lockwood/Sanders 1 Lockwood/Siebert 1 Lynch/Jackson 1 Lynch/Swan 1 Lynch/Zachry 1 Maddux/Young 1 Mahomes/Franco 1 Maine/Stokes 1 Martin/Benitez 1 Martinez/Bradford 1 Martinez/Feliciano 1 Martinez/Hernandez 1 Martinez/Schoeneweis 1 Mason/Franco 1 Matlack/Baldwin 1 Matlack/Hall 1 Matlack/Koosman 1 Matlack/Myrick 1 Matlack/Parker 1 Matthews/Looper 1 McAndrew/Stone 1 McClure/McDowell 1 McDowell/Myers 1 McGraw/Capra 1 McGraw/Herbel 1 McGraw/Koosman 1 McGraw/Parker 1 McGraw/Ryan 1 McGraw/Sadecki 1 McMichael/Benitez 1 McMichael/Wendell 1 Metzger/Murray 1 Miller/Falcone 1 Miller/Harris 1 Misch/Rodriguez 1 Mitchell/Myers 1 Mitchell/Orosco 1 Muniz/Wagner 1 Murray/Glynn 1 Musselman/Myers 1 Myers/Aguilera 1 Niemann/McDowell 1 Niese/Rodriguez 1 Nieve/Rodriguez 1 Nitkowski/Benitez 1 Nomo/McMichael 1 Nu�ez/McDowell 1 Ojeda/Aguilera 1 Ojeda/Gooden 1 Ojeda/Innis 1 Ojeda/Leach 1 Ojeda/Pe�a 1 Oliver/Wagner 1 Orosco/Gaff 1 Orosco/Lockwood 1 Orosco/Scott 1 Pacella/Allen 1 Pacella/Hausman 1 Padilla/Looper 1 Parker/Apodaca 1 Parker/Hennigan 1 Pelfrey/Feliciano 1 Pelfrey/Heilman 1 Pelfrey/Schoeneweis 1 Perez/Heilman 1 Perez/Rodriguez 1 Person/Franco 1 Person/Wallace 1 Puleo/Leach 1 Puleo/Lynch 1 Puleo/Scott 1 Reed/Lidle 1 Reed/Rojas 1 Reed/Watson 1 Reed/White 1 Remlinger/Franco 1 Reynoso/Borland 1 Roberts/Benitez 1 Rodriguez/Pelfrey 1 Rogers/Cook 1 Rusch/Cook 1 Rusch/Wendell 1 Ryan/Chance 1 Ryan/Koonce 1 Saberhagen/Manzanillo 1 Saberhagen/Mason 1 Saberhagen/Young 1 Sadecki/Apodaca 1 Sadecki/Folkers 1 Sadecki/McAndrew 1 Santana/Feliciano 1 Santana/Putz 1 Santana/Takahashi 1 Schiraldi/Orosco 1 Schiraldi/Sisk 1 Schoeneweis/Heilman 1 Schourek/Jones 1 Scott/Lynch 1 Scott/Swan 1 Searage/Allen 1 Seaver/Aker 1 Seaver/Hennigan 1 Seaver/Koonce 1 Seaver/Koosman 1 Seaver/Rauch 1 Seaver/Taylor 1 Sele/Wagner 1 Seo/Hernandez 1 Seo/Stanton 1 Smith/Schoeneweis 1 Soler/Bradford 1 Sosa/Feliciano 1 Stanton/Benitez 1 Stanton/Fortunato 1 Sterling/McGraw 1 Stokes/Ayala 1 Stone/Apodaca 1 Stone/McAndrew 1 Swan/Falcone 1 Swan/Leach 1 Swan/Murray 1 Swan/Myrick 1 Swan/Puleo 1 Takatsu/Hernandez 1 Tam/Cook 1 Tanana/Maddux 1 Tate/Apodaca 1 Tate/Baldwin 1 Tate/Sanders 1 Taylor/Johnson 1 Taylor/Koonce 1 Taylor/McAndrew 1 Terrell/Diaz 1 Terrell/Sisk 1 Todd/Apodaca 1 Todd/Lockwood 1 Trachsel/Roberts 1 Trachsel/Weathers 1 Trachsel/Wheeler 1 Twitchell/Hausman 1 Valdes/Rodriguez 1 Valdes/Takahashi 1 Valera/Franco 1 Viola/Myers 1 Viola/Whitehurst 1 Walker/Benitez 1 Walter/Orosco 1 Watson/Franco 1 Watson/Wendell 1 Weathers/Moreno 1 Webb/Sanders 1 Wendell/Franco 1 Wendell/Rojas 1 Wheeler/Looper 1 Wheeler/Weathers 1 White/Franco 1 Whitehurst/Guetterman 1 Whitehurst/Schourek 1 Whitehurst/Simons 1 Williams/McGraw 1 Williams/Wagner 1 Young/Whitehurst 1 Zachry/Apodaca 1 Zachry/Baldwin 1 Zachry/Cornejo 1 Zachry/Murray

And our winner is... metsmarathon for being the first to guess Bobby Jones and John Franco. Here are all combinations that total more than ten. (Regular season only. Only saves earned since 1969, when the stat became official, are counted.) If the Mets are unable to avoid the dreaded 55th game this year, the Pelfrey/Rodriguez combo has a chance to make a run at the record. 30 Jones /Franco 23 Leiter /Benitez 19 Gooden /Franco 18 Fernandez /McDowell 18 Trachsel /Benitez 17 Viola /Franco 17 Darling /Orosco 16 Gooden /Orosco 15 Darling /Myers 15 Seaver /McGraw 15 Glavine /Wagner 14 Reed /Franco 14 Pelfrey /Rodriguez 14 Darling /McDowell 13 Cone /Myers 13 Leiter /Franco 13 Falcone /Allen 12 Perez /Wagner 12 Wendell /Benitez 12 Santana /Rodriguez 11 Gentry /McGraw 11 Saberhagen /Franco 11 Cone /Franco 11 Koosman /McGraw 10 Matlack /McGraw 10 Rusch /Benitez 10 Clark /Franco 10 Koosman /Lockwood 10 Zachry /Lockwood

David Waldstein, in the New York Times, says: PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. � After two weeks of exhibition games, it appears that the 35-year-old Luis Castillo, in the final season of his often-belittled four-year, $24 million contract, has the early lead for the Mets� second-base job. He is in front somewhat by default, having nosed ahead of a modest group of players who have not stood out in any particular way this spring training.

My incorrect guess was Leiter/Franco.

Got this question in an e-mail today, and, condescending prick that I am, I spun a little SQL and retrieved the answer from the UMDB. My own personal guess to the answer was well off the mark. If you want to play this game, post your guesses below. I'll probably be too busy today to run this as a classic guessing game with hints and stuff, at least for a while. But I'll be sure to post the answer, along with a healthy list of runners up, later this afternoon. Andy Pettitte & Mariano Rivera hold the all time record for games combined for Wins & Saves. I believe Rivera saved 62 games for Pettitte. The second best total is the 57 games Dennis Eckersley saved for Bob Welch. And lastly, Mariano Rivera saved 55 games for Mike Mussina, which is 3rd. My question for you is what pair holds the Mets record in this category? I have had no luck in locating this answer.

At this point in the spring, I think there are still plenty of innings to go around. Other guys with an equally slim chance of making the team are still getting innings. My guess is that they're hoping to coax Perez into pitching for Buffalo. If he accepts an assignment in the Bisons rotation, and pitches well, then maybe they'll be able to trade him during the summer to a desperate contender who'll be willing to take on part of his contract. It may be a longshot, but if there's a chance of somebody picking up one or two million of Perez's contract, it really doesn't cost them anything to keep him around. You could make a similar, less contrived, argument for Castillo. Rumblings from Philadelphia indicate that Chase Utley may miss the entire season. I don't know if that's a rational fear, or the result of panic, but there may end up being a market for Castillo after all. And if that's the case, then it's good that they didn't release him over the winter.

I've been wondering about that one too. His perspective might be different this year. Pitching regularly in the Buffalo starting rotation might be his final last shot at reviving his career.

I expect that Misch will end up being the out-of-options guy who's deemed the most expendable. They might be able to sneak him through waivers if they wait until later in the spring, when the other teams have less flexibility. (At least, I think that's how it works.) But the math is still tricky. It looks like only two of Acosta, Izzy, and Beato will be able to make the team, unless there's a trade or injury.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Problem is, this may be the only time we have too many good arms; the best of the backenders are likely to walk if they don't latch on to the bottom rung. Beato's Rule V, Misch and Acosta are out of options, and Isringhausen won't go to the minors if he's cut. Whoever the odd man (or men) is, he's probably lost. Or those guys can be kept (in part) because of their statuses, and the guys who can go to Buffalo will, and they'll be there if Acosta, Izzy, Beato, etc. get injured or struggle.

The bullpen configuration for this season is, for me, the most intriguing question. (Ahead of the second base competition, and especially ahead of the starting rotation, which I assume is very likely to be Pelfrey/Dickey/Niese/Young/Capuano.) I'm most curious about whether Beato, Isringhausen, and Acosta will make the team.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: What do you guys really think Reyes is going to look like by the midpoint of his next contract, if not the buttend? That's the stuff that scares me. Stealing a hundred bases and playing sick shortstop is a young man's game I'm afraid, specially if said youngster's already had multiple injuries. I know. Unless Jose has a poor or injury-riddled season, the contract he ends up getting will probably be well above the value of whatever production he'll provide, so it would probably be better, objectively, if that money was being spent by some other team. But rational arguments aside, I'd hate to see him in some other uniform. I think of Darryl Strawberry. I still regret that he left the Mets after the 1990 season, even though the Dodgers ended up getting burned on that deal. Darryl had a strong 1991 as I recall, but was only a shadow of his former self in all of the seasons he played after that. Implications for 2011 aside, the best long-term outcome might be for Jose to not have a big bounceback year this season, and then get a not insanely expensive four-year deal from the Mets, and then have his big bounceback in 2012. That's a lot of ifs, and it's therefore not the most likely scenario.

Can Valdespin play shortstop?

Who told him to run with only one knee? Mackey Shillstone?

I haven't seen any of the games yet, but I'm getting the sense that Emaus hasn't been looking too good out in the field. Is that accurate?

soupcan wrote: I hear you but I'm having difficulty finding a scenario where Jose Reyes is a Met next season. That is what is really tightening my colon. I'm with you on that. I'd hate to see him leave, and that is looking like the more likely outcome.

Well, look at it this way: With low expectations, any surprise we get is more likely to be a pleasant one.

I still haven't experienced the joys of Twitter, so pardon my ignorance. What does #notgood mean? Is that some kind of a tag for people who search for things that are not good?