Gwreck

100 wins for whom? You can't sign players to incentive contracts based on team performance. No pitcher (or his agent) would ever agree to an option based on pitcher wins for obvious reasons.

Big money, short years. 3 Years, $40 million. $4 mil signing bonus and $12 mil a year for 2013, 2014 and 2015, option for 2016 at $12 million with a $3 million buyout.

Because, unfortunately, until the Mets show they are willing/able to spend money, everybody is going to assume (rightly) that they aren't.

Nice job by Niese getting out of the first.

Tejada SS Baxter RF Wright 3B Davis 1B Murphy 2B Valdespin LF Torres CF Johnson C Niese P

You are down 4 runs. You need baserunners more than anything. So you put Valdespin up first? And not Baxter? Terry, you are an idiot.

Edgy DC wrote: Any credibility he had with me he staked on the impossibility of the case coming to a settlement. I thought he staked it on the Wilpons having to sell, because of -- in addition to the Picard suit -- future debt payments for the Stadium, SNY and team (loan from Chase, wasn't it?) that they would not be able to afford. Obviously things are on a financial upswing for the Mets this year (settling with Picard, selling those partial shares; better record than expected) but I think it's premature to say Megal was wrong. I mean, look at what CF said above. If the Mets are missing the pieces needed to contend, they are going to need to fill them with expensive free agents. I suppose when that time comes (whether this offseason or next) we'll have a better idea of their financial health.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: the Utley Corner I thought we agreed to never speak of this again.

Ceetar wrote: there argument against Rochester is tentative at best. It is obvious that if Buffalo doesn't want to re-sign with the Mets, then Rochester is the best option. Pressure's on, Sandy. I don't know the answer to this, but can a AA city "move up" to AAA? Why does it simply have to be an existing AAA city? For the same reason that an AAA team can't just become a major league team. Those 30 AAA franchises are the ones who are admitted to their respective leagues. Note that AAA franchises can and do move from one city to another.

The contract between the Yankees and Scranton isn't up at the end of the year. As stated in the articles, these are the cities whose AAA contracts expire at the end of the year: Buffalo and Rochester in the International League; and Albuquerque, Fresno, Las Vegas, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans and Oklahoma City in the Pacific Coast League. By default, the Mets' affiliate will be in one of those cities. The article explains why it's not likely to be Albquerque, Fresno, Memphis, Nashville or Rochester.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: If you're picking teams other than the Pirates in the Central, I don't know what to do for you. Exactly. I am surprised by votes for the Angels, White Sox and Giants. Recent winners of the World Series need no extra help from us.

Wow. I am now 33.3% more depressed about tonight's loss. Seriously, I'm not being snarky or sarcastic here. In the back of my mind, I know that. But when you use that lens to view the game -- and consider that the Mets didn't make those same sort of trades -- it's maddening.

A .712 OPS is not anything to get excited over. --- Bell's career splits show he is equally effective against lefties and righties. Do you have anything to suggest he's more effective against lefties other than a small sample size in a year where he's pitched badly overall?

Made a rare trip out to Citi Field. Didn't get to try the steak sandwich, unfortunately. Terry Collins' stupid decisions make me at least 50% more frustrated when I witness them in person. Running it down tonight: 1. Not pinch-hitting for Niese with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 5th and the Mets down two. A defensible move, if you need to get some length out of your starting pitcher. Niese had 82 pitches at the time. The next inning, he throws only 13 more. Then Terry, in his infinite wisdom, removes Niese from the game. So, Terry, if he was only going to throw one more inning...why not pinch hit? Those three extra outs from Niese were that important that you squandered one of the Mets' best scoring opportunities? 2. It continues to baffle me that Bobby Parnell can only pitch one inning. He's effective...and then he's gone. 3. The aforementioned situation where Turner is allowed to bat despite having two excellent left-handed choices on the bench (Valdespin, Baxter).

Love the logo. Might actually make a merchandise purchase at the game tonight.

It's not far-fetched that Jason Bay could hit 10 homers in his next 20 ABs? Yes, I suppose if by "not far-fetched" you mean it's "not far-fetched" that I could win the Powerball and buy a suite for the CPF at Citi Field next year.

Ceetar wrote: I told myself I'd give him until 150 AB until I started bitching. He's got 130 ABs. If he went 10 for 20 (all homers) in those next 20 ABs, he'd still have a sub-.800 OPS.

I think so, because he'd be on the Buffalo DL and not the major league DL.

A player has option years. He can be sent up and down any number of times within the option years.

Does it seem like a while since we�ve played the Marlins? That�s because it has been. When we last saw Miami in mid-May, both the Mets and the Marlins had winning records. Since that time, the Marlins have struggled, badly. A 5-13 interleague record didn�t help. Going 8-16 since the All-Star break hasn�t helped. A -100 run differential doesn�t help. Losing 3 of 4 on this road trip to both Atlanta and Washington�is indicative of the quality (or lack thereof) of the Miami club. Marlin Trades Carlos Lee: acquired from Houston on July 4. Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante: traded to Detroit on July 23 Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate: traded to Dodgers on July 25. Gaby Sanchez: traded to Pittsburgh on July 31. Edward Mujica: traded to St. Louis on July 31. Pitching Matchups Tue: Wade LeBlanc (L) v. Jon Niese LeBlanc pitched out of the bullpen until making his first start of this year in his last outing. Last faced the Mets last August when he was with San Diego. 1.35 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 20 innings pitched this year. Tuesday is LeBlanc�s birthday; he�s 28. Wed: Nathan Eovaldi ® v. Chris Young Eovaldi was acquired from the Dodgers in the Hanley Ramirez deal. 4.66 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in 63 innings (combined Dodgers and Marlins). He started against the Mets at Citi Field on July 22nd and got hit around (7 hits and a walk) but only gave up 1 run. The Mets would lose that game by giving up 5 runs in the top of the 12th. Thu: Josh Johnson ® v. RA Dickey 12:10 PM EDT start for this marquee pitching matchup. Johnson is a serviceable 7-7, 3.85 ERA, 1.298 WHIP in his 22 starts this year. He lost the pitchers duel to Johan in the first Mets/Marlins tilt this year. Despite being subject to trade rumors, Johnson remained put. He is still under the Marlins� control for 2013. Lineup C � John Buck ® Signed to a regrettable 3-year contract (this is year two), he�s getting $6 million to deliver a .591 OPS. (Reference point: still 60 points higher than Jason Bay). 1B � Carlos Lee® Lee refused a trade to the Dodgers before Houston was able to ship him off to Miami. He�s been serviceable for Miami (29 for 95, .782 OPS, a current 11-game hitting streak) since the trade but he�s no longer the big threat he once was. Curiously, his splits favor him batting against righties (200 points higher in OPS) than lefties this year. 2B � Donovan Solano ® 24-year old rookie, not a lot of pop in the bat. 3B � Greg Dobbs (L) / Donnie Murphy ® Basically a platoon, with Ramirez gone and Bonifacio on the DL. (Solano had played some third too). Dobbs is hitting .307 in 200 PAs but it�s mostly singles and he�s a bad fielder. Murphy can�t hit at all. SS � Reyes (S) Jose has been hot lately, and has a 24-game hitting streak coming into the series. .783 OPS on the year, with 26 doubles, 8 triples and 7 homers. 27 out of 33 stealing bases. Has been moved to the third spot in the lineup following the Ramirez trade. Outfielders Lots of mixing and matching here during Gincarlo Stanton's trip to the DL. Bryan Petersen (L) installed as the leadoff hitter with Bonifacio on the DL and Reyes hitting third. Doesn�t hit much. Probably going to play left this series. Gorkys Hernandez ®, acquired from Pittsburgh in the Sanchez deal. 24 year old rookie; hasn�t hit at all in his forty-two major league plate appearances. Had a .699 OPS in Triple A this year. Probably playing center this series. Scott Cousins (L), 27-year old AAAA-player. Was hitting a respectable .827 OPS in triple-A but .494 OPS in the majors (74 plate appearances). Probably back to the bench. RF � Gincarlo Stanton ®, expected to be activated from the DL for Tuesday�s game. Had surgery to remove a �loose body� in the right knee. 19 homers and a .919 OPS this year. Bullpen Steve Cishek ® is the closer. 1.77 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 45 innings (44 Ks to 21 walks). Our old friend Heath Bell ® lost the closer�s job in early July with his sixth blown save. He�s actually been quite efficient since, with only 3 hits, 3 walks and no runs allowed over his past 9 outings. Mike Dunn (L) is the lefty; you may remember any one of his three bad outings against the Mets this year. 30 UP, 4.20 ERA; 1.60 WHIP. Chad Gaudin ® is the workhorse, 52 innings over 28 outings. 4.27 ERA and 1.35 WHIP with 42 Ks and 18 walks. Carlos Zambrano ® has been exiled to the Marlins� pen. He lost his rotation spot to LeBlanc due to a strike-throwing deficiency (35 walks in 39 innings). Injured Marlins Emilio Bonifacio, sprained left thumb. Juan Oviedo (formerly Leo Nunez), got back into the US following his fake identiy/immigration problems. He served his eight-week MLB suspension and then went on the DL with a right elbow strain. Probably out for the year. Logan Morrison, right knee inflammation, probably out for the year

Edgy DC wrote: Whenever we go to San Diego, I privately hope that Bruce Springsteen isn't pitching. Yeah, but Nettles has retired so we should be ok now.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Buck kinda sucks and Bell is making an awful lot of do-re-mi. The aggregate money on that deal would cost the Mets $5 million. You'd get 1 year of Buck and 2 years of Bell. I tend to think you could get $5M worth out of those two players without too much trouble.

Howie dropped this one on the listeners: a trade idea of Bay to Marlins for Heath Bell and John Buck. I'd do that before blinking twice.

We should have about 3-4 more runs than we do now.

Don't understand 1. Why Bay is hitting 6th (instead of 8th); 2. Why Bay is in the lineup at all (instead of Hairston).