MFS62

It was announced today that Jacob DeGrom will start the season opener for the Mets. https://sports.yahoo.com/mets-jacob-degrom-opening-day-173712646.htmlhttps://sports.yahoo.com/mets-jacob-degrom-opening-day-173712646.html In a bit of unsurprising news, Mets manager Luis Rojas announced Saturday that he expects Jacob deGrom to take the ball when the Mets open the regular season against the Nationals on April 1. “That's where it's lined up,” Rojas said. “He's our No. 1 guy, if you want to call him that, so we're setting him up to be the Opening Day starter.” I'll take "I Would Have Put Money on That" for $200, Mike. Later

Somewhere out on the course, Piazza should have thrown Clemens' bag of clubs into a water trap. Later

Anthony Swarzak signs a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks. Later

Edgy MD wrote: Dellin Betances gets POUNDED in the fifth and the Mets fall behind 4-1. Dellin is a worry. And he vultures the win, but leaves with an ERA that looks like the top speed of an F-22 Raptor. Later

Swift rise to AA by year's end. Maybe a cuppa' at AAA in their playoffs. Swift rise to top 10 or 15 on all the prospect lists next year. He'll continue to hit and begin to impress with his defense. Later

Interesting that Luis Guillorme started at second base against a lefthander and went 2-for-3. Nice to see they're giving him a chance to see what he can do against lefties instead of predetermining that he is only a platoon player. Later

7-6 Cards at the end of 5. Later

Willets Point wrote: Brett Gardner exists so that when people say that the Yankees buy all their talent from other teams, Yankees fans can say "But Brett Gardner is home grown!" The MFY fertilizer just exudes from him. Later

I think having a batting coach with the team (instead of coaching remotely) will help Pete regain his rookie form. He'll get in-game immediate feedback, on an at bat by at bat basis when he's doing something wrong. .268 - 45- 122, All Star, serious (top 5) MVP consideration. Later

=LWFS post_id=55916 time=1612988309 user_id=84] With all due respect to Des Moines... call me when Dubuque or Davenport confirm this codicil

=LWFS post_id=57258 time=1614750446 user_id=84] I'm starting to feel like he and deGrom have very similar thought processes on pitching... it's just that they seem to differ in terms of style/taste, not just aesthetics-wise, but method-wise.

Scott Kazmir, 37, is attempting a comeback with SF - he signed a minor league contract. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/longtime-big-leaguer-scott-kazmir-174640057.htmlhttps://www.yahoo.com/sports/longtime-big-leaguer-scott-kazmir-174640057.html Kazmir refuses to let the clock run out on his baseball career, and last week he signed a minor league deal with the Giants, hopeful that he can make it into a big league rotation at the age of 37, five years removed from his last MLB appearance. Later

110 G, 270 AB, .277/.308/.381 8HR, 41 RBI and he will be glad that he doesn't have to wear the Cub logo on his uni. Later

A few call-up starts in September, shows promise: 12 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 13 K 3.00 ERA Later

Another interesting inning was thrown by my adoptee:(from SNY) Thomas Szapucki allowed a bloop single to begin his outing in the fifth inning but followed by inducing a line out to right field that resulted in a double play. He then hit a batter, uncorked a wild pitch, and finished his inning by getting a strikeout looking. Gave the fans a thrill, but probably didn't do much to enhance his chances of sticking with the big club. Later

I hope the extra weight of the patch doesn't make him change his throwing motion. (j/k) Later

Edgy MD wrote: Please, let's not do blind links. It was written by a Yahoo sports reporter, not a reprint from another source. Then they do reprint something, I would have labeled it such as "an AP story via Yahoo". This was their original story. According to the St. Louis broadcasters, Angel blew a call in the very first inning. St. Louis Cardinals Ángel Hernández was a trending topic on Twitter Sunday afternoon in a surefire sign that baseball is indeed back. The umpire is constantly under fire by fans and even players for bad calls. He is largely perceived as the worst umpire in all of baseball. To open the spring training slate, he was assigned the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Washington Nationals matchup in the Grapefruit League in Florida. And it appears the Cardinals announcers have been itching all offseason for a moment to deliver this joke: "And the 1-1 ... Ángel Hernández is in midseason form," Cardinals play-by-play announcer Dan McLaughlin joked on a ball call. "Let's not make this game too fast, Angel," his partner chimed in. Later

Another indication baseball is back. Angel Hernandez is in mid-season form: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/mlb-spring-training-cardinals-jokes-umpire-angel-hernandez-midseason-form-missed-call-213743612.htmlhttps://www.yahoo.com/sports/mlb-spring-training-cardinals-jokes-umpire-angel-hernandez-midseason-form-missed-call-213743612.html Later

RIP. Later

This generation's lollypops and roses. Later

Sam McWilliams and Franklyn Kilome are twins? Later

Frayed Knot wrote: [vaudeville]"If I could walk that way I wouldn't need the talcum powder"[/vaudeville] I looked for that and couldn't find it. I think it was said by Groucho Marx. Later

Thomas Szapucki You heard it here first. Later Oopsie. I hadn't realized he hadn't recovered as much from his surgery as I had hoped until I read this today: https://sports.yahoo.com/m/15ec5281-5fa3-364c-a389-2802d44e84b4/the-same-questions-remain-for.htmlhttps://sports.yahoo.com/m/15ec5281-5fa3-364c-a389-2802d44e84b4/the-same-questions-remain-for.html So I'll hope Thomas uses this year to fully recover while I change my choice to Sam McWilliams. Later

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Teams that hold back minor leaguers for a short while to gain an extra whole year of pre-free agency eligibility from that player all make a calculated business decision: is the team better off by promoting the minor leaguer a few weeks earlier at the start of the season in question and losing that extra year of pre-free agency eligibility or is the team better off by delaying for a short while, the promotion of that minor leaguer to gain an extra season of pre-free agency eligibility? It's a fair decision, permissible as the rules are written, and if the players don't like it -- and why should they? -- it's a win-win for management and a lose-lose for labor, the union can renegotiate when the current CBA expires. Players will cry foul and that the owners are acting in bad faith when players are held back but it's pretty easy to justify a team's decision to hold back a player for just a short while and a team can give various plausible reasons for doing so. I agree. I don't think it is covered under the current CBA, nor do I think it should be. It is a team by team, player by player decision when a team thinks a player "is ready" for the majors. And they must weigh whether that player's lost productivity until that moment they bring him up will hurt their chances that year against when they want to pay him for his productivity in the future. Later