MFS62

Led the National League in ERA in 1974. Mike Jorgenson Later

The fact I was looking for about Lee Walls - he was the first ever player traded from the Mets. ]December 15, 1961: Traded by the New York Mets with $100,000 to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later and Charlie Neal. The Los Angeles Dodgers sent Willard Hunter (May 25, 1962) to the New York Mets to complete the trade. Something I thought old-time Mets fans would have known and others found interesting. Wasn't trying to undermine anything. Brian Boehringer? Later

Done. Edited my post. Oops, this violates the other rule. Later

Iubitul wrote: Jeff Torborg? EDIT: Had a .425 winning percentage as a skipper of the Mets. Lee Walls Later

Hit a home run off me while in college. Steve Dillon? Later

Drafted in that great year, 1969. Kevin Kobel? Later

="Willets Point"]The Jeter quarter does the little things that help you become a winner in life. Running late for work and need to scrounge up for bus fare? The Jeter quarter is there. Got a hot date a need some breath mints? The Jeter quarter can help you out. Your cellphone battery dies and you need to make an important call from a payphone? The Jeter quarter will smack a double down the slot. On the other hand, you can't count on the A-Rod quarter. Sure it will help you in garbage time to get some candy at the five & dime, but that will just rot your teeth and make you feel ill. A-Rod's just two bits and can't help you with your BIG purchases. Funny stuff. So, what you're saying is that Jeter is "heads"? And, conversely.... Later

Frayed Knot wrote: What I meant by 'Top-20' was having a player who rates that high on the league-wide 'Top-100' type of lists. That's the distiction I made, too. We are apparently in violent agreement. Later

Valadius wrote: David Wright hit a two-run homer to give the MLB All-Stars a 7-7 tie with the Yomiuri Giants. Channeling Ralph Kiner (Bless him): "David Wright has good home run power when he plays on Astroturf". Later

First game, new season, new hopes. Same old Filip Bondy.He never saw a balloon he didn't want to prick.Too bad. He's certainly qualified.Later]Every season, the Nets swear on a stack of unsold tickets that Jason Kidd will play a more modest chunk of the game, that their franchise star will pace himself and his weary tendons until the playoffs. and]There is real hope in Williams, who just may be the steal of the 2006 NBA draft. No pun intended there, though Williams surely would not be a Net if he hadn't been nailed for trying to sell two laptops stolen by a friend when they were back at UConn.

Yancy Street Gang wrote: His quote appears in the article I pasted above. Aha! Missed it, Yancy. Thanks. Edgy, you might want to save this one, because it may be the only time Kay says anything positive about a Met player. It might become a collector's item some day. Later

Nymr83 wrote: lets not go overboard here. Yes, Maine pitched well and deserves a rotation spot. But Bannister, while getting goodresults in a limited sample size, was letting runners on left and right. i wouldn't start him next year unless he has his walks down in the spring. His lack of control was a head scratcher. He had excellent BB/IP ratios every year in the minors. It could have been rookie jitters or the umps were squeezing a rookie. Either way, I liked the way he demonstrated toughness when he got out of those jams, and think he will show good-excellent control the next time around. Later

Welcome, iramets. Good first post. We hope to see many, many more like that from you. Later

Can anyone find and post what Mota said yesterday? Mike Greenberg (ESPN Radio) quoted it in its entirety this morning, then for comparison played tapes from Palmeiro, McGwire and Giambi when they admitted to nothing or denied everything. While Mike and Mike agreed that taking performance enhancing drugs should be punished, they lauded Mota for acting like a man, admitting it and apologizing for it. Also- Michael Kay has reportedly said that Mota is now his favorite player for the same reasons. Can someone please provide a link to that sound byte, too? Later

By a strange coincidence, the answer to one of those running clues in this morning's Daily News crossword puzzle was a quote from someone named Evan Esar. It may be what some are trying to say about "clutch". ]The things that count most are things that can't be counted. Later

FK, good analysis of the different approach by the different rating services. Its obvious that there's a big difference between a "top 20" type list and a ranking of an entire organization, where depth is considered. A hint that BA may not rank the Mets too highly (my guess is they will come in around 20th) is that very few Mets farmhands showed up on their lists of top 20 players in each minor league this year. And, as you said, some services rate based on the major league readiness of the top prospects; others on future (longer term) upside of the players. To me, depth at all levels doesn't matter as much as the quality of the few players who emerge from a system to become productive members of the parent club or good enough to be included in trades. A farm team is a life support system for a good prospect, giving him the opportunity to participate in enough games to fully develop his talent. Its nice to know you have a major league ready backup at all positions. But if some of your players are 2-3 years away (from the majors), it doesn't upset me that greatly. What is more important to me is that a team has a "Top 20" list that compares well to those of other teams and will provide a steady stream of talent over time. Later

Edgy DC wrote: It's a pretty safe bet, I think, that Martinez has passed Gomez. That may be true on some lists because of the way Martinez is being promoted quickly (like Gomez was this year). But I still think Gomez has the potential to become a better all around player because he has already demonstrated better speed, arm and defense than Martinez. Still, its nice to see the Mets with two outfield prospects with their abilities. Later

Edgy DC wrote: I think it should be a rule that if you're prospect is traded you immediately get custody of the top prospect (if any) in the package he was traded for, in this case, St. Nickeas. Ho Ho Ho Have you been a good little boy? Later

Nice list. Minor quibble. I would have Smith instead of Mulvey. Smith seems to be a fast mover. Later

Theriot looks like the second coming of Jason Tyner, 11 D, 4 T, 0 HR in AAA last year. Unless he's the second coming of Bill Mazeroski with the glove, he appears to be not much of an improvement over A Hernandez. And AH is very good with the glove, too. As for Murton, IIRC he only had 10-12 HR while playing half of 100+ games in Wrigley Field (Yes, he hit close to .300). That's not that big improvement, if any, over what the Mets could expect from Green, and I don't recall Murton being a gazelle in the OF. I'd want more for Heilmann than those two. They seem redundant with what the Mets currently have. At best, they seem to be a slightly incremental improvement. (That was redundant, wasn't it?) Later

Edgy DC wrote: Who wouldn't want a little Felix Pie? Edgy, that question might just offend entire generations of cat and/or cartoon lovers. Later

Ok, so, Zambrano and Hill are off the table? Who else on the Cubs would the Mets want to fill a current need? Izturis? Jacque Jones? I'm not sure if they're free agents or not. ] 40-Man Roster Pitchers 54 David Aardsma 46 Ryan Dempster 47 Scott Eyre 37 Angel Guzman * -- Adam Harben 53 Rich Hill 62 Bob Howry 49 Carlos Marmol 45 Sean Marshall 51 Juan Mateo 52 Wade Miller 44 Roberto Novoa 48 Ryan O'Malley 13 Will Ohman 22 Mark Prior 33 Glendon Rusch 20 Jae Kuk Ryu * 34 Kerry Wood 60-day Disabled List 43 Michael Wuertz 38 Carlos Zambrano Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 8 Michael Barrett 24 Henry Blanco 61 Jose Reyes (obviously another one) 58 Geovany Soto Infielders 5 Ronny Cedeno * 56 Brian Dopirak 3 Cesar Izturis 25 Derrek Lee 15 Scott Moore 16 Aramis Ramirez 7 Ryan Theriot Outfielders 4 Freddie Bynum 30 Buck Coats 11 Jacque Jones 17 John Mabry 19 Matt Murton * -- Miguel Negron 29 Angel Pagan * 68 Felix Pie 9 Juan Pierre * Not on Active Roster Later

Elster88 wrote: Thank you. But how 'bout the usage? Fix my sentence. Definitiojns 3 and 4 seem to fit the bill. No need to fix your thread. Later

That's cold. Later

Yancy Street Gang wrote: It ain't "done" until it's done. That just proves you're no Yogi Berra. Did you get my PM? Later