smg58

I acknowledge that his age makes him a risk, but it's a very cheap and controllable risk. I don't think I would have bothered if that was the best we could do.

(sniff) I've given this forum everything I've had for over twenty years...

In all seriousness, Taylor is quietly having a great year despite a clearly unlucky BABIP. Robert has had an unlucky BABIP too, but the power has been absent and that might be contributing to it. I said over the winter that Robert is a short-side platoon player on a good team, and with a little luck and a clean bill of health he has an OK chance of getting back to that level. Talylor should get the better return. That doesn't mean he will.

That's not fair. I can think of a lot of ways that a third nostril could be useful.

I for my part certainly wasn't specifying anybody here. My main point was that there are several contending teams that have the farm system to beat the Dodgers' offer, and chose not to. Anybody who is angry over that should not blame the Dodgers. Also, the fact the the Dodgers have that deep of a farm system despite always being buyers this time of year suggests that they are doing more things right than throwing money at the problem. And, as every Mets fan can agree at this point, it takes more than money to build a steady contender.

The package (the #8, #15, and #21 players in a pretty deep system) is very generous for two months of a pitcher who is quite frankly pitching poorly. I'm all for criticizing the initial deal -- Peralta was a 3.60 pitcher who got lucky last season and shouldn't have been treated like an ace -- but we shouldn't judge this deal by that deal.

The Red Sox, Brewers, Rays, and Phillies could have beaten that offer. The Mets, assuming things went well enough for them to be buyers, would have needed to part with one of Benge and Ewing, plus one of McLean or Scott, plus maybe Tong. Our best prospects at the beginning of the season have either graduated or disappointed.

From Fangraphs, it's the #22 and #57 prospects overall, plus the #16 prospect in their system. It's not unreasonable for the league's best pitcher. At some point, blaming the Dodgers for actually wanting to win has to stop.

I think the answer to that is both. Mineola replaced its Friendly's with a taco place, so it's definitely not 1981 anymore. That, and a different family is living where my parents used to.

He might know that Weird Al parodied it.

Amick has upside if he's teachable. That could be a big if, but it cost us two months in a meaningless season of a relief pitcher working his way back from a major injury. Expectations need to be realistic. It's way too soon to speculate on mini-Benny. But even if he comes up for a cup of coffee at some point, it would make for a nice story.

I'd be shocked if they could do that well with Peralta by himself, but I think Peralta or Holmes plus Weaver might give us a shot at somebody. Fangraphs has an updated list (https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board), if you want to take a look.

Something tells me the Cafe Peralta was not nearly as good as you hoped.

Teams have been using analytics, and successfully, long before the Mets started using it. Perhaps "old school fans" want the Wilpons back? Then again, the Wilpons had their best success when Sandy Alderson -- who had been part of the front office that started analytics -- was running baseball operations. All these data still need to be interpreted properly, though, and I think a lot of teams are blowing it in that regard. On a very basic level, Peralta had consistently been a 3.50 or 3.60 ERA pitcher with the Brewers, until he had a very lucky BABIP last year. People with a 100-level understanding of analytics would know better than to make an offer for him like he were an ace. In general, teams have adopted the Rays' approach to handling pitching (maximizing speed and spin rate), which was basically designed to eke value out of AAAA pitchers before their arms blow out, and applied them to good pitchers who are now pitching five innings a game and still can't stay healthy. And if there's clear evidence that pitching is better as a whole for it, nobody has presented it. On the bright side, the Mets' rookies are doing fine. McLean had a stretch of adversity, but that was inevitable and he overcame it. Scott is doing well, and Thornton has been an unexpected surprise. Plus Manaea seems to be putting it back together. Holmes' injury may have killed the Mets' season even more than Soto's trips to the IL, but it was a freakish in-game injury that had nothing to do with his right arm. I'm not about to take it out on Willard for Peralta not meeting expectations that he wasn't a good bet to meet anyway. And honestly, if other GMs want to overpay for Peralta, I'm cool with that.

Right. Unless you have a reason think nobody will make a better offer between now and the deadline-- and we're not that close yet -- you sit.

You should have said things like "hit memorable postseason series-clinching walk-off homerun that grazed the centerfielder's glove." Now you're making us think, and I have a headache.

Is #1 Anthony Recker?

Here is a hypothetical. You're the Tigers' GM, and you conclude that selling is your best option. Do you take the best offer on Skubal if it comes from the Dodgers?

It would be funny if we got Jett Williams back. His power numbers are down this year, which I'm hoping is injury-related, but I'd gamble on a bounceback.

Yeah, I think Semien's upside is not a whole lot better than what we're seeing. If anybody asks over the next week -- not that I'm holding my breath -- the answer is yes.

I definitely agree with not selling short. He had a .786 OPS last year and has a .791 OPS this year, despite not being fully healthy in either season. I realize health is a very legitimate concern, but how easy do you think replacing him would be if nearly all those teams will still be in the market for a catcher in the offseason?

This was exactly how I'd answer the question. It might be a little different if we were buyers, but not much.

I'm still pretty high on Benge, though I'm higher on Ewing. He was thrown into the deep end before he was ready, and he adjusted and held his own. Our rookies were what went right this season. I think you have to bet on them moving forward next year, regardless of how strongly they finish.

Ed Hearn, who helped us win a championship and was then one of the biggest overpays in the history of the game.

Everybody asks everybody about everybody the week before the deadline. OK, nobody is expecting the Dodgers to be sellers, but you get the idea. Torrens has a very legit glove, and that's enough to make other GMs ask about him. From my perspective he'd be very dealable if I had more confidence in Alvarez staying healthy, but I'd still listen. It's always possible that somebody will offer more than I think he's worth.