Centerfield

Agreed! But let's make sure to unload all of the salary to make sure we don't get any player of use in return.

There yet? It's funny. I was out last night and saw the Mets were up. Next time I checked I saw they had coughed it up again. Barely had a reaction. But, I wake up, and check the standings and see that we are still only 4.5 back of the Wild Card. So, I don't know.

Frayed Knot wrote: As usual, the more intriguing part of this story is: Who leaked it? An "industry source" could be anyone or anything and it doesn't even specify that it's someone from the Mets although the initial leak almost certainly had to come from someone within the Mets. That could have been passed from NYM insider to some outsider who in turn leaked it to Puma, an act which may make it hearsay which, while possibly shaky journalism, doesn't make it not true. And, again as usual, just the fact that this crew doesn't seem to be capable of keeping anything from leaking remains standard operating procedure. Probably Eiland.

Was that meant for me?

I root for two teams basically. The Mets, and Syracuse basketball. Syracuse has had their ups and downs, and like the Mets, have produced exactly 1 championship during my lifetime. They've been sanctioned, and were the first #2 seed to lose in the NCAA tournament. Never, not once, have I ever questioned my fandom, asked myself why I bother rooting for them, or considered rooting for another team. I love the Mets much more than I love Syracuse. But the Wilpons make me question being a fan every day. And it just gets worse and worse.

I'm the lone Straw vote. Loved Strawberry. Loved those SI covers from the 80's. Fully admit the Casey cover is iconic, and I'll probably vote that way the rest of the Derby, but I can't let my boy get shut out.

"But the biggest applause of the night was for Jeff Wilpon, who when introduced, was met with a thunderous ovation from adoring fans."

I thought about that. That is a real stretch no? I feel like that warrants a "What's that supposed to mean you little shit?" Or "Yeah, real funny, wiseass." But dropping MF's and coming back out to curse him out again?

This is an actual quote from an article in the Post this morning. Jason Vargas had to be restrained from going after Newsday reporter Tim Healey in the aftermath of the Mets' 5-3 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sunday. Jason Vargas was violent and had to be physically restrained. Can you think of a more improbable scenario? "After the game, reporters gathered around McReynolds as he passionately defended the decisions of his manager." "...and knelt in a clubhouse prayer, led by Matt Harvey..." "Reports indicate that Olerud became increasingly agitated, verbally abused the restaurant staff and was asked to leave. The incident was triggered, according to eyewitnesses, by a failure to deliver the dressing on the side..."

There's gotta be more to it than this right? I'm trying to think of the worst, sleeziest, snarkiest way someone can say this that would make a guy go off like that. I can't picture it. Let's unfold what happened. *Tim Healey, beat writer for Newsday, says to Mickey after the presser "See you tomorrow Mickey". *Mickey responds by cursing him out, calling him a MF *Mickey comes back out, cursing him out again. *Vargas gets violent and has to be physically restrained. There's gotta be some history there right? Healey's one of the good guys on the beat. Not afraid to take ownership to task when necessary, critical but fair to the Mets. I hope the Callaway presser provides some details about any perceived slight. I'm guessing it will just be "miscommunication".

=bmfc1 post_id=13763 time=1561131560 user_id=73] How about that Mets OF?

If things hold form, all sorts of cool stuff: *It will be the seventh time the Mets have finished fourth in the last 11 years. *9 out of 11 losing seasons. *in the last 13 seasons, the Mets have won 90 games exactly once. (2015, 90 wins). They have not exceeded the 90 win mark since 2006, 13 years ago. They are 0 for their last 13. By comparison, the Cubs have won 90+ the last four seasons, and are in first place again. The Dodgers have done it 6 straight years, and in this, their 7th year, they are putting up their best win percentage yet. The Red Sox have done it three straight years, the Yankees have done it the last two, Cleveland has three straight 90+ seasons, and Houston is on pace to finish over 100 wins for the third straight year. It's comical. *In the 17 years since the Wilpons took full control, the Mets have made the playoffs three times, including the one game playoff in 2016. Despite this, there are those that think we are "just a hot streak away" or that we've been victims of "an unfortunate run of injuries". The process is broken guys.

That's the face of hope. In ten years, Bradley will Tyrion his father while he's on the toilet and run the Mets like the big market team they were destined to be. Or we'll all get torched by dragons.

Wouldn't it be funny if Jeff never really wanted any of this and he was just doing it because his dad made him? One can hope.

I get that. But I also saw him out there trying to play through a bad hamstring having been rushed back too early. Cano is a tough call. Much like Cespedes before him, it's easy to see him half-speed it and assume it's lack of effort. But I think there's a mental aspect of it that we may not understand. Both Cano and Cespedes are "make it look easy" guys. They play with a natural grace and ease in the field. They also play with a healthy amount of arrogance, which, if I had to guess, is a big part of their success. Maybe that arrogance, which helps them succeed, plays a factor in them not running out these balls. Maybe it's self-preservation. After all, Cano did bust it, and hurt himself. What I do know is that both Cano and Cespedes went out there hobbled for the good of the team, so that means something. I totally get if someone wants to get on him for lack of effort. I don't expect anyone else to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Exactly right. It's the same thing over and over again. And we know the reason why. And if there's any silver lining it's that the truth is becoming more and more evident. But there are still a contingent of those who turn a blind eye and insist nothing is wrong. "It's just bad luck that we keep losing every year. Let's try the same thing in 2020." The Wilpons love those fans.

All kidding aside, here is who I think is to blame. In descending order, from most to blame, to least to blame. 1. Fred and Jeff Wilpon. Without a doubt. If I had to guess, I'd pin 75-80% of the blame on them right out of the gate. As Greg pointed out in the other thread, this culture of failure has spanned multiple GMs, Managers, scouts, players. The incompetence starts at the top and permeates throughout the organization. If they did nothing else but just set the payroll at that of a mid-market team, they'd have already badly crippled the team. But their meddling makes it even worse. A mid-market team with smart owners would have hired Chaim Bloom, and would leave the management to the baseball people. Instead, Jeff runs everything and hired an agent for cover. The pages from Pedro's book are making their rounds through twitter recently. This is the episode in 2005 when Jeff Wilpon came in, overruled the medical staff and forced Pedro to pitch hurt in a meaningless game. This goes a long way in explaining the Mets "bad luck" with injuries. Familia, Nimmo, even Cano. You can't lose this much by accident. 2. Brodie. He is the GM after all, but just how much control he has I have no idea. I don't know whether to give him 10% or 1% since I don't really know how much of this is him. If I had to guess, I'd say he had a fairly big hand in the Cano Disaster trade. For his part, I'm glad that he talked big. It makes what the Wilpons did that much more egregious. I don't know if there is a way out from the Wilpon mess, but guys like Brodie help illustrate their incompetence. He also did a shit job in getting an effective LH reliever. But again, Sandy couldn't do it either, so I don't know if that's Brodie or Wilpon. 3. Manfred/Owners. Their stupid baseball. Baseball is the only sport where the ball itself changes from year to year. You talk about all this stupid shit aimed at speeding up the game, then you introduce a stupid baseball that makes pitching impossible. I know it's bad luck that our pitchers seem to be affected by it more than others, but it's stupid that we even have to deal with this. 4. Callaway. Nobody can win under these conditions, but if you put Callaway in charge of the Dodgers he'd figure out a way to fuck it up. He said that DiSarcina made a good send and that it took a perfect throw to get Davis. If that's a perfect throw, then I'm a GG outfielder. 5. Eiland. This is a guess. So many guys are struggling more than you'd expect. Maybe we need Warthen back. I don't blame the players. They're all trying their best. Some are putting up amazing numbers, and even some of the guys I don't like are making valiant efforts. Vargas, Frazier, I didn't like these moves at all and I don't think they're worth the money. But man are they battling, and I give them a ton of respect for that.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his bat held at a dangle, his thoughts alight on nothing but the optimal launch angle. Brilliant.

I guess a Bennett Lesion is some sort of bone spur? I'm guessing that they'll need surgery to shave that down eventually. I wonder if Familia really is pitching hurt, or if this is an excuse to let him find himself.

Edgy MD wrote: The announcer calls it "unbelievable." What's much harder to believe is that it doesn't happen over and over. Yup. Considering most pitchers have the skill set required to do this every time. I do think eventually it will catch on and everyone will wonder why it took so long to become common practice.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I don't! It's probably just about time to trade Zack Wheeler and Todd Frazier. And Robinson Cano, of course, but that's not going to be possible. I'm sure if we throw in Edwin Diaz, we'll get a team's #1 prospect as well as another first round pitching prospect.

A nearly annual tradition in this era of the Wilpon Mets. Inevitably, each season goes from the thrill of hanging on each pitch on Opening Day, to the carefree, worry-free "what's the point of it all" realization that our Mets are not contenders and will not be in the pennant race. Has everyone hit that point yet? The 2019 Mets might be outplaying their 2018 counterparts. I'm not sure what exact game it was, but for me, I'm pretty sure "I Give Up Day 2018" took place in the midst of an 8 game losing streak from May 31 to June 9, that saw us get swept by the O's and lose the first two to the MFY's. Here, on June 18, we sit 34-38, 8.5 behind Atlanta. But only 5.5 games behind Philly for the second wild card (four teams in front of us). I don't think I'm quite at I Give Up Day 2019. I might be by the end of this series, but not quite yet. I do think, though, that the only way we get back into it is if the new ball disappears and our guys find their sliders.

If I were manager. 1. McNeil 3B 2. Davis RF 3. Conforto CF 4. Alonso 1B 5. Smith LF 6. Ramos C 7. Cano 2B 8. Rosario SS 9. Wheeler P We won't catch shit. But it's not like we're catching shit right now anyway. And we'll score some runs. And you know what? It's not my fault my team has 30 IF and no OF.

Cano in the three hole. Smith out of the lineup. Mickey's trying to get fired yo.

Yeah, not even the Japanese guys seem to be throwing it anymore, and that was kinda their thing. I was surprised Familia abandoned the splitter too. Even as his slider has abandoned him and he's lost control of the sinker. Is it too late to teach Jeurys the circle change? Seems the me the guys having success this year are the "change of pace" guys and not the "rely on late, sharp breaking action" guys.