Centerfield

Amazingly, Cabrera will only be playing in his age 33 season. He certainly seems older than that. In fact, I thought his best days were behind him when the Mets signed him the first time. Good luck Druby.

This is some terrific work BG. How do you photoshop a cover onto hairy bellies? Amazing!

That sounds like Mickey. Because other managers see three lefties in a row and think to themselves “that's crazy. How the hell do I matchup against that?”

Fun fact. The Yankee second baseman caught napping on that play. Robinson Cano.

I wonder if Koo is aware how beloved he is among Mets fans. Like if he came back to tip his cap if he'd be genuinely surprised how many fans remember that one trip around the bases. I love how McCarver was in the middle of telling us how he had no chance just as he ripped one into the gap.

Pitched last night. It's on Twitter. Don't knownhot to link it from my phone. Find Sung Min Kim. He posted it. He's 49 and a manager. But decided to put himself in. I don't know details. But I feel like I need to know this story.

And although Evan whiffs on the analytics argument, i do understand his frustration. Analytics show that big contracts to older players is not wise. You pay them for past production. Production they are not likely to repeat. The problem is they are underpaid during their prime because those years are lost to team control. So if you don't have to pay young players a lot, and it's dumb to pay older players a lot, then when is a player supposed to be paid? The whole system is being presented in a way to justify owners taking more money for themselves. And fans are being used like pawns to sway public perception.

He's also not mentioning that some agents -- including the one for the biggest stars out there this year -- tend to hold back. I don't know about Machado, but Harper had a 10-year, $300 million offer on the table. This. And, also, the "it's not your money" quip when referring to the fans is flat out economic stupidity. Who is paying the ever increasing prices for tickets/parking/concessions? Who is buying the jerseys, caps, and other asorted types of apparel and knick-knaks? Who is paying the subsciption fees for cable and streaming services for games? All of that, Evan, is called revenue. It's what the owners rely on to finance the payroll that goes to you guys. This is a dumb answer. It's not the fans' money. Once they buy the tickets and concessions the money is spent. It doesn't go back to the fans if the owners don't spend it on the players. Evan's point is 100% right. Fans talk about efficiency or payroll flexibility as if this is a salary cap sport. It's really not hard. Every fan should be pressing their owners to spend more. It's amazing how many dumb fans root against their interest. I'm sure Evan is aware of the concept of revenue. And as someone in the industry, he is aware of how revenues have skyrocketed while player salaries have stayed largely stagnant. That will always happen in any business unless there are regulations to help the laborers and unions to create leverage. The business of baseball has taken off but the players haven't gone along for the ride. He's saying the players should get their share of the pie. He's absolutely right. He is clearly frustrated about the public perception that owners are barely scraping by or that there isn't enough money to pay the greedy players. That couldn't be further from the truth. And while revenue is not limitless, we are nowhere near those thresholds. Not even the teams above the luxury tax. Understand this. The owners want you to think players are greedy and overpaid. They want you to think they are cash strapped. It's all bullshit. They are taking it in at a level that the average fan just doesn't comprehend.

I remember he helped me cheat once in the great parody challenge. I drew his name, didn't have much of an idea, but was plenty mad at the Wilpons. So I wrote (to the tune of the Flintstones): Wilpons! Fuck the Wilpons! They're the worst owners in history! Lying, cheating scumbags They'll do anything but spend money! Or something like that. And at the end, I ended with: Wilmer! To satisfy my Wilmer Flores content. I lost.

Frayed Knot wrote: and so then we had two captains, which was pretty much the same as having one, which was kinda the same as none. lololol

Frayed Knot wrote: When someone informs me what a baseball captain actually does than maybe I'll get interested in this topic. *makes everyone around him better *comes through in clutch situations *plays the game the way it was meant to be *is unselfish *leads by example *is accountable for his actions *never gets too high or too low *is passionate, cares *is white (usually), speaks English as a first language

I keep reading "The Last of the Bread". I think this low-carb new year's resolution is playing with my sanity.

Go to any bar. Any game. Fans will complain about Jimmy Superstar leaving his beloved team to play elsewhere. "I'd play for free" he complains. And blames Jimmy for being greedy. He doesn't blame the billionaire that owns his team for not paying Jimmy what' he's worth. The fan can think of no better life than being Jimmy Superstar and playing for his favorite team. I think in many cases he literally cannot picture himself as the billionaire that signs Jimmy's checks. And the media feeds right into it. Every day I read these beat guys talk about how there's not much left to spend. Big, huge (and wrong) assumption. There's plenty to spend. There's not much more they're willing to spend.

I disagree on the analytics point too. Emphatically agree on everything else. Especially this part. As fans, why should “value” for your team even be a consideration? It's not your money, it's money that players have worked their whole lives to get to that level and be deserving of. Bottom line, fans should want the best players and product on the field for their team. And as players we need to stand strong for what we believe we are worth and continue to fight for the rights we have fought for time and time again. There is a strike coming. Make no mistake. If Tony Clark were halfway competent it would have happened already. It is crazy how the owners have been allowed to control the message. Effectively brainwash the fans and get away feigning poverty while lining their pockets every year. It's shameful. And every fan who condoned it and every member of the media shilling for the owners has a share in the blame. smg is right. The revenue sharing, the television rights, all of this has led to owners not being incentivized to win. Why pay for Bryce Harper when the TV rights sell anyway. Why spend to make the playoffs when the revenue sharing check comes in regardless. Sure, the wins will make the fans happy, but the owners don't really care. They would much rather pocket $35 million than push an 88 win team to 95 wins. Why are they allowed to get away with it? Because the media laps it up. They talk about budgets, and the luxury tax and smart efficient spending. They couch the league as a salary cap league, when it's the opposite. Winning on a small budget is glorified. Big spenders are depicted as lazy. Lacking creativity. Signing a player is presented as an "either/or" instead of "why not both?". The beat guys are trying to get on talk shows. Get access. Get features on the team owned broadcasts. So they're quick to rip a kid busting his butt every night who makes a crucial error. But to slam an owner that intentionally elects to handcuff a team's chances at success? Not a word. And the fans are too stupid to realize. They eat up that message. "I don't want to just buy a championship, I want my team to be smart." Or the famous "Spending doesn't guarantee winning! Look at the X team!" Idiots. They play their fantasy baseball and don't realize that real baseball doesn't have a spending limit. They cry that X superstar is a spoiled brat for not being happy with X million. When in fact owners are not happy with X billion. The tendency of the average fan to side with the owners over the players is just shocking. People really don't think things through. When the strike comes, watch as the players are skewered for not being happy making millions playing baseball. And how many idiot fans will voice their agreement.

I would spend the money on Harper first. Then Machado second even though we got 27 infielders and spent more than we would on Machado. And then if we can't have that, then Pollack. And if no Pollack then pitchers. Another starter. Bullpen help. A lefty in particular. And then if not that I'd ask for statues at Citi. A waterslide for the kids maybe. Maybe they could get cheerleaders. I would buy shakeweights. Invest it with Dykstra. Donate it to Michael Bolton's comeback bid. I would rather use it for anything than just let the Wilpons keep it for personal debt.

3 years. 27 Million. Per Jon Heyman. Another quality arm off the board.

The walk off against Washington. Obviously. As well as all the others. Home grown kid. Love the guy. On the flip side, I'll remember his knack of getting hurt at precisely the moment an everyday spot opened up for him. I remember wishing we had him to face Bumgarner in 2017. I hope his arthritis is nothing big. I can see him catching on as a DH and playing for a while.

Didn't see the presser, but I'm reading about it now. Sounds like he's saying he's content with what he has. Not in on Harper, doesn't view him as a possibility. Not focused on Philly/Washington. Focused inward. Copouts. All of it. If this is it (and I acknowledge nothing is done yet) I hope every Met fan will see this winter as the half measure it was.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I'm still in denial that the Mets won't shock everyone and get Harpo I think you and I might be the only suckers left in NY.

I'm not crazy about Pollack. But I guess he's better than nothing. Pollack, at least, has a chance to be productive if healthy. Lagares and Broxton don't have any chance (unless they miraculously transform their careers this many years in). I wonder if Pollack is waiting for Harper to sign, thinking that the also-rans will pursue him. So basically, he's thinking the price goes up if he holds out, while teams are thinking the price goes down.

The only drawback is that Jack Renheimer is behind him and not, say, Conforto. This. Jack Renheimer should not be commerated for all time on the winning cover. Prospects. Journeymen. Legends. Obscurities. Future Hall of Famers. Former All-Stars. Players who had won awards. Players who were winning awards. Ring-wearers from elsewhere. Thirty-four catchers who caught Met pitchers. Fifty-one pitchers who recorded Met saves. Forty-two third basemen who followed the trail he blazed to the Met hot corner. Twenty-four men who were on the Met roster he joined July 21, 2004. Three-hundred thirty-one men who'd thereafter attach themselves to the Met roster he was a part of, he was the center of, he would work his spine off to return to before September 30, 2018. Accepting the definition of teammate as anybody who was a Met while David Wright played, healed, rehabilitated, strived and captained as best he could, nearly a third of everybody who has ever played for the New York Mets has been a teammate to David Wright. And David Wright was a teammate to every one of them...even Jack Reinheimer. It's funny that we get to hang out here on a message board with Greg. It's like having LeBron James as one of your buddies and he plays in your pickup games that you have in the driveway. Usually he just fucks around dribbling with one hand and holding a beer in the other, but then once in a while he does some crazy spin dunk and you're like "oh right, he's LeBron James". Oh right. That's Greg from FAFIF.

Yeah. My "defense" of Mariano was tongue in cheek, if not evident from the post. All kidding aside, the coverage of that story was just mind-boggling. As if every member of the media had lost all common sense. Look, I get the tragedy of two lost lives, and I don't doubt that the pain Rivera felt was real. But there was some real culpable behavior there. First off, who electrifies a pool? Everyone just skipped over that as if this is something you see every day. Is this common in Panama? If so, then that's gotta be front and center in the story. "For those that may be wondering, electrifying pools is a common practice in Panama where, blah blah blah..." Or, if it's not a common practice, then there should be, "WTF WAS HE THINKING ELECTRIFYING A POOL" articles. It's like saying "Jon Smith died tragically when the guillotine in his living room doorway malfunctioned...." without questioning the existence of the living room guillotine. Secondly, the justification was that local dogs kept swimming in the pool, so electrifying the pool was necessary. Again, this was glossed over. I don't know if dogs have some way of sensing the electricity (again all articles were silent on this point), but to me, electrifying a pool seems less like they are trying to keep dogs out of a pool rather than frying them once they jump in. This is a really big deal. I don't know how anyone can be ok with this. Michael Vick went to jail (and rightfully so) for dogfighting. PETA was all over him. Where was the outrage here? He was trying to electrocute dogs. You know what else keeps dogs out of a pool? A fence. Or, if you're into the electric thing, an electric fence. This is like "I'm gonna send a message to them damn dogs..." And finally, if you're going to electrify a pool, at the very least, you have to: a. Tell everyone b. Put up warning signs (presumably, Panamanian dogs cannot read, so this won't undermine your objective to fry them) c. Put the voltage at a level that would make it painful to jump in, but not lethal This is criminally negligent homicide. But no, he's a True Yankee and he's the Sandman and all the other barftastic Yankee crap. Pisses me off.

=seawolf17 post_id=1186 time=1547582004 user_id=91] Mariano Rivera: murdered two members of his family by poolicide

So for those keeping score at home: John Wetteland: Child Sexual Abuse Chad Curtis: Underage sexual assault Jim Leyritz: DUI Manslaughter. Domestic Abuse. Aroldis Chapman: Domestic Abuse. Chuck Knoblauch: Domestic Abuse (repeat offender) Who else is there?

I agree about design, headline, and better indicative of the season. But not the picture. The Wright picture is nice. The only drawback is that Jack Renheimer is behind him and not, say, Conforto.