Centerfield

Of course. If you feel the market is going to come back to you, you should do that even if you're sitting on a boatload of cash. It's the part where the beat guys think there's not much money left to spend. I'm seeing it in a few different places, and I can't believe that this could be true. Even Brodie himself said a few weeks ago that there is "real money" left to spend.

Mike Puma is saying that BVW plans to sit a while and see if the bullpen market comes back to him. Says the Mets don't have much more to spend. Andy Martino saying similar things. Either the beat guys are wrong, or this whole Brodie hiring will have been one of the strangest things we have ever seen. Why all the public bravado if you can't back it up? Something doesn't match up. There must be more money to spend.

My wife and I wanted another boy so we could name him Nolan.

John Sickels. From September 2017. https://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/9/14/16256490/astros-prospect-j-d-davis-a-player-to-watchhttps://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/9/14/16256490/astros-prospect-j-d-davis-a-player-to-watch Sounds like we gave up a lot, but it also sounds like he could maybe turn into something. His power seems to be real, but a lot of swing and miss. Kinda like a right-handed Duda. I guess he's insurance in case Alonso flops? Maybe could also platoon with McNeil if he struggles against lefties. Anyway, sounds more promising than Keon Broxton. The name JD Davis makes me think of this guy. http://s1.thingpic.com/images/WT/C8Ett5UPwFfSUvoXtNMNiQ31.jpeg>

Two underwhelming covers. I like the headline and subheadline in Snakes, but the picture is kinda dumb. On the flip side, I like the picture in Gsell, but I don't like the pun or the blue insert into the headline. Went with Snakes because I think that cover as a whole is a bit better. Also, that was one of the two games I went to last year. So that's something.

I always had trouble spelling his name and he never hit the way I hoped he would. Best of luck Mike Wow, you really did struggle with the spelling. That's not even close to how you spell "Kevin".

BVW: This guy Lockett that you're offering, tell me about him. Chernoff: Great guy. You'll love him. BVW: Wow, um. 9.60 ERA in the show. Was he good in the minors? Chernoff: No. No he wasn't. BVW: Does he throw hard? Chernoff: Not really. BVW: Is he young? Chernoff: You know, 25 is like the new 18. BVW: Is he left-handed? Chernoff: Nope. BVW: I think I've heard enough. You got yourself a deal buddy! Chernoff: I'm so glad the Mets hired you.

Here's the thing. The Mets have needed a solid left-handed reliever for years. This year, we are supposedly all in. With Britton signing with the MFY's and Miller gone to St. Louis, the best options are off the table. I guess in theory Brodie could swing another trade, but these guys were available for just money. And in Miller's case, a pretty reasonable amount of money. Even if by some miracle we sign Harper, we're going to rely on Daniel Zamora to get FFF in a tight spot?

Wilpon: this is ridiculous. We can't win with Lagares as our centerfielder! Brodie! Get me a righty swinging all glove no hit guy! Preferably one that can't play a full season!

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Well, I haven't voted for either yet, but I'll say it: the Wright cover has a dumb headline. The pun is too cheesy and not clever enough to be IMO a true TCD winner. I also don't like that they change the coloring AND italicize half the headline. Just do one or the other! I also think the Newsday cover is flawed fwiw: I don't like it when the subhead continues a headline instead of illuminating it, but they made that problem for themselves by choosing a pun that boxed them in to having to do that. I didn't support either of these covers as they advanced through the ranks I don't think, and I'm gonna hold my nose and vote for one now. WHY DO YOU HATE DAVID WRIGHT, LUNCHY? It looks like upliftingism isn't dead after all. Me, I've been hating David Wright ever since 2012. It's not even Wright's fault. I've been taking it out on Wright that the Mets chose to re-sign him. Jeez, Sandy Alderson at the top of his game, getting top prospects Wheeler for Beltran and Syndergaard for a 39 year old knuckleballer, god only knows what kind of studs Sandy woulda hauled for the Mets if those idiot moron Wilpons didn't fucking meddle and let Sandy do what any sentient human being woulda done --trade David Wright. I get what you are saying. And I certainly can't fault anyone for thinking like this. Winning it all is, after all, the ultimate goal. But I credit Sandy for having his pulse on the sentiment of the fan base. And yes, sentiment counts for something. David Wright was a special case. Beltran was my favorite Met of that era, but no one garnered as much affection as Wright. He is a truly one of a kind. If you gave me a choice of trading away Wright in 2012 and having that mean we win the WS in 2015, or we keep Wright, he stays healthy and sets every Mets record, gets 3000 hits and makes the Hall of Fame, but we don't win any WS during that time, i would really be torn. Anderson's real blunder was failing to trade Reyes and then letting him walk for nothing. So stupid.

Right. Anyway, back to the original article. The author is stating that every team is flush with cash and not spending is an election, not something out of their hands. It would be interesting if true. Kind of like a watered down collusion. One wonders, if George Steinbrenner were alive, would he have a $400 million payroll?

A Boy Named Seo wrote: "The internet" said today that the Nats upped their initial offer. His cumulative fWAR value over the first 7 seasons of his career is $235.6M so far, an average of $33.6M of value per year. Would you multiply that number by 10 and offer him a 10-year/$336M contract? I think I would. This is his age 26 season, so you'd likely get 7 really good/great years from this dude. His 9.3 WAR MVP season alone was worth $74.7M. I would too. And then I'd sign Britton and another back end starter.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I'll say it: the Wright cover has a dumb headline. The pun is too cheesy and not clever enough to be IMO a true TCD winner. I also don't like that they change the coloring AND italicize half the headline. Just do one or the other! I agree with every word. But it also has a picture of David Wright waving goodbye to an adoring crowd. They could have written the headline in Turkish with a poo-colored crayon and I'd still vote for it.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: That DW cover is near perfect. Right? How does Wilmer even have any votes?

Yikes. All your typos are belong to us.

NY's population is 8.6 million people. Boston has a population of 685,000. NY outnumbers Boston by 8 million people. what is the "fan base" though? New York is split between 2 teams and has Philly fans to the south/southwest, Boston has all of New England? Not sure. But the first list suggests they capture a large audience beyond the city as they are #7 market in the US. But it's hard to imagine any surrounding area making up the difference in population. NYC has 8.6 million people. Let's be conservative and allocate 70% of that market to the MFY. That still leaves 2.58 million for the Mets. And that's not counting LI, NJ, upstate NY and parts of CT.

According to this list, Boston is the #7 TV market in the US. https://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-marketshttps://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-markets It is the 21st largest city by population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_populationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population I would imagine Boston benefits from the relatively dense population in its surrounding area. So 21st is probably misleading. But there is no logical reason why a team from Boston should be able to outspend any NY team. NY's population is 8.6 million people. Boston has a population of 685,000. NY outnumbers Boston by 8 million people.

Says David Roth at Deadspin. https://deadspin.com/your-favorite-baseball-team-can-afford-any-free-agent-i-1830890838https://deadspin.com/your-favorite-baseball-team-can-afford-any-free-agent-i-1830890838 You probably also know this: since Alex Rodriguez signed his then-record 10-year, $252 million contract with the Rangers back in 2001, Major League Baseball's revenues have more than doubled even when adjusted for inflation. Team payrolls, after a similar adjustment, have gone up by less than 40 percent; the richest contract in the game right now is the 14-year, $325 million deal Giancarlo Stanton signed in 2014. Basically, every team has the money to spend. But they have just as many excuses to just pocket it and not invest the revenue. I guess this goes a long way into figuring out how a relatively small city like Boston can lead the majors in payroll. While some teams that play in larger markets come in middle of the pack.

I remember that feeling all too well.

The Pest https://nypost.com/2019/01/03/new-york-daily-news-eliminates-sports-editor-position/covering its decimated rival's travails. I hate to say it but it looks like we might be seeing the last days of the Daily News. I don't think I will miss any of their writing, but their back covers are iconic. I would hate to lose them. Also would totally fuck up our yearly derby.

Edgy MD wrote: Apparently, I only get out to the theatre for first-run entertainment for kidz fare for grownups. "Black Panther Ant-Man and the Wasp Avengers: Infinity War Incredibles 2 Mission: Impossible – Fallout Me too. My list. No particular order. Black Panther Ant-Man and the Wasp Incredibles 2 Avengers: Infinity War Show Dogs (yes, Show Dogs, and you know, it's not quite as bad as you would think. But not by any means, good) Solo I am maybe the only Asian who hasn't watched Crazy Rich Asians, but I did get it for Christmas, so I should get my Asian card back soon.

Holy crap. Why didn't anyone warn me about this movie. Hey dad. Wanna watch this movie about a floating balloon house? Sure. Sounds silly and fun. [bawls]

Agreed. Roberts is older but has been very good. Phillies are going to be no easy out.

I don't know if I agree that Cespedes is shot. I think Minaya, like the rest of us, have no idea what he will be and when he will be back. It's nice to hear him say it though. That Brodie press conference from a few weeks ago was worrisome, when he started talking about adding Cespedes at the deadline. Once you start counting on that we're in really big trouble.

I went with Badness. I typically like positive covers as well, but I just don't like the look of the Wilmer cover. He looks strange. It doesn't capture the moment well. And in many ways, the Badness cover is more symbolic of the Mets' season.