Centerfield

There are so many "take a flyer on" guys out there if you had the roster space. Huston Street could be a great addition if he's back to being healthy. Might be a good idea to wrap up Trevor Rosenthal on a two year deal on the cheap. Both CarGo's might have something left. Colby Rasmus seems to have cured himself of the suckitude he caught in Houston. There's hidden gold on that list somewhere. The right set of eyes will find it. LWFS, I don't see the draw of Cashner, though admittedly I'm only looking at his stats. I think he was part of a game a few years ago where (I think Syndergaard?) where they set some record for tons of strikeouts but not surviving the 4th inning or something like that. He had a 1.32 WHIP, which is not only not that good, but was his best since 2014. I'd be interested to know what makes him attractive.

But that being said, none of the restaurants or neighborhoods in either direction have any Mets flavor at all. Having a strip of retail specifically geared toward Mets fans would be something.

Nymr83 wrote: LW, thats nice for people who are taking the train, but nobody who drove to the game wants to park the car, leave the stadium by train, go somewhere, and come back by train before the game. Nor do they want to fight the mobs to the train when the game ends to do it then. If its not walkable it might as well be in Manhattan for most people. That's the thing. You don't have to. Drive to Flushing and park there. The paid garages cost less than the parking at Citi and the muni lots are super cheap (just make sure it's a 24 hour lot in case the game lets out late). In the area you have the best Korean in all of NYC. Some great Chinese food as well. You hop on the Subway and you're one stop from Citi. No crowds since very few approach the game from Flushing. It's just as easy to leave. After the game, the hordes are heading to the express Manhattan bound side. You and four others will be looking for the Flushing bound train. You'll get a seat or ten if you want to stretch your legs. Leaving Flushing is a hundred times easier than trying to fight the Citifield traffic.

Zvon wrote: [fimg=500]https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/sdd.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1236&h=820&crop=1[/fimg] I'm a little concerned that now his stomach goes out and then in and then out & in again. There's a better pic of his better shape on fb, if I come across it again I'll share. Wow! He does look thinner!

He may be hated now, but I can’t find fault in anyone committing to a rebuild. Tearing it down and investing in player development is an actual plan. Where the credibility of an owner is tested is when the plan progresses, will they spend money and commit to win? Or will they be the Wilpons?

Frayed Knot wrote: Yeah, looking at the Duda's last three partial seasons shows a 714 OPS for his partial (172 PAs) 2016 campaign, and an almost-as-bad 729 during his 200 PA post-trade stint with the TBR, which tends to make the 879 (291 PA) he put up in the front half of his 2017 look like maybe it'll be the outlier going forward. And that's before we even get into the platoon splits. In any case, it's not like the just turned 32 y/o (last weekend) Duda is anymore a slam dunk to exceed an 800 OPS either. I think this is clearly a case of allowing AGon the opportunity to show he's got something left which, if so, gives Dom another half-season in AAA. And if Gonzo looks like he's ready for the glue factory then I like a Smith/Flores combo at 1B a lot better than Smith/Duda and at least as much as Flores/Duda Well that's one way to say it. Another way to say it would be that Lucas Duda has had an OPS of 800+ for three of his last four seasons, the one season being the injury plagued 2016. During those three seasons, he hit 30, 27 and 30 HR's. Career .796 OPS. I have absolutely no reservations taking a 32 year old on a 1 year deal. Put it this way. If the fate of the world relied upon the Mets winning it all in 2018, and the money was the same all around, no one would pick Gonzalez or Smith over Duda.

Obviously I'm motivated in part by sentiment on the Lucas Duda comment. It's tough to hear that he is in Port St. Lucie but can't play with the others. Just not right. But trying to look objectively. If Frazier had to take $17 million over 2, it's not hard to think Duda can be had for a 1 year deal for $5-7 million. The team should be able to absorb a number like that. Duda is a good bet to post an .800+ OPS. It's hard to imagine Gonzalez or Smith approaching that this year. As for blocking Smith, if Duda is producing, there's no harm there. If he's not, I don't think the Mets, or any club, would let a one year commitment, at that number, stand in the way if Smith is ready.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Jake Arrieta is only 31? Pretty young. I think the Civil War beard makes him look older.

I think an area of residential/retail would be terrific. They have water right there. I wish there was some way to turn that area into Baltimore.

I wish we could pretend like Adrian Gonzalez never happened and sign Lucas Duda to a one year deal.

And unlike Wally, when he connects he hits them to Wyoming. The power will emerge. Really like this guy.

Nymr83 wrote: Edgy is Nimmo's biggest fan. I’d like to challenge for that title. I’m on the Nimmo bandwagon too. I think he is already pretty good. I think he can be really good. The results are already there. I’m inexplicably optimistic about super jack Juan Lagares too.

Agitator? I'm not making fun of Chad's statement. I tend to agree that we can contend with a little bit of luck. Just commenting on the absurdity of the situation. Six years of rebuilding, 7 homegrown starting pitchers pan out, including two legitimate aces, a top notch home grown closer. Several homegrown offensive players, and we are left to hoping that with a little luck we can contend for the wild card. It's just shameful. Why would anyone choose to be a fan of this ridiculous club?

Mets fans, I ask you to be patient. I know the picture looks pretty bleak right now, and we're looking at nine miles of bad roads, but boy, wait 'til you see what we're working on. We've got some live young arms in the system. A few kids who can put it over the fence. And if it all breaks right, watch out. I know these next 5 or 6 years of rebuilding are going to be tough, but once it comes together, we fully expect to field a team that, with a little help from the baseball gods, can legitimately contend for the second wild card spot. -Fred Wilpon, 2009

smg58 wrote: Well yeah. Offense wasn't really our problem last year, and it won't be this year either. Defense was a problem, but I think that has been reasonably addressed. And that brings us back to pitching. I'm not sure I agree with that. It's true that our pitching was much worse than our offense (28th in ERA), but our offense was pretty bad too (19th in runs scored). Let's say Bruce makes up for Bruce, and Frazier makes up for Walker. Gonzalez/Smith will likely be a downgrade from the .879 OPS we got from Duda, and Rosario is a question mark. We get a bump from a hopefully healthy Cespedes and hopefully sustainable gains by d'arwecki. But there was a lot of room for improvement, and we haven't improved. Not yet.

In a recent interview, Sandy mentioned the draft pick compensation as a reason not to pursue Moustakas. If that applies to starting pitching, I'm not sure. But there is certainly reason to suspect that they would consider this a factor. Personally, I would think it's worthwhile. Second round picks are usually a crap shoot anyway, but who knows what they think. Also there's the international pool money. That's something.

Edgy MD wrote: Don't forget our washed-up masher (Gonzalez) and his apprentice masher (Smith). And again, this also kind of kicks aside (if not fully killing) any flirtation with trading good for bad to get Josh Harrison. Agreed. One of the best parts of this deal is that it means we won't give up too much in a trade for Harrison, or sign Eduardo Nunez.

Wow, that's incredible. How weird would it be to have two guys that have had TJ surgery, TOS surgery, and gotten victimized by Eric Hosmer.

Jake Arrieta is encumbered too. As well as Greg Holland. I don't think the Mets will feel that sacrificing that pick will be worth it. I'm guessing it's Vargas or no one. Alex Cobb is much better than I thought he was. I wonder why I've never heard of him.

I’m hearing both are tied to draft pick compensation. This probably kills any chances. So it’s likely Vargas if anyone. Darvish is free and clear for what it’s worth.

I think I'm going to need an explanation on this thumbs down thing. I'm clearly not getting a reference.

seawolf17 wrote: And I get that the years committed is a huge factor and it's not apples to apples. But if you're going to go for it, then fuck, bring in some star players and go for it. I see your point, but I think that's just the way this team operates, for better or worse. I don't think any of these deals -- Swarzak, Bruce, Frazier, Gonzalez, et al -- are "bad." They're good, solid moves that have some upside and little downside: Players Good + Team Good = Yay! Players Good + Team Bad = Tradeable! Players Bad + Team Good = Yay! Players Bad + Team Bad = Less tradeable, but no commitment and we can retool! Wade Davis at $17M is bananas for 58 innings, which is what he pitched last year. Agreed that none of these are bad. Like you said, all offer some upside, little downside. I just think to really be a great team, you have to take a chance on a guy who can give you a ton of upside. Even at risking a long term deal. The Nats really put themselves out there with long term deals to Scherzer and Strassburg, but man, they are fucking good because of it.

Hey, it looks like a lineup, man. [fimg=200]http://offload.uni.watch/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/13094922/Screen-shot-2015-07-15-at-3.12.33-PM.png[/fimg]Wong, 2bCarpenter, 1bOzuna, lfPham, cfFowler, rfDeJong, ssGyorko, 3bMolina, cC. Martinez, spNimmo, cfCabrera, 2bCéspedes, lfBruce, rfFrazier, 3bGonzalez, 1bd'Arnaud, cRosario, ssdeGrom, sp Four hitters in the Nationals lineup put but better numbers than everyone in our lineup. Including Cespedes. We needed to do more.

Spent the night trying to convince myself of this move, but the more I think about it, I'm not crazy about it. I mean, it's not a bad move. $8.5/per, 2 year commitment for Frazier is a great deal, and signing him certainly beats not doing anything, but more and more I just don't like the philosophy behind this roster construction. I mean, Todd Frazier is kinda like Jay Bruce. A good, but not great player. Makes some money but doesn't kill you. And despite landing both of them at reasonable deals, no one realistically believes we can compete with the Nationals. The Mets spent $6 million (net of the buyout) on Cabrera. $13 million on Bruce, $8.5 million on Frazier, $2.5 million on Reyes. That's $30 million. And there's some pretty good bang for your buck type deals in there. But another way to spend that money is $25 million on JD Martinez, then fill in the infield with Flores/Rivera/Cecchini/Phil Evans. Maybe call up Guillorme for IF Defense. Similarly, the Mets have Ramos making $10 million and Swarzak signed at $7 million. Is that necessarily better than Wade Davis at $17.5 million? And I get that the years committed is a huge factor and it's not apples to apples. But if you're going to go for it, then fuck, bring in some star players and go for it. The obvious answer here is increase payroll, and sign JD Martinez AND Todd Frazier. Sign Swarzak AND Wade Davis. But that's a story for another thread.

If I had to summarize the Mets off-season, I'd say they signed a middle reliever, a middling hitter, and a couple of middle-age guys.