Centerfield

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ricco is going to be the guest on Mets Hot Stove on Thursday. I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say. You've been plugging that show a lot lately. I wonder if you've been paid off. Are you here to talk about Qualcomm?

It really is amazing to see how quickly it all unraveled. It started with one game in Philadelphia where Duda and d'Arnaud got hurt. Then Flores, Cabrera, Syndegaard, Cespedes and Familia. Harvey was suspended. Lugo and Matz were still out. That is just a crazy slew of injuries.

This is encouraging:

Catwoman Strikes. Because hey, there's a model in her underwear! That's all I got.

Edgy MD wrote: Can we put aside negotiations with Cain, Hosmer, and Moustakas, and just try and get a 2015 Royals group rate? Wade Davis and Greg Holland too.

Can we get a rule clarification? If it comes out that any of the competing covers had inappropriate contact with underage girls, does that result in an automatic disqualification? Or does that mean that the cover becomes Senator?

Also, Carlos Santana. Looked at his numbers. Kinda looks like Duda with a little less power.

My goal is to make it out of April 2018 without being mathematically eliminated. Which I don't think happened in April 2017.

Ceetar wrote: I've said this before but I'm pretty sure you're deluding yourself if you think [random owner inserted] would suddenly just start pouring their own money into the Mets above and behind what the Mets themselves generate. Nothing like that needs to be done to get the Mets back to a top tier payroll. All you have to do is find owners that will not intentionally divert baseball revenue for their own purposes. It's undisputed that the Wilpons, to offset the losses from Madoff, took out loans that were hundreds of millions of dollars against SNY and the Mets. SNY and the Mets, have been saddled with those payments, while the principal went into the owners pockets. (Or more accurately, into the pockets of the owners' creditors.) Those loans (ranging from $450 to $700 million depending on reports) have saddled the Mets and SNY with incredible overhead. Overhead that has nothing to do with baseball. New owners wouldn't have to bankroll the Mets to get them competitive in payroll. All they would have to do, is not pilfer them for cash.

Forgive me. I read quickly and thought that you wrote the comment. dgw didn't say injuries would stop when the Wilpons were no longer owners. He said injury issues. And he was referring to the issues I raised in my post, which was the mishandling of the Beltran injury. There is a report out there that states that these issues, mishandling, miscommunication, etc., is directly linked to Jeff Wilpon. I maintain that it's not absurd to believe that report. Especially since it's in line with everything ever written about Jeff Wilpon. Sure, everyone grumbles about their boss. But there are few public figures that are as unequivocally despised as Jeff Wilpon. Every report is the same. I don't remember seeing a single article that says "All these reports are wrong, Jeff is actually a very good guy." In summary, I think Jeff probably meddles too much, is not a very good owner (but it's so hard to evaluate this stuff) and pays too much attention to expected public/media response. But I think these things are extremely minor and are no way hamstringing the Mets in any meaningful way. This is dead wrong. He is a terrible owner. He's so shitty at running his business that he can't fund a big market payroll despite playing in NY. Nothing is hamstringing the Mets more than the Wilpons. Not injuries, not poor scouting, not bad luck. All of these things hurt, but the Wilpons hamstring them the most.

Ceetar, I don't know that there is a conspiracy to paint the Wilpons in a bad light while protecting the Yankees. I guess I can't say for certain, but I see no motivation for anything like this. In fact, I feel like the NY press isn't critical enough of the Wilpons. But maybe that's just me. Look, at the end of the day, there is a report, citing multiple sources, saying that this thing is real. If you choose not to believe it, that's fine. But I don't see how you can say it's "absurd" if dgw chooses to give it weight. It's not like the report is based upon one anonymous source. And to be honest, this account is pretty much in line with everything that has ever been written about Jeff Wilpon. So I see why someone can find it credible. Do you have evidence to refute that? Do you have instances where Crasnick was found to be not credible? Unless you have something like this, I don't think you can say it's absurd that someone believes it.

If there's any truth to this article, it means the Mets injury issues go beyond just bad luck. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19404194/new-york-mets-injury-issues-go-far-disabled-list It's based upon anonymous sources, which of course, begs scrutiny, but the author cites multiple sources. The Yankees are subject to the same NY media. It's only the Mets that have this reputation. So who's in charge? Multiple sources said the lack of a single medical point person allows for greater involvement by COO Jeff Wilpon in areas where he's lacking in professional expertise. They describe Wilpon as a micromanager who creates an environment in which the Mets simply whipsaw from one crisis to the next and are too often governed by how their decisions will be publicly perceived. "Jeff gets in the middle of everything that's going on, and he ends up doing more damage,'' said a person who has been involved in the Mets' internal operation. "He meddles. I can't come up with a more appropriate term.'' While Alderson concedes the Mets have room for improvement, he disputes the notion that Altchek isn't at the ballpark enough, or Wilpon is too involved in the medical and strength and conditioning operation, or Barwis' training methods have been less than effective.

Heyman assesses the market for the top 80 free agents. He also includes the predictions of an "expert", who he says has been pretty accurate in the past. It doesn't mean a heck of a lot, but it does give you an idea of the rough market value. https://www.fanragsports.com/inside-baseball-how-much-will-the-top-80-free-agents-get/ A few notables: They agree with Frayed Knot's assessment of Lucas Duda: 52. Lucas Duda, 1B. This might be a nice time for a bounce-back year for Duda. The Mariners always have been fans, and they need a first baseman. Expert: $5M/1 year. Me: $12M/2 years. A few others: 4. Jake Arrieta, SP. He has pretty consistently come up big in big spots, and while he’s a little older than Darvish, a case could be made that he’s logged fewer innings (Darvish was an early pro in Japan) – though of course some of that is because he struggled as an Oriole, despite the obvious talent. While he has an unorthodox delivery, he’s never had Tommy John surgery, and generally has avoided arm trouble. It’s been an interesting career, with some low lows and some incredible highs. But a much better second half than first helps his case. Expert: $140M/5 years. Me: $125M/5 years. 25. Neil Walker, 2B. This fellow can hit, and there are teams that can use a second baseman, which puts him in a decent spot. He made the right call to take the qualifying offer last year, but he should be able to get a multi-year deal this time. Expert: $21M/2 years. Me: $22M/2 years. 29. Jason Vargas, SP. The peripherals aren’t beautiful, but he knows how to pitch – and win. That should count for something. Expert: $14M/2 years. Me: $24M/2 years. 31. Welington Castillo, C. He opted out of his $7 million salary because he figured he could do better. An offensive catcher is a nice thing to have. Expert: $22M/3 years. Me: $14M/2 years.

I don't even know where to start.

True. But it at least spurs conversation, and perhaps puts the spotlight on an area that has been underreported. I'd argue it has more journalistic value than "Here are ten guys in no way linked to the Mets other than this article that I just fabricated!"

Got hurt in 2009 and wanted to have surgery. The Mets recommended rehab instead. Beltran complied. The rehab not working, Beltran sought surgery again in January of 2010. The Mets were still not on board. Depending on what version you believe, Beltran basically told the Mets to go fuck themselves and got the work done. Got healthy, and went on to play 7 more years. He was a huge free agent signing. A superstar, in his prime, signed to a mega deal. Not only did he provide value, he netted us a top pitching prospect on his way out. An important history lesson for those who think that the Mets injury issues might suddenly disappear in 2018.

That's it. Largely forgotten. But Nori Aoki stumbling and sliding and taking the wrong route on a ball makes Sportscenter every time.

dgwphotography wrote: only 3 gold gloves. I think this is largely a result of his ability to make incredibly tough catches look easy. That Beltran has three and dickhead Edmonds has eight is all you need to know about Gold Gloves. In the 2013 ALCS Torii Hunter went over the wall but missed David Ortiz grand slam (this is the one with the celebrating cop). Even in failure, everyone marveled at the hustle of a Gold Glover like Torii Hunter. It was all over the news. A week later, in Game 1 of the World Series, in the same exact spot, Beltran went back, caught the ball in stride, and Ortiz was robbed of his Grand Slam, bounced off the wall, and then threw back in to hold the runner. http://twitpic.com/diie98 No one remembers this because he made it look too damn easy. He hurt his ribs on that play, but didn't write around in pain. He came in, tried to play through, but had to be taken out to get x-rays. They were negative, and like a boss, he was back in the lineup for game 2.

I guess that's what it is right? A story like this would take some real investigative journalism. They'd rather regurgitate the same "What the Mets need" type of story that they can churn out in 15 minutes. But I'm surprised there aren't any "Wilpon Sucks" stories. It would take ten minutes to write "Wilpon owes it to the fans to fund a big market payroll. Whether it's Madoff or something else, I don't really know and don't care to investigate, but I know he's not spending money!" That type of lazy column would get shared a bazilllion times.

So I'm a few days into this project. Emailing beat writers, reaching out on twitter. Most have been courteous enough to respond, but none have given any indication that they will go any further with the story. It's really pretty surprising to me that they don't think it's an issue. No one seems to refute the fact that the Wilpons were pummeled by Madoff, and the subsequent lawsuits. Everyone seems to also accept that in the wake of Madoff, the Wilpons took out huge loans against the Mets and SNY, and used the proceeds of those loans for their unrelated real estate interests. And now, SNY and the Mets are saddled with interest payments on those loans. This makes overhead for the Mets artificially high, and therefore, constricts payroll. There are a number of articles that reference the fans' frustration, and mention the constricted finances in passing, but no one seems inclined to take the Wilpons to task. People are generally aware that diverting baseball revenues for private means is what caused Selig to take over the Dodgers. All the while Selig was extending a secret loan to the Wilpons who had done the exact same thing. It seems like the Wilpons are, in a way, bulletproof. You would expect the "hard hitting NY media" to rake them over the coals. But since Sandy's comment in September, there has been not one article criticizing the Mets owners. A big contingent of fans are upset, but the media ignores it. Don't know what to make of it. I guess, like many here, people just don't care about payroll.

I'm a little surprised by the lack of interest in Arrieta as well. Same age as Darvish, and has been better up until 2017. Did he lose some of his stuff? From 2014 to 2016 he was really good.

So it's more like flying high in early April, shot down in mid-to-late April. Never even sniff May.

I don't really know him well. Is the difference between Kipnis and Neil Walker worth giving up talent for him? Looks like Walker is a tick better offensively, but also a year or two older.

So Dave Roberts tried this during the postseason, where there are more offdays, and managed to exhaust the best and deepest bullpen in baseball. This might have cost them the championship. We want to try this for 162 with a shitty bullpen?

Closed? This is bullshit. I walked all the way over here in 25 degree weather. Guess I’ll look for a Starbucks or something.