Centerfield

TransMonk wrote: Let's Go (Debra) Mess(ing) Got it. That makes sense.

Who is that?

Frayed Knot wrote: Joey Gallo now 31 HRs and 20 singles on the season. That's crazy!! Do you suppose he's going to celebrate his HR tonight at Umberto's? That's funny. Was at the game last night, and the guy behind me says "Joey Gallo? I'm not Joey Gallo! I'm Joey CALLO, with a C! Joey Gallo's dead!"

What's disheartening is that the Nats aren't going to lose anyone critical to their success. In fact, though Werth has put up good numbers, it's more important to Washington to clear his salary. It sucks. These guys are going to be good for a while.

The Mets have over $50 million coming off the books, and that's not counting possibly declining the option on Cabrera. Plenty of money to bring in at least one impact player, be it starter or position player, AND supplement the back end of the bullpen.

So more of the story comes out. Turns out a Dragons pitcher hit a Loons batter who had homered 3 times the day before. Doesn't make it right of course. Stupid.

A few superstars, then the list tails off: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/08/2017-18-mlb-free-agent-power-rankings-5.html It will be interesting to see how aggressive the Mets are. I doubt they would be in on the high-end market, so no Yu or Martinez. Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas could fill needs, but I wonder if they are in decline. Plus Moustakas doesn't get on base. Wade Davis and Greg Holland available for the back end of the bullpen. It's like the 2015 KC Royals are having a clearance sale.

I wonder if he's healthy. If he's healthy, then he kinda sucks. Big disappointment.

Every day he is not called up is a day wasted. Come on you dumb Mets.

Rockin' Doc wrote: The pitcher for Great Lakes (Ryan Moseley) showed himself to be both gutless and classless. I can't believe he wasn't ejected after throwing way inside on the third pitch. Yup. Complete asshole.

Terrific list. And I don't have the words to describe how cool of a thing this is to do with your son. I'm motivated to go through that list and fill in the gaps myself. Also feel like I should go back and re-watch some of them. I remember having watched Double Indemnity and Vertigo but remember almost nothing about the films. Has he seen Gone With the Wind? Or was it one of those you thought he didn't like? It may be a bit played out but is a must for anyone interested in classic cinema.

As is often the case, one D is larger than the other d.

Frayed Knot wrote: Which means if Terry IS back next year ... He will exceed Davey in overall wins and tie him in World Championships.

Or maybe you let Bruce go and sign JD Martinez. Hits for power, walks, plays RF, bats RH. Traded mid-season so no QO. Mets have money to spend.

Vic Sage wrote: l could live with a platoon/rotation of Cabrera, Flores, Reyes and Rivera at 2b/3b next year. They're all useful players with specific strengths and, with Rosario at ss and Smith at 1b, could be a solid IF. And ditto for Cespedes, Conforto and Bruce in the OF (backed up by Lagares and Nimmo), but we definitely need an upgrade at catcher. RRivera is an adequate backup, but this should be it for d'Arnaud. He has move lives than a cat, but how many chances does he get before we move on? Puts a lot of pressure on the OF to carry the offense. Rosario and Smith have promise, but will need time to develop, if they reach that level at all. Cabrera, Flores, Reyes and Rivera are nice role players, but none are a threat at the plate. Same with any catcher we get. That's 6 spots (including pitcher) where no one scares you. If you give up power at 1B, a traditionally power-hitting position, then you have to get some from 3B. Slugging 2B and catchers are hard to find. So basically, Wright has to retire.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think the idea is that Lucroy would hold down the fort until Nido is ready. And Nido has a .663 OPS in Binghampton. His career high in HR's is 7. More sucko!

Out of catchers with 200 PA this year, Travis ranks 19th out of 30 in OPS. Couple that with bad defense and his tendency to get hurt, and yeah, I think we have to look to upgrade. http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/position/c/sort/OPS/minpa/200 The problem is, what else is out there? Lucroy has been worse. Matt Wieters is another one. They are 28 and 29th. Sucko.

I think what all of us are basically saying in different ways, is that he looks a little uncoordinated. Which isn't necessarily terrible. Not everyone can be Carlos Beltran pretty. I always thought Reyes did everything a little awkwardly and he won himself a batting title. When I heard about the Gold Glove potential, I had my hopes up that he would look the part. I remember the first time I saw Rey Ordonez I knew he was something special in the field. Rosario doesn't have that. Not as smooth as I would like, not cat-quick like some of the elite fielders. We'll see about his range and consistency. Arm seems very strong. At the plate, he is very loose. Edgy said it perfectly, like his limbs are too long for him to control just yet. Of course, this could lead to tremendous power later on as he fills out, but as of now, he swings and misses a lot, and chases some bad ones. When I saw Conforto two years ago, he just looked like a hitter. Not sure yet on Rosario. I hate to say it but he kinda seems like a right handed Fartinez. It's very early. We'll have to see. If it's any comfort, I'm terrible at judging these things. I saw Victor Diaz and said this guy can definitely hit.

Is numbness contagious? He must have sat between Familia and Harvey.

I read the McKenna piece. Never knew about it before that article. What an amazing story.

He looks a little loose, at the plate and in the field. Not sure how else to describe it.

meh, he's one of the best hitters on the team and Smith is a prospect. He could still flame out for all we know. You could push for the DH for the other 150 games, juggle the position, play Duda in RF sometimes since the Mets don't seem to care about defense anyway. I mean, just handing the job to a prospect with less than two months of major league experience shouldn't ever be a given. Duda has a .911 OPS. Smith is cheap, and young, and will play better defense, but .900 OPS guys don't just fall out of a tree. So what's the point here, that we should keep Duda for QO money (probably north of $18 mil) or resign him to a multi-year deal at market prices AND try to work Smith in at the same time even though they both swing lefty and are limited to the same position on the field? That's nuts folks. Duda will be 32 next season and has a career 800 OPS. And even if you want to look at only 2016-17 and claim that 900 is now his new normal, while also ignoring that those years totaled less than a full season's worth of ABs (barely over 400) due to injuries, AND that you expect him to keep duplicating that as he turns 32, 33, 34 - it means you're content to see the 22 y/o Smith sit around for the occasional PH appearance and/or wait in Vegas for another injury. If you're that intent on keeping Duda then you need to deal Smith off in some sort of 'challenge trade' for a prospect at a different position; this has to be an either/or proposition. And as long as you keep in mind that a 1B prospect will probably get you a lesser prospect at any other position, you're free to submit your WATPs for Smith anytime. Will Smith ultimately be the better player? I have no idea but we're going to need to find out at some point and if that time is not when the existing guy's contract is up and the replacement is hitting .340 in AAA I'm not sure there ever will be a time. Ultimately I'm going to bet on the guy who's going to be 22-27 in the next five years over the one going to be 32-37, but that's just me. My quote above was more or less in response to this: As much as we may have liked Lucas he had to go and it makes zero sense to bring him back. I don't think it makes zero sense. And I know you didn't mean it literally, but I don't think the answer is as clear cut you suggest. In the end, all things considered, I think you have to try out Dominic Smith, but this is the riskier move for a team trying to win it all next year. Smith looks like a great fielder, a good hitter and is cheap, allowing us to use money elsewhere, but he will most likely be an offensive downgrade from Duda for 2018. And Duda has a few years left of his prime, so maybe for the next 2-3 years as well. Gun to my head, I think you make this move. Smith is "ready", as far as we can tell, and a high-average, contact hitting doubles machine that sprays the ball might be exactly what this team needs. But if they re-signed Duda, and traded Smith for a 2B/CF version of Smith, or used him as part of a package to get that, then I could see the value in that as well. I don't know. Maybe I'm just attached to the guy. Or I'm afraid of getting burnt. I just have this sinking feeling he's going to hit 75 HR's next year for someone else. Letting Murphy walk and replacing him with Neil Walker made a lot of sense at the time too.

I think "meh" is your favorite word.

Ceetar wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: smg58 wrote: In Duda's case, you would have to have been willing to try out Dominic Smith at third in order to go that route. Not an option since Smith throws lefty. As much as we may have liked Lucas he had to go and it makes zero sense to bring him back. meh, he's one of the best hitters on the team and Smith is a prospect. He could still flame out for all we know. You could push for the DH for the other 150 games, juggle the position, play Duda in RF sometimes since the Mets don't seem to care about defense anyway. I mean, just handing the job to a prospect with less than two months of major league experience shouldn't ever be a given. Duda has a .911 OPS. Smith is cheap, and young, and will play better defense, but .900 OPS guys don't just fall out of a tree.

*Rosario and Smith. Obviously. *The return of Noah, Harvey and Familia. They are obviously a big part of 2018, so for us, our winter is a lot better if they all come back and demonstrate that they are healthy and strong. Obviously Harvey is the biggest wild card here. How much of his struggles were a result of his atrophied shoulder? This will be big to watch in over these last two months. Familia too. Never know how one will respond to this type of surgery, and he hasn't been sharp for some time before then. At the risk of jinxing things, I am most confident that Noah will come back to form. *Gsellman: Maybe he can be a strong 7th inning guy. I wasn't high on him last year, and I think this year he was exposed for what he is. Throws hard, has a good sinker. Maybe he can be an unflappable middle innings guy. *Lagares: About to enter his expensive years. Let's run him out there every day and see what he's got. *Conforto: Important that he finish strong. Establish himself as a star. Hits lefties. *TJ Rivera: Healthy? Can he handle 3B every day? *Beat Washington. Get healthy, smack the Nationals around to close the season. Send a message we will be back next year. *Subway Series. Would be nice to win the damn thing. Be the trigger for the MFY's downward spiral. *Zach Wheeler Changeup. There were some rumblings he was working on one. Great time to try it out if you got it Zach. You need another pitch.