Centerfield

Well fuck. Hope the victim is ok physically and mentally. I'll hold judgment until details emerge, but you know, sounds like he's being a dickhead. It's the Jose Reyes thing all over again. You really don't know these guys that we think we know.

Watching the WS, it's so apparent how lacking Travis is defensively. These guys are so quick they look like cats back there. Even Ross at age 36.

Do you see the size of his head? This guy is clearly on the juice. Hothead, anger issues. Can't be more obvious.

Edgy MD wrote: Amazingly, I failed to list Reyes as part of the picture at any position. Depth! You keep using that word...

In the spirit of the rules of the thread: 1. Shortstop. The one position where we know our incumbent will be back. Cabrera had a nice year for us, but is older, hurt, and likely due for a regression to career norms. But still, there is the hope that he can sustain his second half production, and most likely, he will give us enough offense for the position. I also like our backups (Reyes, Cecchini, Reynolds) and there is a chance that Rosario might be ready in the second half. I wouldn't count on SS to be a big run producer like it was last year, and I'm not exactly confident, but I'm optimistic. 2. First Base. The question here isn't whether Duda's back (he will be). The question is Duda's back. Two years in a row he's had back issues. And most troubling is that we don't know what caused it, and nothing has been done to alleviate it. Unlike Walker who had corrective surgery, we are just left hoping that Duda's troubles won't recur. It also scares me that David Wright's back troubles started this same exact way. But if he's healthy, he's a proven run-producer, as streaky as he may be. Not confident here, but hopeful? Would love to see a Steve Pearce-type of right handed guy that can spell him against lefties. 3. Left Field. Between the possibility of Cespedes returning and Conforto bouncing back, I am holding out hope that we can get a run producer here. I am optimistic Conforto will eventually produce. 4. Second Base. Like left field, I am ranking this a bit higher because we might bring back Walker, but also because here we have a few guys that might be ok. Rivera, Flores, Cecchini, maybe we bring back Kelly Johnson in some sort of platoon. We have more options here than LF, but the upside is much smaller. 5. Right Field. I wonder if we go to spring training with both Granderson and Bruce. Both can mash still, but both are flawed players, better suited to hit lower in the lineup. 6. Catcher. I don't see Sandy significantly improving at catcher given the options available. Maybe he will, but as of now it would be a complete shock to me. If Travis can get his head straight, maybe he can go back to being the hitter we saw before. But I'm pretty pessimistic here. 7. Centerfield. Dexter Fowler would be a nice addition, especially since I have concerns about Reyes being able to lead off for an entire season (and there is no one else on the team suited to do so). I feel like this is a "Sandy-type" of target. But it's important to remember he's coming off of a big year too. 2015 Fowler is not nearly as good a fit as 2016 Fowler. And let's face it, we probably don't get him. Which leaves us Juan Lagares, who basically sucks. 8. Third Base. We're basically fucked at third base. I have no faith that David has anything left, though I hope against hope that he does. Reyes and Flores or maybe Kelly Johnson are his most likely subs, and it's not likely that any of them can give us enough production for a corner infielder. 23 third basemen qualified last year. The median was Anthony Rendon (.797 OPS, 20 HR's, 85 RBI). We are not getting that. Until Wright comes off the books or retires, I don't see the Mets upgrading here. We are just going to have to carry this position for the time being.

Holly crap. This post just made me realize I'm not confident at any position.

Of course, we are talking about Cuban revolutionary Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a Cuban landowner and lawyer in the late 19th century. In 1868 Cespedes issued the Grito de Yara (the Cry of Yara) which declared Cuba's independence from Spain, establishment of a republic and sought to abolish slavery on the island. It is responsible for starting the Ten Years' War. After some initial success, the rebels were eventually defeated, with Cespedes himself being ousted from power and hunted down and killed by Spanish forces. So he wasn't that great at revolutions, but you have to say, his heart was in the right place. #DPMJFL

That's actually pretty cool. And I'm glad Joe Buck is cool about it. Some assholes would find it as a slight. (Al Trautwig) I guess it doesn't surprise me at all that Scully would decline. It is exactly what you would expect of him, and part of the reason we love him. But for what it's worth, I would not want Vin to join anyone in the booth. I'd want the broadcast handed over to him to fly solo. Or we could pair him with Joe Garagiola again. And sure, Joe passed away earlier this year, but I think it would not have a significant effect on the broadcast.

TransMonk wrote: I've watched about 15 total minutes of this series. I honestly cannot take Joe Buck anymore...he gets worse every year. I will find a pirated international feed when the Mets make it back to the WS. Smoltz is fine, but it is all consumed by how horrible Buck is. Would anyone have objected to giving Vin one more World Series? I mean, it's no brainers like this that make me question society. I have this vision of me and my grandson in 2056. "Wait, so Grandpa, in 2016 you guys had Vin Scully alive and well, and you gave the World Series to Joe Buck?"

I think John Smoltz is pretty smart. Much smarter than Cal anyway.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Sad but not entirely unexpected given the circumstances of his death. Yup. It's actually like the least surprising thing in the world. Not sure if the journalists who are reacting to this are feigning shock in an attempt to write an interesting column or are the most naive person in the world. Actually, take that back. I think I know what the answer is. Now will come the disputes over who was driving the boat, and whether there is a basis to sue Fernandez.

I know what you mean. I had a friend who just smoked a little Reed in college, maybe a few Stokes when he went out. In his twenties he started mixing Rice with Velandia, and next thing you know, he's completely strung out on Matsuzaka. Such a sad story.

Frayed Knot wrote: Wells Fargo Bank buts time to say that they're going to give back all the money they recently stole from their customers. That's really nice of them, don't you think? It actually is. Have you met other banks?

I'm not sure this is the right place for this thought, but I'm thinking Seth Lugo might end up being a pretty terrific reliever. Gsellman, I feel, would have a tougher time making a transition to the pen. Dunno. Maybe I'm too high on Lugo right now.

I know this is not anywhere near fair to Amed Rosario, but I watch Lindor and I can't help but think that this might be Rosario one day. If Dom Smith really is a 3 hole hitter, and Conforto can find himself, then you know....

Don't get me wrong, I think that the 3 year opt out deal was better for the Mets. Especially given his six week performance over career norms. I'm just saying that there are downsides to that type of deal. And we are seeing the downside now. Basically, there is no such thing as a safe deal. I think it would be nice to get him on the same type of structure this year. But there are a number of factors working against him: 1. Much weaker free agent class. 2. Now instead of half a season of MVP type numbers, he has a season and a half 3. I bet a part of him feels like he's "earned" a commitment from the Mets. If the Mets don't offer it, I can see him taking it as a slight and leaving. And most importantly, although I think more teams will try the short-term/opt-out style deal, it only takes one team to offer five years or more. And if they do, that team wins. The Mets are in a position where: 1. The top free agent seems to want to play here. So just a competitive offer probably gets it done. 2. They desperately need the production of that top free agent. In fact, they need more than him, but they absolutely can't afford to take a step back. 3. The other free agents are much worse choices.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I can't think of any scenario where I'd be rooting for the Mets to lose the sixth game of the World Series. Unless I have a close family member playing for the other team, no chance in the world. And if it's my brother, I'd be asking him to tank it.

Wait, so the Mets blog says there is talk in Tampa of the trade. And the Tampa blog says there are rumors in New York. Thereby, in essence, making both blog writers correct. Funny world we live in. My restriction to actual news sites was with the idea that there is some editorial control on these sites. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, it was just meant to be for fun.

Edgy MD wrote: A deal like that would be pretty beneficial for the Mets. I think he's looking for a higher salary rate and/or more guaranteed years. And if the Mets hope to get him to agree to that package, it'd likely be another waiting game before he does. The irony here is that it's likely that a five year deal last season would have locked in Cespedes last winter. But such a deal was looked upon as "risky". The deal that ensued, the three year, high annual salary deal, with the opt-out, was regarded as much safer. Now a year later, I think many of us would prefer we had given him a five year deal, and that we have just four years left, rather than looking at having to extend him now for 5 or more years. Just goes to show you that being risk averse can be risky.

And I think a deal like that to Cespedes would be less risky than the other options I see thus far. Namely: 1. Another slugging FA (Encarnacion/Bautista etc). They are older, and not as good all around, and we don't know how they'd perform here. Riskier than Ces. 2. Trade. I have no idea who might be available. But they would cost talent. And anyone nearly as good as Ces will cost some combination of Lugo/Gsellman/Rosario/DomSmith. We've already lost Michael Fullmer. It would be a shame to give up more. 3. Don't replace him with a star and make several smaller upgrades instead. To me, this is the riskiest of all. Well, at least if the objective is to win anyway. Cespedes was our only top 40 guy in OPS. Teams without such a guy basically don't make the playoffs. I know that a 35 year old, complacent Cespedes sounds scary, but to me, thinking of this lineup without him is much scarier.

Edgy MD wrote: I didn't spot Nido and Becerra. Yeah, they're likely getting 40'd. Strange year for Wuilmer, though. He spent half of it hurt, and the other half, all his homers turned to doubles. His contact skills were there, though. He might get dangled. He's the one legitimate power threat in the organization. Gotta protect him.

Frayed Knot wrote: Amazing how many two-out baserunners the Cleveland pitchers have given up tonight. Every time it seems like they're going to have a quick 'n easy inning they start giving up walks and hits after starting 2-outs and bases-empty. And after watching the Mets all season, it's that much more stark. Two-out RBI's happened about once every two weeks for us.

Agreed. And any other player that they can sign would be older and more flawed. Adam Rubin speculates that Cespedes is looking for a 5 year deal. Such a deal would only take him to age 35. If a 5 year deal would get it done I'd offer it to him now. And to be honest, the Mets needed another right-handed threat even with Cespedes. If he leaves, they'll need two. Good luck with that Mets.

Let's play a game this off-season. I think it would be fun to create a running log of dumb proposals made involving the Mets. It can be a trade, a free-agent move, a non-tender, whatever. The only criteria is that it has to be from an actual news site (the guy in the elevator and WFAN callers don't count. Let's leave private blogs out too), though it need not be actual news. If we get ambitious maybe we can vote for the dumbest one at the end of the season. More likely, we'll just mock them as they come along. I'll submit the first entry by way of foxsports.com http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/tampa-bay-rays-rumors-mets-yankees-onto-smyly-102416?cmpid=feed:-sports-CQ-RSS-Feed The deal that makes a bit of sense is a trade with the Mets, as the Rays would acquire catcher Travis d’Arnaud and outfielder Michael Conforto for Drew Smyly. Sure. If by a "bit of sense" you mean "none whatsoever". Like the Tampa Bay Rays, the Mets are looking to upgrade at the catcher position and though d’Arnaud has struggled, a change of scenery could just be what he needs. Financially, he fits in with the Rays.....Making the deal valuable would be the addition of Michael Conforto who is not arbitration eligible until 2019 and reaches free agency in 2022. Conforto is a solid defensive left fielder, with a very good arm, has excellent power and will be 24-years-old in April....You cannot ignore the financial aspect to the trade as the Rays relieve themselves of approximately $6.9 million… The Mets give up their starting catcher, their best hitting prospect, and take on cash for Drew Smyly. Because the one thing the Mets really need are starting pitchers. Particularly expensive starting pitchers. Expensive starting pitchers that were 7-12 with a 4.88 ERA, and a WAR of 0.0. I challenge you to find me a dumber proposal.

Frayed Knot wrote: Bauer be brave, we have you scheduled to pitch tonight’s game We’ve got a game to play so we don’t understand why the blood is running down the length of your hand and you’re hiding it as best as you can Now the bullpen has to go the full nine and when we ask you how it happened you look right into the camera and then you say I’m fixing my drone now and suddenly the propeller is spinning ‘round and ‘round I’m cut by my drone now and the bleeding of my hand is all over the mound Love it! I'm fixing my drone now! Ha! That's right up there with Dock Ellis is High on the Diamond