Centerfield

I did not realize until just now that Ingrid Bergman was translucent. That is terrific!

Those covers are amazing. That was one hell of a ride for 3 months.

I think the Mets beat the Tigers in '06. Such a crushing defeat that was. I really hate the Cardinals. 85 and 06 were so heartbreaking. I think they still miss the playoffs in '07. I thought that it was a flawed team, and Wagner still gets hurt anyway. Everything else plays out the same I would guess.

Sure, no one could have predicted how he blossomed, but that is the risk you take when you take a young, versatile player, who is under team control for several years, and cut him loose for absolutely no reason. I criticized it at the time, even before his breakout. Turner made $500k in 2013. How much could he possibly have made in 2014 that the Mets couldn't afford to keep him? Turner was a valuable player. He played 5 different positions in 2013, including 18 games at SS. He posted a .704 OPS. If he only held his performance for 2014, that would have placed him fifth on the team among regulars (minimum 150 PAs) in OPS. Only Travis, Murphy, Granderson and Duda were higher. While there, he showed glimmers of potential. He hit 30 doubles in one year. Plus, I felt like that team could have used more offense (even at the expense of defense) from SS. This is a team that gave AB's to Omar Quintanilla and Wilfredo Tovar. You're telling me you didn't have room on that roster for Justin Turner? It was a stupid move. If made for financial reasons, it was poundfoolish. If made because of some personal beef, then it was even dumber still. Sure, most of the time, cutting a bench player won't bite you in the ass. But if you make a stupid move enough times, you get Justin Turner.

Plus it pisses me off that Sandy let Turner walk for nothing. Such a stupid move.

Plus, you know what? Fuck the Cubs fans for what they did to that poor headphones guy.

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: Gwreck wrote: Centerfield wrote: You people are crazy. Of course you make the offer. Free draft pick. He's a middle infielder in the middle of his prime who hits 20+ HR's. He's getting a multi-year deal for big money. And if he accepts it? You just got a power-hitting 2nd baseman in his prime on a one year commitment. Win win. Exactly. This is exactly correct. I think a fair question is whether he'd accept it. Does he think he'd have a shot at a multi-year deal worth more with another team? Not sure what the market is like for second basemen this year. It's a fair question to ask. And the answer is there is virtually no chance he would accept it. Keep in mind, the timing of the QO makes it an idiotic decision if Walker decides to take it. Walker profiles much like Murphy did last off-season. And Murphy eventually got a 3 year, 37 million deal. With a much weaker free-agent class, and better defense in his pocket, Walker sets up well for this off-season. If Walker were to take the QO, he'd basically have to give up on any market for him before it ever has a chance to develop. Remember, it's not like he can take the QO and put it into his back pocket. He has to make his call within 7 days. Only a great fool would give up on a multi-year deal before it ever has a chance to develop. Neil Walker is not a great fool. So he can clearly not choose the wine in front of him.

No. They should not.

I just love that as soon as any team takes a 3-0 lead, in any sport, someone has to mention the 2004 Yankees. I mean, it's like one of my favorite things in life.

That right price might just be taking on the remainder of his salary, which is significant. $17 million a year for 2017 and 2018, plus a vesting option at $15 million for 2019. Going into his age 33 year. Has largely been considered an adequate defender throughout his career. Career .799 OPS, and has averaged .742 over his last three seasons, in MFYIII. I don't know him well enough to know how many of those 20 HR's would be F9's in CitiField. I don't know. Doesn't seem like a Sandy type of move. Aging catcher, signed long-term, coming from a little league park. I think I'd rather keep Travis than take the risk.

So I just learned that there are things called "drones" outside of the military.

Sorry, I misread your intent. I don't think the Mets, or anyone else, should count on anything from David Wright going forward.

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: Silly question: We just have to make the offer to get the draft pick, right? If we offer, he can reject and become a free agent? If we don't offer, he'll become a free agent with no compensation headed our way? So, the question is whether he'd accept the qualifying offer should we extend it? If the worst-case scenario is that he accepts and we have a 20+ homer second baseman who plays decent D is is still around 30 years old for a salary that is rather high, but not ridiculous (only in the comparative world of baseball salaries), I don't mind that. Yes, yes, yes and agreed.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm saying it right now: Cecchini + Flores + Reyes + Rivera > Walker 2017 That may well happen. I suspect Walker will regress a bit in 2017. Also, if the Mets have Kelly Johnson to balance out from the left side, then the chances are even better. But if you are planning for next season, you can't count on that happening. It's reasonable for the Mets to expect less production from 2B if Walker leaves, and if that happens, it would be prudent for them to make improvements elsewhere. I just hope when we start spring training, we have legitimate reasons to be optimistic, and that the plan to improve on 87 wins isn't just "be healthier".

d'Kong76 wrote: You sound like one of those 'mando freaks! No way man, that dude was a choker!

Come on guys. The myth of Famila struggling in the post-season is just that, a myth. His stats from last year: NLDS: 4 Games. 5.1 IP. 0 ER NLCS: 4 Games. 4.1 IP. 0 ER WS: 4 Games. 5.0 EP. 1 ER His post-season ERA: 0.61 I take that any day. This is not even a discussion if Murphy catches the ball, or Duda makes a good throw. And yes, that HR against San Francisco sucked, but even with that his post-season ERA is 2.36. Blame is always disproportionately put on the closer.

Yeah, Walker performed about 50 points higher than his career OPS, almost all of that coming from his increased production from the right side. Can he replicate that? No clue, but I would be skeptical. And even in this, a strong year for him, he was almost Dudian in his streakiness. But his HR production has been 16, 23, 16, and 23 in his last four seasons (is he due for another 16?), so that's something. That being said, he was, unquestionably, one of the top hitters on this team. 2nd in OPS, 3rd in OWAR, even though he missed the last 6 weeks of the season. If you lose him, you will have to make up that lost production somewhere else (I don't believe TJ Rivera will sustain a .333 average, and talk about a guy who never walks!). If we retain Cespedes, I'd be fine with going cheap at 2B and try to use those resources to upgrade other areas. But if Cespedes walks, and Walker walks, and Cabrera regresses back toward career norms, you are looking at a 26th ranked offense that just lost their top three guys. And I do agree that losses of key players can be balanced out by incremental increases in other positions, but if you lose Ces and Walker, you are running out of positions to upgrade, just to break even.

The decision on Walker really should have nothing to do with Wright. Other than the fact that both injuries relate to the back, the two injuries could not be more different. One is a relatively common and quick procedure with a high chance of recovery, while the other is a degenerative career-ending condition. Neil Walker was the Mets' second best hitter this year. If you take his bat out of an already anemic offense, we are looking at some heavy listing for the rest of the off-season.

This was the first game I've watched since the Mets season ended. Just keep thinking to myself "We would have beat both these fucking teams." Nice to hear Ron though.

And by the way, if you buy the Mets philosophy, that they are not against spending money, but against long-term commitments, there is no way you don't make the QO. Not saying I necessarily buy this, but just something to keep in mind.

You people are crazy. Of course you make the offer. Free draft pick. He's a middle infielder in the middle of his prime who hits 20+ HR's. He's getting a multi-year deal for big money. And if he accepts it? You just got a power-hitting 2nd baseman in his prime on a one year commitment. Win win.

Shortstop is probably the position with the least amount of uncertainty going into next season. Barring some disaster, we are looking at Asdrubal Cabrera. Jose Reyes can slide over as the backup when Cabrera needs a blow, and Wilmer Flores is your emergency guy. Gavin Cecchini looks like he is close to ready and may have a little hitting in him, and Amed Rosario is probably a year away. The Mets look like they could be talented and deep at this position. So what should we expect from Cabrera? He mashed his way to an .810 OPS. He did so with an OPS of .746 for his first half, which is right around his career average (.748) but then went balls out in the second half (.911 OPS). He was particularly hot in August (1.221 OPS) and September (.973). Logic would suggest he is due for a correction year. But can he sustain this into next year? If you asked me a year ago, I would have said no. I would have said that he had, say it with me, "the best six weeks of his career". But now, since we've seen how Cespedes and Murphy, and to a lesser extent, Kelly Johnson have done, part of me wonders (and hopes) if he can keep it up in 2017. So what is it? Like Murphy, has Cabrera benefited from instruction from Kevin Long? Is there a tangible adjustment, difference that has led to this success? In this article in the Times, the answer appears to be no. “On good pitches — I don’t care what pitch it is — he’s not missing,” the hitting coach Kevin Long said. “He’s squaring it up, and it’s got extra carry to it.” Long said Cabrera’s improved plate discipline had been the biggest key to his solid numbers this year. He said that perhaps the knee injury had indirectly forced Cabrera not to swing too hard. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/sports/baseball/asdrubal-cabrera-new-york-mets.html?_r=0 Doesn't sound very convincing to me. Seems like Kevin Long is saying that Cabrera has found a way to hit pitches, instead of missing them, and has been hitting them harder. I dunno. Kinda sounds like a hot streak. Maybe if he regresses next year, someone can go out and twist his knee.

seawolf17 wrote: WIN IT FOR ANYBODY LIKE MAYBE ANYBODY ON THIS BOARD JUST PICK ONE OF US AND THEN WIN IT This made me laugh out loud. Other Via riders immediately started texting about the weird guy in their shared cab.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I can't help but think this is some pretty good maneuvering by Terry Collins. In fact, it might be the smartest move he's made this year. He's heading into the last year of his contract. Despite the strong finish, and the WC berth, he knows that his job is probably safe, but that he's on thin ice. He knows he's definitely not getting an extension this winter. Since he's going into his last year, we are going to see story lines about "lame duck manager". There may even be some in the press who call on the Mets to offer an extension. It's a possible distraction. Would that be enough for the Mets to cut ties with Collins and move on now? Probably not. But it's a possible issue. So Collins goes on the initiative and says he "might" retire at the end of the season. Now all of those stories are deflated a bit. Why extend Collins? He might retire anyway. And lame duck manager? You can't be a lame duck if you are planning to leave on your own terms. It also puts the Mets in a tough situation. Are they going to fire a guy who is one year away from retirement? And that becomes even tougher once the season starts. "Asshole Mets Fire Collins Three Months Away From Retirement". Even if he manages with his head up his ass in 2017, I think he's just put pressure on the Mets to think "Well, let's just stick it out. It's his last season anyway." Just my two cents.

I think Lucroy has an option that will be picked up.