Centerfield

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Nope, sorry. This is where the rubber hits the road, and difficult decisions must be made. Ok fine. Did you really have to throw out my lunch too? Jerk.

Can we increase this to 4 votes? I'd love to get one cover for each of these four days.

I could stare at these covers all day. They are all beautiful. I vote for all of them. I can't even pick 3 that I want to exclude.

Impossible to just pick 3 from this list. What an amazing 4 days that was.

I have to say, second base is a real conundrum. The knee-jerk reaction is to go get Ben Zobrist. Best hitter and fielder available for the position. But he's 35 and looking for a four year deal. Does 4 years, 15 million per make sense? Probably not. His OPS was at .809 last year, so realistically with age we're going to see that drop into the high .700's. And if you're in the high .700's, that's where Daniel Murphy lives. And Murph is much younger. So Daniel Murphy for 3 years, $12 million per makes a lot more sense. But if Murph signs elsewhere, you get a draft pick. And sometimes draft picks turn into Michael Conforto. (others turn into Lastings Milledge, but the potential is there) And re-signing Murph blocks Dilson Herrera. Herrera is completely unproven, but I think there's a good chance that he can give you low .700's and better defense. And who knows, he might turn out to be better than Murph or Zobrist. He costs nothing. Is Herrera (+draft pick) the best option? This frees up money for an outfielder or bullpen help. I don't know. I'm glad Sandy is smart.

Back to Martin: Looking for a local connection, the Yankees reached out to Martin, and the author responded within two hours. "I was shocked," Holley said. "I Googled some email addresses for him and found three. I sent an email and he responded two hours later. He said something along the lines of, basically, 'It sounds fun, but I'm a Mets fan, I wouldn't want to wear any Yankees stuff.'" http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150615&content_id=130813914&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb

I don't know. I'm not crazy about this idea. First off, if we got Todd Frazier, couldn't he just play first base? Or OF? I thought one of the draws to Frazier was that he was versatile. If you're going Wheeler for Frazier, and then putting him in a corner OF, while platooning Granderson and Lagares, I think that's worth considering, but even then I'm not sure. Secondly, I don't think this makes a lot of sense if you trade Duda. First off, Duda's a better hitter. Not by much, but Duda has had a higher OPS each of the last three seasons. And Lucas is pretty good with the glove at 1B too. And this is before you take into account the ballpark. If Lucas Duda played in Cincinnati, I believe he would have an OPS in the mid 900's. He would hit 85 HR's in that ballpark. The biggest problem with Duda is that he gets insanely hot for a while, but then does dick for the next 3 weeks. Maybe Frazier is more consistent than Lucas? But his second half numbers look pretty crappy in 2015. I guess the key to all this would be what you could get for Duda in return. Maybe get a slugging outfielder? But if that's the case, I'd just be looking to trade Wheeler for an outfielder and leave the big Dude (and Wright) alone.

Fullmer sounds pretty good. That was not fun at all.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The final boss? Sounds like the team is going Chapter 11. Then he's perfect! (ba-dum CHING!)

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Lefty Specialist wrote: Isn't it amazing to look at these with the benefit of hindsight? Wilmer crying and the fiasco of the Gomez non-deal and an epic collapse in the rain, it looked like we'd bought tickets on the Hindenburg. But then........ I think this is a fun way to recap the season, with these pages serving as quick snapshots. I don't yet know if I'll do this again in 2016, but I think it's working well this year because 2015 had a particularly dramatic arc. Yes, but somehow you had the foresight to do this before the season. That's the great part. For me, this idea would have occurred to me around mid-August, and it would have been just another "You know what would have been great? If we had...." ideas.

Lots of great stuff in hear. Went with U Da man, When it Rains in Pours, and the DN version of Crying Shame. Two-Time and One and Done are also great, but don't make the cut here. I want to know what this Pedro Party was all about and why we weren't invited.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Bet Maddon wishes he could have been in this year's World Series. So there's that. Yup. I can't stand Maddon and his "I'm smart and quirky and hip" schtick.

When the covers go head to head, I am looking forward to re-capping my game experiences in the thread. I think it will be a lot of fun to re-live those fun games from 2015.

That's true. No one hits for power in St. Lucie. And you are correct about Becerra. It will be interesting to see how the farm system produces now that we are making the transition from Minaya-era draft picks (Matz is, I believe, the last one) to Alderson-era draft picks (Conforto and Plawecki I think are the first). Not on this list is Dilson Herrera, who I think can be a terrific player. It will be weird not debuting an ace this year. That's like kinda what we do.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Yes, a lot of misery on this page. But as we know, things are about to get a lot better in a hurry. For me, this is the mystical part of the season, because I was out of the country from July 21 through August 5 and was only able to get quick glimpses of what was going on with the Mets. When I returned to the U.S. it was like a Twilight Zone episode because the whole vibe around the Mets had completely changed. You realize that if we hit a rough patch in 2016, you have to go back to Peru.

I really cannot believe the difference between the first half Mets and the second half Mets. Those headlines don't feel like they were from this year. But you see the 15-2 game show up at the very end. And although we have some heartbreak in front of us, still, that was the first glimpse of the second-half Mets.

It's weird. I'm still upset with Terry and would have been happy to replace him. But I'm also pissed he didn't win.

Kind of a delayed reaction no?

Cecchini had an .819 OPS at AA this year. That's terrific. You'd have to think he puts up even better numbers in AAA. I think he has the potential to be Xander Boegarts.

I guess on it's face it's disappointing, but I rarely see teams saying "Yes, Zobrist's initial demands fall squarely in our budget!" I'll hope that this is posturing and that a reasonably priced Zobrist is a possibility, and that if they forego this, it's by choice and not by constraint.

Reading up on this list now. Matz is already here, Rosario is years away and hasn't started hitting yet. Basically only Dom Smith and Cecchini look to be difference makers. The rest kinda sound like filler. Not a real power hitting prospect in the entire organization.

Get out of my batmobile. And gimme back my tights.

I went with Nieuw's Flash and Perfect 10. I really don't like the way the Newsday covers look at all, but I really liked the picture and the headline was perfect.

I think this is just about when things bottomed out for the Mets offensively. Look at the descriptions of the hitting: woeful, putrid, bumbling, inept, dead wood. It was a lot of pressure for Conforto to step into. Thank god he delivered.

I don't know if we need a "Let's Talk About Jackie Bradley Jr." thread. MLB hot stove: Mets showed interest in this Boston Red Sox outfielder The Mets continue to look for ways to upgrade their offense and one of the places they've looked to is Boston. The team expressed interest in center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., according to a report by the Boston Globe. They weren't alone. The Globe report says the Royals, Mariners and Cubs talked to the Red Sox as well, and maybe the Nationals. Bradley is an intriguing asset. He is a super defensive center fielder, likely among the best in baseball. And this past season he showed improvement as a hitter, posting an .832 OPS in 255 plate appearances and popped 10 home runs. Writes the Globe: "The GMs we spoke to said Bradley is one of the most coveted outfielders this offseason. "His low cost, his elite defense, and his emerging offense" are major selling points, according to an American League GM. But those are also the reasons Boston wants to keep him." It would make for a quality duo in center field for the Mets if they could procure him. The left-handed hitting Bradley could split time with the right-handed Juan Lagares. Mets pitchers would love it because both are Gold Glove quality defensive players and as platoon players could compliment each other well -- although Bradley actually reverse batting splits for his career, hitting left-handed pitching much better of his over time in the majors. But the Globe reports that the Red Sox don't seem intent on dealing Bradley after acquiring Craig Kimbrel. They used their vast reserve of talent for a reliever and seem likely to look for a starting pitcher in free agency. Definitely worth kicking the tires. Had an .851 OPS in the minors, so seems he could be a pretty good hitter. What would it take to get him?