Centerfield

Wow, this is awful. Isn't a partially torn rotator cuff one of those things they say you can pitch with, or rehabilitate without surgery, but inevitably leads to surgery, being out for the season, then coming back but never being as effective as you were before it? I feel like we've been down this road with the two Pedros (Astacio and Martinez).

Frayed Knot wrote: Swan Swan H wrote: smg58 wrote: The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing? I think it means that it took a shock to his system before he started to listen to anyone. Also means that AAA pitching is easier to hit than ML pitching and that Vegas is a better hitting environment than the near sea-level of NYC and many of the other NL parks. And again, let's not treat a few good games like it's a cure from Miracle Max. All true. But still encouraging. A few weeks ago, Ike couldn't hit a HR in a stadium on the moon.

metirish wrote: Speaking of Seaver(All Hail) I remember he made some pissy comments in the booth one time because one of the new call ups didn't know who he was when they were on the same elevator at old Shea. I believe it was Reyes. Fuck Seaver. My son and I have been on an elevator at Shea with Seaver, and he made it very clear that he wanted everyone on that elevator to pretend we didn't know who he was.

As with every story, I'm sure there are several sides to this. And nuance is central and key here. If dumping water on Harvey was part of a general rookie-hazing thing, and Rauch did it in good nature, then Harvey is being a dick here. And maybe being a dick is what drives him to be great. I've said before I think Seaver is an ass, but I'd rather have an asshole who wins 20 games than a nice guy who wins 10. I just hope that if in fact Harvey is a dick (and I don't know if he is or he isn't) they are smart enough never to put Harvey in the booth in 25 years. If Rauch was being a dick, and didn't have the support of his teammates, and singled out Matt, then good for him for standing up to him. Rooking hazing is one thing, but if Rauch took it too far (and dumping ice water and ruining a phone might well be) then he deserves to be made a fool.

I was there today with my kids. Early Father's Day Gift. The minute Niese gave up that 2 run single to the pitcher we (and everyone around us), knew the game was lost. Still loved every minute of it. I may hate Mets management, but man I love baseball.

Alderson is full of shit. And if he didn't have his track record, his degree and the ability to sound smarter than everyone in the room, everyone would have called him on his bullshit years ago. Any attorney with half a brain armed with a transcript of his public statements could make him look foolish on cross examination. People lie to me every day. I take that as a part of life. But when the lies get so preposterous that they insult my intelligence, that's when I get really irritated. Norrin/Vic/Ralph summed it up pretty succinctly in the other post. I wonder how much rope they would have given him if he had been invited to this panel. I think watching him go after Sandy would have been more entertaining than all the great Mets moments since 2007 combined. Both of them.

And when you look at this, it's hard to fathom how Alderson gets a free pass. Sure, there has been no money to play with, but the whole Oakland philosophy is that you can rebuild without money. It's been three years. That's enough time to make a difference. Especially in the minor leagues. So far, here's what's happened: 1. The big league team has gotten worse every year. 2. The big league team has gotten worse because he has either let star players walk for nothing, or traded star players he inherited for prospects. (In my mind, these are no-brain moves. It is the equivalent of a GM signing a big time free agent. No creativity involved.) 3. Other than the prospects he traded all-stars for, the minor leagues have not produced, and are no where near producing, an impact player (Harvey doesn't count, he inherited Harvey). 4. His philosophy, as best I can tell, is to run Minaya era prospects out there and hope for the best. To be fair, other than the Reyes situation, I don't think Sandy has made any mistakes. But he hasn't done anything great either.

This is a great thread. And it really sums up our problems. It is really hard to win when half your lineup is comprised of the worst players in the league. And one of those guys was supposed to be the cleanup hitter. Wow. Of the "good" guys, only Buck has really played above his head, so hopefully with D'Arnaud on the horizon, we can keep that production going in the future. The other three are about where you'd expect. (Good for Duda!) Of the "bad" guys, I guess we could get a major upgrade if Ike finds himself, and if he doesn't just by the mere fact that he won't be here anymore will help a little. As to the other three, it is depressing that the Mets have no real candidates at all. Valdespin and Wilmer Flores are really the only guys that have a chance to make an impact, and it seems like neither one plays a position that fills any of our needs (which is amazing since half the positions are up for grabs). I've said it before. Run Jordany out at SS and see what he does. There really is no reason not to try this. Omar Quintanilla is not part of the future.

They also swept that 2 game series in Minnesota. Too bad we can't play the AL every day.

Vic Sage wrote: I don't know how else to put it, but Ike Davis looks like a guy who lacks the ability to hit major league pitching. As far as I can tell, he has two major problems: 1. Lack of batspeed: The fastballs are too fast for him. So he starts his swing earlier, making him susceptible to breaking pitches. This is why he ends up flailing at pitches in the dirt. 2. Lack of hand-eye coordination: On the rare occasion that he guesses correctly he lacks the hand-eye coordination to hit it square, often fouling it off or making weak contact. When other hitters slump, they get out of balance, or their swing gets long. I don't know how one corrects these two problems. All I know is that I have never seen a major league hitter look this bad. Except the notion that he just lacks the ability to hit major league pitching is contradicted by his actual major league performance prior to this season. Unless we're saying something happened between the end of last season and the beginning of this one (injury? illness? mental breakdown? replaced by a pod person?), or that he suffers from a heretofore unknown hitter's syndrome similar to the Steve Blass syndrome suffered by pitchers (including our own CFer), then it seems too easy to say "oh, he just sucks." IF only it were that simple, it would be less frustrating. Of course, he absolutely has the ability to do so. Which is what is so baffling. I'm just saying when other players slump, they tend to have problems (getting out in front, swinging for the fences) that we've seen before. And those, while hard to break, at least there is a game plan to attack them. With Ike, right now, he appears to lack batspeed and the requisite hand-eye coordination. If I had never seen him before, I'd say he's not a major league player. I don't know how you correct that. I don't know how you get him back to a .900+ OPS guy (before his ankle injury) other than to say "Don't start your swing as early, when you start it, swing faster, and when you swing, hit the ball better."

I don't know how else to put it, but Ike Davis looks like a guy who lacks the ability to hit major league pitching. As far as I can tell, he has two major problems: 1. Lack of batspeed: The fastballs are too fast for him. So he starts his swing earlier, making him susceptible to breaking pitches. This is why he ends up flailing at pitches in the dirt. 2. Lack of hand-eye coordination: On the rare occasion that he guesses correctly he lacks the hand-eye coordination to hit it square, often fouling it off or making weak contact. When other hitters slump, they get out of balance, or their swing gets long. I don't know how one corrects these two problems. All I know is that I have never seen a major league hitter look this bad.

He doesn't get on base, he doesn't hit for power, he doesn't run fast (and therefore can't steal bases). He doesn't have a strong arm, and this year, he can't even catch the ball. I'm not sure what more we hope to get out of this guy. Valdespin? Turner? Quintanilla? Didn't Alderson draft a SS a few years ago? I can't believe this is the only option we have.

Awesome. Rivera may be a great closer and all, but I tell you, he has a tendency to blow it in big situations.

The Capts got class. GIF: A nice moment, David Wright hugs a young Mets fan after the Mets win against the Yankees. Shout out thnx to MetsKevin11 for the .gif Twitters saying this was Wright pulling a Ryan Howard, pulling a Babe Ruth. The kid (so sez the Twittery source, which is what it is) asked Wright to hit a homerun, Wright said he'd try, and KABOOM! Life is good if you can get them front-row seats. But dang, give him the hat, David. Holy crap wow. David Wright may be boring, but am I ever proud to have a guy like that on our team. Awesome. Deserves its own thread.

I'd be more worried about inflated numbers from that park in Cincy. How was he before this year?

Adam Wainright on the mound for the Cardinals. It's almost unfair to send this lineup up against him.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Yeah, I can't really say I have a problem with Terry being candid. It's actually somewhat refreshing. What he said. (Am I the only one that finds that YouTube clip hilarious? I'm still dying here. Do you see the pitcher trying not to crack up? It's priceless.)

Definitely Peppa.

Swan Swan H wrote: So what would the Pirates do to this guy? [youtube]87Tn5Hyibpk[/youtube] Awesome. I'm dying here. "Of course, he might just be pointing to the Left Fielder"

I don't know if it's inappropriate or not, but I would love to hear candidly how Gary Cohen felt about Bob Murphy. I'm sure he respected the guy, but they clearly clashed at times. Can't imagine Gary was thrilled about all the second-hand smoke either.

So let's give him 50 games at the major league level to see what he can do. He's young still.

Why not? They're not going anywhere this season. And Spin is one of the few guys that has the upside to be part of the future. If he can play decent defense at SS, he presents a much better option than Tejada (current OPS of .601, career OPS of .660). I'd like to get Wilmer Flores up here as well and see what he can do. Let's give him some AB's at 2B. We know what Murphy is at this point.

I don't understand this move at all. The Mets are going nowhere this year. Why take away at-bats from Valdespin/Lagares? Fucking Mets. Play the guys that at least have a chance to be good someday.

Terry's move in the tenth last night (letting Parnell see a pitch, sending Valdespin, then getting Baxter only after he made it) was the first time I can remember ever going from: "What the fuck is he doing?" to "OH! That makes perfect sense!" I'm not kidding. That was a great fucking move.

"I was surprised by how little it costs."