Centerfield

So to clarify, I think it made sense to make this type of move in the past. I'm saying in the era of three WC where a mid 80 win team has a good shot of making the playoffs, I think it makes less sense to do it prior to the season than waiting until the trade deadline. That being said, the Pivetta signing perhaps signals that SD is more inclined to move Cease than we originally thought.

The Era of Generation K. 1. Bill Pulsipher, LHP 2. Paul Wilson, RHP 3. Rey Ordonez, SS 4. Edgardo Alfonzo, IF 5. 6. Jason Isringhausen, RHP 7. 8. 9. 10. Preston Wilson, 3B (had no idea he was a 3B in the minors) No to Alex Ochoa. He would arrive in July of 1995. No to Butch Huskey.

Two for two. 1. 2. 3. Rey Ordonez, SS 4. 5. 6. Jason Isringhausen, RHP 7. 8. 9. 10.

Let's do 1995. This one is easy. 9 of them are cake. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Ding ding ding!!! 1. Alex Escobar, OF 2. Octavio Dotel, RHP 3. Grant Roberts, RHP 4. Jae Weong Seo, RHP 5. Terrence Long, OF 6. Jorge Toca, OF/1B 7. Leslie Brea, RHP 8. Juan LeBron, OF 9. Jason Tyner, OF 10. Scott Hunter, OF Congratulations CPF!

It certainly can be the golden age. It is not the golden age, yet. 1984 through 1990. It ended when Darryl left. Though we knew that they weren't as good in '89 and '90 as they had been.

#10. Outfielder whose name rhymes with "Hot Bunter".

Edgy MD wrote: Leslie Brea! Leslie Brea! Five years older than his parents say! Nice job! 1. Alex Escobar, OF 2. Octavio Dotel, RHP 3. Grant Roberts, RHP 4. Jae Weong Seo, RHP 5. Terrence Long, OF 6. Jorge Toca, OF/1B 7. Leslie Brea, RHP 8. Juan LeBron, OF 9. Jason Tyner, OF 10. ____________, OF Leslie Brea is the name I recognized (but never would have guessed). He arrived via trade for Butch Huskey. Then departed when Mike came A-Bordick. The hardest answer remains. I honestly don't know if anyone can get this without looking. I'll give it until tonight and then tell you what his name rhymes with.

No to all. 1. Alex Escobar, OF 2. Octavio Dotel 3. Grant Roberts 4. Jae Weong Seo 5. Terrence Long 6. Jorge Toca 7. , RHP 8. Juan LeBron 9. Jason Tyner 10. , OF These last two are hard. One of them I recognized the name but would never have guessed it on my own. The other I have never heard of. Hints: #7. RHP. Was involved in two Mets trades before making his MLB debut. #10. OF. Never made the big leagues. Other than his name and his stats this is literally everything I know about him.

No to Bascik. No to Strange.

Jon Heyman has an article imploring the Mets to complete a trade for Dylan Cease. There are also some rumblings out there about the possibility of trading for Castillo etc. I don't see it happening. Even if the Padres or Mariners come down in price. I think it doesn't make sense for the Mets to add anyone else. The way I see it, there are three general goals for any team. 1. Make the playoffs. You figure, as currently constructed, the Mets are strongly positioned to make the playoffs. They should, barring injury, or underperformance, be one of the top 6 teams in the NL. There is a good chance we won't need Cease to qualify. 2. First Round Bye. The next threshold is the first round bye. Could the Mets win the NL East and be one of the top two teams? Maybe. But neither Cease, nor Castillo, would make them favorites to win the division and finish in the top 2. It might marginally improve their odds, but does that slight improvement offset losing several young players that can help out for years to come? I don't think so. In a world where only division winners make the playoffs, I can see teams giving up prospects to get over the top. But if we know that finishing behind the Braves means we can still beat them in the playoffs, I don't know if that's worth giving up our young guys. 3. Post-Season Success Here is where I think someone like Cease can make a difference. Getting an ace can greatly improve our chances in October. But I see no reason to make that move now. We should wait until July. At that point, we'll have a better idea of how our rotation is shaping up. We'll know more about Sproat, or any other young pitcher that can help. We'll know if Cease or Castillo are doing well. They might be hurt, or just not very good. And we'll have a better idea of the value of our young players. The downside is that some of our young guys may have played poorly and undermined their value, but I think this downside is worth the other benefits of waiting. In a sense, not only do I not see the Mets making this type of move, I think the Mets might never (or very infrequently) make this type of move.

I've realized that any attention, even negative attention, maybe especially negative attention, just gives life to these assholes that should have faded into obscurity years ago. So I'm good to pretend that this racist dickhead doesn't exist.

Good guesses! 1. Alex Escobar, OF 2. Octavio Dotel 3. Grant Roberts 4. Jae Weong Seo 5. Terrence Long 6. Jorge Toca 7. 8. Juan LeBron 9. Jason Tyner 10. I remember Jason Tyner being panned as the worst #1 pick ever. He was like 5'8" and 120 lbs. No power. I looked him up, and he ended up having an 8 year MLB career. I'm shocked you guys guessed Juan LeBron. Literally never heard of that guy. Incorrect: Ty Wiggington, Jay Payton, Aaron Heilman. I was surprised to see Jay Payton not on this list. He was pretty well regarded, and called up in 2000.

Wow. You guys are good. 1. Alex Escobar, OF 2. Octavio Dotel 3. Grant Roberts 4. Jae Weong Seo 5. Terrence Long 6. Jorge Toca 7. 8. 9. 10. Incorrect: Glendon Rusch, Pete Alonso, George Harrison, Pat Strange, Bobby Parnell, Rob Stratton, Brian Cole. The last four are hard. Though I think you guys will get one of them.

To recap: 1. MMM: Griffin Canning 2. irish: Justin Hagenman 3. BG: Jared Young 4. MFS62: Huascar Brazoban 5. Gwreck: Luke Ritter 6. doctee: Paul Blackburn 7. Fman: George Harrison 8. mm: Jonathan Frickin' Pintaro 9. JCL: Kevin "Night Train" Herget 10. KC: NONE A few notes. *smg: Tidwell/Hamel. Neither guy is on BP top 10. So both are eligible. Please pick one! *George Harrison. If he were alive, would have been the most likely to have a hit song. But he's dead. So seems like a long shot. *Brazoban, Canning and Blackburn. I'll allow these. But these are definitely on the lighter side of the Dark Horse eligibility pool. They might be Dusk Horse Mets. Like say, Jose Valentin.

Alex Escobar is correct. Your top rated prospect of 1999. Jose Reyes was not on the list. Jose would debut on the BA Top 10 in 2002. 1. Alex Escobar, OF 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Let's take a trip down memory lane. Who were the Mets top ten prospects in 1999 according to Baseball America? It's a fun mix of names. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Sure. But the honorable thing to do is to guess before you see them in action. Real men make decisions with as little data as possible.

yeah, that's a dark horse right there. let's go! This is what I'm talking about right here. That's a real Dark Horse. Luke Ritter. Jared Young. Hagenman. These are some dark horses. Griffin Canning? Paul Blackburn? GTFOH Reminds me of an article I saw recently. It was like "Breakout Candidates for 2025!" and had names like Corbin Carroll, Jackson Merrill.

Just went back through the thread. I can pick out 3-4 covers I like better than the finalists. What can you do. That's TCD Suzyn...

Man. This is like Norfolk State vs. Valparaiso in the NCAA final.

Nunez and Butto already arrived in 2024. Put it this way. Every entry in this thread should make you say “who”? Think of how you felt about Jose Iglesias one year ago today.

Cast your predictions for Dark Horse Met of 2025 here!!! A reminder of the criteria for Dark Horse candidacy. 1. Not reasonably expected to contribute this year. No projected starters. No big name free agents coming off a down year. Has to be someone we expect to be a fringe guy. (IOW, no Montas/Holmes) 2. Can't be a premiere prospect (or at least, no longer one). No Drew Gilbert, Acuna, Clifford, etc. However, if Gavin Cecchini were to somehow resurface and make a contribution, he would qualify. 3. The type of player if he were hurt/released/traded prior to Opening Day you wouldn't care. Nick Madrigal fits that description. Dylan Covey too. Brett Baty does not. Of course, your prediction can be that there is no Dark Horse Met this year. Given that we have so many known quantities, that may end up being the case. And no, the Dark Horse Met need not have released any hit songs (though it's a bonus if he has). Good luck!

Agree. Part of judging the cover is the moment it depicts. Still. hair should be running away with this.

So if you’re predicting the opening day roster: Infielders: 1. Pete Alonso 2. Jeff McNeil 3. Francisco Lindor 4. Mark Vientos 5. Francisco Alvarez 6. Luis Torrens Outfielders 1. Juan Soto 2. Tyrone Taylor 3. Jose Siri 4. Brandon Nimmo 5. Starling Marte 6. Jesse Winker That leaves one spot for a backup infielder. Acuna, Baty, Mauricio, etc. Would be good if that infielder could play SS. Starting Pitchers: 1. Kodai Senga 2. Sean Manaea 3. David Peterson 4. Clay Holmes 5. Frankie Montas 6. Paul Blackburn Relievers: 1. Edwin Diaz 2. AJ Minter 3. Dedniel Nunez 4. Jose Butto 5. Griffin Canning 6. Tylor Megill 7. Reed Garrett Barring injury or trade, that’s your team folks.