batmagadanleadoff

seawolf17 wrote: One of my all-time favorite Mets. Why? (This oughtta be good).

David Wright expects Mets to spend this offseason, just as he was told Originally published: November 25, 2013 4:41 PM Updated: November 25, 2013 9:54 PM By JIM BAUMBACH jim.baumbach@newsday.com David Wright says he's been like most Mets fans this offseason. As the days and weeks go by without any significant additions, the Mets' captain admittedly is getting "impatient." But he hasn't lost hope quite yet. Wright said Monday in an interview with WFAN's Mike Francesa that he expects team officials to live up to what they told him before he re-signed a year ago -- that this would be the offseason they finally have the ability and flexibility to start upgrading the major-league roster. "I'm expecting us to field a much better team this year than we have in years past, yes," Wright said. "There are expectations." Noting the need for offensive upgrades, Wright said Sandy Alderson is "probably tired of hearing from me," what with Wright constantly reaching out to the general manager to offer help in potentially recruiting free agents to Citi Field. "I think we need help offensively, there's no question about that," Wright said. The Mets' only acquisition of note has been the signing of free-agent outfielder Chris Young to a one-year, $7.25-million contract, and that move has done little to reassure the Mets' fan base that the franchise is primed to be spenders again this offseason. The 30-year-old Young is coming off a down season with the Oakland A's in which he hit .200 with a .280 on-base percentage in 107 games. But with roughly $40 million off the Mets' books in the form of the expired Jason Bay and Johan Santana contracts, Alderson repeatedly has insisted this offseason that the Mets will be more active than in the past. Alderson said last week he expects the payroll to be at least $87 million. That gives him about $25 million more to spend on an infusion of proven talent. That's the plan the front office sold to Wright last offseason during the negotiations for his eight-year, $138-million contract, which effectively made him a Met for life. "We discussed this winter as being the time where we can spend some money, where we get flexible, where we can make some moves to be going in the direction we need to be going," Wright said. "This is New York. We need to put a winning product out on the field. There's no question about that." A Met since 2004, Wright has played on one team that qualified for the postseason, and that was in 2006. He said getting there again, and doing so as part of a team built to win for years to come, would go a long way toward softening the sting left from all these down years at Citi Field. "I'm not here to sugarcoat anything. It's been ugly the last few years," he said. "I want to be one of those main reasons why we get things turned around going in the right direction. Because I've had a little taste of what it's like to win in New York, and it's addicting." http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/david-wright-expects-mets-to-spend-this-offseason-just-as-he-was-told-1.6495318 _________________ Wright shouldn't lose hope for this offseason, After all, by most back of the envelope calculations, the Mets still have about $25M to spend this off-season. Plus he can also do what everyone else is doing: contrive some Kama Sutra like contortions to convince himself that Chris Young was a great signing. Not because the Mets outfield is so crappy that Young is an upgrade, but because Young is very good. /rolls eyes

I'd bet that there's at least one Met with a golden singing voice, but he won't show it off because of the macho culture he exists in.

Kong76 wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: I wonder if David Wright is secretly regretting signing with the Mets last year We all sit around and wonder what he's secretly thinking on a Sunday afternoon in November. It's totally normal. I could see how you couldn't wonder about Wright, what with all the time you spend fussing and fretting over every single word I post. You must have your smoke detector set to go off whenever I post.

I wonder if David Wright is secretly regretting signing with the Mets last year before ever testing the free agent market. Just one year after his signing and already, it appear that he left a lot of dough on the table to play for the 'Pons. Plus, he would've been the cream of this year's FA crop. Plus, the richest team in American sports could use a third baseman, especially one that's still considered a star. Plus, the odds that the Mets'll contend before Wright starts to decline are about 12% lower than they were this time, last year.

What the funk does it have to do with JFK ... enough nonsense already ... http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/fan_forum/holiday_card.jsp http://mlb.mlb.com/fan_forum/greeting_card.jsp?c_id=bos http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/fan_forum/greeting_card.jsp?c_id=phi http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/fan_forum/greeting_card.jsp?c_id=atl http://mlb.mlb.com/fan_forum/greeting_card.jsp?c_id=mia http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/fan_forum/greeting_card.jsp?c_id=was It's got nothing to do with Qualcomm either, but you weren't compelled to make that point. Are you the only one on this forum who needed to flush out all those other links to MLB Xmas videos to realize that the Mets song wasn't linked to JFK?

smg58 wrote: His career OPS+ is 125. Andre Ethier's is 123. Shin-Soo Choo's is 134. Cargo's age and salary still make him very desirable, but there are players of comparable ability available who won't cost anywhere near the same amount in terms of personnel. What's his career road OPS+? It's gotta be below average, it would seem. Would multiplying his lifetime OPS+ by his lifetime road tOPS+ give us an estimate? (125 x .76 = 95)

Mex17 wrote: Although the home/road splits should be considered, I would argue that it makes "baseball sense" to add a 28 year old lefthanded hitter with power and a good OBP who also steals bases and plays Gold Glove defense in leftfield and who is signed for the next four years to the team, particularly when there is a gaping hole in the middle of the lineup and a pretty big outfield to cover. "Cause I got news for ya. . . Chris Young isn't the answer, at least not as a centerpiece to an offseason or a lineup. As far as trades changing the tone (or "perception"), I would direct you to the past acquisitions of Messrs Hernandez, Carter, and Piazza (and take one guess who was opposed behind the scenes on that last one. . .and who insisted upon it and pushed it through). Sometimes it's "sexy" for good reason. I'm not hot for Gonzalez, understanding that your acquisition is speculative. Gonzalez is an overrated Coors Effect guy. I'm certainly not against the Mets acquiring 28 year old star players. But the Mets can't afford those guys and Gonzalez ain't one of them, anyway. Look at his lifetime Home/Road splits. Pretty sobering, huh? Adjusting for Citi Field, it's reasonable to believe that as a Met, he might not hit 20 HR's in a season. Getting Keith was a no-brainer. He came cheap. Two very replaceable players and an affordable (even back then) $700K annual salary. The '85 Mets were a contender expected to improve rather than regress. So Carter made a lot of sense. He was baseball's best catcher, offensively and defensively, when the Mets got him.

Just win, baby! [fimg=400]http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-tough/files/2011/07/al-davis.jpg[/fimg]

Fifty years and one day ago, on the day that JFK was assasinated, Phillies Records released what would become perhaps the greatest collection of Christmas Songs in pop music. The Mets commemorate the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination and Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift to You with this: http://mlb.mlb.com/fan_forum/greeting_card.jsp?c_id=nym

Rey Ordonez

It seems that the Mets plan for 2014 is to hope to catch four Marlon Byrd's in a bottle. What'll Howie Megdal write about this deal?

My other main man, Jesse Orosco.

metsmarathon wrote: armando benitez is of course eligible for consideration, as he has a total of 9.8 WAR, far in excess of roger mcdowell's meager sum. he's our #2. which is perhaps oddly fitting, depending upon how you view his tenure. I can't believe that there are Mets fans on this great forum who think that Ordonez was a great ugly black uniform Met and Armando wasn't a great ugly black uniform Met .

I'm going for the esoteric guesses: Rick Reed.

Mike Piazza. duh.

I was guessing Armando Benitez, not Roger McDowell.

Is there an innings minimum? Are relievers included? Like my man, Armando, who loses out to the vastly inferior Roger McDowell in every all time Mets poll? Who didn't get his mug on one of the 81 home season tickets in the Mets 50th anniversary season?

John Olerud

Benjamin Grimm wrote: My concern is that it takes too big a bite out of the budget. (If indeed, the budget is $30 million; that may not be accurate at all.) If 25 per cent of what they have to spend is going to players of this caliber, then we're going to have a fairly modest offseason. Can the Mets get another outfielder, a shortstop, and a starting pitcher for $22.75 million? I don't know; maybe they can. But I have my doubts. Me too. Yesterday, I was working myself up to the idea that having $30M to spend on the team isn't as bad as it sounds. I figured that $7.5M, should yield a decent player, and that the Mets ought to get four decent players on that budget. It's not working out that way, so far.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: It's like getting the 1972 version of Tommie Agee. [fimg=333]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3687/10997461183_78df5889ed_o.jpg[/fimg] It's like getting [crossout]the 1972 version of[/crossout]Tommie Agee coming off his 1972 season. [fimg=333]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3687/10997461183_78df5889ed_o.jpg[/fimg]

It's like getting the 1972 version of Tommie Agee. [fimg=333:2lrgkbdp]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3687/10997461183_78df5889ed_o.jpg[/fimg:2lrgkbdp]

Edgy MD wrote: Ceetar wrote: There are, again, plenty of players that, once they failed a test, copped to their use, came clean, apologized, and took their punishment. In Braun's case, there was a sloppy chain of evidence link. Braun capitalized on this chink in MLB's case to beat the charges. Other players presumably didn't have this defense available. Who can say how other players would have rseponded if they had Braun's defense. Every case is different. Nancy Grace drums up outrage because the alleged murderer then had the audacity to cover up the crime scene .... wipe his fingerprints from the murder site. Whatever.

HahnSolo wrote: I saw this mini-doc on Grantland yesterday. Lasorda going apeshit on him was hysterical. Here's the link. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10000759/our-latest-30-30-documentary-short-tells-story-how-guy-detroit-ended-conning-just-every-sports-league-country The Met/Yankee all-star is Barry Bremen. I was hoping for some Lasorda-Phanatic type action in that '86 ASG segment. vX4L2LHGs98

Lefty Specialist wrote: You go the Melky Cabrera route. You admit wrongdoing immediately, apologize to your teammates and you take your punishment without whining even a little tiny bit. Who knows what Melky might've done if he though he had a plausible defense. As it was, didn't he consider faking a web-site? Criminal defense lawyers, for example, plea bargain based on the perceived weight of the evidence. It's the proof, not the facts.