batmagadanleadoff

Zvon wrote: Love the old Twins unis they are wearing today.

Zvon wrote: Since we got the Beatles I'll do LedZepp. Whose got the Stones? This is one of my all time favorite rock albums. How could you do this to me, Zvon? Oh, the humanity.

TransMonk wrote: Target Field was ranked by ESPN as the #1 baseball stadium experience in North America in its inaugural year and will be the site for the 2014 All Star Game. How does the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Target Field compare to ours?

Given his age, Stanton looks like he'll have a run of a few years where he hits HR's in the high 40's, maybe break 50. Almost definitely if he gets away from that stadium where the Marlins play. ([u:3w06vivp]See[/u:3w06vivp], John Buck)

From Baseball Prospectus 2013: Nimmo's advanced approach at the plate is extremely impressive in light of his age and his background. He comes out of Wyoming, a state where the only baseball option is American Legion ball. (Though it's worth noting than an American Legion team plays more games in a season than a typical high school squad.) In other ways, though, Nimmo's tools are ahead of his skills - he has plus speed, for instance, but is still learning the orienteering skills needed to track down fly balls. His stolen base numbers [1 out of 6 in 2012] say all you need to know about how well he's reading pitchers. He's also delightfully small-town. His manager had to threaten Nimmo with sprints to get him to stop saying "sir". Comparables: Ed Kirkpatrick, Ken Griffey, Justin Upton.

dinosaur jesus wrote: They all played for only the Pirates. Winner Winner. Chicken Dinner! They all had major league baseball careers of at least 10 seasons, all of them with the Pirates. Incredible, ain't it?

What Wouldn�t I Trade For Giancarlo Stanton? 11 April 2013 by Howard Megdal It�s rhetorical; I would trade practically anything for him. So would the Mets. So would any team with a basic understanding of value. So the debate on Twitter over the Daily News piece this morning speculating that the Mets would give up Zack Wheeler and Travis d�Arnaud in a deal for Stanton isn�t a big surprise. Wheeler is a terrific pitching prospect, and d�Arnaud is a terrific catching prospect. The Mets are hoping that Wheeler turns into David Price, and d�Arnaud into Buster Posey. In fact, they�re more than hoping for it; any plan that involves contending in 2014 needs both of them to come up and star, quickly. But just because the Mets are planning as if that is a sure thing, due to financial necessity, doesn�t mean that it is. Wheeler has yet to master Triple-A, let alone the major leagues. Same with d�Arnaud. But Giancarlo Stanton is a sure thing. His OPS+ in 2012 was 158. 158! At age 22! You know who else had an OPS+ of 158 at age 22? Mickey Mantle. And here�s your list of players with a better OPS+ at age 22: Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Boog Powell, Eddie Mathews, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Sherry Magee, Jimmy Sheckard, Joe DiMaggio, Bernie Carbo, Pete Rieser, Dick Allen, Jimmy Foxx. Most of those guys are Hall of Famers; Allen should be, and Rieser would have been were it not for injuries. The guys who hit more home runs than Stanton on that list? Powell, Mathews and DiMaggio. So the low end on there is Powell, who finished with a paltry 339 home runs and a 134 OPS+ over a 17-year career. The high end is inner-circle Hall of Famers. Yes, you trade two prospects, even two great ones, for that guy. And you worry about building around him. Stanton by himself won�t lead the Mets to contention. Neither would Wheeler and d�Arnaud, even if they max out, by themselves. Build around Stanton, David Wright and Matt Harvey. In Stanton, the Mets would have one more sure thing, and one who is just 23 years old. This is not a difficult question. And the Marlins might get more from another team, one who can match Wheeler/d�Arnaud at the top of a deal, and fill in with more talent that is closer to major league ready than the rest of the Mets farm system currently is. So sure, the Mets would do this. And who knows, maybe the Marlins would, too. The Mets have plenty of difficult questions, such as who the fourth starter is, or the right fielder, or how much longer to give LaTroy Hawkins. Whether they�d trade virtually anyone for Stanton isn�t one of these worries. So don�t spend too much time worrying about whether the Mets should. The Mets certainly aren�t. http://mets.lohudblogs.com/2013/04/11/what-wouldnt-i-trade-for-giancarlo-stanton/

Edgy MD wrote: Signed by the same scout? Imaginative. But incorrect.

NY Mets GM Sandy Alderson could deal Zack Wheeler, Travis d'Arnaud to snag Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton PHILADELPHIA � When the Marlins traded Jose Reyes and Josh Johnson to Toronto last November, Mets officials began asking one another questions that remain in their minds today: Can we get Giancarlo Stanton? Would we trade Zack Wheeler to do it? According to three team sources, the Mets then spent time at the winter meetings debating whether to make Wheeler available in a variety of trades, including for Arizona�s Justin Upton and Kansas City�s Wil Myers. Neither of those outfielders seemed worth the organization�s top pitching prospect, but Stanton is in a different category. Although they do not know if the Marlins will move him (Miami declined to shop Stanton even after the outfielder tweeted about being �pissed off� after the Reyes trade), the Mets continue to monitor the situation, fully realizing that any deal would almost certainly have to include Wheeler and top catching prospect Travis d�Arnaud. Would you trade those blue chippers for a guy who might become the premier slugger of his generation? I say, hell yes, duh, no-brainer, but let�s hear from people whose opinions actually matter. �In a heartbeat,� said one Mets official, who is not in Alderson�s inner-circle of decision-makers, but has a voice in discussions. The guy then snapped his fingers. �Nothing against those kids, but it�s Giancarlo.� Said another Mets official, also not in the top tier of decision-makers: �If you could do that, you would have to. You trade the pitcher for the everyday player almost every time.� And what about d�Arnaud, the catcher of the future acquired in December for Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey? �You can figure the catching out later,� the official said. �You have John Buck now, and hey, Brian McCann is going to be a free agent.� Added a scout familiar with the players in this still-fictional deal: �Wheeler and d�Arnaud for Stanton? I would say the Mets might have to give up more than that.� Have the Mets and Marlins actually discussed a trade like this? That depends on who you ask. One source said that Alderson and Miami GM Larry Beinfest, sitting on golf carts at a minor league game in Jupiter, Fla., this spring, engaged in a preliminary chat about Stanton, which was lighthearted and informal, and not in any way a serious negotiation. A second source said that the two talked while sitting in the carts, but not necessarily about a trade, or Stanton, or any of this. Alderson did not return a phone call on Wednesday. OK, let�s step back for some context. First of all, a mea culpa. Back in February, a rumor popped up online saying that the two clubs were discussing these players. It was roundly dismissed by reporters, myself included. That, in fact, is how this revelation came about. I was chatting with a Mets person recently, and alluded to that rumor in a dismissive way. The guy shook his head and said, �There is heat there.� http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/martino-giancarlo-sandy-wheeler-dealer-article-1.1313464#ixzz2QAoKBRwA

Inspired by the 1971 Pirates posts in the Rank Your Champs Thread: What do these '71 Pirates have in common? Gene Alley Steve Blass Roberto Clemente Bill Mazeroski Bob Moose Willie Stargell

Would you trade Zack Wheeler for this guy? What if that guy's team wanted Wheeler and d'Arnaud?

"Oh what squalor. I can't wait to get back to my home and my air conditioner. Nothing here to see."

Zvon wrote: This can get rained away but I'd rather it didn't. I always want a win but I'm torn when a few Mets might lose well hit homers. Ordinarily, I'd root for a rain-out. But with these Mets' prospects, I'd just as soon they get it over with. Like I wanna see Hefner pitch an extra turn.

metsmarathon wrote: A pitcher doesn't throw a shutout, or a no-hitter, all by himself. Fielders must make the plays behind him. And the catcher has to hold on to the third strike. I don't believe that Schaefer correlates perfectly with what we'd consider dominant performances. For example, the most dominant thing that a pitcher could do is strike out all 27 batters in a perfect game. But for Schaefer purposes I'd award a pitcher more points if he pitched a perfect game where every batter popped out to that pitcher. oh come now. when was the last time you awarded points to a catcher for routinely catching routinely pitched balls? when was hte last time you awarded points to a second baseman for fielding a routine ground ball and tossing that ball routinely to the first baseman who routinely caught the routine throw to routinely retire a routinely running runner? I wouldn't award those defensive points in Schaefer voting only because it's not worth the trouble. But routine plays count and they should, ideally, be accounted for. Schaefer is supposed to be mainly a fun exercise, and like a risk/reward analysis, the effort needed to score every defensive play would eliminate whatever joy there is in participating in the first place. Not that I participate very much, anyways. metsmarathon wrote: but it is the schaefer player of the game. as in who did hte most in that specific game. and if one guy did hte most of all the positive things done in the game, and he did more than everybody else who did positive things in the game, then i see no reason why he should not be awarded 6 points. But your logic doesn't explain why the game's best player should get six points. Though I didn't give Johan six points for his no-hitter, I did award him more points than any other Met for that game.

http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/16500/f15_t16592.shtml http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/16600/f1_t16600.shtml

Wake me up for Harvey's next start.

Check out Pops, windmilling his bat: [youtube:2cii39mz]WaDrciZppT0[/youtube:2cii39mz]

Just one: the 1971 Pirates. 1971 was my second year of following baseball, but the year when I became absorbed by the sport. It was also the year that I attended my first baseball game � a Mets game (natch) against the eventual WS champs Pirates. By the end of that game, I had memorized the entire Pirate team, down to their uniform numbers, thanks to the info contained in my first Mets program, which reinforced whatever baseball knowledge I had already come by from my constant and daily handling of 1971 baseball cards. I never purchased baseball card packs more intensely than in 1971. I would play wiffle ball with my best friend, also a Mets fan, and would volunteer to be the 1971 Pirates so that he could be the Mets. I thought I was taking the high road, but the truth is that I probably wanted to windmill my bat like the awesome Willie Stargell whenever it was his turn to bat. That year, Stargell, entering his prime, was the most feared Mets opponent, launching Ruthian blasts all over Shea and replacing McCovey and Yaz as the game�s best hitter. Check out Stargell�s run from 1971-75: that�s about as good as it can get without (yet) winning an MVP. The �71 Pirates featured a past-his-prime Roberto Clemente still playing like he was in his prime (.341 BA, Gold Glove, 5th in MVP voting), the peak of Bob Robertson, poised to become one of the game�s next potent sluggers until injuries derailed his career, frequent all-stars Manny Sanguillen and Al Oliver, and psychedelic Dock Ellis in his breakout year � the NL�s starting pitcher in that year�s all-star game. The �76 Series tore me up some the way the recent Yanks-Phillies series did for newer Mets fans. I could appreciate the total and thorough humiliation of the MFYs in that series, but what kind of a self respecting Mets fan could ever give props to a Pete Rose Reds team? I don�t watch the WS with anywhere near the same level of interest that I did in my youth, though I�ll catch a game here and there. Expanded playoffs and the Wild Card was the turning point for me.

Zvon wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: I can't see the Harveys. All I see is the word image nine times. Really? Its a conspiracy, I tells ya. Since your images are visible to all, looks like you've inherited the role of keeper of the cyber Harvey K corner. The K is for Korman. Keep up the good work.

Zvon wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: I can't see the Harveys. All I see is the word image nine times. Really? Its a conspiracy, I tells ya. Just kidding.

This win, coupled with the Nats day off, puts the Mets in the post-season. If the season ended tonight.