batmagadanleadoff

Do you know how much pressure ML ballplayers are under? Especially the young guys who haven't hit free agency. Pressure to keep their jobs .. to demonstrate that they're everyday players ... so that they can one day sign an eight figure contract. And these guys, the Murphys and Tholes are pissing it all away, not from a lack of talent .... but because Dillon Gee is out for the season?

Maybe they suck ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . because they suck.

TransMonk wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm calling 4th of July weekend blowout at Transmonk's joint. Anyone who can make it is welcome. I've never been to the new stadium in Minnesota, but will be happy to go for the (possibly chilly) weekend of April 12-14. First Impressions of Target Field limestone backstop

Home and home against the White Sox.

Cueto's claim to the CYA is strengthened considerably based on sabrmetric statistics.

The NL Cy Young Award contenders: It's a tight race, at least based on the stats that are reasonably simple to calculate and thus, comprehend. I wonder if Dickey is now at a weather-related disadvantage, going forward. His knuckler is climate-dependent, and September, after April, has gotta be the worst month for a knuckleballer.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: David is now on pace to pass Krane on Monday, September 24, 2012, at home against Pittsburgh. Nuthin's changed.

A Realistic Rebuttal of Negative Hyperbole Sep 10th, 2012 at 11:40 pm by Danny Abriano I�m not a huge fan of taking on another writer in public, much less doing it twice in a short time span. However, after reading Howard Megdal�s recent piece, I couldn�t resist. Megdal, as most in the Mets blogosphere are aware, had his press credentials taken away by the Mets after penning a book centered around the Bernard Madoff situation called �Wilpon�s Folly.� Aside from clearly having an axe to grind with the Mets organization, Megdal�s articles of late have been fatalistic and largely devoid of fair analysis. He�s been basically re-framing and regurgitating worst case scenarios that have little basis in reality. Megdal�s latest piece is titled �The Optimist�s Case for the 2013 Takes Another Hit.� Aside from the title not making sense, its contents reek of someone who�s begging for things to go wrong. The following will not be a 2013 prediction piece, nor will it paint next season as a sure to be rosy ride to 90 wins. What it will do, is attempt to cut through the at times suffocating negativity that has engulfed this franchise (and is reflected in Mr. Megdal�s article), while pointing out inaccuracies. Megdal opines: I�ve pointed out that both Dillon Gee and Johan Santana are coming back from season-ending injuries, and in both cases, those injuries stand a good chance of impacting their abilities to pitch full seasons in 2013. Santana is more an increasing collection of physical problems, while Gee�s blood clot likely came from repetitive motion, which is, after all, what pitching is. I agree regarding Santana. I�d go as far as to say that the Mets should operate as if Santana has thrown his last pitch as a Met. Gee, however, is a much different story. Megdal claims that there�s a �good chance� Gee�s injury will impact his ability to pitch a full season in 2013?. According to Adam Rubin, that simply isn�t the case. As Rubin�s article states: �No longer-lasting ramifications for Gee in terms of his health or his career after the procedure is performed are expected, since it should fix the issue and prevent future clotting in the shoulder.� Well, the surgery was successful and Gee has already resumed throwing. What Dillon Gee had was a blood clot. It�s been fixed. Putting him in the same category as Johan Santana (a man who had major shoulder surgery and had his season cut short due to a litany of other injuries) is reckless journalism. Megdal basically writes off Gee for the entire 2013 season, opining that the Mets will need two starters aside from R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese, and Matt Harvey to step up. Writing off Gee is absurd, so let�s assume the Mets will need one new starter to step up (if Johan Santana is in fact unable to contribute). Megdal goes on to say the following: If we take R.A. Dickey/Jon Niese/Matt Harvey as givens, which is not the case since pitchers are inherently susceptible to injuries, Dickey will be 38, and Harvey has eight career starts, the Mets still need either Gee/Santana to stay healthy, or need to find quality starts from a group of Collin McHugh/Jenrry Mejia/Jeurys Familia/Zack Wheeler. Megdal contradicts his own point (that the Mets have a rotation filled with question marks), by stating that pitchers are �inherently susceptible to injuries.� That statement holds true for any pitcher on any team in any level of baseball. It�s not something that�s exclusive to the Mets. He then goes on to cite R.A. Dickey�s age as a concern, even though not one scout is expecting a man who relies on the knuckle ball to have a precipitous decline once he turns 38. While being too old is a problem for R.A. Dickey, being too young is apparently a problem for Matt Harvey. Forget the results from Harvey so far, he�s too young. Right. Megdal then goes on to worry about finding quality starts from McHugh, Mejia, Familia, and Wheeler. I don�t think there�s one scout, Met fan, or casual observer who wouldn�t take the aforementioned quartet over Miguel Batista, Chris Schwinden, and Jeremy Hefner. To Megdal, though, the results from next year�s fill ins should be comparable to the results from 2012. Megdal continues by pointing out that the bullpen was terrible in 2012. I don�t think anyone is debating that fact. However, without knowing which pitchers will even be in the Mets� 2013 bullpen, Megdal ascertains that they can�t possibly be much better than the 2012 version. Onto the offense: So really, the 2013 case revolves around the offense not merely being at the same level as 2012, but better. And who among the returning everyday players is likely to be much better than they were in 2012? Is David Wright a great bet to even match his 2012, given that he�s outperformed his career OPS+? The offense certainly needs to improve. Megdal is ignoring a huge fact though: No one knows which players will make up the offense for the 2013 Mets. Sandy Alderson has cited the need for major roster turnover, which one would assume would be on the offensive side of things and in the bullpen. As far as who is �likely to be better:� Of those who most expect to remain, I�d think Ike Davis is a lock to not be hitting .150 in July. So there�s one. To continue, it�s both unfair and ludicrous to write in a blindly negative manner about the offense of a team that has yet to be constructed. If the offseason concludes and no changes have been made, blast away. Until then, allow the team to be created. Now, to Megdal�s closing argument: So the optimist�s case revolves around green pitchers making a large leap forward or a starting staff�s injured pitchers staying healthy all season, a bullpen not only regressing to the norm but also seeing an improved defense behind it or getting significantly better, and a below-average offense and terrible defense improving with a strong likelihood of returning the same players. I don�t see why Megdal thinks that �green pitchers� need to make a �large leap forward.� R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese, and Dillon Gee aren�t �green.� Matt Harvey wouldn�t need to make a large leap forward to be a solid addition to the 2013 rotation. He could regress, and be an improvement over the slop the Mets were throwing out there at times in 2012. If Santana is healthy, great. If not, you�d likely go to McHugh or Mejia before promoting Zack Wheeler around June. Wheeler is the 7th best prospect in all of Major League Baseball, and is seen as the best single pitching prospect behind Dylan Bundy. The starting rotation situation doesn�t seem dire to me. While the rotation is expected to remain largely in tact, the offensive side of things is expected to be altered. According to Megdal, though, there�s a �strong likelihood of returning the same players.� According to Sandy Alderson and lots of the beat writers, the exact opposite is true. Andres Torres is expected to be non-tendered, Jason Bay is expected to be cut before the season begins, Josh Thole�s job isn�t safe, nor is Lucas Duda�s. In addition, with Jason Bay and Johan Santana�s contracts coming off the books after next season, the Mets should be able to take on some contracts in-season if the team�s performance merits it. So again, let�s see how the offense is constructed before limiting its potential in 2013. Megdal wraps up his article by stating the following: So if you�re keeping score at home, other than starting pitching, relief pitching, offense and defense, the 2013 Mets are ready to contend. I don�t think anyone (realistic, optimistic, pessimistic), can say with a straight face that a starting rotation that�s likely to consist of five of R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee, Matt Harvey, Johan Santana, Collin McHugh, Zack Wheeler, and Jenrry Mejia is not at worst above average. If that�s your contention, you�re simply not being honest. Either that, or you haven�t watched the above guys pitch. And again, the bullpen and offense (which of course includes the defense) have yet to be constructed. The three guys you�d expect to be back on the offensive/defensive side of things are David Wright (who�s currently having his best fielding season), Ruben Tejada (steady), and Ike Davis (steady). Not one of those players is sub-par defensively. Still, Megdal cites a �terrible� defense that includes those three players and others who�ve yet to be determined. As Megdal has done, it�s been customary this year for everyone to pile on the Mets � even when it�s completely unwarranted and premature. The 2013 Mets may win 40 games, or 70, or 90, or 110. It can�t be debated that watching the 2012 Mets go from 46-39 to out of contention in the blink of an eye was painful to watch. Frankly, it sucked. However, no one expected the team to contend this year. My �everything works out� prediction was 84 or so wins. Most expected the Mets to finish the year in last place. It remains to be seen how the 2012 Mets will finish, though they�re currently on pace to win around 76 or so games. What hasn�t been revealed (aside from the starting rotation that should largely remain in tact, and the expectation that David Wright, Ruben Tejada, and Ike Davis will be here), are the players who will make up the rest of the roster in 2013. Until that�s known, asserting what the 2013 Mets can or cannot do is pointless. http://risingapple.com/2012/09/10/a-realistic-rebuttal-of-negative-hyperbole/

The Mets corrupted Edgy.

Edgy DC wrote: Bryce Bryce Baby expected to be sitting. Makes sense. Harper's looked clueless against R.A all season long, in practically every at bat.

David is now on pace to pass Krane on Monday, September 24, 2012, at home against Pittsburgh.

Floyd was an Expo before he was a Met. Otherwise, I'da pictured a lot more, including these:

MFS62 wrote: Two other Mets later worked for the Expos. Larry Bearnarth became their pitching coach and Ron Taylor (after he got his medical degree)worked as their team Doctor. On edit, Taylor became the team doctor for the Blue Jays. Later Lotsa post Mets Expos aren't pictured. For example, there's no Expos card for Ron Darling (Expos - 1991).

Teeny tiny.

I swear I'm not not making this up. The most awesome batting practice display I ever saw in attendance by a home team Met was put on by ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bruce Boisclair.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Nuthin' wrong with those Partridge Family suggestions but if you're gonna go with '70's non sports trading cards, these below fit the subject.

Nuthin' wrong with those Partridge Family suggestions but if you're gonna go with '70's non sports trading cards, these below fit the subject.

It's harder to read names on latter-day cards. That's my biggest complaint about the newer cards. First off, the names on the hard to read cards probably aren't printed: they're embossed. And the card companies use funky, showy glittery materials to emboss the players names. To me, it's more of a distraction than a positive design element. They're difficult to read even when you're holding the card in your hand in the real world. It's usually harder if you're looking at a photograph of the card, like here. Frisella? Or Leroy Nieman?

Looks like all the fun's in this thread.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: But again, unless we're gonna get new owners .... Like maybe some oil sheik who'll build a new stadium with his own money. A new stadium, with a nice scoreboard -- a modern take on the original Shea scoreboerard, and a Mets hall of fame as big as the you know who rotunda. A modern masterpiece of architecture that pays homage to the orange and blue Shea shingles. A brickless backstop. Because the brick wall backstop was way cool when the Cubs were the only team that had one. I repeat, the brick backstop was charming mostly because no other team had it. Including the Mets. But when eff and Jeff decided to install the 48th iteration of the brick wall backstop, the charm of it all went out the window.

Although I post articles on the Mets finances frequently, most of my interest in following this storyline has waned. I get it. Money will be tight for the near future and if the Mets are to be competitive soon, it'll be on the backs of relatively cheap ballplayers exceeding expectations or developing ahead of schedule. But unless some writer shows me a path where all of this leads to the Wilpons selling the team .... I just don't hardly give a shit anymore. It's all mostly Megdal essentially repeating the same mantra every time he writes anything about the Mets: The Mets are broke and didn't I tell you so? Yeah, Howie, you did. You said that already. And I'm truly happy that you continue to cover this angle with the passion with which you do. But again, unless we're gonna get new owners ....

9/06/2012 @ 5:18PM | The New York Mets Are On The Right Track Before you can move ahead, you need to cut your losses. That�s about where the New York Mets are right now, both on the field and off. Various news local news outlets, including the New York Post and ESPN New York, reported the Mets will show an expected loss of $23 million this season. That�s progress from the roughly $100 million the club reportedly lost during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Much of the difference can be chalked up to a reduction in payroll: the club jettisoned Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez late last year and then let Jose Reyes leave after the season. Madoff debt still hangs over the franchise. But with the losses narrowing and the capital base injected with a fresh $240 million from minority investors, the Mets position is getting steadily stronger. The contracts of Santana, on the books for over $21 million a year, and Jason Bay, the colossal bust who signed as a free agent in 2010, are up after next season (though the Mets do get hit with some $8 million in buyout costs to keep them away in 2014). Bill Maher and the other minority investors may have bought in at just the right time. The chances of re-signing David Wright and R.A. Dickey are good. And plenty of other signs exist that the Mets on-field product may soon be strong enough to generate the attendance and suite sales numbers the owners envisioned at Citi Field from the beginning. Despite a post All-Star break free fall, the Mets� 65-72 record has generally exceeded expectations after the club watched Reyes walk to the Miami Marlins, Mike Pelfrey go down early to a season-ending elbow injury, and Johan Santana fade out of sight after a strong first half. Santana even left a precious parting gift before he went -the first no-hitter in franchise history. Sometimes the positive omens are impossible to miss. Young players like shortstop Ruben Tejada, first baseman Ike Davis and pitcher Jonathan Niese seem to respond to energetic manager Terry Collins. Pitcher Matt Harvey has impressed since his callup from Triple-A last month. If the Mets� other top pitching prospect, Zack Wheeler (obtained for Beltran), is ready to join him in 2013, the club could have one of the NL�s top starting rotations. There�s still work to be done. But if the Madoff saga has a silver lining, it�s in forcing the Mets to do what they should have done earlier: ramp up the talent base and build something sustainable rather than spin your wheels trying to win every year. With a little bit of patience, you�ll not only sell out those suites, you�ll sell them out for several years. http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2012/09/06/the-new-york-mets-are-on-the-right-track/