A Boy Named Seo

Huh. 32-year old righty had his career-best K/9 (10.59) and pushed his FB velocity up a full tick to a career-high 95 MPH. I don't know how much this guy costs, but he looks sneakily intriguing.

Now we can't even get a Brad Brach meeting. :'-(

what a sad, hilarious thread to read.

Seems like he's been good, like, only last year. That's the kinda dude that dumps a 4 and a half ERA on you in year 1 of a slightly questionable 2-year deal. I keep lookin'.

I didn't realize until just right now that Dan Warthen is now an assistant pitching coach for... wait for it... the Texas Rangers.

Yah, i'm w/ BG on quality and durability. The number of dudes scares me less than "THESE ARE THE DUDES".

Starting pitcher should be near the top of the shopping. Our depth is seriously lacking depth. I read something yesterday that Harvey for the O's Brad Brach was kicked around by one or both sides. We flirted with traded for him or signing him a season or 2 ago, IIRC. I'm way less in favor of a move like this compared to the #FakeNews Profar trade which I'm all about.

Ceetar wrote: [tweet]https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/940319530424860673[/tweet] as a result of [tweet]https://twitter.com/Evan_P_Grant/status/940319710155034624[/tweet] I clearly spend too much time on twitter that I can see all these crumbs. But work is slow. Were both those tweets really at the same time? In that dude Evan Grant's article, he shows a different Heyman tweet w/out the reference to Grant's piece. Was wondering if Heyman made the edit to show his source? Or Heyman found it and added it as a second voice to back his rumor? I dont understand twitter all that much.

Ceetar wrote: Second hand, someone just told me MLBNetwork is speculating on a potential Harvey for Jurickson Profar deal. I have no idea how accurate that is. Profar has thus far underperformed (to say the least), but he is still only 24. very inaccurate, if anything. One of the Rangers beat guys suggested it as an idea earlier today, probably in response to the mostly unfounded "Harvey for a reliever" speculation that the Mets were willing to move him and need relief help (though not necessarily together) Then someone mentioned that the Mets and Rangers had some lunch together briefly, and someone drew some lines between some dots and voila, rumor. Even though Ceeter knows more than anyone that this is #FakeNews, I've long had a crush on Profar, and mining very talented guys that other teams are giving up on is good idea here, I think. Oh and Ceets, it's unlikely any teammate is gonna say to a beat writer, "that Matt Harvey is an asshole" but after he showed up late after partying, one anonymous teammate said this anyway: https://nypost.com/2017/05/09/extremely-embarrassed-matt-harvey-begs-mets-for-forgiveness/ “Actions speak louder than words,” one Mets teammate said after Harvey apologized for skipping Saturday’s game, leading to the right-hander receiving a three-game suspension from the club. “We’ve all been out late, but you’ve got to show up. You’ve got to go to work.” Sounds very David Wright-y, but it's still criticism from a teammate. That's not made up. It's not nothing.

This is a good read about this trade, the state of the Marlins under the owner's lead, and Jeets' place in it. The Ringer --> https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2017/12/9/16756778/giancarlo-stanton-trade-miami-marlins-new-york-yankees-bruce-sherman Seriously, who is the Marlins GM? I wonder who is/are the people that engineered this specifically? And I wonder how much Jeter's paws were all over it or not?

I was the one that said that if Harvey was an asshole and his teammates didn't like working with him, then I'd understand a greater push to trade him. After he was hungover and late to the park or missed his start, whatever it was, I remember teammates talking to the press about him having to get his shit right and show up for work. I read that as dudes being pissed at his behavior. Maybe they're all the best bros now, maybe they never stopped being best bros, I don't know. But that act will wear thin on anyone, if not corrected, employers at the top of that list. Especially if the ERA is still in the 6 neighborhood.

Ceetar wrote: 41Forever wrote: The thing that we might not know is whether he is just unbearable to have around and it would be addition by subtraction by not having him around. Highly doubt it. I'm kinda concerned there seems to be a clubhouse chemistry vibe around this discussion. Assholes are never fun to be around, regardless of the room or the profession. If a shitty baseball player is also an asshole (allegedly!) and his own peers don't like working with him, then yeah, I'd understand if there was a larger push to move him.

Harvey is the kind of asshole I wish the Mets would be getting creative with, not dumping him when his trade value is at its lowest. Turn Harvey into that bad ass reliever we need. Maybe a season removed from thoracic outlet, the velocity and control are much better. If it doesn't work or he's still shitty, then his value is still next-to-nothing and we can trade him for the boring, low-value, known-commodity we're no doubt chasing right now. Don't be boring, Mets!

MLBTR sez the Marlins get Seattle's #2 ranked pitcher Nick Niedert (although "scouts have not been all that high on Neidert’s future prospects in the majors"), and two additional A-ball players. The M's inherit all of Dee's contract ($38M/3 years) and they will apparently plug him in as their new centerfielder. #JuanSamuel2.0 Maybe the most important tidbit is the Mariners got $1M of Miami's international bonus $$, which gives them the most $$ to offer of the 7 teams left in the Ohtani sweepstakes. I guess if that $1M puts them over-the-top to land the big fella from Japan, then the M's could be... like, mediocre? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Rotation led by Paxton, the rotting corpse of Felix Hernandez, and Ohtani, and an offense featuring Dee Gordon, Ohtani, Robinson Cano, Corey Seager's brother, and Father Time Nelson Cruz. They kinda have to get Ohtani or they're just gonna be an old, shitty 73-win team. Good trade!

Looks like he gets the 4-year/$28M contract that MLBTR predicted. I can say I absolutely would've been ok with the Mets giving him that contract as a starter or really good LOOGY (but it seems he wanted to go back to the rotation). I know we allegedly have 7 or so starting pitchers, but he's better than probably 5 of them, and at that rate, it shouldn't take much to get $28M worth of value out of him. Kudos to the Royals for giving this guy a shot to prove he's still good. I wish we'd do more of that kinda thing, throw a few more darts at cheap, talented throwaways. They don't always work out, but the Dodgers the last few years have signed a bunch of talented, but hurt dudes who other teams had given up on. Sometimes you miss on the Brandon Beachy and Erik Bedard, but you look pretty good when you hit on a Brandon McCarthy, Brandon Morrow, or even Brett Anderson for almost nil.

Weird things I stumble upon on FB: Help EX WFAN STAR CRAIG CARTON Shocker, no donations yet....... A man is guility until he is proven guilty. Damn, too bad I already picked my charity for the CPF exchange :'-(

Anyone seen this? I'd watched it a few years after it came out and made my poor gf watch it last night. I feel asleep, of course, and woke up to her sobbing her eyes out at Bjork's beautiful performance. It's a dark musical, all the original score is written and performed by Bjork (including one amazing duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke). [youtube:2ytp5mv1]53vr9EiOH7g[/youtube:2ytp5mv1] Fun fact! In this, her acting debut, Bjork was nominated for a ton of awards including Golden Globe for best actress and the Oscar for best music (and she won a ton of smaller awards, too!). Another fun fact! Bjork's debut would also be her retirement, as she said the emotional toll of playing this character was something she never wanted to go through again. :'-( Less fun fact! Very recently, Bjork joined the #metoo movement, essentially calling out (not by name) Lars Von Trier for sexual harassment during filming of this very movie. story -> https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bjork-details-danish-directors-sexual-harassment-toward-her-w509026 As I said, this movie is beautiful and heavy, and the soundtrack is gorgeous. You may need to watch a couple episodes of "Friends" or "How I Met Your Mother" afterward to reset your emotional compass. Don't watch if you're a shitty mood! Available on Amazon Prime for $3, or free on the internet if you don't give a shit about stealing!

SteveJRogers wrote: According to MLB programming partner Seth Everett, he put a curse on the Met franchise, that I suppose will never be lifted. I don't follow you, Steve. What's that about?

LOL @ MOFO street poet. I'm 99.999% certain I saw Darryl Hamilton at a bar in Long Beach a couple years after his retirement. He and my gf were both wondering why the hell I kept staring at him.

Mike Cameron?

d'Kong76 wrote: I don't think he meant one wouldn't expect it, I think he was just being colorful or something. I wonder what Harv's up to these days; I could see him showing up in camp in the best shape of his life and I could also see him showing up two belt holes fatter with another chin or two. Funny you should ask... Harvey's offseason regimen. Matt Harvey is back in the dating game — after his romantic disaster earlier this year with Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima. Sources tell Page Six that Mets hurler Harvey has been getting close with a blond bombshell named Kristina Krishka. “Instagram model” and cocktail waitress Krishka describes herself in her bio on the social-media site with just “Travel, Hospitality, Fitness,  Ukrainian, Polish, Made in the USA.”

If you guys didn't see this, Ohtani's people sent a letter to all 30 clubs requesting the info below. The letter, sent to all 30 clubs Friday and obtained by The Times, asks for clubs to address seven non-financial points in their presentations: -An evaluation of Shohei’s talent as a pitcher and/or a hitter; -Player development, medical, training and player performance philosophies and capabilities; -Major League, Minor League, and Spring Training facilities; -Resources for Shohei’s cultural assimilation; -A detailed plan for integrating Shohei into the organization; -Why the city and franchise are a desirable place to play; -Relevant marketplace characteristics.” The Mets would have to lie their asses off a little of the 2nd point, but if those last 4 are truly important to Ohtani, and the Mets are truly serious about him, they should legit be a contender for his services with the Yankees, Dodgers, Rangers and Mariners. I would have Aoki, Nomo, Kaz Matsui, Dice-K, Mr. Sparkle all reach out to him and tell him how effing great the opportunities for Japanese players are in NYC and how easy it is to settle in in such a multi-cultural city. I would have Mickey, David Wright, Yo, deGrom and Thor all get in touch with him and tell him how they can't wait to play with him. I would send a video showing his smiling face plastered all over world-famous NY landmarks wearing blue and orange. I would have Kristaps Porzingis on this video wearing a goddamn Ohtani Mets jersey telling him, "Come to Queens, dude, do it!!" Then I'd ask Seinfeld, Rock, Jon Stewart and a bunch of other MLBS's to join in. I might even show an imaginary uniform retirement ceremony at the end of that vid. If you were the Mets, what would YOU reply with, specifically on last 4 points?

Pretty good article here on the challenges Ohtani would face being a legit 2-way player. Assuming the Mets did submit a pitch, I would cut off a limb to see it.

So in the end the difference maker will prob not be that one team had $2M bonus dollars to offer instead of another team's $500K. It'll be some shady nod/wink extension agreement ahead of time. I think we should be that shady team. -Rostering him fixes the short bench problem if the Mets choose to carry that extra pitcher. -Every 4th game there is no hole in the lineup. -For interleague games, we have an awesome DH. deGrom threw 201 IP last year and got 77 plate appearances. You'd rarely (never?) have to PH for Otani so he could prob get another 25 or 30 plate appearances right there just because you could still let him hit in the 6th even if you weren't gonna let him pitch the 7th. And if he never started a game for us in the outfield and we only used him as a pinch hitter, as a DH in the 8 interleague away games, and on days he pitched, you could still easily get 300 PA for him, no? That plus 150 innings or more of hopefully very, very good pitching? And he's 23?!? Sneak some shady shit, Mets!

Oops! Thanks for the clean-up job.