TransMonk

This may need to be split, but I was thinking about Harper during our most recent series with the Nats last week. He is having a great year statistically and seems like the odds on favorite to win the NL MVP going away, but nearly every time I have seen him up in a BIG spot for the Nats in a close game this season (and granted, the number of Nats games I've seen this season is tiny when compared to Mets games), he does not come through. I had to look up his 2015 close/late splits: 92 PA, 71 AB, 14 H, 4 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 20 BB, 25 K, .197/.380/.380/.761 (one of those three HRs was last his second of the game last Wednesday vs. the Mets). He's got the big conventional numbers hands down, but splits like this matter to me when I determine a player's value to a team, especially when that team under-performs and misses the post-season (potentially).

#offseasonproblems

Curtis Granderson Is Your Favorite Met

[fimg=300:3n6u962i]http://freshhealthyvending.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/freshandhealthy-620x598.jpg[/fimg:3n6u962i]

Yeah, I don't have beating the Yankees to a pulp as a priority. But, doing so would help make progress towards steps 1, 3 and 4 on that list. Plus, I would like them to continue the roll they are on against a team that is better than the Phils, Braves and Fish.

Double agreed. The Mets are closer to finishing with the best record in baseball than the Nats are to finishing as the NL East winner.

I can get down with that. Yeah, the NL Central is strong and the NL East is weak. Teams can only play the games given to them on their schedule. The Mets' record is competitive with leaders in the NL West and all of the divisions in the AL.

So, I read somewhere this week (I don't think it was here) that the Mets were closing in on the Cubs a Pirates in the standings, which would (according to this internet musing) be good in a scenario where the Mets were to face the Cubs or Pirates in a hypothetical [crossout]NLDS[/crossout] NLCS since having a better record would give the Mets home field advantage. But, I always thought that a division winner would get home filed advantage over a wildcard team in an LCS regardless of records. Am I wrong? Did I miss a change when the second wildcard team was added? Edited

sharpie wrote: Cliff Floyd was the other one For some reason I thought Delgado had two years in Miami, so I had Castillo and Delgado last night. I completely forgot about Floyd.

themetfairy wrote: Yes, Fulmer is a stud. But this was nonetheless a deal worth making. Agreed. Also, I preferred giving up Fulmer to Wheeler. Fulmer may have a high ceiling, but Wheeler is a known quantity at the major league level (if he can fully recover from TJ, obviously).

I do. But, I'm not as angry about it now as I was on June 10th.

I'd crown him the Mets' offensive MVP this season, but he doesn't have the "wow" factor that will get him much national attention. But, that's also one of my favorite things about the year he is having.

I'll eat crow here, too...and praise Alderson for filling needs without mortgaging too much future. No matter what happens in October, the 2015 has exceeded my expectations from nearly every angle on multiple occasions.

I think it depends on how the other three line up, whether the series starts at home or away and how much the team will be able to lean on Harvey.

Exactly, I'm just happy the Mets are at least indicating that there is interest (meaning the era of looking to acquire only cheap FAs may be ending). I don't really want any part of both the dollars and length that Cespedes is going to end up getting from some other sucker team.

I'll throw in that the 11 game winning streak in April has played a huge role in how the season has evolved. I think it upped expectations for the fans, players, press and management early in the season and allowed them to remain relevant in the divisional discussion even when the offense began to sputter in May and June. Had they gone even 7-4 over that span, they would have been under .500 in late July and maybe certain moves don't get made.

I couldn't name a favorite right now. I love them all. This is slowly becoming my favorite all-time Mets team. Great games and story lines all through this year.

Wright and d'Arnaud, too.

Another great game! Sorry I missed the thread.

The tinkerer in me says to flip Cespedes and Wright...but you can't mess with a good thing.

Edgy MD wrote: I don't think it's about one extra inning, so much as needing a warmup for general sharpness. I can get down with that, but the Yankees series is nearly three weeks away from a potential NLDS game. Wouldn't a warm-up be more prudent during the final week? I don't know...maybe I'm being too cautious on this, but I have this feeling in the back of my mind that either the Mets, Harvey or Boras is going to fuck this up even more than they already have.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I don't think they need a Harvey start to sell tickets. Ceetar wrote: Sunday against the Yankees is his day... Gwreck wrote: Pitching Harvey in that series is a strategic decision, not a business one. The games are already sold out. I'm not referring to ticket sales. I know the game is sold out. That Sunday game will be on ESPN and I'm guessing will be one of the most watched regular season games of the season by a national audience. There is promotional opportunity there that supersedes that single games' ticket sales. Given all of the hullabaloo over Harvey's innings recently, I'm not sold that Harvey is specifically necessary to win that game or if winning that game will be meaningful in the long run. If it's between him starting an inter-league game against the Yankees or being able to pitch one extra inning in the post-season, I shut him down every time. While I personally agree that limiting innings is guesswork at best, it seems obvious that everyone directly involved is promoting some sort of cap...so that's what we are stuck with.

Rubin said on ESPN radio that the Mets plan to skip Harvey's next start. I've heard the rumblings that they want to start him against the Yanks (I have no idea why they would do that other than promotion), but that would likely be his last start in the regular season (unless the Mets still have not won the division when the Nats come to town for the final series). Still no word on how/if he would line up in a potential playoff series.

I clapped so hard that my hands still stung an hour later.

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: While this was a gloriously demoralizing loss for the Nationals, I bet there are people who said the infamous Padres rain relay loss was going to be the demise of the Mets. Instead, it was just a low point. Yup. The low point that the team has completely rebounded from. Everything on the field since that day has been pretty glorious.