Frayed Knot

Now that we're down to the final 1/3 of the season, I'm starting to sort out my preferences among the contenders. Obviously I'm leaving the NL East out of the discussion. Also leaving out any team that's played themselves out of consideration. NL Central: Pirates, then Brewers, [Cincy], then Cards NL West: Giants over Dodgers AL East: Orioles, Jays, Rays -- I could take these teams in any order really. No strong preference here with the exception of Anybody But ... AL Central: Royals, Tigers AL West: A's, Mariners, Angels

Just caught up via tape delay (although missed the first four innings). First two NYM/SFG games = 4:30 total Today's Yanx/Sawx game = 3:56

I'll always insist that Jay Bell has the trophy retired for most anonymous [u:1kcma3r4]Full-Season[/u:1kcma3r4] Met of the 21st century. On the roster and (at least as far as I can remember) uninjured from opening day to closing. Looking through his records I count 26 starts for him including 16 complete games, yet still averaged out to less than 1 PA/G (142) for the season as a whole. Never fewer than 15 PAs in any month, yet never reached as many as 40 in a month.

Curtis Granderson, rf Daniel Murphy, 2b David Wright, 3b Lucas Duda, 1b Travis d'Arnaud, c Juan Lagares, cf Wilmer Flores, ss Jacob deGrom, rhp Eric Young Jr., lf Hunter Pence, rf Brandon Crawford, ss Buster Posey, c Pablo Sandoval, 3b Michael Morse, lf Brandon Belt, 1b Joe Panik, 2b Juan Perez, cf Jake Peavy, rhp

2nd baseman of the future?

Niese - 1.2 Black - 0.3 Duda - 1.5

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: I disagree. It makes no sense to me that a runner can try to bowl over a catcher and not another fielder. Do you want someone bowling over a third-baseman? There's actually never been any kind of rule that treats fielders differently than catchers in these situations. The differences between plate-blocking and base-blocking has always been more tradition than rule and other fielders have simply been smart enough not to physically block bases. Though obviously there's more than just smarts going on here, There's just little to gain for a runner hitting a fielder both because many plays at bases are force plays (they're out before they even get there) but mainly, unlike at home, the runner needs to retain possession of the base after the collision. Shit, if I were David Wright and saw big 'ol Yasiel Puig barreling in on me (and he's probably just the guy who'll try it) I'd just step aside while he rolls over the bag and then tag him out somewhere over by the coaching box.

It's almost as if people in the game are trying not to grasp this rule. That's increasingly what it sounds like. Runners certainly seem to be treating this as a 'must slide' kind of mandate popular in weekend softball leagues, and because such an attitude effectively eliminates ALL collisions it's as if the league isn't interested in correcting that notion even though the rule says nothing of the sort. I was for this rule and I'm still OK with the idea of it but, like replay, implementation of it is a lot more complicated in practice than in theory. To me it should be fairly simple: 1) if the catcher has the ball he can block the plate and if he doesn't then he can't 2) blocking without the ball results in a safe call no matter the actual outcome 3) hitting the catcher who is NOT blocking results in an out call no matter what the actual outcome This all gives the catcher clear options. If you know the ball is going to beat the runner then you can opt to block the plate or to go for the swipe-tag. If you don't know know if ball is going to beat runner then it's best that you stay out of the path lest ye get steamrolled and, yes, steamrolling is still legal. Where they're getting hung here up is on point #2, specifically what constitutes 'blocking'. At the moment it seems to be interpreted as the catcher being on the 3rd base side of the plate without the ball at any point during the play - or at least at some un-defined distance that could be interpreted that way, or maybe in a different way depending on the crew inside the stadium or back in NYC on that particular night. I certainly don't think that was anyone's intent when they started but there seems to be no logical cutoff that allows for anything else. There was no chance of contract in this Marlins/Reds play (not before Mathis had the ball anyway) but now you've got folks talking about how the catcher's stance affects the thinking of the runner before he's even halfway home.

But even Sandy admitted that it's a gray area as to when the blocking rule comes into effect. He specified "25-30 feet out", then added: 'or something like that', but it's exactly that sort of wishy-washiness that's getting everyone confused. Is 35 feet OK? How 'bout 40? Catchers are being called for blocking a runner who isn't close enough to be blocked.

themetfairy wrote: Thank goodness for Obi Juan Lagares! Until he became a base running idiot.

Zvon wrote: I tuned in to the game when Sandy was talking about the blocking the plate rule, and I missed most of that. Just got the very tail end. I'll have to replay that later- that sounded interesting. Everything else he said was in line with all anonymous sources who ask not to be named. See the 'Miami Marlins' thread on the front page here for a discussion/rant (OK, I'm the only one ranting) on the blocking rule and that play specifically.

No doubt Drew is a better glove man than St Derek of Jeteria and will start at SS on the odd Jeter day off/DH start, but the Yanx don't really swap out Jeter mid-game. He doesn't run as well as he used to but he still moves better than most of the Clydesdales they have on that squad; it's the AL so you don't ever double-switch; and if they want to improve their 'D' there are several guys they'd move before him. Plus Jeter has never played an inning in his entire career at a position other than SS (and the occasional DH) and, although no one there will say so, I suspect he desperately wants to retire with that on his record.

Half the game gone in under an hour. Helps to speed things along when one side doesn't clog up the game with any of those hit things. Tonight's poll will deal with where the Yanx/Sawx game will be when this one ends. The over/under is bottom 6th

NY Post talks about how Jacob got his groove on The article is as much about scouting as it is about JdG The somewhat ironic part here is that certain Met fans in the Omar era (some of whom had derided the team he inherited as "too old, too slow, and too white") heard his stated aim for getting more "athletes" into the system and read into it a stealth program to create an all-Black/Hispanic team, aka: 'no more white guys allowed'. And now lookie at what it produced!

This will be Matt Duffy's ML debut for the San Franz. 18th round draft pick 2012 out of Cal St Long Beach, was hitting .332/.398/.444 in AA Richmond Already sounds better than Dan Uggla Juan Perez was just recalled from AAA Fresno. Was the opening day LF but hitting .152 tends to get you benched and/or demoted. But, hey, it gets Michael Morse's glove out of the outfield.

From what I understand, one of the guardians of this galaxy (not sure if it's our galaxy or not) is a raccoon?

So all this wheeling and dealing (including one deal where the two combatants dealt with each other) comes on the eve of a Yanx/Sawx series, albeit one with less emphasis than most of the ones in recent years. All of which got me to thinking, for the Sox in particular but it kind of works both ways: So who's left to actually pitch in this series? See if you can match up the pitchers for this weekend's games with the team for which they'll be toeing the slab: Shane Greene Chris Capuano Anthony Ranaudo David Phelps Clay Buchholtz Allen Webster OK, Buchholtz is fairly easy but the others have made 1, 4, 0, 16, and 8 game starts for their clubs this season. There are probably a dozen other games that would serve ESPN better on their Sunday Night GotW - but of course they are powerless to resist. Greene, Capuano (picked up Last week), Phelps are Yanx Buchholtz, Ranaudo (ML debut) & Webster are Bostonians

From the game story on MLB.com: [Miami catcher] Mathis was ruled to be in violation of the newly instituted Rule 7.13 from Major League Baseball, which stipulates: "unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the Umpire, the catcher, without possession of the ball, blocks the pathway of the runner, the Umpire shall call or signal the runner safe." Oooooh-Kaaaaaaaay, but nowhere does it stipulate what constitutes "blocking" in relation to the location of the runner. The way it's been enforced makes it clear that the runner doesn't yet have to be at home plate, but how soon before? two strides?, six?, the moment he leaves 3rd base? Reds manager Price: "The throw clearly beat our guy, Cozart, and he was out by a fairly reasonable margin [but] the catcher from the inception of the ball going off the bat had taken away the entire plate. " --- Me: So? Reds runner Cozart: "I really didn't know what to do, because [Mathis] was in front of the plate ... It was kind of an awkward thing to not be able to slide or anything." --- Me: Oh bullshit, you could have slid into him, around him, or barreled through him because he had the ball by that point and had it before you even had to begin a slide. Oh, and the replay review took over six minutes, something we were assured was never, ever going to happen. 'No really, it'll be quick, it won't add any time to the game at all'

Ceetar wrote: Prado hasn't been real good [career worst 686 OPS Y-t-D in fact] Well then it's a good thing he's not signed for the next 2-1/2 seasons and owed some $25 million or anything ... oh wait! The bad news for the DBacks on Prado is that they bought high (was a main cog in the Justin Upton deal right after Prado's All-Star season for Atlanta), then overpaid him with a 4-year/$40 mil contract, and now are selling low (a minor league "catcher" w/power but no real position). The good news is that they got some other team to absorb more than 60% of that deal and give them a professional ballplayer in return.

The Miami catcher is blocking the plate slightly more in this case than against Nieuwenhuis, but I still don't even think that's the point. The rule I supported (and thought was the one they implemented) was that if a catcher blocks the plate without the ball a runner sliding around, crashing into, or bowling over him was going to be declared 'Safe' even if he didn't reach the plate because of the illegal block. On the other hand, a runner crashing into a catcher who was giving him a path to the plate was going to be declared out (and probably ejected) regardless of whether or not he beat the tag. What we have instead is some hazily defined rule where if a catcher is between the plate and the runner at some point--but at what point?: when he gets close?; how close?; when he's halfway down the line?; as soon as the throw is made?--then the runner is safe no matter what.

The Mets may well face Uggla again sometime in the future, but it won't be this weekend. After picking Dan Uggla up off waivers and then sampling him for less than a week (3 games, 3 errors, no hits) the Giants came to the same conclusion that the Braves came to and re-released him.

And that tag woulda/shoulda been the 3rd out, but then Cincy got a hit right after that and scored another run or two. Final score: 3-1 I no longer understand this rule. I liked the idea of it at first but that was back when I thought it was going to be different from what it has become. In this case, the catcher CLEARLY has the ball prior to the runner ever reaching home (he's barely getting to that outer circle) so I don't see how the catcher is 'blocking' him.

That would be Dan Uggla, 0-11 [u:3b9614kb]and 3 errors[/u:3b9614kb] in his brief SFG tenure.

I just remembered that I'm on IGT duty as I believe Wednesday's game was my first IGT-win of the season. btw, Subject headings considered but rejected for this thread included: I'm Singing this Vogelsong for You; You Can Tell Everybody This is Your Vogelsong; and Ride of the Vogelsong Boatmen Ryan Vogelsong: 5-8; 3.94; 1.35 in 22 starts - faces off against Niese The 58-50 Giants are the current leaders in the NL WC chase 1/2 game ahead of Atlanta & St Louis but 3.5 games behind LA. Much of their success however is due to their hot start which saw them reach the end of May with a 36-20 record. In fact the high point of the season came following the June 6-8 sweep of the Mets and a 9.5 game lead in the NL West. But not too much has gone right for them since. Their combined June-July mark is 22-30 (16-29 since that June 8th game) ending with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers in a 1st place showdown last weekend and then losing 2-of-3 to the Pirates. C - Buster Posey, although he's playing almost as much 1B lately as catcher 1B - Posey and/or Michael Morse, and/or the re-acquired and recently promoted bowl of suck that is Travis Ishikawa 2B - The just picked-up Dan Uggla is now the just re-released Dan Uggla. Which means I don't know who Joe Panik is (23 y/o, June 2014 debut, Hopewell Junction NY via St Johns Univ) but he's probably going to be the starting 2B this weekend. SS - Brandon Crawford has played nearly every day this season 3B - Ditto for Pablo Sandoval OF - Lately it's been Morse in LF (which does horrible things to your defense), Gregor Blanco in CF, and Hunter Pence in RF NOT appearing lately in starting lineups: Brandon Belt (1B) 7-day DL although could return this weekend Angel Pagan (CF) DL (back injury) about to start playing rehab games in Arizona Matt Cain (P) off to see Dr. James Andrews Series continues Saturday night: Jake Peavy v deGrom, Sunday afternoon (1:10): Madison Bumgarner v Colon; and again on Monday afternoon (12:10): Tim Hudson vs Gee

The Marlins even got into the trade business today making a multi-player swap with the Astros which signals that they aren't giving up on a playoff run this season. To Miami: 24 y/o RHP Jason Cosart, 25 y/o AAA OF Austin Wates, and 22 y/o IF/OF Enrique Hernandez To Houston: OF Jake Marisnick; 18 y/o P Francis Martes; 2013 1st round (6th overall) draft pick Colin Moran; and the new bit coin of MLB: a competitive balance draft pick