Frayed Knot

Edgy MD wrote: I didn't see Fredi motion to protest before getting tossed. Carlos Tosca, your move. If you don't do it immediately then you lose your chance.

Now you can NOT be bunting w/Duda.

Lagares is one of those guys who's great at bunting for a hit but can't sac bunt.

I hope to hell this gets reversed, but I'm really getting to hate this shit.

This Shae (nice spelling, ace!) Simmons is the guy we couldn't touch last time, so they're sticking him in-between Walden who we never hit and Kimbrel who we can't hit.

I swear if Grandy's HR was only four feet over the wall instead of eight that Heyward was going to steal it. I fully expected him to steal it in fact.

The other thing Keith's not mentioning is that I think Campbell was too 'deep' on that cutoff, Seems to me he should be closer to the plate.

And in four quick batters we go from a two-run lead to having to come back vs Kimbrel

Problem is, once he [black] gave up the rocket to Freddie then you want to limit the chances of Heyward bringing him home, and the guy who best fit that role was Edgin. And now that's like four big 2-out/RBI hits by Chris Johnson just against the Mets this season.

Zvon wrote: OOO, going to Mejia in the 8th. It's the right move, IMO. Familia just hasn't been as sharp lately.

And I was just about to remark about how useful Josh Edgin had become this year. The kicker is, a better bounce and Freddie would have been meat at the plate.

Do you suppose prior to settling on 'and the News' that Huey Lewis considered 'and the Post-Dispatch' or and the Gazette'?

Dice-K, given the opportunity to have a 1-2-3/low-pitch count inning and start the next with the pitcher leading off, says; "NAAAAAAH!"

Updated so as to include this series too. The three game sweep last week were games 5 thru 7 of a Nine game winning streak for the Braves, broken only yesterday by a 3-1 loss to the DBacks. As with the games against us, most of the Braves wins during that streak were close ones, as are the majority of their wins this season. They've been the anti-Mets this year as they're currently sitting ten games above .500 despite being a mesely +12 in their RS/RA totals. They actually score less than the Mets but are better at preventing runs. IOW, by no means is this some kind of dominating team. Monday 7:10 -- Mike Minor vs Matsuzaka Minor gave up 4 runs on 9 hits in 4.1 IPs in the 2nd game of the series in Atlanta, but Dice-K was worse and the Mets lost 5-4 despite out-hitting the Braves 10-7 Tuesday 7:10 -- Julio Teheran vs deGrom Teheran held the Mets to 1 runs over 7 innings (4 Hits 5 K, 3 BB) while deGrom gave up a 1st inning 3R HR (w/2 outs of course) to Chris Johnson. Final score = 3-1 Wednesday 7:10 -- Ervin Santana vs the return of Gee Santana faced the Mets twice in April and won both times: allowed 0 runs on 3 hits over 8 innings on April 9, then 1 run on 6 hits over 7 10 days later. Thursday 7:10 -- Aaron Harang vs Colon Harang also pitched twice vs the Mets in April and the Mets didn't particularly hit him either time. 1 run on 2 hits over 6 in an eventual 4-0 NYM win; he then was in the midst of a fugly no-hitter thru 6 innings ten days later but was pulled due to 6 BBs and 121 pitches. Final score = Braves 6 - Mets 0 (1 hit) Evan Gattis is their only significant player currently on the DL. Young Christian Bethancourt getting most of the starts rather than vet backup Gerald Laird.

Lance Johnson

Jerry Grote say hi!

Muffy was the one and only logical choice - especially with Niese now DL'd

None of these even qualify as rumors. Speculation is more like it. The Wheeler for Castro thing was nothing more than a talk radio topic starter: Hey Met fans, there's a better SS likely to be available. You want him? Here's what I think it'll take ... Yay or Nay? I mean it all makes sense -- Cubs have three potential SS at AA or higher with different sets of skills at the same time they're building for the near future and are even more pitching starved than they were three days ago -- but that's as far as the facts go right now. P.S. the building for the future part is why they'd be less likely to want Gee and more likely to opt for guys with 4-6 controllable years in front of them.

As to the questions about whether Syndergaard was too high a price to pay for Castro, apparently WFAN's Jody McDonald last night* was talking up the idea of a Wheeler for Castro swap. * Didn't hear it myself, but heard said proposal being referred to a few hours later

Edgy MD wrote: 2) Left field, on the other hand, is as much of a non-starter as I thought it was. Good news is that it's among the easiest positions to fill. Promote Michael Conforto NOW!!!! ... er, OK, sign him first, THEN promote him

The Yanks have also DFA'd Alfonso Soriano, who has had the good grace to be outhit this year by Chris Young. And Eric Young. And Ruben Tejada. And Jacob deGrom. Looking at the stats for Soriano, he had almost exactly the same # of ABs this season as he had last year for the Yanx after being dealt mid-year ... but the results were very different. ABH2BHRBAOBASLG201321956817.256.325.525201422650156.221.244.367 And of course when he was playing well last year there was the usual smugness about how 'He always plays well for us'. Yeah he does ... except for when he doesn't.

Our pre-season short-stop thread is old and overly large and new interest in seeking to replace Ruben Tejada is taking over the deadline deal thread, so this is a good time to re-launch and update our search, starting off with a list that kicked off the earlier thread - with updates: JJ Hardy - Balt http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... jj01.shtml -- the pros and cons of him have been discussed elsewhere. although I don�t know if I�ve ever heard that he�s actually available Basically you�d be getting a good glove plus a big increase in power, but also more of the high-K/low-OBP stuff that�s plauged the rest of the lineup. And he�s one year from FA 2014 -- Same kind of low-OBA hitting as always, but only 2 HRs in 300+ ABs Stephen Drew - FA http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... st01.shtml -- Also discussed here elsewhere. Coming off a good season but it�s his only full one in the last three or four. Is already 31, wants a multi-year deal and would cost a draft pick on top of the one we�ve already ceded for Granderson. Finally signed as we all know and so is almost surely out of the picture - hitting just .150 BA thru 75 ABs so far Didi Gregorius - Ariz http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... di01.shtml -- Mariekson Julius Gregorius, LHB, 23 y/o from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, was originally Reds property before being dealt to the Snakes a year ago in a three-way deal that docked the SS Choo in the river city. But the DBacks have other options at SS (see: Owings, Chris) and may be willing to deal. Hit decently for a rookie though no RoY votes; reportedly a good glove; and although I had thought he had good legs he�s has never been a base-stealer at any level. Split time in 2014 between AAA (good) and MLB (not so much) Chris Owings - Arizona http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... ch01.shtml -- A 22 y/o 41st round draft pick out of HS in South Carolina got his ML cuppa late this season. Minor league numbers are good but mainly in hitting environments (Cal Lg + AAA Reno) and much less so in between at sea-level AA Mobile. It�s his presence that reportedly makes Gregorius available so I�m guessing they like the glove a whole lot. #3 DBacks prospect (and top position player) this winter according to BA. Snakes have been active so far this winter and just dealt their next best prospect, 3B Matt Davidson, to the White Sox for closer Addison Reed. .277/.313/.458 in 250 ABs Elvis Andrus - Texas http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... el01.shtml -- Very strange situation. Is probably the one top young player signed to a long-term pre-arb deal that looks shaky in the early going. Toss in the fact that the Rangers have a better/younger one ready to go maybe makes him more available. Still only 23, the catch is that his contract runs through age 33 and for some heavy numbers by the end of the deal. Got a stay of execution when likely replacement Jurickson Profar was injured for the season - .271/.319/.348 Nick Franklin - Seattle http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... ni01.shtml -- 23 y/o by next spring w/400 ML ABs under his belt. The presence of Brad Miller makes his availability possible but the crew at MLBN questioned his ability to remain at SS. Hitting well (.297/.394/.486) but at AAA Tacoma and less than half the time at SS Brad Miller - Seattle http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... br02.shtml -- 24 y/o 2nd round pick in 2011 out of Clemson, apparently is considered the better SS of the two Mariners. REAL GOOD minor lg numbers from his late 2011 debut in A ball right thru to his AA + AAA in 2013 before his mid-year call-up. Good glove (from what I hear) but just .204/.273/.336 And now we have to toss in the various Chicago candidates Starlin Castro -- Pretty good stick (.290/.337/.470) but erratic glove (just ask Keith) Addison Russell -- Main bait in the Samardzija deal, Theo claims he got him to keep him (what else would he say?) but there's always the possibility he was acquired to be flipped - currently at AA Javier Baez -- Top-10 Prospect in all the pre-season lists, but is having a tough adjustment to AAA and may not be able to hang as a SS Asdrubal Cabrera -- Rumored to be available from Cleveland; 28 y/o and not hitting as well in 2013-14 as he was in earlier seasons [~ .245/.300/.400 over the last 800 ABs]

Edgy MD wrote: The players may aim to win the series, but how sweep-able was this after knocking out Darvish? Yesterday they got the 2-out/1st inning 3R HR, today we did. On such small turns of fate do things like series wins and/or sweeps ride.

A bit of an emphatic flair by Mejia over a four-run (non) save. Better to save your flourishes for tighter spots there Jennry.

Edgy MD wrote: Tack-on runs are just among the most beautiful things on earth. And necessary!