Frayed Knot

A two-RBI triple by Javy Baez puts the Tigers up 7-3 in the 8th in Philly The Phils had been down 5-0 until closing to 5-3 The Phils were losing most of yesterday's game too before rallying late.

Yes, but it's even worse when it's self-inflicted. Meanwhile, another day, another four innings from the starter.

Senga seems deathly afraid of pitching to Chapman since serving up two HRs to him in the game last week in SF. He walked him twice today and both looked to be semi-intentional. He did it the second time with two outs and none on and got burned by it.

Looking at this Teng guy's numbers at AAA this season, he didn't give up many hits/inning (39 in 54 IP) but also walked a bunch (21) He's been state-side since 2018 although prior to this season he hasn't had a lot of success aside from some early years in A-ball.

McNeil woulda had it. j/k

So if my team is going to suck I'm going to find some good news where I can get it. The Yanx were in Miami where they went up 6-0 in the 4th then 9-4 in the 7th before giving up 6 in the bottom of the 7th and were down for the first time 10-9 Eh, no problem, they notched 1 in the 8th plus 2 more in the 9th to take a 12-10 lead with their newly revamped bullpen to take care of business. Except there were problems: GO, 1B, Walk, 1B + E9 = 2 runs and a tie game w/winning run on 3rd/1-out. Infield grounder/no play at the plate and the Marlins win 13-12 New NYY bullpen acquisitions: - Jake Bird (7th): 0.1 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 BB - David Bednar (7th & 8th): 1.2 IP, 2 R, 4 H - Camilo Doval (9th): 0.1, 3 R, 2 H, 1 BB Total: 2.1 IP, 9 R (7 ER), 9 H, 2 BB Not as much at stake but along those same lines: Pirates scored 9 in the top of the 1st in Denver. Then late led 12-6 in the 5th and 16-10 after 6 Rox came back with 2 in the 8th then, with one out in the 9th, went: HR, BB, 3B, 1B, 2R-walk-off in the 9th for your routine 17-16 Coors Field win.

Not bad fielding but some less than ideal routes after balls.

I thought of Willard (not really) mlb.com, which listed the Mets as one of the six "winners" at the trade deadline*, had this to say about Mullins: The highlight move is trading for Cedric Mullins, who is going to look strange in a uniform that doesn’t have an orange bird on it, but otherwise should fit in snugly in Queens, doing just about everything well enough (if nothing spectacularly anymore) at a position of obvious need. He also is a free agent at the end of the year, which eliminates any real long-term risk. (And they’re going to love him there. Who doesn’t love Cedric Mullins?) * also Phils, Mariners, Astros, Padres, A's (for getting a top 5 overall prospect)

We don't do 'out of the infield' with runners on. It's just not our thing.

I would have rather that been a WP, not a HBP and moved the runner to 3rd. Plus I don't like the potential GiDP situation.

'Held 'em to one' is a semi-positive outcome in the Manfred Man era. The only problem is that the top of the order is up who are a collective 3 for their last 156 (or something like that).

Pete's now three behind Straw and we're two behind the Giants

Q: How are Gen Y'ers and the exit-velo from NYM bats alike? A: Both are in the 30s & 40s

That's at least the third (maybe 4th) 3-0 count Peterson has run tonight. Got away with it here.

There's nothing like feeling that they're in no-hit/insurmountable lead territory despite being down just 2-0 in the 4th inning.

We Have a Baserunner! We Have a Baserunner!

Bullpen arms seemed to be the theme of the deadline all over the league.

I don't remember a HoF claim specifically although I do remember him being referred to as a 'once in a generation' talent. But he was never that either. The problem with dealing Kelenic was the same as with PC-A, both were drafted high (JK = 6th overall, PCA 18th) and then traded the very same year* before the Mets had a chance to see even what each might become. Both then immediately flourished in their new teams' system to where Kelenic was a top-15 prospect by age 20 and top-10 by age 21. PCA was top 30 then top 20 by ages 21/22. So if the Mets had held on to either just one more season they either wouldn't have traded them away or, if they did, they would have been able to land a much better player(s) in return. Sometimes those things work out in your favor, Syndergaard took off only after joining the NYM system so, unless you're buying the idea that he flourished because of being in the NYM system, we couldn't have gotten him in a trade just a few months after we did. Remember that it was TdA who was the main bait in that deal. Thor was merely the sweetener. I suppose dealing guys that early is the baseball equivalent of trading draft picks, only instead of trading the pick before it happens you make the pick first and then make the trade. Arizona traded Dansby Swanson just six months after they made him the 1/1 pick. That didn't work out so well for the Snakes either. * PCA was actually traded the year after he was drafted (2020) but didn't play the first year due to Covid so had just 24 ABs in the NYM system when dealt.

Suarez to the Mariners for three prospects. He had previously played for Seattle in 2022 & '23

I'll go with 'Like' as well even if that wasn't my initial knee-jerk reaction. Look, it's tough to know how to evaluate minor leaguers. We rarely see them, their stats are sometimes subject to the oddities of minor league parks, and guys progress at different rates. It's also easy to hear about a 'good prospect' and have it take hold in your mind that he is going to be good one day, something that's often true right up until it's not. Most prospects, even some of the better ones, never become anything special. Plus Gilbert will be 25 in September and while he was on the pre-season 2024 prospect lists it was mostly on the back half of those lists [#93, #53, #29 / BA, MLB, BP] and he didn't repeat on any of them in '25. So while I don't want to say that he had become expendable, the key to managing prospects is in choosing which ones to bet on and maybe they simply decided that he wasn't the best one to retain. This isn't the same as dealing PCA just one year and 24 minor league ABs after drafting him in the 1st round (19th). Butto had a bunch of big contributions in the last year and a half, getting a replacement with not only a different look but a low walk rate, something that may continue to keep Butto from ever being consistent enough. Tidwell I know even less about but, again, several other starters in line seem to clearly be ahead of him. He seems like maybe a higher floor/lower ceiling type which is fine but not necessarily special. High price for a rental? Yeah, but also a needed piece and, with 1/3 of the season still to go, it gives him plenty of opportunities to make his time here worthwhile. Plus the team is in position for this type of move right now. btw, I never heard Gary say anything like 'Gilbert won't be ready for a ML roster until 2027'. That doesn't even make sense.

Ryan Dalton Helsley: 31 y/o (two weeks ago); R/R; 6'2"/235 Been with the Cards org his entire BB life, drafted in 2015/5th round out of Northeastern State U (Tahlequah, OK) 5+ year player so eligible for FA this winter. Got good starting in 2022. His combined stats from '22-'25 = 2.03 ERA; 1.03 WHIP; 6.0 H/9; 3.3 BB/9 (meh); 11.8 K/9; 0.6 HR/9 (14 in 204 IP) But a bit less good this season: 3.00 ERA / 1.39 WHIP!! mostly on account of a pretty bad month of June [8G, 8 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 2 HR]. Better since.

Tyler: 1.80 ERA / 0.86 WHIP Taylor (just dealt from CIN to PIT): 2.45 / 1.46 You choose. Besides, we got the younger one!

For that price we should get Tyler AND Taylor!

But there's a big gap between a "mid grade prospect" and a "very high price" (whatever that means) as the speculative cost for Robert. THAT's what I'm questioning!

Siri was acquired to be a part-time defensive CF w/some pop and cost the Mets a 27 y/o reliever with 2 ML games under his belt. He also makes 1/5 of what Roberts does now and more like 1/8 of what he's scheduled to earn going forward. Not even remotely a good comparison. If Luis Robert is obtainable for a 27 y/o reliever with no ML track record, count me in.