Frayed Knot

metirish wrote: Parnell throws 100mph plus so he has to be the closer I don't even think it's that specifically - hell, Acosta's getting it up there at 97 or so - it's more like the desire to establish one person as THE designated closer and Parnell's the younger/home-grown option. Again, it's that strict 'roles' thing. seawolf17 wrote: ... for the life of me just don't understand why no team has been successful using a committee. Because they never really try it, and if they do they're not only too quick to abandon it at the first sign of failure but also too willing to assign any failure to the structure itself. The BoSox sort of tried this a bunch of years back (maybe 2003?) but it bombed and the media shit-storm that followed was enough to probably prevent anyone from trying it again. The reason it failed is that their relief pitching sucked that year but the blame was laid at the feet of the brain-trust who concocted things. IOW (according to conventional wisdom) it didn't fail because the guys in the pen had bad years, it was that the set-up with its lack of defined roles caused all the relievers to have bad years. So they then went out and signed Keith Foulke to a four-year deal and he had a great year and they broke 'the curse' and everyone was happy. That Foulke went on to get injured and waste their money for the remaining three years of the deal gets over-looked a bit, but then Papelbon came along and they won again in '07 so it must logically follow that having a closer makes you win the World Series. The stupid thing here is that whatever they do it's only for a short span anyway and with no post-season hopes on the line. Even going back to the Rodriguez trade it's still just a whopping half-season to experiment. But instead of using a combination of Izzy & Parnell after KRod was booted out (based on whoever was fresher, or matched up better, or looked better in the pen that night) they felt the need to go strictly with Izzy (on account of him having done it before) and only abandoned that after several bad outings in a row and even then it's with the added excuse of knowing that he's not the future anyway. Then it was on to strictly Parnell so as to 'establish' him in the role so there are fewer winter-time questions going into next year. Not that any of that is what caused last night's loss. Acosta & Beato had already been used (and Acosta PH'd for) and so Parnell was the logical go-to guy there - he just didn't get it done (plus we got into too big a hole, gave up 3 HRs, and didn't hit their relief pitching when we had the chance, etc.). The problem is that with Acosta hot and Parnell not I'm sure they'll still be reluctant to switch the roles even for one game simply based on the questions it'll stir -- "Is Manny now the permanent closer?" ... "Does this mean you think Bobby can't handle the job?" ... "How will it affect his psyche?" ... "Will you be looking for an established closer on the open market this winter?" ... yyybbb.

I know relievers always want their roles if not strictly defined then at least as close to it as possible -- but I'm all for mixing things up and just using Acosta as the closer until he hits the skids and then go with someone else. What's it going to do, screw up Beato & Parnell to where they can't throw strikes and get guys out? ... they're already there!! Hopefully this regime is more open to the idea. It certainly didn't take too many bad outing from Izzy to move him aside although that one was probably more age related than anything else as he was going to be out of that role soon anyway. And if you're of the mindset that taking away Parnell's newly minted closer badge for a short span is going to break him to the point where he'll never be trustworthy there again (something I don't believe) then that probably indicates that he's too emotionally fragile for the spot to begin with.

Wow, was Duda too deep considering a single beats you there?

This is not looking good. Not only is it Zimmerman but Parnell HAS TO throw him strikes.

As Angelo Dundee once said to Sugar Ray Leonard; "You're blowing it kid"

I'm Manny Fucking Acosta dudes!!

Props, also, to Acosta who acquired the "much maligned" nickname with many NYM fans and was still carrying it as recently as a few weeks back. Who knows whether or not it'll last, but it's tough to simply toss aside young-ish (30 now) guys with that kind of arm. P.S. So don't go south on me now kid after I just praised you.

I see Paulino going to give the toe a go. Did we ever get word on the conditions of the hands/wrists of Tejada & Thole?

Centerfield wrote: What a month by Duda. We should be talking about him more no? He and Davis could be great for us for a long time. It's still a small sample size but he has been impressive lately which, when combined with his numbers from the high-minors (basically .300/.400/.500+ over 2010-11), shows more than a bit of promise. What I like specifically is his plate discipline combined with the willingness to cut down on his swing with two strikes and simply stroke the ball to the opposite field/CF. K-ing at less than 15% (83 in 652 high-minors PAs) with his power is a good sign too. Of course the fact that he'll contribute little else (speed/defense) to the cause means the bat will have to stay extra-special in order to hold a corner OF/1B job but it's looking more and more like that's possible. P.S. - all the above could be seen as a by-product of letting a guy truly mature in the minors rather than rush him. Being 25 y/o with 2,000 minor league PAs under your belt over 3+ seasons has its rewards (as opposed to say 1,700 spread across six years at age 22 for Fernando Martinez or barely 1K @ 21y/o when Lastings Milledge was first called up).

I made a reference to 'Friday Night Lights' in another thread when someone pointed out that he's from Odessa, Texas. Turns out he's not only from Odessa but went to Permian HS in Odessa, the school that was the setting for FNL (the book & movie, not the TV show). Was a 45th round draft pick - by the Rangers - in 2007 out of Univ New Mexico. Has a thick mop of hair.

MFS62 wrote: I was going to post Krauthammer's piece when I got home tonight. Sure won't make me (or anyone else who read DC sports writing) forget Shirley Povich. I couldn't picture the "perpendicular" throw, and am still not sure perpendicular to what. As in he's running from 3rd towards home while throwing from home towards 1st. One of these days the Washington Post might actually have Krauthammer, George Will, and Tom Boswell all write about baseball in the same week. Sixteen Redskins articles per day is something they're used to but the editors' collective heads might explode if they had to deal with the above situation.

If you're Michael Morse and you're 6' 5" - 230 and go by the nickname of 'The Beast' there's no way you can have Aha's 'Take on Me' as your entrance song. That was the tune chicks would use to do aerobics by back when it was first out ... while wearing pink leg-warmers.

Ceetar wrote: chase whaever that guys name was. new guy for the 4th. 6-1 Mets. That was Ross Detwiler out and Collin Balester in. Sounds like a change of seats in Parliment.

From BA -- Low Class A Savannah CF Darrell Ceciliani, 21, is finishing 2011 with a flourish, batting .320/.421/.443 (31-for-97) with nine extra-base hits and 16 walks in August. The Mets 2009 fourth-rounder batted 11-for-21 (.524) this week with two doubles and three triples

More 'honorable mention' ink for Puello: . . . The Mets shifted 20-year-old Cesar Puello to center field on June 22, and, coincidentally or not, the erstwhile right fielder found a new gear on offense. In 54 games since the switch, he's batting .281/.339/.474 (48-for-171) with 18 extra-base hits (including six homers) and eight steals for high Class A St. Lucie. (He went 10-for-23 with a homer, two doubles and four steals this week.) Scouts believed in Puello's power potential even as he hit only one homer in low Class A a year ago. Now he needs to tighten his strike zone (18 walks, 100 strikeouts) . .

Hot in August? C - Wilson Ramos -- NO, but he's a good catcher. His bat typifies this low-OBA/decent power lineup 1B - Michael Morse -- YES .333/.405./606; 7 HRs. Quite a story really for a guy in his first full ML season at age 29 [.314/.370/.554 w.24 HRs all season] 2B - Danny Espinosa -- NOT. In fact he only really was hot briefly this season. Now not only is his BA/OBA low but his power has tailed off too. SS - Ian Desmond -- Somewhere in the middle and, like most of them, makes a lot of outs. 3B - Ryan Zimmerman -- YES. Has basically been hot all year except for that minor half-season injury thing. CF - Rick Ankiel -- NOT. Same low-BA/low-OBA with occasional power that he usually puts up. RF - Jayson Werth -- Better in the last month, but that's only because he set the bar pretty low from April thru July. LF - Nix or Gomes, Gomes or Nix (with a side of Bernadino), who really cares?

Batista - 2.4 Beato - 0.4 Acosta - 0.5 Parnell - 0.2 Wright - 2.0 Duda - 1.8 Tejada - 1.6 Nickeas - 0.5 Reyes - 0.5

Ashie62 wrote: Herrera is 5 foot 6. Finally someone Tim Kurkjian and Ken Rosenthal can interview eye to eye ... or at least only look up to by a few inches.

Good to get Bandenhop out of there ... we never hit him.

Fman99 wrote: Miguel Batista sucks Los Cock. You speaketh too sooneth.

Edgy DC wrote: I'm working from the idea that Picard having less leverage over the Wilpons gives them more leverage in protecting their assets. Yup. Announced during the game (by Gary) that Wilpon/Katz have "re-capitalized" the team in order to cover debts by themselves (and presumably with current partners) and that they may now be seeking a more limited minority partner(s). IOW, selling smaller portions to one or more investors without the specter of a built-in takeover a few years down the road.

Taking 4 out of 5 in this series sounds (and is) a helluva lot better than merely 3 of 5. Be nice to see some early hitting tonight.

I wanna say the Mets have faced Hererra before (edit: yeah, he's pitched against 'em. Why I remember shit like this and not birthdays of loved ones is pretty fucking stupid). He was kinda heralded coming out of New Mexico, for a lolly pop kid. Wait, does this mean the Mets have their first New Mexican? He was born in Odessa, Texas. I think that means he'll be good under the Friday nights lights of Citifield.

MFS62 wrote: Were any of you present at Josh Satin's birth? I have conflicting reports about his birthplace. Was it Hidden Hills, California? Or Los Angeles? Hidden Hills is part of Los Angeles County. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Hills,_California Probably like a Riverdale/ Bronx kind of thing. It was probably part of the territory added to LA by John Huston and the corrupt water commission.

MFS62 wrote: metirish wrote: Was there not a young gun in the minors able to take the start tonight instead of Batista?, nothing against Miquel, just curious. I don't think there's a single pitcher who I would like to see (Familia) who would be able to take this start in a normal turn. At least RA will have someone his own generation and intellect in the clubhouse. Plus you've got the questions about burning option years and adding players to 40-man rosters only to risk losing them this winter that simply aren't worth the handful of starts a young'un would get over the next few weeks. Mejia would have been a candidate but he's all injured and shit. Adding Batista carries no risk to it and makes him the perfect fill-in type for this sort of situation.