Frayed Knot

soupcan wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Little Leagues have to pay for use of those Major League names so I'm always surprised when they do that. I didn't realize that. Knowing it now, I'm thinking that the fact that a big sponsor of youth baseball in my town is MLB.com and the CEO of same was also a coach every year. Whether that had something to do with it or not I don't know but I would guess he probably took care of that end. Yeah, well those names are all registered trademarks so it would be kind of tough to claim that your league just happened to choose the names Mets, Giants, Astros, etc., but didn't actually swipe them from MLB. Lots of leagues do it so it's more than just particular connection there but I'm not up on the specifics. Maybe 'Little League Inc.' or whoever runs the 'Babe Ruth' leagues pays for the rights to those names as a whole and they in turn license them to individual leagues on a regional basis.

Little Leagues have to pay for use of those Major League names so I'm always surprised when they do that. Plus it probably creates more problems than it solves because obviously not everyone can get on a team they like and some are going to be on ones they hate. As far as I can recall no one in our league was ever scarred by having to endure such generic names as the Bobcats, or the Owls, or the Comanches.

Middle Infield: * I swear every time I see 24 y/o 2B-man Danny Espinosa he's getting a hit and yet he's hitting just .196 (Keith Lockhart of the Braves was like that too). He is taking walks at a decent clip and has 23 career XBHs in less than 250 career ABs since his call-up last Sept so you could argue at least he's not hitting a soft .200 - but I must just happen to see all his good days cuz I'm sure I've seen half those XBHs and probably 8 of his 11 career HRs even though only 3 have come vs the Mets * SS Ian Desmond (25) has always been the one the Nats promoted more as a future star although I suspect he lacks the discipline to ever bust out more than just occasionally. Currently at .217/.255/.317 and coming off a minor injury that sat him a few days. Fielding-wise he's the guy who'll make the highlight reel once a week but is erratic enough to mess up two easy ones in between. These two are talented enough and young enough to turn into a good long-term duo for them ... or they could both just as easily stagnate and never go anywhere.

Quickie 2-game series which will all take place inside about a 21 hour window. Mets are 3-3 against Nats this year to date. Wed, 7:10 - Tom Gorzellany (2-2; 3.40) vs Niese Thurs, 1:10 - Livan Hernandez (3-5; 3.92) vs Gee Their hitting suxxx: Last in NL in BA, OBA, and SLG Injured: Ryan Zimmerman, Rick Ankiel Feel free to added details, factual or otherwise.

Half-good news in the NL East * Astros had Atlanta down 1-0 as Wandy Rodriguez was dealing a 5-hit shutout through 8 ... but he's at 113 pitches so naturally Houston goes to their closer (Mark Melancon) for the 9th (straight change, no PH situation) and he promptly serves up a 2-out/PH/game-tying HR to Brian McCann. McCann stayed in the game and then in the 11th hit another HR to win it. * St Louie got 4 singles in the bottom of the 9th off Denys Baez to beat the Phils 2-1, Lance Berkman (.352/.455/.688) with the winning hit. Decent outing from Oswalt (which hasn't been the case lately): 5 IPs; 1 R; 6 singles + a double -- but not good enough. * Like the Mets, the Nationals also pre-canceled their game faced with nothing more than threats of off and on rain - and theirs was a gay dame with plenty of time to finish it if interrupted. I like to think they preferred to be all rested up for us.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm sure he only gets more expensive as time goes on too. 2010 = $14 mil ($8.5 signing bonus + $6.5 salary) 2011 = $16 mil 2012 = $16 mil 2013 = $16 mil 2014 = $17 mil/$3 buyout

Pelfrey - 4.3 Turner - 1.0 Reyes - 0.9 Niese - 0.5 Beltran - 1.0 Murphy - 0.7 O'Connor - 0.7 Rodriguez - 0.5 Isringhausen - 0.4

Capuano - 2.2 Buchholz - 0.4 Isringhausen - 0.4 Rodriguez - 0.4 Turner - 4.7 Pridie - 0.7 Bay - 0.5 Murphy - 0.7

O'Connor - 0.2 Reyes - 1.0 Turner - 0.9 Murphy - 1.4 Martinez - 0.5

Good run-down of top draft prospects for next month with thumb-nail sketches of their pros and cons from Kevin Goldstein at BP. Mets choose 13th (and then 44th) this year. Note that he's not selling that list as a draft prediction but rather just a subjective list of ranked talent. Risk, signability issues, clubs needs/individual philosophies, or just plain differences of opinion mixed with late-season surges, slumps, or injuries are all going to factor into the exact order of picks. Even here the two players who have spent virtually the entirety of the last 11 months as presumed picks 1 & 1A (Rendon & Cole) are now listed 2nd and 4th due to a variety of factors.

Let's get a walkoff here and then we can all dance the Baden-Hop

Fargleknockers!!!

Gotta go with Dabid here -- Choate's a sidewinding LOOGY and DW hits LHPs even when he's cold. Plus Choate might get fraidy-scared and walk him.

I think we're gonna win this one here ... at least we will if we can keep Bay from coming up. OK, now take the bunt off and just pull the freakin' ball.

Frayed Knot wrote: Terry got some 'splainin to do even if this does work. What a fucking genius that man is.

Terry got some 'splainin to do even if this does work.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: That wasted chance may sting. Ummmm, yup.

Yeah, Pitt had gotten slammed in the previous winter's Rule 5 draft and saw the Mets interest in Kris Benson as a way to get one of their wayward prospects back. So instead of just Wigginton & (RHP) Peterson for Benson (and Keppinger) Pitt said that they'd only make the deal if the Mets arranged to get Bautista there too. The Mets then had to make a separate deal sending Aussie catching prospect Justiin Huber to the Royals for Bautista and then stapled him to the others going in the Benson swap. So, yeah, he was a NYM, but only a paper one really. The bottom line is that after being property of 5 organizations in a seven month span (Pitt-Balt-TB-KC-NYM-then back to Pitt) the Pirates kept him around for four years before dealing him to Toronto for a PtbNL (Robinson Diaz). Two seasons later he exploded. Point is, if we're looking for culprits to blame for not developing Bautista properly, not only are the Mets not at the top of that list but they're barely in the class picture.

A run towards .500 sees a couple of tall RHPs opposing each other at Citi -- details as they become available.

Kevin Goldstein at BP puts Familia in his Monday Morning rundown Jeurys Familia, RHP, Mets (Double-A Binghamton) -- Few pitchers in baseball have done more for their stock this year than Familia, who entered the year as a big arm with plenty to figure out, and is suddenly among the best pitching prospects in the system. After putting up a 5.58 ERA in the Florida State League last year despite mid-90s heat, many projected Familia as a reliever, but that's no longer the case, as after putting up a 1.49 ERA in six starts back at St. Lucie, he's showing no signs of slowing down at Double-A, firing seven shutout innings on Sunday while allowing just three hits and striking out six. His stuff hasn't taken a step forward (not that it needed to), but his control has improved by leaps and bounds; after walking 74 over 121 innings last year, he's handed out just 11 complementary pizzas in 50 1/3. This season is critical in terms of defining his future role; six weeks in, he not only looks like a sure-fire starter, but an above-average one at that.

I just think it's natural for fans to back the popular 17-year vet over the suits without really evaluating who might be wrong. What was fun about this whole thing was that the MFY reaction had all their trademark "protect the brand" moves: - by the 2nd inning Cashman had gone to every media outlet short of Oprah to get out the story that an uninjured Posada had backed out and, without saying so, let the retirement option hang out there for all to ponder as well as mentioning that they were "reviewing all their options"; ie, "Get me the legal dept on the phone and tell them to bring a copy of dumbo's contract" - that Posada & Girardi had never been warm and fuzzy with each other even dating back to their mutual playing days was known but suddenly it became OK to talk about it so as to create sides - the Posada apology not only sounded about as sincere as the one delivered by John Cleese's Archie while Wanda's brother was hanging him upside-down and out a window but it dealt almost exclusively with how he hurt the team and the fans. I think they just dusted off the script they made Zimmer read at knifepoint after his charge at Pedro, the one I think was the final straw in his break with pinstriped hell.

DateTeamKTE AuthorMay 16-17FloridaSeawolfMay 18-19WashingtonMay 20-22at YankeesMGiMMay 24-26at ChicagoLWFSMay 27-29PhiladelphiaFman99May 30-Jun 2PittsburghJC LunchbucketJun 3-5AtlantaLWFSJun 7-9at MilwaukeeTransMonkJun 10-13at PittsburghMetIrishJun 14-16at AtlantaFrayed KnotJun 17-19LA AngelsG-FaFiFJun 21-23OaklandSecond SpitterJun 24-26at TexasEdgy DCJun 28-30at DetroitGwreckJul 1-3YankeesSecond SpitterJul 4-7at LA DodgersJul 8-10at San FranciscosharipeJul 11-14All Star BreakJul 15-17PhiladelphiaJul 19-21St. LouisGWreckJul 22-24at FloridaSeawolfJul 25-28at CincinnatiMFS62Jul 29-31at WashingtonFman99Aug 1-3FloridaSeawolfAug 5-7AtlantaFman99Aug 8-11San DiegoEdgy DCAug 12-14at ArizonaAug 15-17at San DiegoEdgy DCAug 19-21MilwaukeeTransMonkAug 22-24at PhiladelphiaLWFSAug 26-28AtlantaAug 29-Sep 1FloridaSeawolfSep 2-4at Washingtonbmfc1Sep 5-7at FloridaSeawolfSep 9-11ChicagoLWFSSep 12-15WashingtonFrayed KnotSep 16-18at AtlantaSep 20-22at St. LouisSep 23-25PhiladelphiaSep 26-28Cincinnati

And NOT bunting Turner works again!!!!

Errant pick-off throw and Bay moves to 2nd. The closer Carlos Lee is to the action the better things are ... for the other team.

Gwreck wrote: Yeah, seriously. If we can't learn here that bunting is for losers, when are we ever going to learn? Terry's idea there was to bunt them over and then take two shots at the runners with Pridie and then a PH for Capuano. Still don't agree with it but at least he has a plan whereas Jerry would bunt simply because he saw a runner on 1st. Gotta like the fact that Turner 'screwed up' the strategy, first by not getting the bunt down and then by doubling into the LF corner. Getting the hits then kept Capuano in the game - remains to be seen whether that's a good thing or not.