Frayed Knot

Possible abuse aside, what's really is best about this deal is the "baseline" testing they'll do at the beginning of each season or with a new team. That's where they run some sort of mental acuity test so you've got something to compare to by running a similar test if/when a possible concussion occurs. Was it in that 'Clueless' movie where the chick gets conked in the head by a beer bottle or something at a party, and when they try to see if she's OK someone asks her "what's 4 times 7" and her friend chimes in; "that's not fair, you have to ask her something she'd know". Well the baseline test is a hopefully more sophisticated version of that.

The one or two times Derek Jeter's been on the DL - aside from the lengthier stay he had the year he got his shoulder busted up on opening day - was when he strained an oblique muscle or some other minor thing and, seeing as how it was in the middle of August during a year when the Yanx were probably up by 12 games in the standings, they went ahead and DL'd him just for precaution and so he'd be OK come October (cuz the real NYY season doesn't begin until then y'know). He didn't really need all 15 days but they did it just in case. If a similar situation happens again* this summer but the race is closer what's to prevent the team from claiming he took a grounder in the noggin during (conveniently untelevised) infield practice and they're putting him on the 7-day? Or doing likewise because they want [insert 5th starter here] to avoid Boston? I also remember when the 'Bereavement Leave' policy was first introduced the very first time it was used there were questions about whether the team was using it as it was intended or simply for their own benefit. (forgot the details but do remember that it was questioned) * Not that I mean to suggest that only the Yanx would do such things - oh no!!

Ashie62 wrote: With Fmart I kinda feel like "If not now, when." It's not like he would be rushed. Yeah, he kind of still would be. The biggest problem with Fernando - aside from the constant injuries - is that he's been around for so long people tend to forget that he's still young, just a few months older than Cory Vaughn for instance.

The argument against shorter DL stays has always been that the clubs c/would use it to store players who aren't really injured in order to keep them out of the next series or two where match-ups don't favor them. This could particularly be done w/pitchers where a 7-day DL does nothing more than delay a start slightly. This is a good idea although I'm not sure what protections there are to keep a team from declaring a concussion, or even a concussion caution, when all they really want to do is re-arrange their rotation to load up on LHPs or something.

Maybe we should just that annoying internet girl to sing about how the season starts ... on Friday, on Friday, gotta get set for Friday

Having the prosecution put the scorned woman up on the witness stand during your federal trial for lying ... hate when that happens.

The worry about him and SS is mostly about his quickness, specifically about the fact that he has none. Added years + weight will only made that situation worse.

I caught just a few minutes but the Guv is clearly not one of those celebs merely faking his sports knowledge.

Yes, the official answer is usually something along the lines of not wanting to disrupt an established player and the minute Ike takes an oh-fer while playing RF some dope is going to connect the two as a certain cause-and-effect. I hope the new administration will show some more resistance to arguments like that, although they've already admitted to being at least partially swayed on the Castillo front by mass opinions.

metirish wrote: It's a good thought , although I am thinking that Ike out there could be scary? No reason to think that. He played the OF in college for at least part of the time and while he may not be fast he'd almost have to be better than Murphy and certainly has a better arm. I wouldn't move him out there on a full-time basis but him in the OF and Murph at 1st beats the hell out of the other way around IMO.

I know it's just ST and all, but here's what I'm thinking: If you had to work Ike & Muffy into the same lineup on occasion, why wouldn't you go with Murph at 1B and Ike in RF?

The sad thing is that that 'Keeping Score' column is - or at least has been - the Times' version of a Sabermetric-ish look at sports. In the beginning it was mostly Alan Schwartz's column but he's moved on to other things and now they just seem to bat it around between whoever else doesn't have an assignment this week or something. In the end this guy's point seems to be that in order to win you need to find winners and to find winners you look for those who win a lot ... a theory which works great except for those times when it doesn't.

They'd almost certainly lose the one they don't pick. Izzy because he says he's retiring if he doesn't make the team; Boyer because he has an out-clause and you figure will attract the attention of some team.

Nats deal Nyjer Morgan to the Brewers for former draft pick and Lenny progeny Cutter Dykstra. I guess the Brewers wanted two speedy CFers who can't hit because Morgan is going to compete with Carlos Gomez Also, Carlos Silva joins Ollie in the: 'dumped in ST because you were pitching lousy and refusing to work it out in the minors despite being owed a ton of money club'. Cubs released him today.

Sitting at home sick today I found 'Dirty Harry' while channel surfing and watched it for the first time in like a thousand years.

MLBN got around to their NYM preview and here's what they went with: P - Gooden '85 C - Piazza '99 1B - Olerud '98 2B - Alfonzo '00 SS - Reyes '06 3B - Wright '07 LF - Jones '69 CF - Beltran '06 RF - Strawberry '87 They didn't do any discussion about it, just presented the list as is. I suspect the on-air talent - and by them I mean the low-paid researchers who feed them this stuff - never even considered the likes of Bernard Gilkey because he's not associated with the Mets and especially not with one of their winning teams.

2 more scoreless + hitless innings for Beato yesterday (1 K; 1 BB) End of the game so it probably wasn't against a murderer's row of Florida Marlins ... but still.

And here's an early picture of the new born While others have posted this one:

There's a limit to how long a team can store a Rule 5 guy on the DL for purposes of "hiding" him. Eventually the Nats will either have to actually activate him or offer him back.

[table:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]TEAM[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]PITCHER[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]TEAM[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]PITCHER[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]BRAVES[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]D. Lowe[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]NATIONALS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]L. Hernandez[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]TIGERS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]J. Verlander[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]YANKEES[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]C.C. Sabathia[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]BREWERS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]Y. Gallardo[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]REDS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]E. Volquez[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]ANGELS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]J. Weaver[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]ROYALS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]L. Hochevar[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]PADRES[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]T. Stauffer[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]CARDINALS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]C. Carpenter[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]GIANTS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]T. Lincecum[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]DODGERS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]C. Kershaw[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]ASTROS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]B. Myers[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]PHILLIES[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]R. Halladay[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]PIRATES[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]K. Correira[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]CUBS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]R. Dempster[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]WHITE SOX[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]M. Buehrle[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]INDIANS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]F. Carmona[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]RED SOX[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]J. Lester[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]RANGERS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]C.J. Wilson[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]D�BACKS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]I. Kennedy[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]ROCKIES[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]U. Jiminez[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]TWINS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]C. Pavano[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]BLUE JAYS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]R. Romero[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]ORIOLES[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]J. Guthrie[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]RAYS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]D. Price[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]METS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]M. Pelfrey[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]MARLINS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]J. Johnson[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][tr:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]MARINERS[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]F. Hernandez[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]vs[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]A�s[/td:uyrtacqg][td:uyrtacqg]T. Cahill[/td:uyrtacqg][/tr:uyrtacqg][/table:uyrtacqg]

Gwreck wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: So what are nearly half the home teams doing on the first Saturday in April? Why scheduling at night of course! It's not so bad when you're in Miami like the Mets (although I'd still prefer day) or in Tampa, or Arlington Texas. But why the fuck are the Phillies messing around with a Sat night game? Same goes for the games in Cincinnati, in Denver, and in Oakland. 60 and sunny? Nah, we'd rather stick our players and fans in 42 degree weather in the dark thank you. Morons! The reasoning for this has been discussed here before. The Saturday games are scheduled at night to "protect" the Friday home opener. In the event of a Friday rainout, the game moves to Saturday afternoon and is still the home opener. So they'd make it up as a day-night DH right away even with six months ahead of them?

Keep those cards and letters coming in folks [table:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]TEAM[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]PITCHER[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]TEAM[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]PITCHER[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]BRAVES[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]D. Lowe[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]NATIONALS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]L. Hernandez[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]TIGERS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]J. Verlander[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]YANKEES[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]C.C. Sabathia[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]BREWERS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]Y. Gallardo[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]REDS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]???[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]ANGELS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]???[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]ROYALS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]???[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]PADRES[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]???[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]CARDINALS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]C. Carpenter[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]GIANTS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]T. Lincecum[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]DODGERS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]C. Kershaw[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]ASTROS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]B. Myers[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]PHILLIES[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]R, Halladay[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]PIRATES[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]K. Correira[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]CUBS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]R. Dempster[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]WHITE SOX[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]M. Buehrle[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]INDIANS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]F. Carmona[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]RED SOX[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]J. Lester[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]RANGERS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]C.J. Wilson[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]D�BACKS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]I. Kennedy[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]ROCKIES[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]U. Jiminez[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]TWINS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]C. Pavano[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]BLUE JAYS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]???[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]ORIOLES[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]J. Guthrie[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]RAYS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]???[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]METS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]M. Pelfrey[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]MARLINS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]J. Johnson[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][tr:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]MARINERS[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]F. Hernandez[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]vs[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]A�s[/td:2qy4uo63][td:2qy4uo63]T. Cahill[/td:2qy4uo63][/tr:2qy4uo63][/table:2qy4uo63] And speaking of opening week ... Saturday April 2nd is Game 2 for almost everyone since most teams who play on Thrusday will get Friday off making Saturday the first full sked day of the year. So what are nearly half the home teams doing on the first Saturday in April? Why scheduling at night of course! It's not so bad when you're in Miami like the Mets (although I'd still prefer day) or in Tampa, or Arlington Texas. But why the fuck are the Phillies messing around with a Sat night game? Same goes for the games in Cincinnati, in Denver, and in Oakland. 60 and sunny? Nah, we'd rather stick our players and fans in 42 degree weather in the dark thank you. Morons!

Sure they mis-priced the tickets - as did the Yanx and the Jets/Giants if you want to bring PSLs into the conversation. Specifically the Mets were banking on the lure of that new-stadium smell, an expected carry-over of both high hopes and a high performing team from the '06-'08 era (they got little of either), and they most decidedly were NOT counting on the economy tanking. All that contributed to a lower than expected income while the payroll rose and the cost of the new digs kicked in. Lowering the prices this year is a simple supply/demand adjustment which is fine but it also means a lower income line than the one they were planning for.

Alan Freed = Commissioner K. M. Landis

With just Six days remaining until Opening Day (seven days until OURS but there will be six games on Thursday) I'm checking out which pitchers have been anointed with the honor of king for a day by their respective teams. The names listed have either been announced by their managers or are widely assumed to be accurate. The Yanx, for instance, are going to start C.C. but, given their penchant for treating everything as if a state secret, Cashman/Girardi will usually say "no comment" to the question of whether either has actually ever met Sabathia in case they have to back-track for some reason. Some of the question marks may have been announced but I can't find any record of it. The Thursday games are the first six listed and all games are listed in rough order of their starting times. TEAMPITCHERvsTEAMPITCHERBRAVESD. LowevsNATIONALSL. HernandezTIGERSJ. VerlandervsYANKEESC.C. SabathiaBREWERSY. GallardovsREDS???ANGELS???vsROYALS???PADRES???vsCARDINALSC. CarpenterGIANTST. LincecumvsDODGERS???ASTROSB. MyersvsPHILLIESR, HalladayPIRATESK. CorreiravsCUBSR. DempsterWHITE SOXM. BuehrlevsINDIANSF. CarmonaRED SOXJ. LestervsRANGERSC.J. WilsonD�BACKSI. KennedyvsROCKIESU. JiminezTWINSC. PavanovsBLUE JAYS???ORIOLESJ. GuthrievsRAYS???METSM. PelfreyvsMARLINSJ. JohnsonMARINERSF. HernandezvsA�sT. Cahill