Frayed Knot

The word is that they're still aiming for the OD roster. The plan at this point is to get him more ABs plus some OF time in the next few days but, at least for now, to do it in minor league games so if/when he needs to go on the DL it can be back-dated as far as they want and keep alive the option of activating him prior to 15 days into the season.

Part of Jeff Wilpon's explanation for the smaller park is that those 'extra' 5-10,000 seats are always the most expensive ones to build and wind up giving you the least return on the money. I happen to think they [u:8cgxjnkn]under[/u:8cgxjnkn]-built the thing too but, as events are turning out, had they gone for a larger one they'd probably be in even deeper debt right now.

The Second Spitter wrote: Improves to 0 for 8 as a Philly. On top of today's news that Chase Utley will almost certainly start the year on the DL.

It's not like he's incapable of supplying a little pop - that one today was in the weeds beyond the berm beyond the fence - I just don't see his whole set-up and swing translating into much more than occasional power. It's just not a swing geared to it.

I suspect that Murray, like other 'Moneyball' critics (hi Joe Morgan), didn't read the book and is instead arguing against what he thinks the book says.

Chass: "Moneyball teams didn�t consider defense a priority". Umm, yes they do bitter boy. In fact there's an entire chapter on making Scott Hattieberg into a legit fielding 1Bman ("a pickin' machine") because they know his bat isn't going to come close to replacing the offense generated by the departing Giambi so they hope to make up the difference in runs saved. Or you might also have caught the section where Beane and his cohorts calculated how to replace the defense they stood to lose when the [then] good glove of Johnny Damon was leaving town. You see Murray, instead of simply spouting empty platitudes like "defense wins championships" or "his glove saves a hundred runs a year" with nothing to back it up, the 'Moneyball crowd likes to consider how much to value defense when constructing a roster. That's not the same as ignoring it.

With one run in but two out and nobody on in the 4th ... - Emaus single - Capuano reaches on error (man is that one gonna hurt) - Reyes singles - Pagan HRs - Wright singles - Bay singles - Evans singles - Hairston doubles - Paulino singles (Evans out at home) 5th inning ... - Emaus HRs - Thole HRs - Reyes grounds out - Pagan singles - Wright doubles - Bay walks - Evans singles - Hairston Ks - Paulino Ks And now Matt Den Dekker (do you suppose his brother's middle name is 'Living Room'?) has added a HR and it's 16-3 heading for the 7th 22 hits thru 6 innings.

Mets at one point rang up [u:3k75zflx]Nine[/u:3k75zflx] consecutive hits across two innings (an inning ended on a play at the plate) and something like 12 hits in a 13 batter span including those 3 HRs mentioned (Pagan, Thole, Emaus) - part of it off Jaime Garcia. Just flat-out teeing off I tells ya.

Four scoreless on 3 hits (two by Holliday) from Remarkably Awesome Dickey 1-0 Mets

Castillo in the lineup for today's Phillies - playing 2nd, batting 2nd.

Most think it'll eventually be either 1B or a corner OF spot. No one believes he has the quickness for anywhere in the middle of the field and even 3B seems to be doubtful. That said I don't think there's a need to decide on his life-long position in the immediate future. Of course some of this 'info' probably is just feeding on itself; so many hear it that they simply repeat it as if that's their first-hand opinion too. The question I would have liked to see DePo asked was whether Flores is as god-awful foot-slow as is rumored. It strikes me as odd that a thin-ish teenager would be talked about like he's practically an honorary Molina brother but that's what I keep reading.

Murray & Zeile sound somewhat out of place in that group. The rest I assume to be regulars at Chez Sheen.

No. 9: Game Seven, 2001 World Series, Diamondbacks perform Heavenly Father's work (as they might say on Big Love) and snuff out the evil dynasty. Thought this one would have ranked in the top three or so given that it was the climax of an instantly legendary series; that it was settled in come-from-behind fashion in the bottom of the ninth; and that perhaps the greatest lefty starter of his generation, Randy Johnson, came out of the bullpen on no days' rest, to throw 1-1/3 scoreless innings of relief to get the win. But the MFYs lost, so I guess it had to be tamped down. Or so it felt listening to the special guests, Joe Torre and Tim McCarver who, with hosts Bob Costas and Tom Verducci, made the world champion Diamondbacks sound like special guests at their own victory. I guess it was impossible to find Arizona starter Curt Schilling and get him to talk. Don't forget who got the loss in that game. The so-called 'greatest closer ever' in pretty much the highest leverage situation you can possibly get or that he'd ever be in (is there anything as close as game seven bot 9 up by 1 run?) blew the save, and while the winning hit was a bloop, the blown save hit was a solid double, but unearned thanks to an error (but wait!, it was RIVERA's error) Not that Rivera's post-season record isn't outstanding - better even than his regular season resume - but it's amazing how often YLDBs explain away that inning a solely as the product of the error, and not really an error because it was all caused by a wet field on account of a light mist coupled with the D'Backs refusal to close the roof. The fact remains that Mariano pitched to six batters that inning and retired ONE of them - and that's with two of them trying to make outs with sac bunts, both of which were lousy: SINGLE - SAC BUNT (error) - SAC BUNT (force play) - DOUBLE - HBP - SINGLE Also, not sure if they discussed it (I recorded this and will watch it probably tonight) but the other complaint is that Brosius had time for a DP on that second bunt but never looked for it. I never saw a camera angle that showed one way or the other if he did, but what I do remember is that when he decided to retire that winter the stories about how he blew that play suddenly surfaced the next day with both Rivera and Torre commenting on it. It was like they couldn't wait for him to retire so they could begin parking the bus on his chest over that incident.

Iz Izzy even on the 40-man yet? - I'm assuming no. If no - and assuming this injury is more than day-to-day but something short of real long-term - he'd have to be added to the roster before he could start the year DL'd. Does the team have the flexibility to do that for an injured pitcher? Either that or he could agree to be put on the minor league DL with the idea that it comes with some kind of guaranteed call-up or cut date that let's him stick to his 'Queens or Bust' mantra.

Man, the Omar regime was so racist that even our French-Canadian guys have Spanish names!

The problem with comments about race usually isn't the comment itself but the over-reactions to the comment. So when Martino says race may have played a role many fans read it as being told that any anti-Luis sentiment can only be the result of racism and that they're incapable of making a baseball thought outside of that prism. First WFAN Castillo-related call I heard the other day was from a guy who said that because these Latin ballplayers come from nothing they tend to get lazy as soon as they get a big contract. I'm sure he doesn't think his comments had anything to do with race.

At least Rubin words things with a bit more tact (and better syntax) than does Puma over at the Post: The Mets� long, national nightmare is over. Oliver Perez is history with the Mets, after Monday morning receiving word from general manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins that he would be released. The putrid lefty appeared in the team�s clubhouse at 8:15 a.m. and began shaking hands with players ...

A Liverpool teen named John tries to define who he is while navigating the gulf between the emotionally distant and strict aunt who raised him and his loving but flighty mother who couldn't. And out of that he forms this band ... Sidenotes: - Most of you are probably up on at least the basics of this tale, although some of the (apparently accurate) details of the back story were new to me. The movie is based at least partly on a book by one of John's half-sisters, one of three daughters his mother had via two relationships during separations from, and following the split with, John's father. - The now twenty year-old lead actor took up a relationship with the film's director and the two are now engaged and parents of a newborn. She is a divorced 44 y/o mother of two.

Wright has talked in the past about being a big VT fan (football anyway) based on the fact that one of his brothers goes/went there. Of course it's always easy to latch onto winning college programs so over the last decade or so VT tends to get the nod over UVA among Virginia residents even though VT is tucked away in the far south-western corner of the state and about a six or more hour drive from most of the more populated northern & eastern sections. It's like in my family where my numerous Duke relatives care a lot about ACC hoops but not much about football. Meanwhile the priorities of my Clemson relatives are exactly the opposite. Funny how that works.

You figure that Bay played for years in Pittsburgh ... Niese is from Ohio ... Capuano went to Duke ... and Pelfrey is from Kansas. Wright, he's doing the 'I'm a New Yorker through and through and this proves it' thing

The Mets should just announce it on days when Beltran doesn't get a shot for his knee.

We're nothing around here if not completionists.

Meanwhile, Japanese spring training has been interrupted and the season openers pushed back. Don't think a specific starting date has been determined yet.

Ceetar wrote: You need to learn to center your photos better. In this case you cut off half your subject and let some random ballplayer stray into the shot.

Yeah, those were the games where he claimed his back hurt. As things turned out, whether Straw's bad back was real or him jaking it, either was a good reason NOT to hand him the largest contract in the history of baseball as he wanted (Mets offered him the 2nd highest behind only Canseco's) and, in the end, it was bad behavior AND a bad back which caused him to get dropped from two different teams over the course of the deal he did get from the LAD.