Frayed Knot

Yeah that wasn't a swing, but it was also belly-high!

Well now that didn't last long.

I wasn't thrilled about Santana being pulled as early as he was (he did work hard though) but I like the fact that Pedro F. is getting to stay in to face the RHBs in the 8th.

** Kurt Suzuki hits a 3R HR off CC Sabathia in the 1st inning ... then later hits into a triple play Bet that's a first. A's win 4-2 and avoid the sweep ** Brewers smack the Pirates 20-0 in Pittsburgh to complete the sweep.

Yeah, this is more about the state of their pen then about Zambrano. With Ted Lilly is due back they, theoretically at least, have one too many arms in the rotation and are begging in the pen. Aside from his horrible opening day start, big Z hasn't been all that bad.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Some guy just pointed out the Mets have now had 4 Mannys in team history and three of them (Hernandez, Aybar, Acosta) have worn No. 36. That's too manny!

In this particular case, Kendrick was at 108 pitches after 8. We, of course, have no idea how he was feeling at that point or what was said in the dugout. I'm sure the thinking was probably not only to save a relatively young pitcher from racking up 'abuse' so early in the season but, hell, it's a 3-run lead and you'll win 95% of those no matter who you throw out there. Ooops! Thing is, Madson even got the first two outs (sandwiched around a walk) and all was looking good ... and then the roof caved in on him.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: The Buffalo Shuttlers receive prorated MLB minimum based on service time, rather than 400K outright, don't they? Depends on the contract. Most minors leaguers still on the way up get "split" contracts where they'll get ML min for days on the ML roster but a greatly reduced rate (50-100K ?) for days in the bush leagues. But someone like Sean Green and probably one of both of the Japanese guys get full pay even though they have no say about being sent down.

Perez - 1.4 Barajas - 1.5 Wright - 1.1 Bay - 0.8 Castillo - 1.0 Reyes - 0.5 Davis - 0.2

There's all sorts of ways of calculating team payrolls. You can use the 25-man roster (which change often) or the 40-man (a bit more stable). You can also use the specific yearly salary of each player (some of which vary wildly for accounting reasons) or use the per/yr average for the entire contract. I believe the lux-tax threshold also adds in the benefits that go along with the salaries (something like an extra $6-8 mil per year) and includes any deferred money up front.

metirish wrote: Weren't they lustily booing Vaquez in his last home start?, or that doesn't count I suppose. Of course it doesn't count because Vazquez isn't - say it with me folks - a true Yanqui! That make it OK to boo him. It's in areas like this where Bondy loses whatever credibility he has from actually being a decent writer when covering out of the mainstream sports. The problem here is that not only is he an admitted MFY-fan who has, in the past, admitted that he so hated the Mets from back in the '80s that he'll never write about them objectively, but he's also a total 'bleacher creature' suck-up who'll never call out that crowd on their disgusting and sometimes borderline criminal behavior that him pointing out the foibles of other groups of fans isn't even worth discussing. Yes, Met fans booing Wright is idiotic. The 'and we're above that over here' stuff is beyond bullshit.

Maybe my math is wrong, but those numbers don't seem to add up to the stated team salary. What are you using for "the stated team salary"?

Ike def bailing on the LHPs a bit.

I'd like to thank Lou Piniella for removing Carlos Silva and turning this over the the horrid Cubbie pen for the final three innings. Of course if we can't shut it down here it may not matter.

From a Fordham baseball game:

The other cool part about the Nate McClouth game-winning HR was that his Braves teammates gave him the mother of all silent treatments. Not only were they not there at the plate to greet him but they all disappeared through the tunnel leaving him with only an empty dugout to return to. Naturally he found them just out of sight at the top of the tunnel where he was promptly mobbed.

Along those lines (sports psychologist-wise) Rick Peterson always claimed that the Pelfrey he saw in warmups or on 'throw days' was rarely the same one he saw on the mound in games, lending credence to at least part of the problem was him needing a check-up from the neck up. I generally tend to dismiss such talk (or at least swallow it in small sips) as many heralded young players who don't set the world on fire immediately are labeled as mental midgets by ... well, by mental midgets, but in his case maybe the light just went on a bit more slowly. All that said, this is not the first hot stretch he's had in the major leagues and therefore is hardly proof that all struggles are behind him.

We've been so wrapped up in our own problems that we haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to out of town goings-on, but some interesting stuff last night: - Kyle Kendrick throws an 8-inning gem (0 runs, 4 hits) for the Phils against Atlanta but (of course) gives way to the closer for the bottom of the 9th. With Lidge still not available that means Ryan Madson gets to protect the 3-run lead. Yeah not so fast. After getting two outs sandwiched around a walk to Chipper, Madson serves up a 2R-HR to Troy Glaus, and then a game-tying solo HR to Jason Heyward (his 4th). In bottom 10, Jose Contreras (no, really!!) comes in and gives up a lead-off walk-off HR to Nate McClouth. In short, that's 3 HRs in a 4 batter span after two were out in the 9th with a 3-run lead. Ooooh, that one's gotta hurt. - In Boston - where they simultaneously put Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury on the DL - call-up Darnell McDonald gets into the game as a PH in the 8th w/the Sox down 2 and promptly hits a game-tying HR. He stays in the game and comes up again in the 9th w/the bags full and hits a walk-off single (off the monster) to end the BoSox million-game losing streak. McDonald, a 1997 1st round pick of the Orioles, is now a 31 y/o career minor leaguer who has had brief appearances with three different ML teams over the last 13 years (in 2004, 2007 & 2009). - SF's Jonathan Sanchez - who threw a no-hitter last year - tossed a 7-inning one-hitter in Sandy Eggo last night ... and lost the game. Chase Headley singled leading off the 4th and advanced on a steal, a foul-out, and a sac fly. The Giants, meanwhile, got themselves shut out on 6 hits by the combination of Mat Latos (7 IP), Mike Adams (1), and Heath Bell (1).

Pelfrey - 4.9 Reyes - 2.0 Tatis - 1.5 Castillo - 1.0 Blanco - 0.4 Nieve - 0.1 Rodriguez - 0.1

Even calling for a bunt going into the 8th & 9th hitters couldn't ruin this game. Blanco - unlike Schneider before him - is meeting (if not exceeding) the defensive rep he brought with him.

The Yanquis did the pie in the face thing last year so I think that means no one is allowed to use it anymore except them. Either that or they have to pay royalties. I'm sure one of the columnists will straighten out the matter by accusing the Mets of having no originality on account of their adopting this NYY-invented ploy.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: It would be better for you tell us why you voted the way you did without telling everyone else how to vote. But doing that would force him to explain his "system" at which point my head would explode.

Niese - 3.2 Nieve - 0.8 Mejia - 0.7 Pagan - 2.1 Castillo - 0.6 Bay - 1.0 Davis - 1.0 Wright - 0.5 Cora - 0.1