Frayed Knot

On Pelfrey , it seems I was lower on the guy that the Schaefer voting results show....I dunno but he disappointed to me. Led the team in innings as FK noted, is that a big thing on that team with the way the season went? The idea isn’t to worry about how far you’re away from the Schaefer results. That result is just one factor thrown into this project and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the least accurate because it’s not really measuring the same thing. The reason I parsed the votes from those who have put in lists so far is to show where there are significant differences as compared to the opinions of all the others. That isn’t to say a stray vote means you’re wrong and the others right, only that you’ve got a very different view of that player(s) which could serve as a starting point for a discussion, one where you either re-evaluate your own choices or to stick to your guns and tell the rest of us why we’re missing the boat. For instance: - What logic did 86-Dreamer use to put Tatis a full 13 slots behind the statistically similar Sheffield? Or why Maine is, in his mind, so far (11 spots) ahead of Pelfrey when the rest of us have those two pretty close? Or why he has Cora much higher than everyone? Or why does F. Martinez make his list but not Misch, Sullivan, or Castro? - Transmonk puts Sean Green in the middle of the pack while LWFS leaves him off completely! Either of them want to argue where the other one is nuts? - Maybe LWFS wants to tell us how Frankie Rod had a worse season than Church, Castro, Maine, and others, including Niese and his whopping 25 IPs. - Fartinez had all of 91 ABs and batted a whopping .176 yet he scores better than Church, Green, Misch, and Redding on Met Irish’s list. Remember, we're evaluating a player's 2009 performance here not his anticipated future or contract status. - Seawolf, meanwhile, not only finds room for Ollie but puts him on instead of Thole, Sullivan, or Niese, and ahead of the likes of Church, Figueroa, Nieve and others. - Cora was, for the most part, the starting SS and Parnell was 5th in the team in IP yet Nymr leaves both off but finds room for AndyHandy & Dessens ... plus the other large discrepancies I pointed earlier. And again, if those are your choices then feel free to tell the rest of us where we’re off. Or you can opt to concede some points and argue others. The idea of this project is to have a post-mortem discussion of the year and not merely submit top-of-the-head lists and be done with it. Hell, we argue about everything else here it would be a shame to skip this topic.

Byrnes was a big target about this time last year with the 'if only 'Zona would trade him for Castillo' crowd. I didn't like the idea then. Not quite sure how he'd fit in here. Corner OF strictly - unless he wants to try 1B - and not a particularly good one. Got a bunch of pub for being a "hard-nosed" type and for his goofy persona - but more sizzle than steak otherwise.

Not sure that JH Jr is a long-term solution at either SS or CF - but he can play either in a pinch and his versatility at several other positions makes him a useful all-around guy.

I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused -- D.P. McManus And as frustrating as these pr gaffs are, to some extent I actually get a kick out of folks who over-react to them. Talk radio callers saying that they're done with Met-dom after however many years based on something that's not only out of their control but has little or no effect on on-field stuff usually make me smile a bit. "Good", I say. Better seats for me and I don't have to worry about hurting myself doing all that jumping off and on the bandwagon.

"It's not that..it just seems anything bad that can happen in Flushing will." Which clearly has nothing to do with the Mets "screwing the pooch" "I never thought the "wounded will all be back to make things better" was a wise tactic, whether it be be Beltran injured or someone else." So they should have somehow snagged a different CFer in case Beltran got hurt - someone, presumably, who's better than Pagan but would be willing to sign here as a backup? "I do believe it is imperative to obtain a decent SP. To expect Santana, Maine and ollie to all come back and play well and be durable is unrealistic and overly risky. All of which has nothing to do with Beltran and his injury.

Ashie62 wrote: I don't have great faith in microfracture surgery Then don't have it. Get Jacoby Ellsbury from the Red Sox. He won't come cheap. Oh, OK.

Sounds like the best news coming from this presser is that they've stopped letting Omar handle them.

Not having read every paper and internet site so far, is anyone, aside from Ashie, even mentioning drastic stuff like voiding the deal? from the NYPost (Sherman & Puma): This [sort of disagreement] is not a unique occurrence. Players and teams have disputes about the proper course of medical action all the time, and the two sides usually come to some kind of understanding without an attempt at legal actions or fines. And the likelihood is that there is not much the Mets could do for two reasons, a person who has worked on these kinds of issues said: 1. The Mets were not in the dark on any of this. According to a friend of Beltran, Beltran was under Altchek's care from October through December. It was only in December when he could not perform that Beltran went to see Steadman. And the friend said that Mets doctors and trainers were kept abreast of the diagnosis in Colorado, even if the Mets did not agree with the remedy. 2. Steadman is a reputable surgeon who has been involved for a long time in doing procedures on athletes across the sports spectrum. The Mets, according to one official, might have a greater case for a grievance if Beltran had gone to another country and/or to a less reputable doctor.

It's stuff like this that adds credence to my theory that the whole mantra about 'playing in NYC being so much tougher than anywhere else' is vastly overblown at the least. Of the eight remaining cities with football teams still in the running do you suppose any of them, other than the Jets, got shoved off the back pages and away from the main topic on sports talk radio today?

I never disliked either guy.

Just those two or every other name that's been connected to steroids as well?

So is this Price guy (and, by extension, MLB Fanhouse) an actual reporter with actual information or just an internet guy/site repeating what's already been seen and heard elsewhere? Heyman mentions the Mets as one of the teams Jarrod Washburn has been in contact with.

I briefly clicked by MLBN last night and caught the final sentence or two of a discussion where Jon Heyman was saying that the Mets are "still playing hardball" with Molina (and also Piniero) - implying that they're determined to get those players but on their terms. Might have missed a few details along the way and I don't find anything in the SI site saying anything about either guy.

Several of the so-called "saved baseball" moments were more-or-less excuses for why the sport was doing so well concocted after the fact by those who declared the sport dead in the early '90s. I must of heard that expression 20 times in the last 24 hours - mostly from people who ought to be talking about something else.

Not having the money to pull it off and not wanting to spend said money because it's deemed a dumb deal are two different things.

I'm amazed that this is being treated as major news and it's a whole lotta nuthin as far as I'm concerned. Nothing was learned that even that even the most naive weren't already 99+% sure of and at best this just short-circuits the story that was going to come out at the Cards' ST site. But at least it hands the main-stream sports media their favorite excuse to talk baseball. Today, despite it being an obvious football news day (pro playoffs, Pete Carroll, etc.), ESPN's 'PTI' made this their lead story and also went back to it later on - maybe three or four minutes total (Sportscenter led with it also). Last week I was watching the same show (PTI) during an otherwise uneventful mid-week day and they still couldn't manage to dedicate a full minute to either the HoF results or the Big Unit retirement, instead jamming them into a single segment as if to put the topics behind them as quickly as possible.

I suspect money could torpedo something like that as those guys are owed ridiculous amounts of money for not just this coming season but next year as well. I realize that's part of what makes the deals possible but, at the same time, somewhat prohibitive. Harang: $12.5mil in 2010; + a $2mil buyout or $12.75 in 2011 Phillips: $6.75 in 2010; $11 in 2011; + $1mil buyout or $12mil option in 2012, an option which becomes mutual if he's traded and just for kicks, Arroyo: $11mil this year plus a $2mil buyout or an option for $11 more next So that's getting rid of Castillo's 6 + 6 (plus Niese's min wage) in exchange for taking on around $20mil just for this year alone and then having to again find a 2B & a mid-range pitcher. Phillips has some pop in his bat and is a better fielder than Castillo at this point but barely gets his OBP above .325

Reds snag him with a 5 year deal plus an option for a sixth, the package said to be in the $25-$30 million (and almost certainly back-loaded) range. This will probably kick-start rumors of trades for pitchers Arroyo and/or Harang -- and possibly 2Bman Phillips.

All right folks, we all got some ‘splainin’ to do. Eight votes are in to date - plus our PotG final tally - so some sort of consensus is starting to emerge. But this season more than most has some wild variances both high and low with a number of players. Below is a list of where the submitted votes varied most from the rest of the pack. These spots are usually a good kicking off point for discussion as they can be used to lead you to either re-evaluate your votes or stick to it and instruct the rest of us where and why we’re out to lunch. And, of course, those who want to throw in their own 2 cents but haven't yet are welcome to speak up. Biggest discrepancies: 86-Dreamer: - Low on Tatis, Santos, Livan, Misch - High on Cora Transmonk: - Low on Livan, Delgado, Parnell, - High on Nieve, Green, Misch, Dessens, Takahashi LWFS: - Low on Murphy, Rogriguez, Sheffield, Stokes (left off completely), Parnell, Cora, Green (left off completely), - High on Livan, Delgado, Reyes, Church, Thole, Niese, Castro Vic Sage: - Low on Pelfrey, Livan (left off completely) - High on Delgado, Green, Misch, Takahashi Seawolf: - Low on Beltran, Pagan, Figueroa, Delgado, Nieve - High on Perez Irish: - Low on Pelfrey, Tatis, Redding High on Parnell, Cora, Nieve, Fartinez F. Knot: - High on Redding Nymr83: - Low on Stokes; Parnell; Cora - High on Misch, Redding

Not out of the question, but if Pagan were going to be my 4th then I'd prefer someone a bit more dissimilar to be my 5th - rather than just someone who's a kind of Angel-lite. Endy brings a better glove (although Angel is hardly inept) and makes fewer brain-farts on the bases but otherwise has similar skills only not as good and minus the switch-hitting and any semblance of power. You don't want an entire bench of speedy/slappy guys.

Nh, Elster was just telling him to check out the hooters on the chick in the third row.