Frayed Knot

Two bad reads by Hatcher, two horrid throws from Bass

You're not looking at the right statistics. Caminiti led the league in 'heart and soul' that year.

Not sure that Endy can bring a lot that Pagan doesn't already only with much better offense.

There's the stereotypical Mexican build with the big barrel-torso which makes some look fat even if they're not ... and then there's Aurelio Lopez. Dude was major league fat.

From Adam Rubin's blog at NYDN: The Mets have claimed lefthanded reliever Jay Marshall off waivers from Oakland. Here's the official release: Marshall, 26, spilt last season between Oakland and Sacramento (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League. He started 2009 with the River Cats, appearing in 50 games and going 5-3 with seven saves and a 3.20 ERA (18 earned runs/50.2 innings). After a promotion to the Athletics on August 9, the 6-5, 205-pounder went 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA in 10 appearances out of the bullpen for Oakland. Marshall was taken by Chicago (AL) in the 25th round of the 2002 First Year Player Draft and made his professional debut the next year with Bristol ® of the Appalachian League. His first major league action came in 2007 with Oakland and for his career, the lefthander is 1-4 with a 7.66 ERA. Marshall - a lefty reliever w/50 ML innings under his belt. Maybe a LOOGY although it's a bit hard to tell from his brief ML splits (where he hasn't really been good against anyone) or maybe just a guy to keep Pedro F. company.

Why? If someone were to guarantee you right now that Thole would have careers on a par with Molina (any of them except Jose), Pierzinski, or (especially) Lieberthal you oughta take it in a heartbeat.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2010/1/8/1240420/new-york-mets-top-20-prospects-for#storyjump Sickels self-publishes a guide to minor league systems each year and is the host at http://www.minorleagueball.com I tend to like his stuff as he doesn't get caught up in the 'you-heard-it-here-first' kind of hype where teenagers with half a good season in the low minors are touted as the next superstar in order to get the attention of fantasy 'keeper-league' geeks. Instead, he tends to be a bit of hard marker who would rather be good than first over the long haul. Also, instead of just an ordinal ranking he gives grades plus quickie explanations (more in depth obviously if you buy his book). His comments on the system overall: On the pitching side, the Mets have something potentially special in Jenrry Mejia, although they really need to be careful about how they handle him in '10. His secondary stuff still needs work, and I think they are asking for trouble if they rush him. Niese is ready now, and while he's not spectacular I think he will have a good career. Holt and Niesen have upside but need to sharpen their command. There are other Grade C types who can help as utility pitchers soon, but I'm very intrigued by the pitching the Mets have gathered in A-ball. Allen and Familia look like breakout candidates to me and I'm going to rank them aggressively. Lefties Matz and Urbina provide some long-distance projection. On the hitting side, Martinez can still be a star, but he's got to stay healthy. I think 400 Triple-A at-bats would do him a world of good. Flores' numbers in the Sally League aren't great, but he was the youngest guy in the circuit and we have to cut him some slack for that. Ike Davis should be a solid hitter, while Tejada, Havens and Nieuwenhuis can at least be contributors and maybe more. Thole is one of the guys I think is overhyped. Marte and Puelo have potential but are too raw to rank higher at this stage. Overall, I think the Mets system is stronger at the top than a lot of people think, but at the same time they could use more depth in Grade C+/B- types. Some of the Cs have the potential to improve greatly. And on some of the top guys (more via the link): 1) Jenrry Mejia, RHP, Grade B+: He needs to refine his breaking ball and a full year of Double-A/Triple-A is necessary in my view, but he also has number one starter potential. I hope they don't rush him. 2) Wilmer Flores, SS, Grade B+: Considering the age/competition differential, he had a pretty good year. Hard to get a handle on him sabermetrically as a result, but I'll give him some slack. 3) Fernando Martinez, OF, Grade B+: People are now too negative on him. The guy was the equivalent of a college sophomore last year. If a college sophomore got drafted and hit .290/.337/.540 in Triple-A, people would be drooling over him. He's made significant progress refining his tools. My main concern now is health and durability, which keeps him from ranking higher. 4) Ike Davis, 1B, Grade B: Showed he could hit for power, also has a fine glove. But I think he looks more like a solid regular than a future star. 5) Jon Niese, LHP, Grade B: Assuming the hamstring is OK, I see him as a slightly above average starting pitcher, classic number three guy. 6) Reese Havens, SS, Grade B-: He'll need to switch positions, and health is an issue. Has power and draws walks, and I think the batting average will come up if he stays healthy. 7) Kyle Allen, RHP, Grade B-: Significantly underrated prospect who deserves more attention than he's received. Breakout candidate for '10. I expect this ranking will surprise people. 8) Jeurys Familia, RHP, Grade B-: Like his teammate Allen at Savannah, Familia could break through big in '10. This is another ranking I expect will surprise people. 9) Brad Holt, RHP, Grade C+: I don't like the way he fell apart in Double-A, but the arm strength still deserves respect. Perhaps he might do better in relief. 10) Ruben Tejada, INF, Grade C+: At worst a fine utility guy, but given his youth (age 20) and contact hitting ability he could get beyond that. I like him as a sleeper for long-term success. FK: His grades tend to be I guess what you'd call old-school type grading where a 'C' denotes an average prospect so C+ and B- guys are definitely ahead of the curve and he throws B-plusses and A-minuses or A's around very cautiously (I count about 40 B+ or better grades to date for all systems and he has only about 5 or 6 teams he hasn't gotten to yet) Guys you've heard of who are NOT in his top 10: 11) Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF, Grade C+: The strikeouts scare me a little, but he has a broad range of skills. 15) Josh Thole, C, Grade C: He can hit for average, but has no power and defense is mediocre. Sounds like a bench guy to me. The Thole grade and comments has, so far, produced most of the objections (see discussion in link below the list). Some of that discussion can be from just yahoo fans upset that their favorites aren't praised enough but many of the posters at that site are prospect geeks themselves and seem to know their stuff.

The Mets are like CitiGroup and GM, none of them should be allowed to advertise. btw, where's the outrage over Citi being the sponsor of tonight's (bogus) 'National Championship' game - plus a bunch of the other bowl games as well? Seems that spending money on stadium naming rights is verboten but apparently doing so on game naming rights isn't. Of course if I were a more paranoid person I'd say it's because mediots consider money in baseball to be the source of all evil but not to be mentioned when it comes to football, even (maybe especially) when it comes to "amateur" football.

Costas had an interview with Dick Allen recently on the MLBN which I caught part of. FWIW, Allen dismissed the Thomas incident as nothing more than rough humor among friends that was blown out of proportion by others outside the circle. Whether that's a fact or him just trying to soft-pedal one of the controversies in his career was hard to tell. What's not in doubt is that Allen's drinking, late nights, missed appointments, etc., caused a number of his own problems.

I don't agree with Noble citing Alomar for apathy - especially for a small portion of his career - as reason for a 'No' vote in the same breath as citing Parker as an example of an all-out player. Parker exemplified exactly what a lot of critics were afraid of in the still-new FA era and that's the athlete who got fat (literally and figuratively) as soon as his wallet did. Parker had HoF talent, IMO, but not enough HoF seasons to make an HoF career.

Well, for better or worse, the writers assoc got the vote chores/honors back in the pre-TV days when they could legitimately claim to be the ones who saw the most games and therefore knew the best and supposedly were free of biases. And over the years they haven't been bad keepers of the flame even though there are some bad choices and others which are arguable. Their membership rules aren't lax and recently we've seen them open up to internet writers and others who hopefully bring an expanded way of thinking to the process but there'll always be disagreements. Plus, we saw what the smaller and more hand-picked panels did with the vets vote all those years. So I'll take the tyranny of a well-meaning majority (super majority actually) and live with their decisions. Most of them take it very seriously and I have faith that the good outnumber the stupid. In the meantime, pay attention to those who do good work and never stop mocking the Mariotti's of the world.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: What I'm wondering is when the HOF-- a beautifully-designed little museum, with pretty terribly run entry protocols-- becomes the Academy Awards of baseball: something that's fun to look at, but not something any SERIOUS baseball scholar ever looks at as anything but an entertaining trifle? It's not perfect, but it never was and nothing based on subjective criteria ever will be. But so what, that's not a fatal flaw, and if a handful of ejits turn in stupid ballots each one is like 0.2% of the vote Hell, there's plenty of disagreement in our small group here which is enough to show that there's not one correct answer to each candidate. Plus I think the choices have probably gotten better over the years rather than worse; certainly the veteran process is better.

Lowering the standards will still leave some guys just missing. I have no problem with 75% as there's always as many guys I wouldn't put in who are as there are guys I want in but fall short. That's just about the way it should be. Turning in a blank ballot isn't stupid, turning one in for stupid reasons is - particularly if one of those reasons is; 'Hey, look at me and see how discriminating [read: curmudgeonly] I can be!'

Older players used to not make it on their first try because they didn't have the 5-year rule way back when and so there was this 'we'll get around to you' mentality that existed while they tended to the older folks and made sure the younger ones actually stayed retired*. And, in a way, that era is still affecting this one as some take the attitude that since DiMaggio didn't make it in year one than nobody else deserves to either as that would represent some kind of insult to Joe D. I had hoped that attitude was dying out as the DiMag-era worshippers ... I mean writers did too, but apparently not. * In the NHL, Guy LaFleur came back as an active player after he was in the HoF in what struck a lot of people as strange if not embarrassing. Similarly, the NFL seems to want to wait on Parcells because you never know when and where he'll resurface (or quit) again.

The winner plus those who live to fight another day. 539 votes cast, 405 needed for induction ----VOTESPctAndre Dawson42077.9%Bert Blyleven40074.2%Roberto Alomar39773.7%Jack Morris28252.3%Barry Larkin27851.6%Lee Smith25547.3%Edgar Martinez19536.2%Tim Raines16430.4%Mark McGwire12823.7%Alan Trammel12122.4%Fred McGriff11621.5%Don Mattingly8716.1%Dave Parker8215.2%Dale Murphy6311.7%Harold Baines336.1%

Count me among those who had no idea Mariotti was even a member of the BBWAA. I guess that means he actually covered the sport at one time but, to me, he's just an ESPN dickhead who only talks loudly on TV but rarely about baseball and when he does it's only to either knock it or tell us that you don't pay attention anymore. And if you want to turn in a blank ballot at least do so for non-dickhead reasons.

I think Pagan is going to be the first Angel in the HoF And, fwiw, the HoF has claimed it's always been their call as to what goes on the plaque's cap, but they obviously got a bit loose in enforcing that for a time until rumors of supposed side-deals involving Boggs & Winfield woke them up.

I'm for tinkering a bit just to get rid of some of the more gimmicky "quirks" rather than as a solution to any hitting problem - perceived or real.