Frayed Knot

With no obvious first-year no-brainers (Alomar looked like one at age 32 then somehow managed to fall off a big enough cliff to make it questionable) it should be a good year for older borderline types. I'd still vote Robby Alomar in but I think he's enough of a question mark in some minds to where they'll make him wait a year or two first. My main guy in the 'should already be in' category is Tim Raines. Maybe some of the newer sabermetrics-savvy voters will push him over the edge. I'd probably go for Alan Trammell over anyone else there - although I don't believe he's ever been close. Next I'd lean to Bert Blyleven although I won't go to the mat for that one. Mark McGwire deserves it but I have no problem as he stews waiting for the voters to get a better handle on the steroid era. Both Dawson & Larkin are short IMO - too many partial seasons for both - although I opt for Dawson of the two. Dale Murphy is Mattingly to me: six HoF seasons and then mediocrity after that. I'm a no - at least for now - on Edgar Martinez & McGriff.

They lowered (as did the Yanx) some of the super-high priced real estate up front towards the end of the '09 season because it wasn't selling. Both teams vastly over-estimated the demand for those seats and the economic collapse made it even worse. There's going to be a slight lowering of some of the regular priced seats for 2010. The reason for the elimination of the smaller plans (6/7/8-packs, plus some of the mini-season plans) isn't a big mystery anymore than was their creation in the first place: they thought they needed them then and they no longer think they do now. With the smaller joint, the (hopefully for them) increased demand due to new stadium-itis and fewer better overall seats, food, "experience" etc., they saw themselves as able to sell the bulk of the inventory via full-sized (or at least fullER sized) plans plus the usual individual buys. Are they pricing the seats to where they think it's going to generate the highest revenue? ... Of course they are! - and, like any other business, if they mis-price their stuff their going to get burned on it and have to adjust.

Similarity scores thru age 29: Jimmie Foxx Hank Aaron Lou Gehrig Ken Griffey Frank Robinson Mickey Mantle Juan Gonzalez Mel Ott (794) Hank Greenberg Orlando Cepeda That's 8 HoFers plus one to-be HoFer and one probably not (JuanGone) All were high average/high power guys who had great early careers and mostly played (exceptions Cepeda & Robinson) during good offensive eras - especially the 1930s crowd of Foxx, Ott, Gehrig & Greenberg. Of that group, Mantle, Griffey, Cepeda, Ott, and especially Foxx & Gonzalez, had considerably better years in their 20s than in their 30s. Only Aaron really got better (more power). Cepeda (the least similar to begin with) was the only borderline HoF vote. Gonzalez's fall-off (last full season came at age 31) was the only one that will likely keep him out. His overall similarity scores are also a bunch of players who either fell-off early (for various reasons) or, like Albert, are still works in progress. Hank Greenberg (WWII interrupted career) - HoF Albert Belle (career ending injury) Lance Berkman (still active) Johnny Mize (814) (HoF) David Ortiz (active) Dick Allen (grumped his way out of the game) Mo Vaughn (injuries, weight, steroids) Todd Helton (active) Ralph Kiner (cut short by injuries) - HoF Chuck Klein - HoF

Except that he only has nine seasons right now and ten are required to even be eligible. But by this point next year you could pull out the 'if he got hit by a train tomorrow' argument and I'd vote him in fer shure.

Give up the plan ... Hell, I still waiting for them to *show us the plan!!!! * really old forum joke

metirish wrote: Also Terry Collins, the former Astros and Angels manager, has joined the Mets as their minor-league field coordinator. Don't want to let those fields become uncoordinated.

Mercury Mets unis not only rank behind any combo of white, black, pinstripe, plus the various retros that pop up from time to time, but also trail Scottish kilts, bunny outfits, Payne Stewart-style golf knickers, and most of the combined wardrobes of Lady Ga-Ga, Amy Winehouse, and Bjork.

Some also question whether he's really 29

Two of his 2nds were behind Bonds, plus he finished 3rd behind Bonds and Adrian Beltre. His other 2nd was behind Ryan Howard.

btw, Pujols has now been in MLB for nine seasons. His MVP status in those years: 4th (plus 1st in RoY) 2nd 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 9th 1st 1st So that's not only 3 wins but also 3 runner-ups with all top-10 finishes, eight of which were top-5s He turns 30 in January, He was a 13th round draft pick.

NY Post: The deal is not signed yet, but �it�s as good as done,� the source said. ... The deal will keep the often outspoken Hernandez with the network at least through 2012.

A unanimous verdict for 1st place and then no clear-cut choice for runner-up (6 different guys got 2nd place votes) is about how it should be for this season ----1st2nd3rd4th5thPointsAlbert Pujols - StL32--------448Hanley Ramirez - FLA--15533233Ryan Howard - Phi--6875217Prince Fielder - Mil--5973203Troy Tulowitski - Col--3655172Andre Ethier - LAD--2--32113Pedro Sandoval - SFG----1--289Chase Utley - Phi----22184Derrick Lee - ChiC--1----366Matt Kemp - LAD------2149 Also receiving nods: Ryan Braun - Mil Adrian Gonzalez - SD Todd Helton - Col Chris Carpenter - StL Adam Wainwright - StL Matt Holliday - StL Jayson Werth - Phi Shane Victorino - Phi Tim Lincecum - SFG Yunel Escobar - Atl Mark Reynolds - Ariz Joey Votto - Cin Yadier Molina - StL Miguel Tejada - Hou Huston Street - Col BJ Upton - Ariz Ryan Zimmerman - Wash Jeremy Affeldt - SFG Chris Coghlan - Fla Brad Hawpe - Col Mets & Pirates only teams not represented by a warm body

Yeah, some guy asked early on about why no fan involvement in future NYM HoF selections. Perhaps if he read a bit further he would have seen a few questions from 'Brian' and figured out the answer.

The problem with games in PR is that they can't really charge ML prices for the seats, which means that unless they're drawing a lot more people into the stadium it's tough to make it work money-wise. So, yeah, while they can probably improve on Florida's attendance with a short slate of games there, they'd be doing so by robbing what are likely their best attendance games to start with, not to mention pissing off a lot of FLA-based Met fans to boot.

Sure, but Law & Carroll are BWAA guys (as of recently) and are part of specific chapters for voting purposes. Carroll, for instance, is located in Cincinatti and therefore would not be eligible to vote for an AL award under the two votes per league city distribution. MGiM's statement implies that a foreign writer is the one who cast the 1st place vote for Cabrera and that didn't seem correct to me.

I'm betting none at all. Tough to make a case that anyone from this year's squad deserves to make the top-10 on anyone's list. oe: double checking the AL list ... 4 teams failed to place at least one guy with votes (Balt, ChiW, Cleve, Oak)

Among DHs Cust is a lousy fielder!!

"A Japanese writer cast a first-place vote for Miguel Cabrera." Say what?!? Votes are by BWAA guys associated with each AL city. Is this a guy with a Japanese name or have they expanded their voting these days? Anyway, here is the top 10. Votes on MVP actually go to 10 placesbut it gets pretty trivial after a while. ----1st2nd3rd 4th5thPointsJoe Mauer - Min271------387Mark Teixeira - MFY--15641225Derek Jeter - MFY--9535193Miguel Cabrera - Det11584171Kendry Morales - LAA----3910170Kevin Youkilis - Bos--2734150Jason Bay - Bos----11--78Ben Zobrist - TB----------34Ichiro Suzuki - Sea----------33Alex Rodriguez - MFY----1--331 The remainder getting back of the ballot points include: Chone Figgins - LAA Aaron Hill - Tor Bobby Abreu - LAA Mariano Rivera - MFY Adam Lind - Tor Michael Young - Tex Zack Grienke - KC Robinson Cano - MFY Evan Longoria - TB Justin Verlander - Det CC Sabathia - MFY Michael Cuddyer - Min Victor Martinez - Cle/Bos Jason Kubel - Min Placido Polanco - Det Felix Hernandez - Sea Ian Kinsler - Tex

I've never been a regular NYDN reader so maybe I'm not the best one to say - but it just seems to me that he's become lazy in recent years by not checking sources or accepting what's being fed to him as facts without even questioning whether there's an agenda involved. That plus the fact that he's just so identified with the one team for so long now (he was a beat writer covering the Yanx many moons ago before getting his own column) that the reader almost has to think of it as at least partial pr - particularly since the paper itself is so in bed with the team at this point. And all this goes at least as far back to the day when he was seen watching a game from Steinbrenner's box and the next day followed up with an article trashing the just starting-to-fade Don Mattingly. It was so obvious to everyone that the basis for the article was spoon-fed directly from George and his people for the purpose of knocking the immensely popular Donnie-Baseball down a few pegs that that became as much the story as the content of the piece itself.

I doubt Kay ever saw Duncan play, or at least not enough to make a serious individual evaluation of his skills. I'm sure his "analysis" of the proposed trade was a case of him either assuming greatness as a result of being a NYY 1st round pick or just blindly repeating (possibly under orders) what had been told to him by Yanqui pr flacks. Waldman does that a lot too; they're both either too trusting or are under the impression that pumping up the product line is part of their job description. Ruben Rivera was the next Mantle if you listened to her a bunch of years ago. Madden, on the other hand, not only should know better but it's part of his job description to know better. Instead he got so many facts wrong in that article comparing the two (including Duncan's name) that he probably would have been canned by the paper if it weren't for his tenured status.

2003RANKINGSPOINTSPLAYER30Steve Trachsel29Ty Wigginton28Cliff Floyd27Jason Phillips26Al Leiter25Jae Weong Seo24Jose Reyes23Mike Piazza22Jeromy Burnitz21David Weathers20Tom Glavine19Roger Cedeno18Timo Perez17Armando Bentiez16Vance Wilson15Roberto Alomar14Tony Clark13Joe McEwing12Dan Wheeler11Mike Stanton10Raul Gonzalez9Pedro Feliciano8John Franco7Graeme Lloyd6Jeff Duncan5Rey Sanchez4Aaron Heilman3Grant Roberts2Scott Strickland1Jeremy Griffith

2004RANKINGSPOINTSPLAYER30Mike Cameron29Tom Glavine28Al Leiter27Mike Piazza26Kaz Matsui25Braden Looper24Cliff Floyd23Steve Trachsel22David Wright21Ty Wigginiton20Richard Hidalgo19Ricky Bottalico18Eric Valent17Mike Stanton16Jae Weong Seo15Jason Phillips14Orber Moreno13Todd Zeile12Kris Benson11Shane Spencer10Jose Reyes9Matt Ginter8Vance Wilson7Mike DeJean6Wilson Delgado5Danny Garcia4Dan Wheeler3David Weathers2Heath Bell1Karim Garcia

I'm not even going to get all that picky about who does/doesn't get in or in what order things happen. Just the fact that this acknowledges that they've been ignoring their past (lack of 'Metness' in the new crib) plus have a group in place that will at least keep an eye on the future (and has the right people to steer it) is a good sign all by itself. Yeah it's a shame that they didn't realize these things on their own and had to be shouted/shamed into it but, hey, baby steps first. Hopefully they're now on the path to realizing something that was discussed in another thread: the concept that marketing [u:2fl8orsm]the team[/u:2fl8orsm], and not just a select few who happen to be currently wearing the uniform, is a worthwhile goal.

Media members on the committee are: Marty Noble, the Mets.com beat writer who is entering his fifth decade covering the team; Gary Cohen, the New York native and voice of the Mets on SNY who has been a Mets broadcaster for 21 years; and Howie Rose, a Queens native and radio voice of the Mets on WFAN who has covered the team for 21 years on radio and television. The Mets committee members are: Dave Howard, executive vice president, business operations who has been with the organization for 18 years; Jay Horwitz, vice president, media relations who just completed his 30th season with the team; Tina Mannix, senior director, marketing who has been with the Mets for nine years; and former Mets pitcher Al Jackson ... Even taking into account the fact that I never until this very moment heard of Tina Mannix (any relation to Joe?) I think this committee is perfect.