Frayed Knot

]Is Omar Hoping Reyes and the Carlos's Never Make It Back? No

Make it hurt Frenchie

Or Francoeur, either way.

Be real nice if Dabidrye puts the game away here.

I may just become a pagan!

If we're gonna sac bunt we could just leave the pitcher in to do that.

Problem is pitcher's spot is due up this inning and I think we're out of healthy bodies to double-switch.

]Obviously it is not the end result but I do believe that it has to be the engine that drives the car. No one is arguing against having a good feeder system, only against your mandate that it needs to be at and remain at a particular (and arbitrary) level at all times and to use that as your standard for judging the GM. btw, two seasons ago the NYM system was ranked in the top 10, how'd that work out? It got downgraded since mainly because of the trade for Santana although it would have anyway because the Santana pieces (Humber, Guerra, Mulvey, Gomez) would have graduated or been degraded in value even if we had held onto them. And if it's your contention that a GM shouldn't make a deal like that unless and until he had sufficient lower minors people so as the keep the "ranking" up high enough, well then I don't even know what to say.

I guess a bags-loaded walk and force-play qualifies as a rally these days.

]I asked the other day if anyone knew precisely where the Mets fell in the most recent BA listing. I do not think that it is 18th or above however. I could be wrong. . .if anyone knows please confirm. 'Baseball America' & 'Baseball Prospectus' ranked the Met system 17th & 18th prior to the season so I guess the Mets fit your cut-off point for an 'acceptable' system. Other than that, what Edgy said. The purpose of having a strong system is to give you options (either through promotions, trades, or a combination of the two) at improving your major league team, not so you can reach some arbitrary level of minor league prowess simply for the purpose of doing so. btw, these rankings are almost always cyclical because of the very nature of promotions weakening a system and sucking leading to high draft picks. For instance if you want to hire the Tampa guys for their good system keep a couple things in mind 1) it got that way largely by losing 95+ games per year for 11 years straight 2) their system is no longer on top for all the reasons listed above So if your goal is to get a good system by employing step 1 then I'll pass thankyouverymcuh. And even if you do get it there then step 2 (and a hopefully improved MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM -- kind of the long-term goal, no?) will almost certainly knock it back down again. You're looking at a piece of the process and treating it as the final score.

Green - 0.5 Sheffield - 0.5 Wright - 0.5

Holt takes the number 5 slot in this week's 'Prospect Hot Sheet' at BA No. 5 BRAD HOLT, RHP -- METS -- Team: Double-A Binghamton (Eastern) -- Age: 22 Why He's Here: 1-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 2 GIDP The Scoop: The 6-foot-4 righthander from UNC Wilmington closed out the first half with a nifty 80-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio, as well as the performance you see above. One start prior, Holt recorded 10 strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed in five innings. He surrendered three runs in that effort, but he can be forgiven, seeing as he missed three weeks in June nursing a twisted ankle. According to Mets vice president of player development Tony Bernazard, the ankle no longer is an issue for Holt, the 33rd overall pick last year. His primary developmental goal for the second half: finding consistency with his changeup and curveball.

Musial definitely gets overlooked as compared to DiMag & Williams and, as paranoid as mid-westerners tend to be about these things, east coast bias is likely the culprit in this case. That said, Musial hasn't been well in recent years so I wonder how up to being in an extended spotlight he was. At first when I didn't see him on the field with Brock, Gibson, et al, I assumed he was too ill to even appear. Then came the golf cart entrance but, like I said at the time when talking about FOX's coverage, the cameras never even showed him up close. Could have been some random old guy in a red sportcoat for all we know. Maybe the Cardinals are at fault for not arranging something "grander" or maybe they simply got over-ruled by MLB and Obama's presence.

Julio Lugo: worse signing than Luis Castillo

I think rich folk get used to doing things a certain way (like flying charters rather than coach) and it takes them too long to realize that they can't automatically handle the luxuries the way they used to. Which of Hemingway's characters was it that explained how he went broke; "two ways: slowly at first, then quickly"

I heard some guy on the radio a week or so back saying that legal claims have been filed by Lenny's mother and brother for money he owes them.

]What happens if the game goes 15 innings? Then we'll hear 3,471 mentions during the game for the upcoming ESPYs instead of the mere 1,247 that are scheduled.

Q -- Please tell me the Mets won't be too cheap to give Matz the $1.1 million he's reportedly wanted all along? You also had Magnifico as an over slot guy. Any chance he signs too? A: Jim Callis (BA) -- I don't think the Mets would have spent their top pick on a guy they didn't plan to sign, and they know what it's going to take. Not as confident on Magnifico if he truly wants a seven-figure bonus.

I don't understand how he keeps all that stuff in his head. I mean I could (and did) do Morgan & Stargell back in the day (hell, everybody could) but this guy's referencing Phil Plantier for crissakes! I like how he also tacks on some guy's first few steps of running style in addition to the stance and swing.

Since we didn't have an official KTE for this series, just a note on where to find the games this weekend Friday: Pelfrey vs Jurrjens This game is at Atlanta's regular starting time of 7:30 (PIX-11 in NY). Not sure why Thursday's was moved up to 7:00 Saturday: Santana vs Kawikami 4:00 EDT for the FOX national broadcast (in most cities) Sunday: Nieve vs Vazquez This is the ESPN GotW but it's moved up to [u:2pel2rmm]6:00 EDT[/u:2pel2rmm] this week so as to make room for the all-important (hey watch up stroke ourselves) ESPY Awards. The awards show actually took place on Wednesday night but airing the jock & celeb monument to pole-smoking in prime-time is ESPN's gift to the world.

I'm fine if they want to spot Berroa out there for a trial - but I'm not sure he ever was a real good SS even back in the one year he actually did hit.

Perez - 2.5 Misch - 0.3 Castillo - 1.0 Wright - 0.8 Sheffield - 1.0 Murphy - 1.0 Schneider - 0.2 Francoeur - 0.2

I know blaming Met doctors has been fashionable since the Ryan Church concussion days but I'm missing what's being misdiagnosed and mistreated here. Mainly I think this is becoming an all-too-easy and almost knee-jerk reaction when guys don't get back as quickly as we'd like them to.

Murphy almost screws up that play three different ways - shoulda let it go to Castillo - shoulda gone to 2nd with it once he had it - shoulda made a better flip to Ollie but gets away with it anyhow.

metirish wrote: LWFS is doing trojan work though. Does that mean he's practicing safe posting?