Frayed Knot

I tuned in briefly to check things out and so my first glimpse of Strasburg was watching him give up HR - 1B - 1B to the 2nd, 3rd & 4th batters he faced and throw 50+ pitches in two innings. Seems like he settled down after that.

="Gwreck"]Great game. Love those pitchers duels where you're already in the 8th inning with less than two hours elapsed. Even when we have short games we don't have short games ]Not given enough credit: Pelfrey. That's two outstanding starts in a row. The Ks are up as well. Yup! ]Beltran was jawing extensively with home plate umpire Angel Hernandez at the end of the third inning. Shines came over and got between them but Beltran was still giving it to Angel about his inconsistent strike zone. Jerry was very slow getting out there and I was surprised that Beltran didn't get tossed. Strike 2 was a joke, I think that was the one he was pissed at. Or maybe he was just jawing at Angel Hernandez on general principles. It would be understandable. ]I found the pitch that hit Tatis to be *very* suspicious, given that he'd ordinarily be walked to set up a DP with only one out. I thought about that too (catcher was set up waaaaay inside) but that's a real risky move with a runner on 3rd. ]In what I consider a MAJOR victory (besides Omir Santos kicking ass), the "Eighth Inning Singalong" tonight was not "Sweet Caroline"... rather, it was "Meet the Mets." Bravo. Up against the wall muthafuckas!

The between-innings SNY tease said "Mets on verge of a trade?" ... which could mean anything from moving a catcher to some silly rumor that barely qualifies for discussion.

From a BA Q&A: Paul (New York): What can you tell me about Josh Thole, he's hitting .354 at double-a is he the Mets future at catcher? J.J. Cooper: Intriguing prospect. He's got a good swing, but he's still a ways away from being a big league catcher because of concerns about his defense. The bat can play, he still has to show that the glove will allow him to make it to Citi Field.

Baseball America as part of their review of the 2008 draft: Brad Holt, rhp, Mets, supplemental first round (33rd overall) Holt�s fastball was too much for short-season New York-Penn League hitters to handle last year. It�s looking like the Florida State League can�t catch up to Holt, either. The high Class A St. Lucie right-hander has a 3.57 ERA in 35 1/3 innings, with 44 strikeouts (11.2 K/9) and nine walks (2.3 BB/9). At this rate, it wouldn�t be a surprise to see Holt, a 22-year-old from UNC Wilmington, in Double-A by the end of the year.

And the next 100[/url:3ogssmdh] - including one Reuben Sierra Junior btw, I noted that ESPN (through their ESPN-U channel) is showing a San Diego State game tonight as part of their college world series coverage if anyone wants to check what all the fuss is about ... although I don't know if Strasburg is actually pitching tonight or not.

="Edgy DC"]="Frayed Knot"] Now 2009 is still a small sample so far and I doubt he'll continue this pace, but he is about to surpass his season's best in less than a month of games. That would be about 132 homers I think. Well, it's possible! Also, the prospect that has had even normally cautious touts claiming has a chance to be the bastard offspring of Mike Piazza's offense and Mauer's defense - Baltimore's Matt Wieters - is to be called up today (Friday).

As long as you can keep track of all the authorities in this flick: which are the straight cops, the crooked cops, local cops, Scotland Yard, MPs, etc., this one was a lot of fun. Petty street crooks, professional crooks, international crooks, double-crossers, double-crossers getting double-crossed, cop looking for the robbers, cops NOT looking for robbers, cops trying to keep the robbers from other cops and other robbers. And, on top of that, throw in a dose of black radicalism plus some good old political sex scandals as only the British do so well.

="Edgy DC":cqho424i]I just used that instant access tool on the sidebar: http://www.wfan.com/ I imagine it's read by nobody.[/quote:cqho424i] 'Instant access' is where you write to talk to the on-air staff. IOW, your KARS-4-KIDS message will get read by some 23 y/o producer for whatever show is on at that moment and discarded. Not sure where you write to direct stuff toward station mgmt but if you find it at least it'll be read by their 23 y/o secretary before being discarded. John Cougar Lunchbucket May 28 2009 04:55 PM ="willpie":3joiqvb5]The fact that nobody's mentioned it in this thread must mean that horrifying 23 Nissan commercial is a local ad and someone at my cable company has to pay.[/quote:3joiqvb5] The woman with the fat arms talking about "achieving a platinum experience" is the one that kills me. Number 6 May 28 2009 05:28 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":30a9yl5o]The woman with the fat arms talking about "achieving a platinum experience" is the one that kills me.[/quote:30a9yl5o] I enjoy when she stands on Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. I'm hoping that it's properly to scale and her fat arms will crush Williamsburg.

... and 10th & 11th. They're dragging it out over 3 days this year instead of the usual two. This gives MLBN the ability to make it the early rounds (1st, 2nd & 3rd) a 'Prime-Time Event' (I believe starting at 6PM EDT) that I'm sure will make for thrill-a-minute broadcasting. Even duller for us since we don't pick until (if I'm reading things correctly) 72nd overall. Then it looks like 103rd, 134th, and then every 30 picks after that. BA gives their (always subject to change) top 100 choices

Would depend on his exact status at the time and at what point in the year he was cut. Some cuts earn guys just 30 days pay and 30 days a minor league pay ain't much, making the Korean option look all that much better even if not quite mandatory.

Yeah, I think it's a case of: 'we can't use you and couldn't find any other club on this continent who could -- so we sold you to this Korean outfit and you can either play there for a guaranteed paycheck or get cut and look for work on your own'.

="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]Does a genially stupid rant count? GS: "It shouldn't be against the law to take the picture, but to post it and say something negative I think should be against the law. It's like an invasion of privacy." I'll cut Sheff some slack on that one because one could say that he had libel/slander kind of stuff on his mind when saying that. Not that I'd suspect he knows the difference, or would care to make a distinction between what's illegal and what simply annoys him. But on the list of stupid things said by Gary Sheffield this one doesn't even make the first cut. It's just too outnumbered.

Santana - 2.5 Putz - 0.3 Parnell - 0.2 Feliciano - 0.1 Murphy - 3.4 Pagan - 1.0 Castillo - 1.5 Sheffield - 1.0

="soupcan"]'Fuck tubs'. Love it. Had no idea there was an actual term for those... If there wasn't there is now. Side note on sex pills commercials: I love how the guy is always the good-looking and seemingly in great shape middle-aged type. And while I'm sure there are some E.D. patients who fit that mold you know that 90+% of those who need the stuff are likely much older, vastly overweight, alcoholic, diabetic, or, quite likely, some combination of all of the above. But they certainly don't want to put those faces on the product.

Pagan is also much faster than I remembered. He beat out by a stride what I thought was going to be a close play on an infield roller yesterday. He just flew down the basepath like ... well, like an Angel. Reed is the guy with the most Pagan-redundant skills -- both can play CF when needed, spell Sheff/Murph in late innings, PH to get on base, not a lot of power -- so things might eventually come down to a choice there. Pagan has the advantage of switch-hitting.

Sheffield's problems were rarely, if ever, with his teammates. He'd just decide, every once in a while, that either the press, his team's mgmt, or MLB in general had it out for him and would go off on some angry yet non-sensical rant. As long as he keeps his yap shut I'm OK with him.

holychicken wrote: I know that run was not an ER. However, if a player gets a hit with 2 outs and take second on defensive indifference and then scores on a single, is that run earned? Yes, that IS an earned run.

These have been really fugly-ass games the last two nights.

So - if I'm not mistaken - we had no replays since the rule was put in last August ... until this week when we've had four

Not going to win any fans that way, kid.

Dunn can't argue about it - he was the most clueless guy on the field.

I can't tell. What I do know is that Sheff should have been held at 3rd.

Oh sure, nothing new about power frequently being the last "tool" to come around or about players starting to peak around Mauer's age. The only differences here are: - that this would represent a HUGE power leap, from approx 1 HR every 50 ABs over his 4 full seasons to better than 1 HR every [u:2og352q1]Eight[/u:2og352q1] ABs this year. Now 2009 is still a small sample so far and I doubt he'll continue this pace, but he is about to surpass his season's best in less than a month of games. - and that this was the one "missing" component in a player who already had everything else you'd want: the classic catch-and-throw backstop who also happens to win batting titles and draws walks. That he's a good-looking guy who's also a local kid I'm sure doesn't bother the Twins either.

="Edgy DC":1fr4k58f]While I'm certain that the Nats will got with Stephen Strasburg, and the risk is always lower with a college pitcher, I'm pretty much at the point where I would almost never go with a pitcher with a number-one overall draft choice.[/quote:1fr4k58f] I linked a Thomas Boswell-Washington Post article a month or so back {on edit: Here[/url:1fr4k58f]} where he warned the Nationals to proceed with extreme caution around Strasburg. Not that he was saying not to take him but rather that they shouldn't paint themselves into a break-the-bank mode. Maybe sticking to "only" 50% above the Prior-record $9mil or so bonus would do instead of the rumors of $40mil packages being floated around these days (no doubt from camp Boras). The [u:1fr4k58f]best[/u:1fr4k58f] of the pitchers picked #1 overall wound up being roughly career 150-150/4.50 ERA types like Floyd Bannister, Andy Benes & Tim Belcher. Of course I also remember a BA article from not long after Mauer was picked talking about the long odds of HS catchers who were drafted that high. And yes, the name Steve Chilcott was brought up. But overall, top-five position picks have produced far more stars 'n studs than have top-five hurlers. MFS62 May 27 2009 12:43 PM Mauer's success wouldn't come as a surprise to Bill James. Many years ago, James stated that major league hitters reach their power potential around the age of 26-28. He said (I paraphrase from memory) that by that age, hitters understand how pitchers have been getting them out, learn what pitches (and locations) they can drive for power, and have the discipline to look for those pitches. Later Frayed Knot May 27 2009 12:58 PM Oh sure, nothing new about power frequently being the last "tool" to come around or about players starting to peak around Mauer's age. The only differences here are: - that this would represent a HUGE power leap, from approx 1 HR every 50 ABs over his 4 full seasons to better than 1 HR every [u:2og352q1]Eight[/u:2og352q1] ABs this year. Now 2009 is still a small sample so far and I doubt he'll continue this pace, but he is about to surpass his season's best in less than a month of games. - and that this was the one "missing" component in a player who already had everything else you'd want: the classic catch-and-throw backstop who also happens to win batting titles and draws walks. That he's a good-looking guy who's also a local kid I'm sure doesn't bother the Twins either. Edgy DC May 27 2009 01:07 PM ="Frayed Knot":3jusplky] Now 2009 is still a small sample so far and I doubt he'll continue this pace, but he is about to surpass his season's best in less than a month of games.[/quote:3jusplky] That would be about 132 homers I think. Frayed Knot May 28 2009 10:34 PM ="Edgy DC"]="Frayed Knot"] Now 2009 is still a small sample so far and I doubt he'll continue this pace, but he is about to surpass his season's best in less than a month of games. That would be about 132 homers I think. Well, it's possible! Also, the prospect that has had even normally cautious touts claiming has a chance to be the bastard offspring of Mike Piazza's offense and Mauer's defense - Baltimore's Matt Wieters - is to be called up today (Friday). Triple Dee May 29 2009 04:21 AM ="Frayed Knot":2ykjs1la]="Edgy DC":2ykjs1la]By the way, with Mauer a free agent after this year[/quote:2ykjs1la] After next year - he's signed thru 2010 [/quote:2ykjs1la] The FA catcher's market is pretty bare again this coming off season. Somebody's going to pay $$$ to sign a Benji Molina type. Hopefully, it's not Omar. But the following off season you potenitally have both Victor Martinez and Joe Mauer. You have to figure one of those two will end-up in Boston. Triple Dee May 29 2009 04:33 AM ="Frayed Knot":1ygasvlu]="Edgy DC":1ygasvlu]While I'm certain that the Nats will got with Stephen Strasburg, and the risk is always lower with a college pitcher, I'm pretty much at the point where I would almost never go with a pitcher with a number-one overall draft choice.[/quote:1ygasvlu] I linked a Thomas Boswell-Washington Post article a month or so back where he warned the Nationals to proceed with extreme caution around Strasburg. .[/quote:1ygasvlu] I just saw an ESPN doco on Strasburg. Tony Gwynn (his current manger) spoke quite candidly about his potential -- "still has a lot to learn". Coupled with the fact he's had attitude problems in the past, I certainly wouldn't would be staking the family ranch on him. But what the heck, the Nats are in such a dire state that they really need to take a gamble to get some bums on seats. attgig May 29 2009 01:35 PM ="Edgy DC":3k96tgto]By the way, with Mauer a free agent after this year, the Yanks and Sox watching their catchers break down, and the Mets lacking a current occupant, here's hoping that the Twins lock him up before the year is over.[/quote:3k96tgto] with the new ballpark, I would think they would almost have to sign him. the fans would hate ownership for that.