Frayed Knot

From the X-Files: - Milledge is coming off a hot August: .336/.410/.570; 6 HRs - Jesus Flores is probably NOT available as he got absolutely steam-rolled by Chase Utley in a play at the plate the other day and was carted off (not walked off like those macho football players as KC would note) with a twisted ankle - Anderson Hernandez off to a good start: .368/.442/.368 in his brief 21 AB Nationals career, although I suspect those are all bunts and infield singles

btw, playoff odds now at 0.11% They also looked like shit in the brief parts of the game I saw last night. The Angels 6-run 6th included a push-fight between Toriiii Hunter and a clearly frustrated Pudge-Rod who definitely didn't appreciate Toriiii stealing bases like the paths were suddenly shortened to 50 feet. He was finally thrown out on a grounder at home where what seemed like a light tag escalated into a brief scuffle and Hunter & Rodriguez ejections.

I'm really at a loss to see what has you so exorcised here. It's reasonable to assume that if a furor falls in the internet and Edgy's not there to read it it still makes a noise. Now the definition of "furor" is a bit fungible I suppose. But I do know that John Sickels' site had a rather spirited thread hashing over Callis's comments and any of the these prospect guys will tell you that the surest way start a controvery is to put out an opinion - any opinion - on Met, Yanqui or Red Sox prospects because not only do fans of those teams tend to be overly protective of their own but they're in such competition with each other that mere mentions of the other teams' guys starts the "BIAS" and "KOOLAID DRINKER" claims flying back and forth. Callis first put out his opinion in a quick-answer format to a reader's question; then read and/or heard about various places questioning both his opinion and reasons behind it; and finally explained his thinking during his weekly prospect column. In doing so he neither trashed Martinez nor claimed to be touting Flores as the next superstar. He's merely saying who he'd put on the top of the Met prospect list as of 9/08.

TEN not that I'm counting or anything

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not getting a "superstar" vibe from Martinez. He may very well be a nice player with a nice career, but I think he's being over-hyped. Even more than usual. Don't think he ever was billed as a superstar, merely one with a high-ceiling when he was still very young and a long way from the majors. Bet against 'superstar' with just about any prospect and you'll be right 90+% of the time. ]Callis ... claims he "caused a furor in the Mets blogosphere." Well, sites that discuss prospects tend to hash out comments like that pretty good. Did Callis say it just to stir up shit? I dunno. He was asked a question, answered it, and then adressed some of the feedback to that answer more thoroughly and gave his reasons why. It's not like he's some lone blogger trying to make a name by claiming to be the first to tout some unknown prospect.

Brewers also lose so the WC tightens up. Also Red Sox take the first of 3 from TB. That race now down to 1/2 game as Tampa has been reeling.

Baseball America's Jim Callis was in an on-line Q&A (espn insider stuff) last week and, in his own words, "caused a furor in the Mets blogosphere" when he answered a question as to who he liked as NYM's No. 1 prospect by going with Rookie ball shortstop Wilmer Flores over Double-A outfielder Fernando Martinez. It was during a quick question/quick answer format where he didn't have a chance to explain his thinking. Today in BA he does: Both Flores and Martinez have interesting bats, and the big difference between the two is that there's more to Flores' game than just his offense. He has a chance to play a premium position (currently a SS) and at worse will be a third baseman, while Martinez will be a left fielder. -- he's not the first to opine that Fartinez isn't looking like a CF While Martinez has been pushed aggressively by the Mets and consistently has been very young for his leagues, he hasn't been overwhelmingly impressive since a 45-game stint in low Class A as a 17-year-old at the beginning of 2006. Flores will be 17 when he heads to low Class A next year, and I think he'll outperform Martinez. It's still very early in Flores' career, but I've had scouts compare his ceiling to Miguel Cabrera's.

The one silver lining in what otherwise would look like a disaster is that a Philly sweep (or near sweep) of Milwaukee would improve our WC fall-back position even as it imperils our division lead.

Just a quick Francisco Rodriguez note (I'm sure we'll be reproducing this argument during the winter) but he's going to be ridiculously expensive on account of all the CY votes and even MVP votes he's going to get this season as a result of setting the single-season *SAVE!* record and being the titular closer on a team that's going to win 100 games (and would win about 98 if some generic closer were being used instead). But here's a 3-year total (2006-2008) for both him and Wagner IPHitsRunsERBBKHRWHiPERAF-Rodrig197148575292258131.222.38

[u:61aa461375]Mets[/u:61aa461375] Washington x 2 Atlanta x 3 @ Wash x 4 @ Atlanta x 3 Cubs x 4 Florida x 3 [u:61aa461375]Philly[/u:61aa461375] Florida x 3 Milwaukee x 4 @ Atlanta x 3 @ Florida x 3 Atlanta x 3 Washington x 3 - Philly has 13 home & 6 on the road compared to our 12 & 7 - Each has 6 (3/3) against the Braves - So if we call the Brave games plus our 4 vs Cubs and their 4 vs Brewers a wash, it comes down to: Us = 6 Washington + 3 Florida Them = 6 Florida + 3 Washington So slight advantage to us - and maybe slightly moreso if those late games don't matter so much to the Cubs or if Zambrano and/or Harden aren't healthy. Of course we had a favorable schedule last year too.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I like your wish better than mine, but while that would be my preference, I don't expect the Mets to take that approach. Now that most of my previous post on the topic is out of date, I didn't expect them to follow it either. A 2nd good year out of Braden Looper might have at least temporarily cured them of the big ticket closer disease. But he tried pitching through injury that 2nd year to the point where most Met fans even forget that he was ever good and lump him in with Mel Rojas in discussions of worst pitchers ever to stain the uniform. ]Maybe that's one reason I prefer Fuentes to Rodriguez. Fuentes seems like he might be more likely to fit into a committee bullpen with a recovering Wagner. I don't think anyone in their FA year capable of closing is going to agree to a set-up role even if he were paid like a closer and promised the role a year or so down the road. The FA is calling the shots and there are just too many spots for him to wind up. Somewhat different story now of course.

Well, this question got a lot more in play because (acc to WFAN) they've apparently found a tear in Wagner's elbow (Medial Collateral Ligament) requiring surgery and [u:0f77b0147f]One Year[/u:0f77b0147f] of recovery time.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I also hope that Wagner's injury prods the Mets to look at possible replacements in the free agent market this off-season. (I'm thinking Brian Fuentes, but I suppose Francisco Rodriguez will be discussed too. The problem with him is he'll get a lot more money than he's worth.) Y'see, here I was thinking exactly the opposite (as we both continue to get ahead of ourselves here). My thought was that succeeding withOUT Billy might break a team of the addiction to a big money **CLOSER** and plant an idea about structuring a bullpen in a more flexible way that's not dependent on one guy in the 9th inning role no matter how he was pitching at that moment. There were already rumblings among Met fans about F Rodriguez even before Wagner went down - at least some of which is 'GiGS' thinking based on his impending **SAVES** record. He's good (and certainly younger) but, of course, he's not going to solve the late-inning "agita problem" (he walks A LOT) and it also relies on the idea of a $25mil back of the pen at least for one year. Be fine with me if they stayed away from the FA closer market for a while.

The way SNY has it now: - about 1/3 of the games w/Keith & Gary - about 1/3 with Ron & Gary - and about 1/3 with a 3-man booth is not only fine with me but probably exactly how they want it. Not sure Keith for 162 is such a great thing anyway. IOW, no need for a 4th unless either a game of bridge or golf breaks out.

Santana - 4.7 Delgado - 4.7 Beltran - 0.2 Easley - 0.2 Smith - 0.1 Feliciano - 0.1

Evans - 0.5 Wright - 0.5 Beltran - 0.5 Easley - 0.5 Knight - 0.5 Schoeneweis - 0.5 Figeroa - 0.5 Sanchez - 0.5 Cancel - 0.3

A guest KTE-er, I like it!

249,996 = Carlos Delgado off Cole Hamels

This was about the 10th game in the last 2 months where a Santana start has begun with the label of; 'this is the type of game we got him for' - and he's pitched well in all of them.

The two outs this inning are about 350ft each. The two hits add up to about 75

I'll trade an out for a run there.

No biggie, you're going to play this like there's nobody on anyway.

Easily makes it Easley into 3rd

That's 2 runs in his last 18 innings for Stokes. 4 runs in his very first outing (5 IPs) but only those 2 since.

Just keep knocking those outs off the board Johan.