Frayed Knot

First of all, the sources of this "story" sound a lot closer to writers wanting this to be true -- remember the axiom about writers wishing for things that make their jobs more interesting -- more than it sounds like something that's got a chance of actually doing so. Essentially, the fact that Cashman didn't scream out 'NO NEVER!!!!' was their license to run with it. If it were to happen I'd root against him playing well because ... well because he'd be on the Yanx, but I'd have no personal animosity towards him. If you're him, why SHOULDN'T he take the job there if offered? ]...then [big Unit] switched to his "personal" catcher for the most part for the rest of the season My recollection is that he pitched to Flaherty most of the season and that his "turnaround" wasn't caused by a sudden catching switch. Now, of course, Flaherty's gone and Kelly Stinnett - who apparently has the RJ stamp of approval from their days in Arizona - is the new backup and presumably the every 5th day catcher. Signing Piazza in the Bronx would be superfluous - although it's not like they never done that before. With Bernie already lined up as DH and their desire to get Giambi off 1st base as often as possible would leave very few "open" days as DH, and Stinnett leaves few open as backup catcher and who knows what RJ would have to say about it all. I seriously doubt this is going to happen. The interesting part of this whole thing is Posada's contract. If Jorge starts somewhere around 80-90 games this season then his contract for '07 becomes guaranteed and 2008 becomes an option year with a large buyout. IOW, just as he'd likely be into serious decline they'd be on the hook for at least an additional $17mil above and beyond this year. If he misses that threshold they could release him at the end of '06 and be out from under that money. Supposedly the Yanx discussed obtaining Molina with the idea of preventing Posada from reaching his mark but are reluctant to possibly unleash ill-will in the clubhouse over such a naked attempt at screwing him especially since Jorge is Jeter's best bud.

]I remember being furious that they didn't draft this high school pitcher out of Oakland named Willis that I really liked. He went to the Cubs eight picks later. You're kidding right?

Edgy DC wrote: I'd be curious as to how well Maine did on prospect lists compared to Mets prospects. Maine wasn't on BA's list of Oriole prospects as he had been in the previous 2 years. I'm not sure if that's because they thought his star had dimmed or whether it's because he no longer fit their definition of 'prospect'. Maine pitched in the majors briefly in each of the previous 2 seasons and, while he didn't pitch enough innings to automatically disqualify himself, it's possible that he was on the ML roster for long enough to make him no longer eligible in BA's eyes.

And via Basebal America from just about a year ago: [u:cbc8402be4]Strengths[/u:cbc8402be4]: Maine succeeds more with command than pure stuff. He added a slider to give him four pitches, along with his fastball, curveball and changeup. He throws 90-91 mph with natural deception, and adds and subtracts from his fastball nicely. He's not afraid to work inside. [u:cbc8402be4]Weaknesses[/u:cbc8402be4]: None of Maine's pitches is overwhelming, which explains why he struggles when he moves up to a new level. He also needs to refine his command and throw quality strikes after learning that advanced hitters lay off balls out of the zone. [u:cbc8402be4]Future[/u:cbc8402be4]: Maine has a ceiling of a No 3 starter and probably a #4 or 5 on a first division club. But he's a pitcher's pitcher and should get the most out of his ability.

]Ah, yes, Peterson's new methods No, I'm referring to Seo's reluctance to add another pitch to his repetoire when the 2-pitch system that had served him well in his pre-injury/amateur life was no longer cutting it, as well as the idea that fasting on the days he pitched maybe wasn't the brightest move in creation, and so on; clashes which existed prior to Peterson coming on the scene. Maybe he's past all that and last year's half season of success was a sign of things to come ... or maybe it isn't.

Minaya's time & role while in Montreal were spent under such strange circumstances that I find it hard to "blame" him for what went on there or even objectively evaluate specific trades and use them as some sort of measuring stick of what he'd be elsewhere. But, having said all that, I did always find it strange how he was somehow the tabbed as "the golden child" in the minds of a sizable chunk of Met fans. While things were going downhill in the post WS years it seemed that everyone withing the whole Wilpon(s)/Phillips regime was being painted with the same 'get 'em all outta here' brush ... except Minaya. When he was named to run the dying Montreal franchise there was an 'oh my god we can't lose him' cry that defied logical explanation. Somehow, the masses simply assumed Duquette to be a tainted symptom of the problem while Minaya was somehow considered the antidote.

This challenge assumes that the trio at least all begin the year as starters on a semi-regular basis. 1) Heilman Great college career, high draft spot, good minor league career ... then stumbled in his first crack at the majors but is at the right age & situation to come into his own and showed last year that he's capable of doing just that 2) Benson An even better college & draft status but that was more than a few years and injuries ago. At this point I'm not sure that he'll get a whole lot better than what's been seen to date 3) Seo Maybe he really did "turn a corner", but a fastball/changeup pitcher who's lost something off the fastball due to injuries has a small margin for error -- particularly if he's the type to show a stubborn streak for adapting to new methods

But a different manager and pitching coach would change that, right?

As usual Bret, I seem to be losing track of (and perhaps interest in) your viewpoint(s). On page 1 you seem to be railing against club mgmt by saying that their moves are so untrustworthy to the point where a constant nervousness and impending sense of disaster roam rampant among the fan base whenever something's about to go down. Now, on Page 2, the dagger is pointed toward the fans themselves as if the fault lies with them for being too cranky and/or stupid to know the difference anyway.

]It's just a matter of nervousness about stupid trades, is all. I don't know how to measure units of nervousness, but it runs very high in Mets fans Y'mean that you sense more nervousness when a trade is discussed involving one of the members of your (once ... and possibly future) team than you do when the Phils are rumored to be shopping Abreu, or when the Cubs discuss Prior? -- WOW! Next thing you'll tell me is that you're more nervous watching your closer in the 9th than you are watching one trot in from someone else's pen. You do realize that you're sliding closer and closer to the lack-of-perspective type of internet fan that you used to make fun of don't you?

I don't get the fascination with Julio John K. Maine (I guess his parents couldn't afford a middle name) hails from exactly where you'd expect someone named Maine to be from ... that's right; Fredricksburg, Virginia. Went 2-3 in 10 games (8 starts) & 40 IPs last year w/Baltimore w/28 ERs, 24 Ks, & 28 BBs From last year's Baseball America (Dec '04): [u:30ce6dbef7]Strengths[/u:30ce6dbef7]: Maine succeeds more with command than pure stuff. He added a slider to give him four pitches, along with his fastball, curveball and changeup. He throws 90-91 mph with natural deception, and adds and subtracts from his fastball nicely. He's not afraid to work inside. [u:30ce6dbef7]Weaknesses[/u:30ce6dbef7]: None of Maine's pitches is overwhelming, which explains why he struggles when he moves up to a new level. He also needs to refine his command and throw quality strikes after learning that advanced hitters lay off balls out of the zone. [u:30ce6dbef7]Future[/u:30ce6dbef7]: Maine has a ceiling of a No 3 starter and probably a #4 or 5 on a first division club. But he's a pitcher's pitcher and should get the most out of his ability. (no word whether he's also a pro's pro)

It's going to have a corporate name. Virtually every new arena now is (plus many of the older ones) and they've been saying as much all along since the plans were first unveiled around a decade ago. At this point you just hope it's: - something that rolls off the tongue reasonably well. Some of the hi-tech gobbledygook or byzantine corporate intitials that pass for stadium names these days have been tough to say and even harder to remember. - something that can be shortened or "nicknamed" if it does wind up being a less-than poetic moniker. I like how 'Minute-Maid Field' became "The Juice Box" - something that doesn't change every other year as companies change their minds, go under, get taken-over, have their entire board indicted, etc. I have no idea what they're calling the joint the SF Giants play in these days. As long as it's somewhat reasonable we'll get used to it. Hell, we've got a place right now named after some deceased corporate lawyer and no one gives it a second thought.

]This gets weirder Mebbe, but that site has the look of one that'll reprint anything no matter the source; newspapers, websites, cousin's freind's landlord, HVAC guy ... ]See why this organization scares me? Yeah, I really envy those fans who are spared the agony of hearing trade rumors involving their guys and then always wind up liking the trades that eventually do come off anyway. Remind me again who those teams are? ]Zito I'm Really Leery (Really is Tim's long-lost brother) about going overboard for someone who's been good - though not really great - since his CY season and is headed for his last year before FA-gency. I hope BZ isn't another on of these rumored "obsessions" we keep hearing about. ]Diaz Adam Rubin from the Daily News speculated on a radio program a month or so back that he didn't think the Mets were all that high on Diaz ... but who knows.

OK so the source is apparently David Lennon & Jon Heyman at Newsday - although I have no idea why WFAN seems reluctant to say that. The Newsday story mentions that the Mets "are feeling optimistic" that Benson would go to Bal'mer "most likely" for Julio in a deal that would "include a prospect". This would presumably open up a startrs spot for Heliman, leaving ... ummm, who exactly, Brian Bannister? as the 6th man.

WFAN keeps running updates that "according to reports" the Mets and Orioles "are in serious discussions" for some new version of a Kris Benson for Jorge Julio swap. They don't, however, mention anything as to the source of those "reports": are these coming out of Baltimore? ... from newspapers? ... via the 'IFPSA'?

I'm trying to confirm rumors that ARod has changed course yet again as is now offerring to play for Cuba in the upcoming WBC. After all, he did have an uncle who visited there once and those memories mean a lot to him.

The Voice is essentially saying that the city if giving perks to rich sports owners -- longer tax exemptions, free rent despte the building being on city land, sweetheart parking arrangements, etc -- that presumably other businessmen can't (although sometimes do) get. The guys at "Field of Schemes" are pretty much saying the same things; although I find the part about treating the MLB rule which allows teams to divert rev-sharing money into stadium construction as if those too are somehow "gift" funds to be stretching things a bit. btw: a line in the NYPost (yesterday I think) said the team will unveil plans for the new stadium "in the next few weeks"

This week's Sports Illustrated has the "gorilla suit" story also -- except theirs mentions a ticket broker's wife not girlfriend and tag the price for the outfit at $11,000. Apparently, whoever the chick was, she wasn't impressed by the gesture no matter which version of the story is used ... go figure!

Coughing up 9 Large for what was essentially a practical joke sounds a bit pricey ... but hey, that's just me.

Welcome back to the fight, and this time I know our side will win

]Iriki throws five pitches, including a shuto It's not a pitch he had as an amateur, so it's essentially a pro-shuto, most likely something he picked up while fighting hams.

Franco's getting into the HoF the same way I am ... by buying a ticket -- but the Mets got at least as good out of Johnny F. as any of the 5 teams did out of the remaining career of Randall K. Myers. That trade turned out just fine.

You didn't just use the words "insightful" and "rotoworld" in the same sentence did you?

A Boy Named Seo wrote: I thought LOOGY was a CPF-coined term? Are those guys CPeffers? 'LOOGY' has existed in the baseball analysis world for at least a couple of years now. It's not a CPF invention.

So Trachsel's 37 IPs @ 1.32 WHiP & 4.14 ERA somehow ring up more negatives than: - Graves' 21 IPs, 1.82 WHiP, 5.57 ERA - Aybar's 25 IPs, 1.50, 6.04 - DeJean's 26 IPs, 2.10, 6.31 ??