Frayed Knot

They're also known as the 'oi' guys because that's the sound the scale says when they step on it.

I think generally when a team signs a new player to a decade long contract they like to get at least to Day Two before a scandal breaks out around him. Oh well.

So the season is off and running on ... Ball Four to Mookie Betts via a time clock violation. And what can be more 2020s-era MLB than that?

Dodgers & Padres kick things off at 6 AM EDT tomorrow morning with the first of two regular season games from Seoul, South Korea.

Dave Stieb (Jays) and Robin Roberts (Phillies) both maxed out at 198 K seasons. Guess which two I chose? I [CROSSOUT]often[/CROSSOUT] usually outsmart myself trying to avoid the most obvious answers like, say, Clemens and Carlton

So $31M per year on average. I wonder if he's still going to claim that 'I ain't makin' shit' as he did during the pandemic year when he was forced to scrape by on a mere $7.5/per?

A little progress, but still a lot of 'undecideds' out there with only ten days to go. And now the remainder of the 'Probables' are in. Mar 20 (6:05 AM EDT) Dodgers @ Padres (Seoul, SK) Tyler Glasnow (2nd OD assignment), Yu Darvish (4th) Mar 28: 1:10 -- Brewers @ Mets -- Freddy Peralta (1st), Jose Quintana (2nd) 4:10 -- Twins @ Royals -- Pablo López (2nd), Cole Ragans (1st) 4:10 -- White Sox @ Tigers -- [CROSSOUT]Dylan Cease[/CROSSOUT] Garrett Crochet (1st), Tarik Skubal (1st) 4:10 -- Pirates @ Marlins -- Mitch Keller (2nd), Jesus Lazardo (1st) 4:10 -- Cardinals @ Dodgers -- Miles Mikolos (3rd), ------ 3:05 -- Braves @ Phillies -- Spenser Strider, Zack Wheeler (1st) 3:05 -- Angels @ Orioles -- Patrick Sandoval (1st), Corbin Burnes (3rd) 4:10 -- Nationals @ Reds -- Josiah Gray (1st), Frankie Montas (3rd) 4:10 -- Giants @ Padres -- Logan Webb (3rd), ------ 4:10 -- Blue Jays @ Rays -- Jose Berrios (4th), Zach Eflin (1st) 4:10 -- Yanx @ Astros -- [CROSSOUT]Gerrit Cole[/CROSSOUT] [CROSSOUT]Marcus Stroman[/CROSSOUT] Nestor Cortes (1st), Framber Valdez (3rd) 7:35 -- Cubs @ Rangers -- Justin Steele (1st), Nathan Eovaldi (4th) 10:07 -- Guardians @ A's -- Shane Bieber (5th), Alex Wood (1st) 10:10 -- Rockies @ DBacks -- Kyle Freeland (3rd), Zac Gallen (2nd) 10:10 -- Red Sox @ Mariners -- Bryan Bello (1st), Luis Castillo (4th) * Garrett Crochet (1st) - White Sox Hey Garrett, get needled in school about your name much?!? Anyone ever hear of this guy ... yeah, me neither. But there's a very good reason for that ... it'll be his ML debut!! He'll become the 9th pitcher in the last 110 years to make his first ML start on opening day and just the second in the last 43 seasons. 1920 - Eddie Eayrs, Boston Braves 1925 - Lefty Grove, Philly A's 1938 - Jim Bagby, Red Sox 1939 - Red Evans - Dodgers (he had pitched in relief and would start only 6 games in his short career) 1943 - Al Gearhauser, Phillies 1944 - Preacher Roe - Pirates (his second ML game, the first was in relief six years earlier) 1981 - Fernando Valenzuela - Dodgers 2014 - Tyer Scheppers, Rangers

Very similar (35) including some guesses in common NYM/TEX: Gary Mathews Jr. (0.5%) -- NYM/SS: Kevin Mitchell (0.5%) -- NYM/30HR: Todd Hundley (3%) 2B/TEX: Michael Young (12%) -- 2B/SS: Kaz Matsui (1%) -- 2B/30HR: Davey Johnson (4%) TEX/30SB: Oddibe McDowell (7%) -- SS/30SB: Maury Wills (3%) -- 30SB/30HR: Howard Johnson (3%) Odd that some of the pcts are different for the same players but it probably has something to do with when you post your grid (mine was around 12:30 - 1:00) as the pcts will change as new answers come in.

The guy probably figured that if he's gong to have his 2024 salary slashed from an anticipated $7.5M down to about 1/3 of that it would help him tighten his belt to his new budget if he didn't also have to pay a moving company to haul his stuff across the country.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Frayed Knot and I visited Lost Nation, Iowa (not much to it) ... One of the UMDB memories was from a guy who says his father was also from Lost Nation and adds that McAndrew was in a HS graduating class of nine! Basically there's a decent chance that your local supermarket is on a plot of land larger than L.N., at least the 'town' itself. The postmaster there (she's the one that took the linked picture ... she wasn't very busy) told us the population was around 450-500 before adding 'but of course that includes those in the surrounding area too'.

Still a bunch of unannounced starters as we move inside the two weeks to go mark Mar 20 (6:05 AM EDT) Dodgers @ Padres (Seoul, SK) Tyler Glasnow (2nd OD assignment), Yu Darvish (4th) Mar 28: 1:10 -- Brewers @ Mets -- Freddy Peralta (1st), Jose Quintana (2nd) 4:10 -- Twins @ Royals -- Pablo López (2nd), ??? 4:10 -- White Sox @ Tigers -- [CROSSOUT]Dylan Cease[/CROSSOUT], Tarik Skubal (1st) 4:10 -- Pirates @ Marlins -- Mitch Keller (2nd), Jesus Lazardo (1st) 4:10 -- Cardinals @ Dodgers -- Sonny Gray (4th), ------ 3:05 -- Braves @ Phillies -- ???, ??? 3:05 -- Angels @ Orioles -- ???, Corbin Burnes (3rd) 4:10 -- Nationals @ Reds -- ???, Frankie Montas (3rd) 4:10 -- Giants @ Padres -- ???, ------ 4:10 -- Blue Jays @ Rays -- ???, ??? 4:10 -- Yanx @ Astros -- [CROSSOUT]Gerrit Cole[/CROSSOUT] [CROSSOUT]Marcus Stroman[/CROSSOUT] Nestor Cortes (1st), Framber Valdez (3rd) 7:35 -- Cubs @ Rangers -- Justin Steele (1st), ??? 10:07 -- Guardians @ A's -- ???, ??? 10:10 -- Rockies @ DBacks -- ???, ??? 10:10 -- Red Sox @ Mariners -- ???, ???

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If we ever decide to curtail a discussion of former Israeli Prime Ministers I sure hope we title the thread, 'Should we cease to talk about Begin?'

Edgy MD wrote: Holla-Famer Reginald Martinez Jackson in the booth!! Mickey Rivers to R.M.J.: 'You've got a white man's first name, a Puerto Rican man's middle name, and a black man's last name ... no wonder you're so messed up!'

Edgy MD wrote: We need a new Dylan. Bruce? Donovan? John Prine, Loudon Wainwright?

Straw's habits earlier in his life, drinking mostly, probably didn't do him a lot of good. But the dude's had a bunch of health problems over the years seemingly unrelated to anything self-caused.

Yeah, but the two biggest pitching fishes left in the sea are: - Blake Snell, who could (maybe) give the Yanx the quality they're looking for but without nearly the quantity - or Jordon Montgomery (not sure if he's Boras) whom the Yanx already dealt away (for the since jettisoned Harrison Bader) and who may not be too keen on returning

Frayed Knot wrote: While I'm sure there are other candidates, it would be tough to name a single player more crucial to his team's 2024 success than Cole. Still speculating a lot here since this could turn out to be anything from nothing at all to a lost season(s?) or a whole buncha places in between, but after four seasons in the Bronx he's been a terrific FA signing for the Yanx to date. - he's made 12 (Covid yr), 30, 33, and 33 starts and has hurled just shy of 600 IP in those three full seasons combined - he's 51 - 23 overall with an ERA = 3.08; WHIP = 1.09; 11.1/2.1 K/BB and finished 4th, 2nd, 9th, and 1st in AL CY He's signed thru 2028 -- although has opt-out at the end of this season (which could make this a very poorly timed injury for him) -- and will turn 34 at the tail end of this coming season. But what the Yanx have lacked in recent years is pitching depth and/or health from those not named Gerrit* Cole And while they're counting on the addition of Soto combining with better health from Judge (likely) and Stanton (coin flip) to vault them back to the land of 90+ wins, any lengthy absence from Cole is likely to put a serious crimp in those plans as it's the one with seemingly the least viable 'Plan B'. 8 two R's and one T as I've just leanred

While I'm sure there are other candidates, it would be tough to name a single player more crucial to his team's 2024 success than Cole.

For a guy who was 'said to' be making a token appearance or two last September (before that plan got dumped) I have to say that they didn't deem him ready to go even five months after that isn't what I'd call a great omen.

Edgy MD wrote: Luke Voit (currently 1-for-18) trying to find himself this spring. Considering that Luke Voit, like the Great Wall of China, can be seen from outer space, I find this surprising.

=kcmets post_id=148613 time=1710090675 user_id=53] Hah, I just got the 'Seven of Nine' thing.

SFG has put JD Davis on waivers following in the wake of their signing of Matt Chapman.

=bmfc1 post_id=148566 time=1710034569 user_id=73] The Mets will have 3 games exclusively on Apple+ in the first half of the season:

Had I thought of Rick Sutcliffe I would have instantly recognized him as being a CHC/CLE seeing how his trade to Chicago's north side in 1984 and his subsequent rebound to a top pitcher (he was in the midst of a poor year* in CLE due to some dental problems IIRC) was probably the biggest factor that kept the Mets from winning the NL East that year. * Sutcliffe's 1984: 4-5 w/a 5.15 ERA and 1.66 WHIP in 15 starts for the Indians prior to the June 13th trade; 20 starts for the Cubs going 16-1 w/a 2.69 ERA and 1.08 WHIP after arriving in Chicago. He won the NL CY But, alas, Sutcliffe's name never popped into my head and likely wouldn't have unless I pondered over the question for many hours, if not weeks, which I had no intention of doing. btw, Sutcliffe was dealt, with George Frazier, for Joe Carter (I have zero recollection of him starting his ML career as a Cub), Mel Hall, and Don Schultze, so all of those guys would work as CHC/CLE answers as well second btw: for all the issues that those mid-80s Mets managed to create on their own, they also had an odd habit of running up against pitchers in the midst either of a career year or at least a brilliant late season/playoff run: Sutcliffe '84, John Tudor 1985, Mike Scott 1986, Orel Hershiser 1988