Frayed Knot

A scuffle of Mets

And now mechanical issues have delayed the Mets' flight out of Florida meaning they won't even get to Syracuse until ... uh, I dunno.

TEAMPITCHER# Blue JaysMarcus Stroman2nd Orioles[CROSSOUT]Alex Cobb[/CROSSOUT] Andrew Cashner1st RaysBlake Snell1st Red SoxChris Sale5th YankeesMasahiro Tanaka4th TwinsJose Berrios1st Indians=#FF0000]Corey Kluber— RoyalsBrad Keller1st Tigers=#FF0000]Jordan Zimmermann— White SoxCarlos Rodon1st AngelsTrevor Cahill2nd AstrosJustin Verlander11th AthleticsMike Fiers1st MarinersMarco Gonzalez1st RangersMike Minor1st MarlinsJose Urena2nd MetsJacob deGrom1st BravesJulio Teheran6th NationalsMax Scherzer4th PhilliesAaron Nola2nd CardinalsMiles Mikolas1st CubsJon Lester8th PiratesJameson Taillon1st BrewersJhoulys Chacin3rd Reds=#FF0000]Luis Castillo— Dodgers=#FF0000]Hyun-Jin Ryu— Diamondbacks=#FF0000]Zack Greinke— Giants=#FF0000]Madison Bumgarner— Padres=#FF0000]Eric Lauer— Rockies=#FF0000]Kyle Freeland—

Yeah, although saying that a guy who does this sort of stuff for fun is a bit of an odd duck seems kind of unnecessary. Mostly what he seems to be is totally emotion-less, but I suppose that trait is pretty much a prerequisite.

I would think maybe some kind of acknowledgment in the press box. On the uniform doesn't really seem appropriate. Unlike announcers, he didn't work for the ball club.

I would think maybe some kind of acknowledgment in the press box. On the uniform doesn't really seem appropriate. Unlike announcers, he didn't work for the ball club.

I can see the point in an expo at Syracuse for the new arrangement (although would they have done so for a non-Wilpon-owned team?), but, yeah, between that plus one more meaningless game in Florida, they should have chosen one or the other rather than both. The other thing that throws a wrench into the works is that the final game of the road trip is in Miami and it's a night game (6:10 start) in front of the long flight and a 1:10 home opener the very next day. That part, of course, isn't NYM mgmt fault -- getaway games should be day games whenever possible ESPECIALLY the first week of the season -- but it's likely what's pissing Thor off about not having a day in NYC first. oe: And as for deGrom's negotiations ... stay out of it Noah. You do neither side any favors by opening your yap.

=G-Fafif post_id=4875 time=1553448493 user_id=55] Wilson Ramos leaves last PSL game when, while catching, he takes a pitch off a couple of fingers on his right hand. Hope for the best, expect [CROSSOUT]the Mets [/CROSSOUT] multiple broken phalanges

Excerpts like this usually go for the more eye-grabbing quotes so I'm sure that the entire book isn't akin to the above passage and the rest in the linked NY Post article. But in what they did publish Jeter takes a pasting the likes of which I can't imagine he's ever before seen in print. Jeter the player gets questioned (as in above), but also as a negotiator and as an owner right down to the honesty of the ownership prospectus of he and his partner presented to MLB and the public.

All aboard(ick) heading north ... not so fast Misters: Hector Santiago Ryan O'Rourke Adeiny Hechavarria Rajai Davis Carlos Gomez and the previously mentioned Devin Mesoraco Mesoraco doesn't want to report to Syracuse and is threatening to retire if the Mets don't release him and allow him to try and cut his own deal elsewhere. Maybe he follows through with that, maybe not.

I was thinking that this two-game series was going to be his swan song. Would have been nice if he could have snagged himself a hit (0-5 w/1 BB across the 2 games) but the other 4,500 or so will have to suffice. Wonder what becomes of him from here? For all the attention he garnered he's really been something of a cypher during his time here. He can speak English though doesn't when near any microphones. It's weird in this age where a player can be on the stage for the better part of two decades and we haven't the slightest idea what his voice even sounds like. Gotta go back a while to find a sports star like that (although Vlad, kinda too). The first, and maybe only, time we'll ever hear him is via his HoF induction. Does he consider himself an American now? Did he live in Japan during the off-seasons? Will he go back? He's estranged from his father but I don't know what other family he has. Does he become a coach on either continent or get one of those 'special assistant' jobs? Or does he just slip his skinny frame through the cracks somewhere and simply disappear?

What SI had during its run was great features, great writers/writing, and great photography. Not sure why you'd look to a weekly periodical for your scores & stats but, if you did, then, yeah, SI wasn't for you. The Fantasy issue is distinct from the Baseball Preview. Well at least there's that.

http://i67.tinypic.com/2eg7lgp.jpghttp://i67.tinypic.com/2eg7lgp.jpg Is this (copy & pasted from the other thread), a 'Fantasy Issue', what SI is passing off as their Baseball Preview issue for the season? If so it goes a long way towards explaining why I let my SI subscription lapse years ago.

Remember: One week remains for any additional contributions, additions, edits, arguments, or just plain mocking of other votes. Actually the mocking never ends, but all voting will close next Wednesday night [i]precisely[/i] at the stroke of wheneverIgetaroundtoit.

30 - deGROM -- Any questions? 29 - NIMMO -- only McNeil (with a much smaller sample size) had more RC/27 and only Cespedes (again SSS) better IsoP 28 - WHEELER -- 4 more starts, 28 more IP, better WHIP than Syndergaard 27 - SNYDERGAARD 26 - CONFORTO 25 - McNEIL -- half the number of PA/AB as compared to the regulars, but usually superior everywhere else 24 - LUGO -- best ERA on the team 23 - FAMILIA 22 - FLORES -- gets some love for his freakish game-on-the-line clutchiness 21 - CABRERA -- actually tied for 2nd in team HR 20 - ROSARIO 19 - FRAZIER 18 - MATZ 17 - GSELLMAN 16 - BRUCE 15 - PLAWECKI -- 22 of his 50 hits were for XBs 14 - CESPEDES 13 - MESORACO 12 - VARGAS 11 - BAUTISTA 10 - BLEVINS 9 - DR SMITH -- Danger Will Robinson 8 - OSWALT -- going on pure numbers alone cuz I already have no memory of this guy 7 - BASHLOR 6 - REYES 5 - SEAWALD 4 - JACKSON 3 - SWARZAK 2 - GONZALEZ 1 - WRIGHT -- Yeah, sure, why not.

Frayed Knot wrote: That SI cover landed three weeks after Swoboda took an 0-fer-10 (including leading off an inning six different times with an out) w/5 Ks in the Mets' 24-inning 1-0 loss in Houston. Agee also took a double-digit oh-fer that night (although w/only 4 Ks) hitting right before Swoboda in the lineup and often making the final out in all those innings which allowed Rocky to lead-off the next. So while that year's Mets may have been movin', they weren't movin' very fast. Wow! http://leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=978April 15th, 1968 - UMD How wild is it to be going 24 innings in the 5th game of the season!?! Mets started that year with One game in SF (Wed), then played the next day in LA and again on Saturday sandwiched around an off-day Friday, before heading to Houston for a Sunday - Monday two-game series in advance of the home opener (SFG) at Shea on Wednesday. And we complain about odd schedules today!

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: It was a subtle change but some time in the early 1990s SI began bold-facing athlete's names in headlines, and they became, like ESPN, wanna-be participants in the spectacle of sports marketing and not reader-focused observers providing access to sports itself. Changes that occurred, coincidentally or not, during the era of MICHAEL and of TIGER

That SI cover landed three weeks after Swoboda took an 0-fer-10 (including leading off an inning six different times with an out) w/5 Ks in the Mets' 24-inning 1-0 loss in Houston. Agee also took a double-digit oh-fer that night (although w/only 4 Ks) hitting right before Swoboda in the lineup and often making the final out in all those innings which allowed Rocky to lead-off the next. So while that year's Mets may have been movin', they weren't movin' very fast.

It all feeds into the time difference and the idea that Trout only exists after everyone east of the Mississippi has gone to bed so if east coasters aren't there to see it did it really happen? Now add in Houston's Alex Bregman: a 5 year / $100 million extension which apparently kicks in after this current season where his contract was already decided. He starts 2019 at just over 2 years ML service time so he's probably cheap this year [oe: 'renewed' by the Astros at $640,500]. So the extension covers his his three arb years plus his first two FA seasons. Bregman, a former #2 overall draft pick (2015 out of LSU), turns 25 next week and was 6th in the AL in position player WAR last year [behind Betts, Trout, Chapman Ramirez, Lindor] and 5th in MVP [betts, Trout, Ramirez, JD Martinez]

A's & Mariners from Tokyo both Wednesday and Thursday. Both times it counts!!! 5:35 AM EDT on ESPN Ichiro will be in the starting lineup for the M's, making him the second oldest player ever to do so on OD. But I'm not going to make this into a quiz because you'll all instantly guess Julio Franco and you all will, of course, be correct. Ichiro will be 45-149 by tomorrow's game (and be in the same time zone where he was born) whereas Julio was 47 y/o plus about 8 months when he manned 1st base (and played all 16 innings - going 1-for-6) for the Braves in their opening day game in 2005. Franco, I'm sure you'll all remember, had previously played for the Milwaukee Braves, the Boston Braves, but also (little known fact) for the Sioux Braves during the '76 season, the one which concluded with their dominating four-game sweep of the 7th Cavalry team and their star hurler, George Custer.

TEAMPITCHER# Blue JaysMarcus Stroman2nd OriolesAlex Cobb1st RaysBlake Snell1st Red SoxChris Sale5th YankeesMasahiro Tanaka4th TwinsJose Berrios1st IndiansTBA— RoyalsBrad Keller1st TigersTBA— White SoxCarlos Rodon1st AngelsTrevor Cahill2nd AstrosJustin Verlander11th AthleticsMike Fiers1st MarinersMarco Gonzalez1st RangersMike Minor1st MarlinsJose Urena2nd MetsJacob deGrom1st BravesJulio Teheran6th NationalsMax Scherzer4th PhilliesAaron Nola2nd CardinalsMiles Mikolas1st CubsJon Lester8th PiratesJameson Taillon1st BrewersJhoulys Chacin3rd RedsTBA— DodgersTBA— DiamondbacksTBA— GiantsTBA— PadresTBA— RockiesTBA— Verlander wins the prize for most OD starts among this year's crop. Clayton Kershaw will not make what would have been not just his 9th but his 9th consecutive and all with the same team. Julio Teheran has the longest single-team streak going. P.S. One thing this new software apparently does for us is NOT put in an empty line at the top of the post each time you hit the carriage return following a line of code ... so that's a nice upgrade

The deal also has an opt-out for GG if he's not on the ML club by April 20 Chances are, on the Yanx, that he will be (hell, he might start opening day) where he'd be less likely to be among the starting five in Queens by that date.

Mike Trout better than Bryce Harper Didn't think that was even debatable. The big risk, of course, is that Trout is 1-1/2 years older than Harper and the rumored contract, in addition to being more expensive, will also be two years longer. This puts the Angels on the hook for Trout until he's 3-1/2 years older before it all ends as compared to where Philly will be with Harper.

Yeah, I think some of our perspective is skewed on account of him being like 43-2 / 2.14 lifetime vs the Mets He's slow, he walks a ton, he's slow, he'll bust the 100-pitch plateau by the 4th inning. Oh yeah, and he's really, really slow and agonizingly frustrating to watch.

Too much weed, or too many bad puns?