Frayed Knot

I'm just disappointed that he took his jacket off first. I thought it, plus the weighted ball in the pocket of course, is what made him better.

I don't get all bent out of shape over how many votes guys cast. There's no 'correct' number and I can make a case for the extra stingy crowd as much as the extra generous ones. =41Forever post_id=1429 time=1547936587 user_id=69] A guy from Forbes as a ballot, and I didn't even know Forbes covers sports. He voted for Hallady, Helton, McGriff, Rivera, and Gary Sheffield. Rob Parker lost his Detroit News gig after controversial comments that were perceived as attacking the daughter of the Lions' coach. But he's still got a ballot, I guess because he has a radio show on I Heart Radio. He voted for five players: Bonds, Clemens, Rivera, Sheffield and Sammy Sosa, almost an all-juicer ballot. Somewhere Manny Ramierz must be pissed off.

Have any team Captains ever been promoted to team Majors? If so, that's something which might impress me!

Willets Point wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Have we reached the point now to where there's a new Spiderman movie once a month? Seems that way to me. I feel that way about Transformers movies. It's like they've become a monthly magazine. I assume this movie here will be followed by -- SPIDER-MAN: Far From Over; 2020 (or possibly just later in the year 2019)

Apparently Captain Dave ably assisted by assistant captain Bobby Parnell during that infamous battle of lunch meat hill. School children will read of their heroics for decades to come.

=whippoorwill post_id=1399 time=1547845515 user_id=79] * C'mon FK, remember how Keith kept everyone's heads in the game when Davey wasn't allowed any more mound visits?

* gives gift baskets

We are less then [sic] a month from the start of spring [i think you mean Spring Training, but continue] and once again some of our games biggest starts remain unsigned. Such a shame. If they don't sign ever then it's a shame. If they don't sign by a particular made-up date then it's called a negotiation. Also, some of the "biggest stars" you talk about have chosen to thus far remain unsigned despite lengthy and lucrative offers. " It's seems every day now someone is making up a new analytical tool to devalue players, especially free agents." -- No, plenty of analytical tools enhance the value of players. You can't just choose the ones which make your side look better and ignore the ones that don't. The other side gets a point of view in this too. " As fans, why should “value” for your team even be a consideration? It's not your money" -- It's not really, except to the point where bad contracts effect a team's ability to sign future players to contracts, unless you want to argue that money is unlimited in which case we need an economics lesson here. "... it's money the players have worked their whole lives to get to that level and be deserving of." -- Deserving of ... to what degree?. Deserving of money? ... yes; of a contract, sure, most of them anyway. But of a contract at what price? Apparently you think that players deserve contracts even at levels that their potential employers believe is a bad value. I'm guessing that they disagree. "Bottom line, fans should want the best players and product on the field for their team. And as players we need to stand strong for what we believe we are worth and continue to fight for the rights we have fought for time and time again. -- And I think you should continue to fight. But not winning every fight isn't a sign of a broken system or flawed metrics.

When someone informs me what a baseball captain actually does than maybe I'll get interested in this topic.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: A Boy Named Seo wrote: BVW: "Jedi, welcome to the Mets. And may the force be with us all." If he really said this I want him fired NOW!!!! Scouts honor. All right, maybe outright firing is a bit too harsh after such a short time on the job ... but consider him on notice against any or all future acts of dorkiness.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: BVW: "Jedi, welcome to the Mets. And may the force be with us all." If he really said this I want him fired NOW!!!!

Have we reached the point now to where there's a new Spiderman movie once a month? Seems that way to me.

Yasmani Grandal explaining why (without mentioning the NYM offer in particular) he rejected any multi-year offer(s?): “I felt like part of my responsibility as a player was to respect the guys that went through this process before I did. Guys like Brian McCann and Russell Martin, Yadier Molina*. These are guys who established markets and pay levels for upper-tier catchers like me. I felt like I was doing a disservice if I were to take some of the deals that were being thrown around ... I wanted to keep the line moving, especially for some of the younger guys that are coming up. … To let them know, if you're worthy, then you should get paid what you're worth. That's where I was coming from.” * Yadier averages $20 mil/year on his current and, almost certainly, final deal; McCann makes $17; Martin $16.5. The NYM deal would have paid Grandal $15/per So apparently the AAV was more important to him -- and, by extension, his current and future tools of ignorance brethren -- than was a longer deal at a lower annual rate. That's certainly his right and, having just turned 30, it may work out for him in the long run even as there's a possibility he may wind up regretting that choice.

=86dreamer post_id=1133 time=1547489496 user_id=97] I did not know the story of the Steinbrenner apology and Mel's insistence on the additional 40k signing bonus to become the Yankees pitching coach.

fwiw, mlb.com is doing a ranking by position project and we somehow wound up employing two of the top four 2nd basemen in the game today. 1. Jose Altuve 2. Jed Lowrie 3. Whit Merrifield 4. Robinson Cano 5. Chris Taylor 6. Scooter Gennett 7. Joey Wendle 8. Gleyber Torres 9. Ben Zobrist 10. DJ LeMahieu Now all we have to do is effect some sort of rule change which allows us to play them both at the same position at the same time. The rankings were done "based on player performance over the last two seasons, a number of offensive and defensive metrics, both advanced data and traditional numbers and analysis by the MLB Network research team." Apparently there was some sort of show that went along with this list's release (and also their 3B list upon which we placed no one) which aired Saturday night on MLBN with input from a number of their on-air slate of personalities, a show I suspect will be re-run multiple times over the coming week for those so inclined. Their choices at other positions will air over the next several weeks.

I think the Yanx would deal Andujar in a second so, no, it doesn't cut it off entirely. To me Andujar's got a definite shot-his-load/soph-slump/sell-high type of vibe to him to the Yanx would love to cash in on at the expense of some GM blinded by pinstripes. He's got pop but doesn't walk and is a shitty fielder.

Yanx sign long-time Colorado 2B DJ LeMahieu for not a whole lot more than what the Brodie bunch paid for Lowrie: 2 years @ $24 mil (vs 2 @ 20) The now 30 y/o (31 come July) eight-year vet is two years removed from his Batting crown season of .348 in 2016 and of course is being removed from Coors Field where his career OPS sits 162 higher at home as compared to on the road [835 vs 673 or 121 OPS+ vs 78] This certainly seems to signal the end of their pursuit of Manny Machado and it gives them a crowded IF situation similar to that of the Mets as the combo of LeMahieu, Torres, Tulowitski, Andujar and eventually Gregorius look to cover 2B, SS, and 3B Russel Martin was dealt back to the Dodgers where he came up and where played from 2006-2010 The 36 (in Feb) y/o Martin has been to the Bronx, Pittsburgh, and Toronto since last playing in LA The Blue Jays get a couple of young'uns in return.

Yanx sign long-time Colorado 2B DJ LeMahieu for not a whole lot more than what the Brodie bunch paid for Lowrie: 2 years @ $24 mil (vs 2 @ 20) The now 30 y/o (31 come July) eight-year vet is two years removed from his BA-winning season of .348 in 2016 and of course is being removed from Coors Field where his career OPS sits 162 higher at home as compared to on the road [835 vs 673 or 121 OPS+ vs 78] This certainly seems to signal the end of their pursuit of Manny Machado and it gives them a crowded IF situation similar to that of the Mets as the combo of LeMahieu, Torres, Tulowitski, Andujar and eventually Gregorius look to cover 2B, SS, and 3B Russel Martin was dealt back to the Dodgers where he came up and where played from 2006-2010 The 36 (in Feb) y/o Martin has been to the Bronx, Pittsburgh, and Toronto since last playing in LA The Blue Jays get a couple of young'uns in return.

Luis Avilan from the bottom of my heart

That's one big, honking number for just one year of Yasmani Grandal. On the other hand, the Brewers, coming off a 96 win/division title season and recently said to be a leading candidate concerning Madison Bumgarner trade talks, are certainly in go-for-it mode right now so this probably makes more sense to them than it would for many other teams.

The Post's Ken Davidoff https://nypost.com/2019/01/08/how-david-wrights-restructured-deal-opens-up-millions-for-mets/breaks down the financials in the Wright deal so all youse amateur accountants out there can adjust your books.

Edgy MD wrote: The thing is that it was supposedly a great year for films, but between what I've seen in the theatres, and what my download services have been offering me, I ain't quite seeing it. Nor did there seem to be the same bevy of Oscar bait flicks in December as there usually is.

For all the talk about the Yanx ability to eat salaries, they virtually never do so. Ellsbury, who didn't play at all in 2018, is still on the hook for '19 and '20 (plus a buyout for '21) and he wasn't even a particularly good glove man by the time '16 & '17 rolled around. So, even though they've added the likes of Stanton, Judge & Hicks since the last time Ellsbury played, he'll be in ST and is unlikely to be dealt or released. And, shyeeet, they kept (off)Kei Igawa around in their minor league system for the entire length of his five year deal even though they knew by year one that he wasn't any good and that a big chunk of his money was paid up front. It would have been (relative) chicken feed to make him go away but it's as if they want to pretend that they never make contractual mistakes so they'll see them through to the end rather rather admit that they misjudged. It's like Vasilly in DEATH OF STALIN claiming 'there was no plane crash!!'

=smg58 post_id=686 time=1546797371 user_id=62] Right. In his tenure with the Yankees, Ellsbury has become a glove-first centerfielder who is not a good bet to spend half the season on the active roster. But the Yankees haven't ditched him yet. Gardner is a glove-first corner outfielder who gave the Yankees a sub-.700 OPS last year, despite playing his home games in a stadium that plays like a Little League field to lefthanded batters. The Yankees brought him back when much better left-handed hitting outfielders were available.

Broxton's walk rate -- limited sample as it is (700 ML ABs) -- is already quite good [.092 in the majors and a still above avg .079 in 10 yrs/4,000 ABs in the minors] so I'm not sure his 'approach' is the problem. At age 29 (in May) he's likely pretty much what he's going to be: low BA w/a walk rate which partially makes up for it, decent power, good glove, good speed.