Frayed Knot

Man, we're turning like one GiDP for every third or fourth possible chance at one.

Walk-off HR Josh Harrison in Pittsburgh in the 10th inning, busting up Rich Hill's no-hitter and shutout all at once.

I think they're trying to say they're the best team now with the ever part still TBD

I would have preferred to stick a fork in him about five years ago when we had to face him 4 or 5 times a year. I had missed the Doug Fister one-hitter on Tuesday night that Gary just talked about. That's one of the problems with the Mets sucking at this time of year, it makes my overall interest in baseball start to wane.

Two infield grounders by Wilmer tonight which 90% of ML'ers turn into singles. Wilmer was out by a wide margin both times.

Wrong Gary. Dennis Martinez has the most wins for any Latin pitcher but not foreign born. Rik Aalbert Blyleven of Zeist, Netherlands = 287, 42 more than 'El Presidente'

- Mad scientist Joe Madden -- who's been known to use four outfielders, five infielders, catchers in the OF, pitchers in the OF, etc. -- wound up double-switching left-handed throwing Anthony Rizzo across the diamond over to 3rd base on Tuesday night in the 9th inning of a game against the Reds Cubs had a 7 run lead at the time so I suppose it's a low leverage time to try it. Reds wound up scoring 3 times that inning but totally as the result of HRs, no balls were hit to him. - What the fuck happened to Jordan Zimmermannnnn? The guy was a stud with the Nationals for the better part of six seasons (2009-2015): 70-50; 3.32; 1.16; twice an All-Star and twice on the CY ballot (5th & 7th in '13-'14) He had TJ surgery with them early in his career missing parts of 2009 & '10, but then essentially never missed a turn after that taking the ball 26, 32, 32, 32, and 33 times from 2011-15 But the Nats then allowed him to walk to Detroit at age 29 without appearing to ever try to keep him (they were funneling all their money to Scherzer instead) and hasn't been a fraction of what he used to be since. Just 42 starts total for Detroit over not quite two full seasons, he's 16-17 but with a 5.43 ERA and 1.52 WHiP with year two in Detroit being considerably worse than year one despite being just 31 y/o And this all comes to mind because he's getting his ass kicked by the Yanx tonight - allowing six runs in the first three innings

Based on our season's average of 0.87 runs allowed per/1st inning, it's pretty close to the norm for this year. Last year's 1st inning average for the entire season, 0.40, was less than half what it is this season Folks can question Terry on his lineup choices or his bullpen management, but those stats are purely the results of that night's starter and therefore essentially out of his hands.

This cover reminds me that I'm pretty sure Turner was one of the voices in the LAD clubhouse who went to mgmt a year or so ago and told them they needed to get Puig the fuck out of there. Seems that winning cures all ills based on that photo.

[fimg=400:3i06d508]https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn-s3.si.com%2Fimages%2Fdodgers-cover-inline.jpg&w=800&q=85[/fimg:3i06d508]

Centerfield wrote: But Wright is not healthy. And will never be healthy again. Well, what constitutes not healthy enough to be what he once was vs not healthy enough to ever play again is the part still to be determined before the insurance company willingly swoops in and picks up their obligation of the remaining contract. I'm just fighting the notion that the verdict is already in on this issue or that the Mets can unilaterally decree it simply because it's in their financial interest to do so. Whether David gets a handful of PH appearances towards the tail end of this season barely matters in this whole thing. I assume the policy pays for when he is on the DL and stops while he's not so if he joins the team when the rosters expand in September it'll cost the Mets one month of salary. BFD. It's what kind of shape he's in from 2018 on where the real question still lies and we simply haven't got the answer to that right now. If he can play then either the Mets have to buy him out in order to make him go away or accept a desk job, or keep an overpriced player on their roster (not the first time, won't be the last). And if he can't play then he won't and the insurance covers part of it - aka: status quo.

Frayed Knot wrote: Another day, another loss... Another day, another meaningless 9th inning rally. Looking into this a little further: the Mets have now lost 8 of their last 9 scoring a total of 25 runs in those 8 losses. 13 of those 25 runs came in five different games in the 8th, 9th, or 10th innings. - they scored 2 in the 9th only to lose by 1 - 4 runs in the 9th to lose by 1 - 3 runs in the 8th to lose by 2 - 1 in the 10th to lose by 1 - and last night 3 in the 9th to lose by 3

But here's the thing (and this aspect of the discussion is going on in two different threads now): the Mets can't just unilaterally decide to throw David Wright into the permanent DL dungeon and throw away the key. It's why I brought up the Prince Fielder exception where medical people deemed him completely disabled (from a baseball standpoint) to the point of forever being unable to rehab and get back to playing. Maybe that will be the case with Wright in the future but it's not now and the fact that he played last night suggests we're getting further from that point, not closer. The insurance only "owes" their part of Wright's salary when he can't play. What they're not on the hook for is a situation where he can but is no longer worth the contract the Mets signed him to however many years go; hell, there are teams all over the league with 35 y/o players in that spot. But absent the sort of permanently disabled determination, a team trying to keep a medically cleared player permanently DL'd against his will so as to not pay his salary and/or recoup as much of it as possible from an insurance policy invites both a player grievance and charges of insurance fraud.

d'Kong76 wrote: Another day, another loss... Another day, another meaningless 9th inning rally.

Lefty Specialist wrote: I think Wright is warming up to be a pinch-hitter come September so the fans can cheer him one last time, then he retires. That solves the insurance problem. The net outcome of which is Wright taking the money owed to him and in effect donating to the bottom line of the Mets and the insurance carrier. Not sure that would be the option I'd choose.

I think it's quite possible, I might even go to probable, that the Mets won't score another run for the remainder of the season.

Centerfield wrote: If they believe in Dom Smith then his chance is now. If they don't then get rid of him or find some temporary option. But they're not going to stow him in the minors or use him to PH 2-3 times per week while a FA who only plays the only position he plays play out their (likely to be long) contract. Why does it have to be now? There's nothing saying Dom Smith has to be used in 2018. It's not like he's out of options. If he's called up in 2019 he'll only be 24 years old then. Just because Lucas Duda is signed to a three year deal doesn't mean Duda can't be traded in 2019, or Smith can be traded in 2019, or one of them could get hurt. Who knows. Which supposes that FA 1st basemen (and their agents) are going to choose the Mets knowing the situation (and Duda most of all). That's why they get N-T clauses and/or don't choose teams where they know their liable to be dealt 1/4 or 1/3 of the way into the contract. On Wright: We're painting a scenario here where David CAN play but the Mets want to push him out at which point the insurance company joins in on take to pay some of his remaining contract they DON'T owe the team for David being unable to play? I'm not an insurance agent, nor do I tend to play one on the internet, but my impression is that I don't think that sort of action is part of their general business plan. What (some) fans seem to be hoping for here is a Prince Fielder situation where the medical staff declares David medically unable to to play the game ever again. That he's playing right now seems to blow a hole in that idea at least for now.

I think you are right that the Mets will not spend on a free agent first baseman. I think they, like you, are set in giving Dominic Smith a chance, no matter what. If they believe in Dom Smith then his chance is now. If they don't then get rid of him or find some temporary option. But they're not going to stow him in the minors or use him to PH 2-3 times per week while a FA who only plays the only position he plays play out their (likely to be long) contract. I've been saying this for months now concerning Duda when folks either wanted to QO him or deal him then re-sign him: he and Smith hit from the same side and are limited to only one position so this is one OR the other. The only way to possibly do both is if Lucas can somehow agree, during the first and likely last optimal FA chance he's going to get, to sign a one-year deal, and even then I'm not sure that's the route to go. I liked big Luc as much as anyone but he's a low-average slugger, vulnerable to LHP, who turns 32 this winter and already has trouble staying on the field (<500 ABs combined in 2016-17). And if it's Hosmer, the just-turned 28 y/o All-Star coming off his best season, you're probably looking at five years minimum and maybe longer. There is plenty of middle ground between 'Smith full time with no fallback', and, 'after two weeks we deem him not ready so we must go out and sign a big market FA' Meanwhile, plenty of other spots on the roster need to be filled that DON'T have 22 y/o prospects with nothing left to prove in the minors sitting in your lap. If the Mets collect insurance for the Wright contract, that opens up more payroll. If they don't, this is a money drain and limits their ability to sign productive players. Because it's not like whether the insurance kicks in is part of some sort of decision on their part. If he can't get back to playing condition then the status quo continues as it has since sometime in 2016 -- more money for payroll ... Yay!! (I guess) If he can rehab then they either have to pay him and use him or negotiate how much of the remainder they want to pay in order to make him go away. But the team can't simply decide to choose one of those options over the other.

And now Tommy Milone is back in the mix, meaning that 'Other' will now be making 3 out of every 5 starts for at least the near future and will soon take over the team lead in starts. Current list: deGrom - 25 Other - 23 (which will be 26 by the time this current series w/ARZ is over): Montero = 11; Flexen = 5; Pill = 3; Milone = 3; Wilk = 1 Wheeler - 17 Gsellman - 16 Harvey = 13 Matz = 13 Lugo = 11 Syndergaard = 5 And the worst thing about all these injuries is that we're losing the youth of the arms and, not unrelatedly, much of their pre-FA 'control' time. Here's a list of how many starts each of our supposed Top-7 made in their NYM careers vs an estimate of how many they'd have based on starting full time (~30 starts/year) since each of their ML debuts PITCHERAct StartsApprox MaxdeGROM101106HARVEY95154 WHEELER66131SYNDERGAARD5977MATZ4168GSELLMAN2330LUGO1940 Now of course if all seven were healthy then there's no way they could all reach the estimated max starts in the chart since two of them would be sitting/relieving/ or sitting in the minors at any one point, but you get the idea.

Centerfield wrote: I think the Mets owe Steven Matz a pretty big apology. The incompetence is unbelievable. Might be somewhat understandable if the guy two seats over didn't have the exact same thing last fall. Fucking idiots. Meaning what, that the team should have somehow prevented this from happening to him? I don't get it.

Darvish: just turned 31, lotta mileage on him (full-timer in Japan starting at age 19), hasn't had a full season in MLB since 2013 (64 starts total from 2014-17) and is currently on the DL again. Not saying we should cross him off our lists but doesn't strike me as an "All-In" type either.

I agree they need an injection of offense, I'm just saying that there are at least four other positions -- 2nd, 3rd, C, and at least one OF slot -- where they should look to upgrade before they get around to 1st base and that, even if you want to bolster 1B in order to either platoon with Smith or to allow him more time to ferment in AAA, I can't possibly seeing that help coming in the form of a veteran FA who's likely to only be available via a multi-year deal.

Unless you guys have already decided, based on 35 or whatever ABs, that Dom Smith is a bust (and convinced Sandy of such) and needs to be traded/dumped/warehoused/tased immediately, the Mets ARE NOT spending their allowance on a multi-year deal for a FA 1B next year. I have no idea why folks keep going back to this and certainly not why it seems to be their choice as to where to start a rebuild. I also have no idea why folks keep obsessing about the specifics of Wright's insurance policy. If he can play then it's a non-issue, and if he can't then it's a matter for their accounting department to deal with and essentially status quo for how it's been for nearly two seasons now. They built teams with him on the payroll and also while he's on the shelf. Of the top 50 or so issues I fret over concerning the Mets, the details of the insurance policy the Mets have on Wright is like 84th on my list.

Oh good, the nightly "tease" moment. We've had like four or five 9th inning HRs in the last week and NOT ONE OF THEM has made a damn bit of difference.

Despite losing today (Sunday) the Dodgers are 6-2 since this thread was started, so now are 87 - 35 and have upped their chances of hitting all of those milestones. With 40 games remaining: * they need to go 13 - 27 to hit 100 wins * 22 - 18 to reach 109 wins * and no worse than 30 - 10 to set a new record for best regular season They'd almost have to collapse to not at least reach the first two.