Frayed Knot

Hey whattayaknow, some non-Home Run runs!! We haven't scored very many of them lately.

Good thing that bouncer snuck through because if big Dom needed to leg that one out he'd still be looking for his first hit.

No one is confirming anything yet, but there is apparently an agreement to sell the Marlins to a group led by "NY Financier" Bruce Sherman Sherman would be "the control person" of the team with minority investor (one of 15 say reports) Derek Jeter to run the baseball operations. Price is said to be $1.2 Billion

Chad Ochoseis wrote: So, 11 teams with phenomenal .650+ records since 1950, and only five win the WS. Winning the World Series is hard. What's really funny is that, assuming the Dodgers join the .650+ club this year, that'll make it 12 such seasons over the last 68 years and only once were there two in one year (1998) Meanwhile, the NBA has had 14 such teams just in the most recent Three seasons (nine different teams a total of 14 times - or 15.5% of the time).

Yeah, the draft used to alternate as worst record in one league got #1 overall one year and then the worst in the other the next, but that's been scratched so I thought waivers might have changed also. I believe the Nationals were the first to ever have back to back #1s (yielding Strasburg & Harper) since it was impossible under alternating rules. Houston later had a run of three in a row. The other thing about waiver trades -- and specifically to CF's question of why teams don't just claim guys in order to get around having to give up something for them. There's sort of an ... agreement is too strong, so maybe just a tradition of NOT claiming everyone you might have an interest in because then nearly everyone will get claimed and trades would trickle down to nothing. So teams are reluctant to put in too many claims because they want their own waivers to go through as well and if GMs sense that a particular club is throwing out claims simply to block deals to better clubs then they're going to gang up and block his as well. Although I've got no data to back this up, it seems that this laissez faire attitude of 'don't touch mine and I won't touch yours' has become more commonplace in recent years so the August time frame is much more conducive to deals now than it used to be and back in the day teams used to get burned by it occasionally. Steinbrenner got pissed one time in the last '90s when a good player cleared and got traded to a different AL contender. The Yanx had no use for him but George blew up anyway and screamed that if anyone else got through to a team with a later claim they'd all be fired. That's how the Yanx wound up with Jose Canseco in 2000, they neither needed him nor wanted him but the GM had to obey the standing order and Tampa jumped on the chance to just let him go. Also back in 1998, the Padres put in a claim on Randy Myers fearing the possible NLCS competitor Braves would get him. Myers had signed a multi-year deal w/Toronto the previous winter but was pitching to a high-ERA so the Jays called the bluff and let the Padres have him. Myers wound up pitching poorly in SD also and wound up getting tagged for 3 runs in 3 post-season innings. He never pitched in the majors against and SD was stuck with the final (two?) years of the contract at big money.

[fimg=400:a4kc0dar]http://images.amcnetworks.com/bbcamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/artful.jpg[/fimg:a4kc0dar]

It used to be worst to first in the team's own league and only then shifting to worst to first in the opposite league. But I'm not sure, in this post-Selig era where the lines between NL & AL have been blurred, whether it's now a straight worst to first regardless of which side of the line you're on.

seawolf17 wrote: It feels like the Yankees and Red Sox play each other sixty times a year. Ten more times this season (this weekend plus seven more) all between now and Sept 3rd Whether either of the two remaining series -- 3 at Boston next weekend then 4 in NY starting 8/31 -- will be meaningful might depend on the outcome of this one, although I'm sure the Sox would relish delivering the blows to help keep the Yanx out of the WC even if the division seems no longer in play.

The Dodgers won their 81st game last night (just in case you weren't sure they'd break the .500 barrier this year) to being their record to 81 - 33 So with 48 games to go it's not too early to start looking at the odds and tracking the progress of them reaching or surpassing several milestones. - they'd need to go just 19 - 29 from here on out to reach 100 wins. Certainly a modest goal but many seasons wind up with no 100+ win teams. - they'd need to go at least 28 - 20 to notch 109 wins and replace the '86 Mets (and also '75 Reds) for the best NL record in the 162-game era (and we'll have no one to blame but ourselves) - and they'd need to go no worse than 36 - 12 to top the 116 wins by the 2002 Mariners as the most wins ever in a single season And in case you wonder how likely any of these are: over their most recent 48 games they've gone 40 - 8

Winners of 8 straight which has given them a 4.5 game lead, the BoSox really have a chance to bury the Yanx's chances for the AL East this weekend. On the other hand I don't put it past the Sox to lay an egg and let them right back in. Friday: Eduardo Rodriguez vs Jamie Garcia -- 2nd MFY start for Garcia who was not very good in start #1 Saturday: Drew Pomeranz vs Luis Severino -- Severino's been their best pitcher by far this year and particularly lately Sunday (the ESPN game of course): Chris Sale vs Jordan Montgomery -- Montgomery has been in and out of the rotation, in now because Sabathia's not. And Sale's been Sale so if the Sawx have already taken the first two the bridges in the Bronx may be crowded well before game time The pain in the ass part is that even though the Yanx are just 3-6 in August, their 2.5 game WC lead has stayed more or less steady as the rest of the WC contenders seem to take turns floundering so no one ever gains any ground.

Given the Yankees' at least outward lack of interest in Lucas Duda Well supposedly they were in on discussions involving Duda too, although whether those chats progressed to the point of actual players in return as they did with Bruce & Walker is unclear. But the gist of that liked article (and others) is that at least some sources seem to think the Yanx are more interested in making it look like they've tried to get guys while making sure that the other team gets the blame in order to draw attention away from their reluctance to take on payroll. I mean I'm sure they'd take them if the Mets would pay all the freight AND accept little in return (see: Minnesota re Jamie Garcia*) but until then it's coming off as appearance over substance. * with Minnesota is 1/2 game out of the 2nd WC, WTF were they doing trading away pitching, especially one they had just traded FOR and to one of the other WC contenders?

Edgy MD wrote: Can we play these guys the rest of the season? Hey, like I said earlier, ~1/3 of the remaining schedule is against the Phils and Reds (combined .396 winning pct)

Duda Speaks! Not quite as momentous as Garbo, but a rarity in its own way.

smg58 wrote: A report just came out that the Mets and Yankees actually had a deal involving Walker in place at the deadline, but the Yankees balked after looking at his medical reports. And now the teams start to throw some dirt each way over the failure of some of these rumored deals. - On the Walker front, some un-named Mets suggests that the Yanx are using medicals as an excuse for backing out of a deal they didn't want to make for financial reasons. The Yanx have been real good at suggesting in recent years how they want/need to get the payroll down but are reluctant to admit it when money might be an issue for nixing any particular deal or signing lest they no longer seem like the big bad powerhouse of yesteryear. - On Bruce, the Yanx are described as being "confounded" that their offer wasn't considered superior which in turn drew a retort from the Queens side about how “If they would give us something of [bleeping] value [then] maybe we would have made a deal”. And of course the Yanx always want their trading partner to pay the freight for the incoming guy. Nothing like a bit of anonymous sniping in advance of next week's series.

Bruce PH'd in the 7th and popped out in Cleveland's 4-1 loss to TBR

Do you suppose those some frined's initials or is he just upset about the possible demise of the Affordable Care Act?

MFS62 wrote: Must be Mike Schmitt. (but I was going to say Big Papi.) Later Jim Thome was your answer. Lots of HRs and lots of time as a Phillie -- should have been the obvious guess.

Now pitching for the Phillies [fimg=300:2puchgx4]https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPZQ5k8jXWM/Vv_1LWENd1I/AAAAAAAAoRI/PM26fywjqDoBgoWoN6aqnC9DICCxiXjmQ/s1600/AnimalHouse_064Pyxurz.jpg[/fimg:2puchgx4]

Edgy MD wrote: Conforto, who is looking like a hitter-hitter, goes KABOOM! down the [crossout]right[/crossout] left field line for three runs.

Edgy MD wrote: Now each hit he gets feels like it's stolen from the Yankees. And Walker has seen two pitches tonight and has five total bases on a day where the Yanx are so far getting shut-out by the Blue Jays ... so as far as I'm concerned the non-trade of Walker has been a win-win!

Just a brief mention of it, but after being in on talks for, but ultimately not landing, LH bats Duda or Bruce, Jon Heyman says in his 'Fan Rag' (whatever that is) notes that the Yanx might be interested in Neil Walker. It would make sense that Walker would be the next domino to fall as the affordable Cabrera option makes him the more logical one to stick the rest of this season and maybe even next. Problem is that the Yanx are suddenly getting penny conscious and seem to be insisting that trading partners pick up a good chunk of whatever remaining salaries come their way which could certainly make a mess out of negotiations. Not that I'd expect a lot for him, but that would really be the move to clear the decks for not only Dom Smith but maybe some combo of Cecchini and Matt Reynolds (who may or may not be on the current roster, I can never keep track). Ronald Torreyes (the hushed-up bastard child of Joe Torre and Jose Reyes) has been playing most of the 2B in the Bronx lately, and while he runs and gets his bat on the ball he shows little power and rarely walks. Plus Matt Holliday, the main DH, has been either injured and/or showing his age after a decent start to the season, so they'll have at least some use for Neil.

Juan Lagares has been activated off the DL to replace the hole left by the Bruce trade.

RealityChuck wrote: What is interesting about Ryan is he pitched only one game in college because he focused on being a third baseman. Ahh, that clears up a few things. The BA piece I read talked about how he was a two-way player in HS but then never mentioned that was the reason why he had only one college pitching appearance and I took their silence on the matter as an implication that maybe there was something more. And, yeah, the lower mileage on the arm has both its plusses and minuses. OTOH, the Mets were stupid not to take on some of Bruce's salary and get someone with even more. That's assuming one was offered. The only story we have so far is vague reports about how the Yanx were in on talks and offered two minor leaguers but no hint as to who or how good they might be. Some of the press has a habit of assuming MFY prospects are better based solely on what the MFYs tell them, but they could also both be shit in which case two times shit is merely twice as much shit.

Jay Bruce as (or not as) a NY Met has largely been, as Delbert McClinton once sang, a victim of life's circumstances. - he could have been a Met starting back in 2005 when he was rumored to be the guy the Mets had their eye in the draft, but they opted for Mike Pelfrey with the 9th pick overall leaving Bruce to be scooped up by the Reds three picks later - in the summer of 2016 there would have been no reason to trade for him in 2016 had Conforto not crashed and burned so badly between May and July [.157 w/6 HRs] - then Bruce would never have started the 2017 season w/the Mets had the trade market offered up something for him. Certainly his poor post-trade 2016 campaign had something to do with that. On the other hand he's probably been the 2nd best offensive player on the team this year, behind only the guy he was first brought in to temporarily replace. - and now he's the victim of the 2017 pitching woes, getting dealt away not because he's playing poorly (he's not) or for what he can bring back (nothing much) but because the team is too bad to justify his further existence on the roster. [youtube:2kuei2yq]BUvdMENhOyM[/youtube:2kuei2yq]

Between having ten games left vs Philly and all seven vs Cincy still on the slate, if the Mets finish in last given this cushion it means that this is going to be one ugly seven week stretch. Philly still has the NL's worst record but they're actually over .500 since the ASB (in large part due to going 6-0 vs ATL) while Cincy is steaming along at 8-18