Frayed Knot

Rodriguez is way ahead of where Jesse was at the same age -- J.O. had "only" 598 appearances by the end of his age 34 season compared to KRod's 920 -- the result both of starting younger (the score was 408 to 142 by age 26) and the present-day trend towards shorter outings/more often. Jesse as a NYM (age 22-29) was averaging around 55 games/year but also more than an inning and a half per outing (1.65) while in Frankie's early years he was closer to 70/season but barely over 1.1 innings per. Jesse's key, of course, was pitching until he was 72 y/o and the fact that his Games/Season actually went up (67.2 G/Yr from age 38 thru 42) as his innings/season went down and he morphed into his lefty specialist. Being more of a RH power-pitcher with a lot more early mileage on him it's tough to see Rodriguez slipping into a similar role and hanging around that long. Although being still not yet 35 he may not have to.

Sure, the displays put up by individual TV stations aren't always the best -- some of them make it look as though the ball is about 1/3 the height of the entire zone, like maybe the pitcher just heaved a volleyball to the plate -- and the zone they use seems to be a generic size. But that's just the product of different graphics employed which vary from carrier to carrier. Presumably a league-wide system would be both accurate and adjustable (proponents claim it's both) and would in effect eliminate the need for all those screen-cluttering graphics boxes.

Commish Manfred, talking to the NY Daily News, on someday using automated technology rather than an umpire to call balls and strikes: “I think we’re a long way from that, in terms of the technology. I think people are misled by the boxes that are put up on the screen during the broadcasts: they are not an accurate reflection of the strike zone from batter to batter. I think our umpires do a phenomenal job in getting balls and strikes right. Going back to when Sandy Alderson was [in the MLB office] — over the last 15 years we have dramatically improved the accuracy and consistency of the strike zone.” Other stuff included Manfred saying that there is a specific provision in the basic agreement (has been all along) that allows them to deal with playing-rule changes mid-term. IOW, stuff like pace of game modifications and the like were pretty much shoved aside for other issues during the recent CBA talks but still can be revisited at any time along the way and are not cast in stone until the new deal runs out.

The bundle of energy and idiocy that was Jordany Valdespin

One more piece of low-hanging fruit before heading off to the gym: Jenrry Mejia did not play in 2016, nor will he in 2017, or 2018, or ...

Just to be clear then -- we're searching for players who were NY Mets at some point in their careers and also played somewhere in the Major Leagues during the 2015 season but not in 2016? Michael Cuddyer

And now suddenly it seems like things have taken a turn for the better, that he's now looking forward to getting out of the hospital and "should be back fishing soon" says son Todd. Reading what was being written about him this morning and about Carrie Fisher last night sounded in each case like an obituary that merely needed the time of death filled in to be complete. Now both seem, if not out of the woods, then at least not in immediate danger.

Definitely one of the stranger trips through the 2016 season: - is on the Rangers' OD roster, makes debut in Game #3 of the season by going 1-for-4 ... never plays for them again - nearly three months later he surfaces with the Mets, has 6 ABs over 3 days then goes on the disabled list - resurfaces off the DL after the minimum 15 days, goes 6-for-14 over a six day period, then goes on season-ending DL Final line as a Met: 8 for 20 with 2 HRs, 2 BBs, 10 K's He's now played in pieces of eight different seasons with seven different ML teams over the last ten years since being a 25th round pick 15 amateur drafts ago. For only one of those seven teams did he get more than 250 ML PAs; four gave him fewer than 100 while an 8th club didn't give him any. He'll turn 35 next spring hoping to up all those above numbers by one. Life in 'The Show' (or trying to get there and stay there) is not always so glamorous.

Of course Ike's actual father neither sounded nor looked very George Lucassian: [fimg=175]http://www.nerdbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/rdavis-82Tr_NEW.jpg[/fimg] On the other hand John Milner actually was a character in a George Lucas film. Looked a bit different in his playing days than he did while cruising the streets of Modesto. [fimg=150]http://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201604090/images/headshots/4/40591762_davis.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=450]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wiGfqFNIwEc/TnPe2XToo_I/AAAAAAAAES8/xr-dgl6RnJc/s1600/AmerGraffiti_026Pyxurz.jpg[/fimg]

An 86.4% career SB rate (better than Rickey, better than Raines, better than Cobb, Much better than Brock) is crazy good for a guy with 300+ total. And if someone wants to argue it's a 'protected' number because he hasn't really attempted to steal since 2008 or so well that's part of the point, that once he sensed he was no longer going to be good enough at it to help his team he quit trying*, a point I'm afraid will get lost on those old-schoolers who still value 'counting stats' as more=better devoid of any context. And, btw, Beltran's "next to nothing" last two years averaged out to two seasons of: 142 Games Played (134 Starts), 515 ABs, .286/.337/.493, 33.5 Doubles, 24 HRs, 80 RBI, 65 RS, 120 OPS+ Now that was about 1/4 as a DH and 3/4 as a mediocre (or worse) corner OF and not as the stud CF he once was, but when those are your 38 & 39 seasons you're not doing too badly. * 2009-2016 in total = 37 of 49

I have the suspicion that younger voters will see enough to appreciate Beltran's rare combination of OBA & power mixed with CF and base-running skills, but it may be that post-season history which gains him just enough support from the remaining 'old school' voters because I get the feeling there are a segment of those who otherwise don't view him as *Star* enough for Cooperstown.

Raising six kids out in the woods, off the grid, and very far from the mainstream, has upside to it but also some complications and, surprisingly, not all extended family members approve. Wow! Whoda thunk that? Viggo Mortensen and Frank Langella star, plus a bunch of rug rats.

Not sure that I want Sandy to make a deal for Hamilton, but if a trade is being discussed he should certainly be in the room where it happens.

How's Hillary doing ... still comfortably ahead?

The problem isn't the existence of Sunday night games, it's that the first seven seeks of the season put each one of them in the northeast or upper midwest* at a time of year when daytime weather is iffy and nighttime weather almost sure to be lousy. And as much as I'd like to blame ESPN, the fault really lies with MLB for not putting any restraints on what the four-letter network can do with their schedule. * NYC x 4, plus one each in Boston, Chicago, StL

Yeah, let's shift a couple more games in the northeast into the night [u:1f4e31gk]IN APRIL[/u:1f4e31gk] 3 of the 15 home games in April will be day games: Opening Day, a Saturday (4:05), and a get-away day Wednesday on April 27th

It's not that he claims to be backing arbitrary or subjective calls (although by extension he probably is) as much as he maintains that since honest mistakes have always been part of the game, by both sides and by officials, erasing them therefore ruins the time-honored tradition of simply living with those mistakes and that somehow strikes at the heart of the game's "integrity". Yeah, no one else in the round table was buying it either.

Maybe several decades ago it was.

In the year-end wrap-up/review show of REAL SPORTS Bryant Gumbel doubled and even tripled-down on his insistence that implementing Robo-ump would be an evil without equal in this world -- and, yes, hekept going back to the "integrity" argument as backing -- to the astonishment this time of the entire assembled RS panel rather than just from Josh Frankel who had done the original piece.

I definitely like him as a thing and think the fact that he's a leadoff guy is a plus as neither Grandy or even Reyes are ideal there. Blackmon/Reyes or Reyes/Blackmon up top in front of ... hell, anybody + Cespedes would be great. Like McCutcheon he'll keep Cespedes & Conforto out of CF. Also like McC it probably means both Bruce & Grandy go but that's not the worst thing ever. Also like McC he's two years away from FA-gency although in his case the salary figures are TBD for both the 2017 & 2018 seasons, either via Arb or via negotiations.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I did a Google News search on McCutchen to see how widespread this McCutchen-Mets thing is, and to see if the noise is coming exclusively from New York or if there's similar buzz in Pittsburgh too. My take is that we're seeing speculation that's feeding on itself in New York, and there are a few echoes in Pittsburgh, but it doesn't look like there's much to it, at least at this point. Both the News & Post cited the recent Ken Rosenthal mention of talks between the two (however informal and preliminary) so that seems to be the genesis of this. Overall there doesn't seem to be a great fit between the two teams. Pitt's #1 prospect is Austin Meadows, a 21 y/o, top-20 type prospect OF'er who's either ready to start on OD or is a 1/2 season away at worst meaning that, with Polanco & Marte both good and young, not only are the Pirates not going to want any part of Grandy or Bruce but might not even be that high on Conforto if he were to be offered. They'll want young pitching of course but that isn't as plentiful in Queens as it was with the trade of Fulmer, health questions around Wheeler, Matz, & Harvey, the drying of the recent pipeline from the minors (unless Gsellman really is the next deGrom), the loss of Bartolo the human stopgap, and with all the young guns now one year closer to FA-gency. Then take Rosario off the table and the WATPs become tougher to create.

... the Jays are more interested in moving prospects or an extra position player, such as Dalton Pompey," Cerrone concluded. I don't know about that guy, he could blow up at any minute.

Both the NYPost and the Snooze pick up this morning on Ken Rosenthal's recent tidbit that the Mets have had "ever-so preliminary" talks recently concerning Andrew McCutcheon. Neither gets into the guesstimation game on what it would take to swing a deal as both articles are more about going through the logistics of what it would take just to pre-set the stage for a possible swap. Mainly, they'd first have to deal both Bruce & Granderson as adding an OFer when you've already got an OF glut only compounds things, and that they'd likely have to add at least one reliever (above and beyond whatever they might want to add anyway) in order to make up for the likely pitching drain of whoever heads to Steel Town. As always, both add that only Amed Rosario is off the table if and when discussion ever do turn serious.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: The Nats got Murph last year (and way more out of him than anyone expected) and Adam Eaton this year. But how many guys have the Nats whiffed on the last coupla years? They certainly hit on Murph but only after he was their third choice in 2nd basemen. They had previously lost out on the Ben Zobrist sweepstakes (as did the Mets) but also Brandon Phillips used his '10 and 5' no-trade protection powers to turn down a deal to Washington.

Even the likes of Daniel Hudson get a two-year deal this winter, jumping from the DBacks to the Pirates. That's one year for each of his Tommy John surgeries as some of you will remember that his story was one of those featured in 'THE ARM' earlier this year. Unfortunately he hasn't been all that good since returning from the second go-'round of TJS (4.68 ERA, 1.38 WHiP since 2014) but that's no reason to deny a guy 11 million dollars. And he's not even a lefty!!