Frayed Knot

Mark Melancon to the Giants on a reported four-year deal (pending physical yadda yadda) Versatile utility man Steve Pearce does the AL East shuffle by going from the O's to the Jays

Edgy MD wrote: Belong or not, owners tend to get in Halls of Fame just by owning. Owning for two decades and winning a championship after buying a last place team tend to be seen as points in his ledger, whether he really led that turnaround or not. I root for his induction as a good step toward healing the cultural rifts in the entire Metsosphere. In 2016, nobody should be seriously signing up for Team Nelly vs. Team Freddy. But they do. It may not be the highest priority but the reconciliation it represents would be worth something. Surely, in some cobwebby corner of his mind, Fred must see that blessing his predecessor's legacy invites blessing on his own. I suspect part of the 'pons bitterness towards Doubleday is that they view him as part of the source of their money problems. Not that he was responsible for them over-trusting Madoff of course but the lead-up to that time involved them have to buy ND out under less than friendly conditions, and then having to buy out the final year of his long-term (and therefore short-sighted) early '80s Cablevision deal before being able to launch SNY. It's also possible that they connect him as an impediment to replacing Shea which they may have been able to do cheaper and earlier if he were on board instead of having the thing delayed by 9/11 to the point where it wound up opening smack in the midst of the great recession.

Matt Holliday to the Yanx to be primary DH for the upcoming year. So no more DH-by-commitee as ARod, Teix, Beltran, and McCann have all been disappeared since the middle of last season (although they're still paying full freight on ARod and part of McCann's). Turns 37 in January. Got 426 PA w/Cards last year (he essentially missed the final six weeks) and just 277 the year before. Winds up slightly cheaper ($13 mil) than the $16 mil Beltran got.

Not surprising that an owner with 20+ years as the commissioner and nearly five decades in the game overall who is nearing his mid-80s gets in on his first try. And, as always, any vote that keeps Steinbrenner out is a good vote.

Gwreck wrote: FYI, career WAR as Met: 1. Seaver 2. Wright 3. Gooden 4. Koosman 5. Strawberry 6. Beltran 7. Alfonzo 8. Reyes 9. Leiter 10. Fernandez FYI, career CPF ranking as Met: 1. Seaver 2. Wright 3. Gooden 4. Koosman 5. Strawberry ----------------- 6. Piazza 7. J. Franco 8. Alfonzo 9. C. Jones 10. Fernandez Reyes is currently 12th but is likely to move up 2 - 4 spots after we evaluate this season. Beltran is 14th - behind HoJo and Kranepool and just ahead of Keith and Leiter. In all, our little jury-rigged system here does a halfway decent job at mimicking career WAR

I suspect the Wilpon/Doubleday feuds will keep ND* out of the conversation for a while yet and quite possibly forever. I'd be OK with either Leiter or Alfonzo - although the 7 & 8 years that those two spent in blue and orange is around the lower end of what I'd consider for NYM-HoF standard Wright's a no-brainer providing he doesn't get caught with kiddie porn or something equally creepy anytime in the near future. Is likely next on number retirement honors as well. Reyes is not quite as cemented but highly probable and this second act can only help. Beltran I'm a bit on the fence about. Seven seasons but a mediocre first one, several others injury-shortened, and then the final one incomplete. I suspect his success or not in the Big HoF may play a part in whether the Mets choose to honor him. Gary & Howie are just a matter of time as far as I'm concerned, but they're still in mid-career so no rush. Sandy & TC? ... let's see how their time here plays out. * In his recent book, Ron Darling revealed that a 'Nelson Doubleday' was player lingo for a No-Decision during those days. Getting a "Nelson Doubleday' was better than a 'Larry' but not as good as a 'Willie'

Walker's not a 40 y/o DH

The results of this one will be announced as the winter meetings get going on Sunday night (6 PM). It's a 16-member voting board and the same 75% requirement is needed, so 12 or more votes get you in.

sharpie wrote: Astros fans used to boo Beltran because he left them after his amazing playoff series to join the Mets Yup, there were some pretty harsh feelings there for a while. Some fans felt he misled the Astros while having no intention of ever staying there, plus there's the whole big/small market animosity thing (particularly with NYC) that was big at the time. But I'm sure they'll get over it if he has one more decent year in him. I'm kind of shocked at the size of the price tag, particularly for a team with some good young OF'ers already on their roster and two of their three catchers (Brian McCann, Evan Gattis) being prime candidates for DH much of the time. They may dangle one of their young OFs (Springer?) for pitching help (Sale?). And we'll play them this year remember (in Houston Sept 1-3).

I recently re-saw A SOLDIER'S STORY (1984) for the first time in a number of years. For those not familiar: a WWII era saga set on a black army base in the deep south. Part of the plot has to do with this particular base having one of the finest baseball teams in the stateside army. In one scene while playing against a white team one of the batters (a young Denzel Washington who got like eighth billing in this) bunted back to the pitcher which is where all hell breaks loose movie-wise. The pitcher, who had just thrown the ball righty, suddenly fields and fires the ball to 2nd base lefty and with the number on his uniform reversed. And the play at 2nd is made by a fielder with his number reversed and the runner sliding back into the bag from the opposite direction. Now obviously this was a case of bad editing as the image is simply reversed ... but how the hell does this make it to the final cut?!? The mistake is so blatant that it's not like they needed a baseball geek on site to suss it out. Good flick otherwise with some fine performances -- Adolph Caesar in particular -- although one with an oddity of having several of the lead actors die quite young within a few years of the film's release. Adolph Caesar - heart attack, 1986 at age 52 Harold Rollins - AIDS-related lymphoma at age 46 in 1996 Larry Riley - AIDS-related renal failure at age 29 in 1992 Trey Wilson - cerebral hemorrhage, 1989 at age 40 I'm usually not one for jinxes, but I hope Denzel has his life insurance paid up.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: So, presumably, all road parties are in Ces' room? In Ces's room there are pictures of his autos on the walls To pay for Ces's room you need an agent to match Saul Katz's big balls Players from the team gather in his suite to make some noise But to hang in Ces's suite you've got to be one of Ces's boyzzz ...

Tonight was the deadline for tendering contracts to pre-FA players. The following are those pre-FA eligible players who their clubs decided to make FAs anyway. iow, don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya. All eligible Mets were offered contracts. Angels: INF Gregorio Petit; LHP Cody Ege Indians: RHP Jeff Manship Orioles: RHP Vance Worley Rangers: OF Jared Hoying Rays: 2B Ryan Brett Red Sox: C Bryan Holaday Twins: RHP Yorman Landa White Sox: RHP Blake Smith Yankees: LHP Jacob Lindgren Braves: RHP Chris Withrow Brewers: 1B Chris Carter Cardinals: RHP Seth Maness Cubs: LHP Gerardo Concepcion; RHP Zac Rosscup; RHP Conor Mullee; INF Christian Villanueva Diamondbacks: RHP Rubby De La Rosa; C Welington Castillo Dodgers: RHP Louis Coleman Nationals: OF Ben Revere Padres: RHP Tyson Ross; INF/OF Alexi Amarista; RHP Jon Edwards; RHP Erik Johnson; INF/OF Jose Pirela; C Hector Sanchez Phillies: 3B/OF Cody Asche Pirates: LHP Jeff Locke; C Eric Fryer Reds: C Ramon Cabrera; RHP Keyvius Sampson; OF Gabriel Guerrero Rockies: RHP Matt Carasiti; INF/OF Stephen Cardullo

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Syndergaard should probably play Santa every year. Synderclaaus

Will turn 34 during spring training ... AND, after living off a series of one & two year contracts, the Jays signed him to a FIVE year escalating deal prior to the 2015 season leaving him owed $20mil/year over the next three seasons. Not sure I'd want any part of that - at least not at a high cost of actual human bodies in return.

Braves continue to create an entirely new stop-gap pitching staff as they send three prospects to the Cardinals for LHP Jamie Garcia Garcia, 30, has been real good at times [3rd in ROY 2010; 2.43 ERA in 2015] but also erratic and/or injured in others [just 16 starts total in 2013 + 2014; a 4.67 ERA this past year]. Like other recent additions Bartolo & RAD, Garcia is signed thru 2017 only. John Gant, former NYM draft pick who went to the Braves in the 2015 edition of the 'Let's Make a Kelly Johnson Deal', is one of the three going to StL. Also headed that way is A-level 2B Luke (younger son of Lenny) Dykstra, and AAA-level RHP Chris Ellis

Schilling had one real good year early on (1992 - at age 25) and a couple of partial good ones, but mainly he just wasn't on the field enough in his 20s. A part-time reliever early on as he was swapped from Baltimore to Houston and then on to Philly, even when switched to a starter he topped 30 starts only once that whole first decade (and 20+ only two others). But starting at age 30 he averaged over 30/year for nearly a decade and had dominate results to go with it.

I have no idea where the original "news" of this scheduled presser came from, but I see no mention of it in the usual NYM-related blog-a-verse [Rubin, tabloids, Cerone]

The only real 'knock' on Schilling is that the second half of his career was a lot better than the first*, a scenario which probably helps him with the voters because the better half is fresher in their minds. Guys who go in the opposite direction [Mattingly, Dale Murphy] tend to leave the opposite impression as they're seen as not living up to their early HoF pace while we rarely if ever hear mention of the fact that it took a while for Schilling's career to get going or be anything close to consistent and was on his way to getting an 'underachiever' label stamped on his forehead. * 52 wins over the nine ML seasons in his 20's, 20 of those wins in just two years. Only after that did he kick it into gear as the next eight seasons (ages 30 - 37) were his 'Peak' years: 132 wins; six times 200+ IP (only twice in his 20s); six AS teams; three 2nds and a 4th in CY voting, plus all the post-season heroics.

Stairs has kind of a cool backstory too. Born in the Canadian Maritimes -- St. John, New Brunswick to be precise, a Canadian who wound up playing for both Canadian teams -- he lived much of his career in that well-known habitat for wintering ballplayers: Bangor, Maine. And as if Maine itself isn't odd enough, Bangor isn't one of those coastal, southern / 'oh isn't this a nice vacation spot' / still within Boston's orbit part of Maine. Oh, Hell No, it's in way-the-fuck-up-there part of inland Maine where when your drive from NYC hits New Hampshire it means you're close to halfway there. Towards the end of his career Stairs spent his off-seasons in Bangor coaching high school ice hockey which I believe included at least one of his own kids (or, Hell, he played until age 43, maybe he was coaching his grandkids). He's also pretty decent on the Philly telecasts where he does part-time work. That said, he's not getting into the HoF

As mentioned in another thread (we now have dueling McCutcheon threads without either one being an actual McCutcheon thread) McCutcheon is, in effect, under control of whatever team winds up with him for Two more seasons, not one.

There's a $14.5 million 2018 option on McCutcheon so, absent a further descent into hell by him, consider him to be under club control for two more seasons, not one, and adjust your WATPs accordingly. Very strange year for him in 2016. Dropped 120+ OPS points off 2015 around 170 points off the average of his four year run (2012-2015) where he finished 3rd, 1st, 3rd, and 5th in MVP voting. Fielding metrics had him as the worst OF in baseball by some measure or another which just seems too freakish for logic although there were reports out of Pittsburgh that he didn't take well to the radical shifting the Pirates dove headlong into recently which is at least partially what explains his poor 'range'. He did hit better over the second half of the year and GEEZ he just turned 30 a few weeks ago so it's totally illogical to assume that he's done.

TransMonk wrote: Also, 10:45? Why not 11:00? Because 10:45 begs the question, 'Why 10:45?', and therefore everyone makes sure to be there by 10:45 to find out why 10:45 Legendary University of Oregon track coach (and Nike co-founder) Bill Bowerman was apparently known for calling team meetings for times such as 8:37 and the above is a paraphrased version of his answer as to why the odd time.

The idea behind it is so as to reduce those situations where players are in a holding pattern for 4 or 5 days waiting to see whether or not their 'Day to Day' condition will actually require the full 15. Making 10 the minimum should do away with at least some of those. I suspect this was a sort-of compromise to the 26th man on the roster idea. Not more players but maybe more available ones.

I haven't seen anything definitive on whether the QO system remains in place. I had thought that they were going to eliminate the clause that has teams losing draft picks if they sign a free agent, but it actually looks like it's been expanded, in that some teams could lose two picks. I'm not clear on what that last sentence in the first paragraph means. Is it saying that any lost picks would not be from the first round? More deets becoming available -- from MLB.com: "Free-agent compensation specifics on Draft-pick compensation are still being discussed", but this much seems to be known - qualifying offers -- which will still be calculated based on the average of the top 125 salaries -- can still be extended to free agents, but no more than once per player in his career. A player must still be on his club for the entire season to receive a qualifying offer. - teams losing a free agent who received a qualifying offer will get a Draft pick only if the player signs a contract worth at least $50 million. After that, the pick depends on a team's market size, according to MLB Network Insider Ken Rosenthal. - beginning in the 2017-18 offseason, teams will not lose first-round Draft picks for signing a premier free agent. However, teams exceeding the luxury-tax threshold would lose a second-rounder, a fifth-rounder and $1 million in international pool money. Clubs that haven't exceeded the luxury-tax threshold will lose a third-round pick. Other than that, there looks like there were tweaks to the lux tax standard (it's going up) and to the tax rates on those exceeding it. Also changes to what seems like a harder cap in Int'l signings and that the beginning of the season will be moved forward by a half-week so as to create more in-season off days starting in 2018 No changes were made in roster size or to caps on roster size in September. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/209969472/mlb-owners-players-agree-to-new-labor-deal/

[fimg=350]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5QjkM6o-pI3fy7x-ATtOFSnOp0R1F-AakB7Dmxs_ghCuaOBMIQ7unccPwXRIVxRKGWaTqBVY7TgS1cl85xRDeiEcCuC_hD3UPXrcyKEw16cZFLuhV5n2OX7cL3RV5lRdlYZODvWGafjSPAPlYggM52fPjz0HIOYCbOr6I3FvqiDG_vq9hTRgvRFgri_P48pym6gLqzfFxI0b5QD2Qm8rp_I29xxtjc6Ge9PEF8T_9uFcA98_fVvTjYIatMd5VJzBHHUniH_8Asu7MAS-aWNBHz-CN_jOcYhjhZqjpLrD5BhqupzAz7GR7aiOA12K8r8xU7P4PJ0cs7sHA4fvEay10awO3l5uphJNfEIq3sHlvXNZLY4IfIvqlN-JFhTESOWGQ5nxqnxXR-ZSDU9dwZV8uax1YOrcUL6J877pNDYteZUTywOj9_yDvJ5D30R9_PpLACLScnj25zKwKlhB8vVWKxxMvMXgfsiB4a0U2emPNzgAweizUYqpFze0baLukyy-1RnhBvTSM8PDThGcYlCzUSXzSVjxelr6d9wuqAEPK2fN6yXynQetdgxDAa2K4vP-m7M5lzyyNJA6KNSDSSitVmNv9l-4fzg5s0JrIYsd3uxNiWwF=w700-h466-no[/fimg] This one is ridiculously good. The whole theme of this thread reminds me of the line from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF where the man asks the local Rabbi if there's a prayer for the Czar. The Rabbi responds with: May God bless and keep the Czar ... far away from us