Frayed Knot

Zvon wrote: Does anyone here think that they'd have him pitch every 5 days and be a full time position player in between? Not a chance -- not even if he hits the ball through the roof!! YKJ-tNtrUJk

G-Fafif wrote: "I hope that wherever you are, the New York Mets are on and it's always the '86 World Series." --Oscar Madison (Matthew Perry), attempting to scatter his father Walter's ashes (which are stuck in taffy), The Odd Couple, "Taffy Days," S 3 Ep 1, 11/7/2016 (tribute to Garry Marshall) The most surprising thing about this? ... that the reworked version of that show is still on the air.

I don't know how to swipe an image off of GOOGLE Maps, but the new place is in Cumberland, GA. Taking Interstate 75 out of town in a northward (11 o'clock-ish) direction towards Marietta and eventually Chattanooga, TN, it's right where 75 crosses Atlanta's 'Beltway' (285) You can see an in-progress version of it if you zoom in via satellite mode right on the west side of that Interstate interchange. That area is the richer suburbs of Atlanta (Newt Gingrich's Congressional district back in the day) and also where there's a big amateur baseball program that has produced a bunch of current players [Francouer, Heyward, McCann, Markakis, others] most of whom, coincidentally or otherwise, seem to either start out with the Braves or eventually end up there. I'm sure they feel it's much better baseball territory than the more football happy (and specifically college football happy) city of Atlanta itself.

Zvon wrote: [fimg=250]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cw_lW4fXUAAY1lG.jpg[/fimg] Ah yes, I was going to ask if anyone else had seen that one. Brilliant!!

I didn't realize that Bartolo made "only" $7.25 mil last year (for some reason I was thinking his 2016 salary was somewhat north of $10) so this move not only represents the better chance to pitch, start, and go for the Wins he's after, but he's also getting better than a 70% raise for his troubles. Nice work if you can get it, but also even less of a reason to keep him around for reliever, mop-up, and emergency starter chores. Another thought concerning Bartolo occurred to me the other day, one which briefly sent me dashing to BB-Ref for an answer. I was thinking that maybe his first home game next season could be the third Atlanta ballpark he's pitched in but, alas, it turns out that his ML rookie season was in [u:1p9d5n45]1997[/u:1p9d5n45] thus making him one year too late (and in the wrong league) for games at the old Fulton County Stadium.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Everyone knows this is the best place to play baseball in Atlanta. The site is about 7 miles South of the current Braves ballpark and 7 miles northwest of the new one. The Braves new digs are actually in the suburbs north and west of Atlanta by some 15 miles or so.

Kendrys Morales leaves the Royals for a three-year deal in Toronto, notable mostly because it almost certainly signals the end of Edwin Encarnacion's time as a Blue Jay and thus makes him more of an 'in-play' FA. I don't think he's in play for the Mets, but someone in the 1B/DH market now won't have competition from his home club.

HahnSolo wrote: If they wanted to play in a park that looks just like Turner Field, why didn't they just stay there? Bigger concentration of richer, whiter fans once you get 20 miles outside of town. Plus lower crime, better parking, and less traffic (or so they hope).

Do you suppose the Braves are worried that he'll take their big contract and come into camp out of shape? How could they tell? As the classic fat man's joke goes: 'Whattya mean I'm out of shape ... round is a shape!'

Do you suppose the Braves are worried that he'll take their big contract and come into camp out of shape?

My mom's last favorite Met. Back when we signed him to a two-year deal (Dec of '13) many of us were a bit skeptical (to put it nicely) about getting even one solid season out of him much less two. Turns out, we got three. I even made a quiz out of his signing where I asked you to fish for those pitchers (20 of them since 1984) who made 25 or more starts at age 41 or older. He not only went on to be the 21st to reach that standard but also was one of just 13 to do so at least twice and one of eight to do it thrice or more, each time reaching not just the 25 start mark but also passing 30 (31, 31, 33). Now the only 41+ age guys in that time frame with more 30+ start seasons are Phil Neikro (6) and Jamie Moyer (5) Suxx that he's leaving (and going to a division rival) but, as mentioned in the other thread, I had a feeling this was going to come down to his choice above the team's. Reportedly that wins mark is important to him and his best chance of reaching it, or at least getting the chance to, wasn't going to be here. So now we have to try our best to keep him from reaching it ... at least at our expense. original quiz: http://archives.thecranepool.net/20600/f1_t20621.shtml

Who knew that Atlanta would wind up as the stopping off point for aging ex-NYM pitchers? Probably because it's on the way to south Florida where all the rest of aging New Yorkers end up.

It was impossible to know it at the time, but that FORT KNOX cover turned out to represent the high water mark of the season for Conforto. It was later that night that the Mets would face Madison Bumgarner with Conforto, batting 3rd, going 0/4 w/3 Ks. That alone was no big deal of course, but foreseeing this past week's election results would have been more logical than thinking that night was the beginning of a season-long spiral for Conforto that would see him fall so fast that he'd wind up spending more than 1/3 of the remaining time in the minor leagues. Conforto prior to May 1st: .365/.492/.676 Conforto (in ML) after May 1st: .174/.267/.330

But then back to my earlier question: Does Colon, wanting his starts and wanting to tally as many 'W's as possible before his clock inevitably strikes midnight (at least we think it's inevitable), sign with a club whose hopeful intention is to NOT use him as a regular starter? I think he'd like to return here, but he also has to balance that against any offers floated his way that essentially assure him of getting the ball every fifth day for as long as he proves worthy. The one thing we know, barring some off-season diagnosis of sleeping sickness with any one of the younger quintet (it's the lone condition none of the five have contracted yet), is that he's not getting that guarantee in Queens.

C - Salvador Perez 1B - Miguel Cabrera 2B - Jose Altuve 3B - Josh Donaldson SS - Xavier Bogaerts OF - Mookie Betts OF - Mike Trout OF - Mark Trumbo DH - David Ortiz C - Wilson Ramos 1B - Anthony Rizzo 2B - Daniel Murphy 3B - Nolan Arenado SS - Corey Seager OF - Charlie Blackmon OF - Yoenis Cespedes OF - Christian Yelich P - Jake Arrieta And just to make this consistent with the Gold Gloves thread, I'll save someone the trouble of saying that Bartolo was robbed.

RA Dickey in three seasons as a Met: 91 starts, 39 Wins, 2.95 ERA, 1.15 WHiP RA Dickey in the four seasons since: 130 starts, 49 wins, 4.05 ERA, 1.25 WHiP Also Ks/9 down a shade, BBs/9 up, HRs/9 up, etc. Turned 42 two weeks ago. I briefly considered him a few weeks back as a 'what if' replacement for Bartolo but then quickly dismissed the idea.

Edgy MD wrote: I like that they are conscious about the game's pace, but it seems to me that they're too often attacking the wheat, rather than the chaff. Meaning?

"Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed optimism on Wednesday that a new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be in place by the time the current deal expires Dec. 1." -- or so writes Richard Justice on MLB.com It seems to me that things have been going well enough in recent years to where neither side has reason to push for any groundbreaking changes that's going to upset the other. Probably more like some minor tweaking around the fringes such as in FA compensation which always seems to be the object of fine-tuning. Also mentioned in the piece are the possibility of an international draft and pace of play mechanisms. I more than a bit skeptical of the former although may have let it slip out once or twice that I'd like to see some progress regarding the latter. Nothing mentioned about the future of robo-umps for ball/strike calls which is probably something that needs to wait until whenever the umpires deal is up for renegotiation although I'm sure it's a topic where the players would have to have their say in as well.

The drawback on him [Oberste] is not just that he's already 25 y/o but that he's listed as a 6' 2"/[u:54m9nmaw]240 pound[/u:54m9nmaw] 1B/DH (plus a little 3B) meaning that he really needs to hit and hit a lot if he's going to have a big league future in front of him.

As the result of a side issue in Tuesday's voting another 1990s era ballpark will go by the wayside. Voters is Tarrant County Texas approved an approximate $500 million commitment (half-cent sales tax, hotel fees, yadda yadda) to go towards a new baseball stadium for the Rangers replacing the current one that was new in 1994. Add this one with the moth-balling (and soon to be destructed) Olympic/Ted Turner stadium in Atlanta, that's now two stadiums from the 1990s that were/will be used for a combined 46 years. Voters in San Diego, on the other hand, rejected a spending plan for a new football stadium almost certainly signaling the exit of the Chargers from that city. ... #Chexit?

Votes appear to be final with all precincts reporting CATCHER NL - Buster Posey, Giants (1st career Gold Glove) AL - Salvador Perez, Royals (4th) FIRST BASE NL - Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (1st) AL - Mitch Moreland, Rangers (1st) SECOND BASE NL - Joe Panik, Giants (1st) AL - Ian Kinsler, Tigers (1st) THIRD BASE NL - Nolan Arenado, Rockies (4th) AL - Adrian Beltre, Rangers (6th) SHORTSTOP NL - Brandon Crawford, Giants (2nd) AL - Francisco Lindor, Indians (1st) LEFTFIELD NL - Sterling Marte, Pirates (2nd) AL - Brett Gardner, Yankees (1st) CENTERFIELD NL - Ender Inciarte, Braves (1st) AL - Kevin Keirmaier, Rays (2nd) RIGHTFIELD NL - Jason Heyward, Cubs (4th) AL - Mookie Betts, Red Sox (1st) PITCHER NL - Zack Greinke, DBacks (3rd) AL - Dallas Keuchel, Astros (3rd)

On Edit: Looks like Fowler has draft pick compensation tied to him too. But I would guess if you are signing Fowler, you aren't signing both Ces and Walker, so maybe that is a wash. Not quite a wash. The draft pick a team loses for signing a QO FA is their own 1st round selection (or 2nd rounder in the case of a bottom 10 team) but the pick they get for someone else signing their QO guy is a supplemental pick added in following Round #1 In the case of next June's draft the Mets are currently slated to picked 22nd so a scenario where they sign one and lose one would wind up dropping their first selection some 10-15 slots in the order (depending on various yet to be determined factors) partially but not completely making up for the lost pick.

Centerfield wrote: He's about to become Rich Ian Desmond. That's what he thought last year too.

There will be TEN players this winter with Qualifying Offers attached to their Free Agency, down from a record 20 last year. DEXTER FOWLER KENSLEY JANSEN JUSTIN TURNER YOENIS CESPEDES NEIL WALKER JEREMY HELLICKSON EDWIN ENCARNACION JOSE BAUTISTA IAN DESMOND MARK TRUMBO

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: *Says he hopes Walker takes the QO and would be open to a long-term deal with him as well. That's polite but almost has to be a half-truth. I think it is. The Mets could live with it whether Walker accepts or doesn't (obviously, or they wouldn't have offered).