Frayed Knot

He was certainly in the doghouse back when he showed up late to Florida (not actually late, but not early either acc to Terry) and supposedly out of shape a couple of years back, but I don't think it necessarily follows that, because of that, he took up permanent residence in the chateau bow-wow ever since. I just think Sandy views him as a mediocre and therefore replaceable player. The broken leg possibly scuttled plans to deal him over the winter, or maybe they like what they've seen out of Reynolds so far this spring and decided it was safe (and cost effective) to cut bait now.

If Mejia does manage to come back prior to hitting his 6 year FA-gency rights (he had ~3-3/4 years now and a suspended player DOES accumulate service time during his suspension) then, yes, I believe the Mets would still retain his rights. So if he returns in one or two years from now the Mets would have the option of cutting him or offering him a contract under the arbitration process. If he makes a return beyond some point in mid-2018 he would do so as a FA. But of course all of that is predicated on him busting up the conspiracy that set him up. Plus he has to find the grassy knoll shooter, the real killer in the O.J. case, and the body of Jimmy Hoffa.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Nuclear winter for Omar guys -- Muffy, Niese, Mejia and now Tejada. Also Parnell & Gee (well, in the last year anyway). So that's four Top-100 guys: #20 (Murph), 30 (JN), 78 (DG), 90 (RT), plus Parnell at #123 (acc to CPF Rankings Central) all jettisoned within a very short span. Mejia (#273) -- or the conspiracy surrounding him -- removed himself from the equation.

Edgy MD wrote: Also like Garrett in that his main offensive attribute was the ability to draw walks, but neither was trusted very often with the leadoff position. I remembered Garrett as leading off a decent amount of time (despite not 'looking like' the leadoff hitter of that or earlier eras) so, looking it up, it turns out that he did ~23.5% of the time (205 times in 862 game starts). Tejada did so exactly 20% of the time (105 of 525 GS) which is somewhat higher than I would have guessed.

I was never his biggest fan in that if you're going to have a light-ish hitting SS I prefer it to be a 'Plus' type of fielder which I never thought Ruben was. But then he'd confound you with that odd ability to re-emerge just when you were ready to write him off matched only by his ability to disappoint when handed a steady job. The timing of it all, as mentioned elsewhere, seems odd given Cabrera & Wright's health questions, as does the team's failure to find a deal for him. But I suppose it's getting to be cut-down time and potential trading partners have the luxury of simply waiting around to see who/how many players become available who won't require the sacrifice of a warm body in return.

Edgy MD wrote: On the other hand, how on Earth is the guy who choked [Harper] still on the team? THAT guy should be a Yankee. Yeah, he could be their designated 6th inning reliever -- setting up in front of Betances, Miller, and Chapman -- and with their starting staff they just may need one of those.

Adam LaRoche says he's going to take another day or two to think about it, but he sounds like a guy who's already made up his mind to hang 'em up (or maybe to negotiate a portion of his final contract year a la Cuddyer). The now 36 y/o had himself a nice 12 year career [255 HRs, 340 2Bs; 798 OPS] but did for six teams (plus two separate stints w/the Braves) and had a lousy year in 2015 after signing as a FA with the ChiSox. Not bad for a 29th round draft pick (Braves in 2000) out of a community college in Kansas who wasn't even considered the best prospect in his family; brother Andy was thought of as the better bet but he pretty much failed miserably. Also famously the son of a ML'er, pitcher Dave. While playing for Washington he was known for always having his son around the team including in the clubhouse where the kid would pal around with Bryce Harper who was closer in age to the kid than he was to the father.

Beware the Ides of March, Ruben.

Mets score 2 in the 9th on no hits: Walk, Walk, Walk, WP, Sac Fly, to cap the heroic comeback win 8-6 ... and by heroic I mean not really heroic at all. 8 NYM walks in all. 1 run driven in by walk, 1 by Wild Pitch, 3 by Sac Fly, and 3 on a bases-clearing 2B by d'Arnaud Familia & Verrett finished up nicely after the line of hurlers preceding them were kinda sloppy.

Edgy MD wrote: Anyhow, feel free to start (and maintain!) any division opponent threads that haven't happened yet. Nats already done -- viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23952&hilit=gnats -- but threads for Phlorida and the Fillies are still wanting.

Certainly a lot would have to go right for them -- good health, contributions from both Cuban imports, plus several young pitchers riding to the rescue ahead of schedule -- in order to contend this year. btw, the Braves schedule calls for them to host a regular season home game this year at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, NC (some 350 miles from Atlanta) on Sunday July 3rd vs Marlins - and it will be that week's ESPN Sunday Night telecast. The field is being built with a temporary 12,500 seat 'stadium' around it which will then be converted into a permanent softball field for use by the base. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/166636990/braves-marlins-play-fort-bragg-game-on-july-3

Here's a picture of an old Met [fimg=250:1oh08ogq]http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/casey_stengel.jpg[/fimg:1oh08ogq]

Part of this is me guessing who the starters are going to be at each spot, but Johnson really hasn't been a full-timer since 2012 w/Toronto as he's been shuffled between six teams since (and this will be his 3rd stint w/the Braves). But his versatility has been getting him 300 or so ABs/season since and any injury or slump at 3 or 4 different positions could very well get him that amount again this year.

Even coming off a 95 loss season which had virtually zero effect on our own pennant chase (although the Mets won ‘only’ 11 of 19 in 2015) it still seems odd to be a Met fan and look at the Braves roster and immediately think of the old Butch & Sundance line; “Who are those guys?” But that’s pretty much what’s going to happen the first series or two this season on account of, since the 2013 season, the Braves have traded, dumped, or let walk via FA-gency the following familiar names, many of whom they had only recently signed to lengthy and expensive contracts: Brian McCann -- Dan Uggla -- Andrelton Simmons -- Chris Johnson -- Justin & Melvin Upton -- Jason Heyward -- Evan Gattis -- Jordan Schafer -- Mike Minor -- Shelby Miller Kris Medlen -- Craig Kimbrel -- Alex Wood -- Ervin Santana -- Cameron Maybin -- plus a score of lesser names. ... which essentially leaves them with a bunch of names we either don’t know or won’t connect to Atlanta. What they got back from all those transactions was some 'bridge' type players who can adequately man the positions now, plus a whole ton of recent high draft picks from other teams (mostly notably SD & Arz) who may be up as early as this season and ideally for their big suburban move next year. Yes, remember that this is their final season in Olympic/Ted Turner Stadium and, for that matter, the city of Atlanta itself. So what's up with these guys? 1B - Freddie Freeman is the last of the new/old guard, starting his 6th full season though still just 26 y/o and signed thru 2021. Likely to be backed up by everyone’s favorite, Nick Swisher. 2B - Jace Peterson — was mostly their full-time 2B last season. SS - Erick Aybar — 32 y/o vet picked up from Anaheim over the winter (along with two pitchers in exchange for Andrelton Simmons), they’d like him to hold the fort until #1/1 2015 draft pick (from Arz) Dansby Swanson is ready to take over (or, judging by that name, to mix the martinis at the next polo match). 3B - 31 y/o (or so he says) Cuban signee Adonis Garcia, who played part of 2015 in Atlanta with mixed results Former ChiSox 1st round pick Gordon Beckham and the re-re-acquired Kelly Johnson will back up at 2nd & 3rd and maybe even SS LF - Another Cuban escapee Hector Olivera. He’s the guy the Dodgers signed to a $64 million deal last May and, within two months and with barely 100 minor league ABs under his belt, dealt him to Atlanta in a multi-team/multi-player deal while also agreeing to pay nearly half ($28 million) of the barely dry contract. At this point he could be another Yasiel Puig or another Rich Puig or anywhere in between. CF — Ender Inciarte This 25 y/o Venezuelan has kind of anonymously (at least back here in the east) been a pretty good player for Arizona for the last two seasons. RF — Nick Markakis 32 y/o and starting his 2nd year with the Braves after a bunch with Baltimore Michael (aren’t you glad we didn’t sign him?) Bourn looks to be the first OF back-up all around, and maybe Swisher as well if Atlanta mgmt didn’t have the good sense to confiscate his OF glove as he entered camp this spring. C - AJ Pierzynski — he was supposed to merely hold down the job for Christian Bethancourt but Bethancourt decided to suck instead and so the 56 y/o Pierzynski -- entering his 19th season -- will be the main guy again, probably backed up by former ChiSox (though originally a Braves draft pick and Georgia native) Tyler Flowers Pitchers Julio Teheran - pairs with FFF (Fuckin’ Freddie Freeman, as Zvon calls him) to form the pitching half of the “old” guard, if one can consider 25 to be old when already starting his 4th full season in ‘lanta. But after him they’ve got some question marks: - Bud Norris was signed as a FA after having some up and down years with Baltimore before being released in mid-2015 and then scuffling in relief with San Diego - Jhoulys Chacin is a FA who was released by the Rox, Indians and DBacks last year and started just 4 games all season. - Matt Wisler also came via SD (in the Kimbrel deal) and started regularly for the Braves after a mid-season call-up That crew (after Teheran) seem mostly like place-holders for young guys they’re hoping for - though none, as of yet, are even on their 40-man roster: - Aaron Blair (23) was a 1st round pick by the DBacks and has little left to prove in the minors - Lucas Sims is their own 1st rounder (2012 - out of a Georgia HS of course) who we may see later in the year - Sean Newcomb (LH) is supposedly the most promising of the bunch, he's a former LAA 1st round pick who may also be a mid-season guy although the Braves have been known to promote aggressively. 39 y/o Jason Grilli is supposed to close for them (as he did last year) although he doesn’t seem to have pitched so far this spring so I’m not sure what the story is there. And I’m not even going to get into speculating on the rest of the pen at this point since their camp seems to have more pitchers than the table at your post-Friday happy hour. This team may score some runs if the high-priced Cuban talent is worth what they (or the Dodgers) are paying it. But unless several of those question mark signings work out and a bunch of that young pitching blossoms quickly, they're probably going to give up even more runs and, realistically, I think they're aiming towards 2017-18 to be in contention again.

Totally dominant pitching all around Harvey: 4 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 4 K Familia: 1 perfect inning w/2 K Blevins: 1 perfect / 1 K Bastardo: 1 perfect / 2 K Walters: 1 IP; 1 BB; 1 K Carlyle: 1 IP, allowed 2 of the 3 Marlin hits but did manage to keep them off the board 12 NYM Hits including doubles from Tejada, De Aza, Monell, K. Johnson (?), Taijeron and triples from Tejada & Lagares Plus the two Miami pitchers most likely to make the squad were the ones we did all the damage to: - Koehler: 3.2 IP, 4 runs 5 hits - Brad Hand: 6 Runs on 6 Hits over 2 IP

14-9 is your final Bad day on the bump for (acc to the box score): Colon [4 runs on 6 hits in 3.2 IP]; Ynoa [3R, 3H, 1.0]; Pimentel [4 runs in 1/3 IP]; Smoker (Smoker? I just met her!) [2R, 3H, 1.2]; and Addison Reed [1 IP, 1R 3H] On the plus side was 12 hits for the 'O' including a Plawecki HR (although the other 11 hits were all singles).

Minor considerations in that Harvey should pretty much should be off his leash this season as far as IP goes while I think they're still going want to keep tighter tabs on deGrom & Syndergaard, and definitely on Matz. And if keeping deG or Syndy off of OD means one fewer turn through the rotation pre-ASB and then maybe another by the end of September then maybe it pays off.

In fairness to Goose, I don't really think he became a jerk when he got older because he was pretty much an ass back when he played too.

The other thing this 'handbags at twenty paces' fight did was give the morning sports shows a chance to slip some actual baseball talk in among the otherwise wall to wall coverage of NFL FAs and college hoops. Mostly the hosts and guests sided with Harper because it gave them the opportunity to reiterate that the prevailing attitude proves what a boring and dead sport baseball is which is why it has no fans under the age of 83.

Gossage, who rarely misses an opportunity to tell us how much better things were back in his day -- he once pitched 7 innings of relief in both ends of a double-header during a snowstorm back when they forced hurlers to pitch out of a ditch instead of on a mound don't y'know -- basically throws the 'Get off my Lawn' book at how the game is played today by trashing not just bat-flipping but also the home plate blocking rule, the new 2nd base rule, fantasy, Sabermetrics, pitch-counts, educated people in front offices, and will probably get around to sock-wearing and wrap-around sunglasses if you give him enough rope. In doing so he naturally gets a lot wrong (the inability to distinguish the polar opposites of fantasy & analytics is a dead give-away) and makes himself seem like, well like an old man yelling to get off his lawn.

Well it turns out that KMOX is back to doing Cardinals games. They started together back in 1928 and have been partners almost continuously since taking breaks only from 1949-53 and again from 2006-10 (that was the split I was remembering). dinosaur jesus wrote: That's true. My great-grandfather was a Cardinals fan. He'd listen to the games on the porch of his farmhouse outside Comanche, Texas. That was in the sixties, but it probably went back to the thirties, when Comanche's own Tex Carleton and the Dean brothers led the Cardinals to the pennant. It also helped that St. Louis was, in the pre-expansion/pre-western relocation days, MLB's westernmost city and its southernmost as well. So that, along with KMOX blasting across the flat part of the country (KMOX claims to be heard in at least parts of 44 states plus Canada & Mexico under the right conditions) gave the Cards a ton of fans from Minnesota to Texas and the Appalachians to the Rockies back when there were few if any ML teams in those regions.

I had thought that KMOX & the Cards severed ties a few years ago despite them being their flagship station for years, if not decades. I forget the reason(s) but it was a big deal at the time as that was one of the biggest radio stations is all the country which, from their vantage point in middle America, could be heard over half the country in the right conditions and was considered a big reason why the Red Birds were the most popular team in the mid-west and throughout much of the south for so many years. Anyway: - Syndergaard -- 3 innings, 1 hit, 0 BBs, 2 K in his ST debut - Josh Smoker gave up 2 on 3 hits in the 4th, but then zeros by Familia, Gsellman (2 IP), Carlyle & Robles - Ty Kelly (whoever he is) is apparently the king of the 'productive out' this spring as he knocked in runs with a GO and a SF in separate ABs - 3R HR by Travis Taijeron broke things open in the 7th Final score: Mets 7 - Cards 2

Yeah, I'd just hate to wake up in October and find ourselves eight baseball months into this guy's career and still have no idea whether or not he can handle LHP.

MFS62 wrote: Improved splits against lefty pitchers keep him in the lineup almost full time. Of course to have improved splits vs LHPs he'd have to have some actual splits vs LHPs - or at least a meaningful sample size as only 14 of his 174 ML ABs last year were facing southpaws (3 hits - all singles). But, yeah, at some point Terry should remove the training wheels to the point of at least not making the auto-switch a knee-jerk response.

TransMonk wrote: My copy came in the mail today! I have a trip to Denver this weekend which is when I plan on devouring it. I love the photo spread in the middle! I thought PLAYBOY wasn't doing those anymore? Oh wait ... never mind!