Edgy MD

Who the hell am I? Am I the guy leading the league in RBI when I came over from Cincinnati? Or am I the guy who limped home after the trade? And why did the Mets pay over $13 million to find out? Wouldn't it be great if my name was Woythaler or something and so you had a couple of weeks of hot spring training action to assess before being asked to predict my 2017? Well, you don't. It's February 16, and some guy on the internet wants to know what you think I'm going to do. And you, I can tell, feel compelled to answer. So what am I going to do? [fimg=323:uczqp43v]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2739184.1470362567!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_750/subway.jpg[/fimg:uczqp43v] [fimg=377:uczqp43v]https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/jay_bruce.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200g[/fimg:uczqp43v] [fimg=441:uczqp43v]https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/usp_mlb__washington_nationals_at_new_york_mets_84939924.jpg?w=1000&h=666[/fimg:uczqp43v] [fimg=259:uczqp43v]http://mets360.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/J-Bruce.jpg[/fimg:uczqp43v]

Well, the Wheeler Expectations thread wasn't due for another month, but he may well be retired by then. Yeah, I was dubious that he was going to help the team much this season, and I'm doubly dubious now.

Wright passed Ron Hodges last season, moving into second place in Mets History in the category of Most Seasons Without Appearing for Any Other Big League Team Leaving out active players, such as Wright, who are still eligible to disqualify themselves by playing for another team, the list looks like this: 1. Ed Kranepool, of, 1b, ph, 1962-1979: 18 seasons 2. Ron Hodges, c, phi, 1973-1984: 12 seasons 3. __________, rp, 2002-2013: 9 seasons 4. __________, rp, 1987-1993: 7 seasons T5. __________, rp, 1973-1977: 5 seasons T5. __________, of, ph, 1974-1979: 5 seasons T5. __________, ss, 1981-1985: 5 seasons T5. __________, rp, sp, 2010-2015: 5 seasons T5. __________, rp, sp, 2000-2004: 5 seasons 10. __________, if, 2011-2014: 4 seasons

Check out the Braves, with their third starting secondbaseman of the offseason. [fimg=200]http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/b/b2/Atlanta_Braves.png/revision/latest?cb=20100925025244[/fimg][fimg=200]https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b_jOzdV-j2E/VCpKpzTndmI/AAAAAAAAU00/o1Azy4eTF5A/s1600/MetsRealogo2015-z14.png[/fimg]Enciarte, cf[crossout]Rodriguez, 2b[/crossout] Phillips, 2bFreeman, 1bKemp, lfMarkakis, rfFlowers, cGarcia, 3bSwanson, ssTeheran, spReyes, 3bCabrera, ssWalker, 2bCéspedes, lfGranderson, cfBruce, rfDuda, 1bd’Arnaud, cSyndergaard, sp

Somebody slap me the next time I make a Jeffrey Loria joke.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Hopefully that's all it is, but big things frequently start small. And yet, this is hardly the start.

#2 is D.J. Dozier.

Not at all. Just an outside observation.

Who is the defending champ in that category? I figure it was a three way race in 2016 between Matt Harvey, Josh Smoker, and René Rivera.

Curtis Granderson is 23rd all-time in Metly homers, but still in a position where he'll be catching or tying someone with almost every homer. A 30-homer season from Granderson (which I'd probably sign up for) would get him up to 12th place.

I think I was invited to camp last year. Pretty sure I was. Was I? Well, I'm invited this year. I'm a sinkerball-throwing reliever who gets it done, hoping to join Chad Bradford and Elizabeth Bradford Stockwell in the ongoing Mets Bradford story. Like Paul Sewald, I'm a native of Las Vegas, busting my ass to get promoted off of my home town team. How fucked up is that? How's that going to work out in 2017? [fimg=290]http://www.reviewjournal.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/media/web1_BBM-51SGAMER-MAY31-16jh_015.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=253]http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3571367/bradford_DOUGMACDONALD.png[/fimg] [fimg=391]http://vegasseven.com/files/2016/06/chasen_bradford_by_krystal_ramirez_HOMEPAGE.jpg[/fimg]

I have to say that I hate the "Move him to first!" drumbeat. None of us knows how Wright's arm is going to respond. Moving a player with diminishing offensive value to an easier defensive position hurts your team more, not less. Sure, let him play some first, but if he can't hit good enough to keep his position at third, he belongs on the bench, rather than knocking Lucas Duda out of the lineup. Even if his defense isn't there, offense is worth about 333% more than defense. All of this was true during the extended drama of moving Piazza to first. Sure, let an aging and hobbled batsmith play first some times, as an alternative (defensive versatility is good!), but as a full-time move, it's a move for a move's sake. One of the best assets the Mets have had the last two years is the Nationals using Ryan Zimmerman at first. Don't be like the Nats. If evidence suggests that he somehow manages to find enough offense to hit like a firstbaseman, but has lost all of his third base defensive skill, then sure. Go for it. But mistaking premature decisions for boldness is just shoot-yourself-in-your-foot counterproductive. This was a particularly poorly written post.

Yeah, Syndergaard is following the Harvey path of buying into this superhero nonsense way too much. That said, this is baseball history. Guys who throw hard get obsessed with throwing hard, comparing themselves to other guys who throw hard, and guys who threw hard back in the day. They never seem to compare themselves to guys who threw hard but burned out way too young. You want a to view yourself as a figure from mythology? How about Icarus?

Here's some inspiration for your clubhouse wall, Phils! “I’ll tell you something about my playing in Philadelphia—whatever I’ve got in my career now, I would have had a great more if I’d played my whole career in Los Angeles or Chicago, you name a town, somewhere where they were just grateful to have me around.” — Mike Schmidt [fimg=400]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/0615/pg2_g_scmidt_sy_576.jpg[/fimg]

Yeah, I'll jump in. Jerry pitches in 69 games, with a 3.11 ERA, but some of his best work comes early and by the end, their confidence in him fades, but other lefties are helping out.

Alex Cora, Amado Samuel, andJeff Francouer ask to represent the contingently of foreign-named, but still lovingly monikered, Mets wishing you a happy feast of St. Valentine.

I'm Jerry Blevins. I'm a lefthanded reliever, I'm effective, and sometimes I fall down. I can't negotiate curbs. Why is the earth covered with CURBS?! I got a new contract at the end of the winter, and I'm planning on earning that option for year two that they're dangling in front of me. What do you think is in store for the skinniest Met? [fimg=200:ou6cb3lx]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/16825_metsJerry_Blevins.jpg/220px-16825_metsJerry_Blevins.jpg[/fimg:ou6cb3lx] [fimg=500:ou6cb3lx]https://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/jerryblevins.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1[/fimg:ou6cb3lx] [fimg=385:ou6cb3lx]http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2017/02/09/images/mlbf_1222288683_th_45.jpg[/fimg:ou6cb3lx] [fimg=315:ou6cb3lx]http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.13111940.1486969986!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg[/fimg:ou6cb3lx]

Well, frankly, it's certainly not my first three-way. I'm sorry, what was the question? Who do the Mets get in this shocker?

In fairness, they only adopted that rallying cry after strongly considering "WE ARE FAMILY!"

Frayed Knot wrote: #11 - Cody Bellinger - 1B Dodgers - AAA Son of short-term (1999-2002) MFY pitcher Clay Lance Niekro and Ike Davis have made me suspicious of slugging, first base-playin' sons of short-term Yankee pitchers, the sons of Dave LaRoche notwithstanding.

Let's take a trip down to Clearwater, home of our friendly rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, as they ... WHAT. THE. FUCK?! [tweet] [/tweet]

I'll open with .273 / .336 / .454 // .791, split between AA and AAA. Dan Norman, 1976.

I did everything last year with the bat, except the thing I’m kinda sorta supposed to be doing. And that’s hit with power. I didn’t do any of that. Yeah, I was playing hurt. That’s my story. You can call bullshit all you want but I’m going to big league spring training camp and you’re going to log onto the Crane Pool to read about me. I’m the last item in the R.A. Dickey trade. That's a deal that keeps giving, and I intend to hit the bigs like a comet. How's that going to look in 2017? That's for you to tell me. [fimg=450]https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XPG46z3dc7Zwla8IlLQvdMplFIs=/0x234:2400x1584/1600x900/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48559547/wuilmer-becerra-donovan-2015.0.0.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=170]http://www.milb.com/images/610141/generic/180x270/610141.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=223]http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get2/I0000Vel0Kt9rkhY/fit=/fill=250x250/g=G0000W6FNqYXs150/I0000Vel0Kt9rkhY.jpg[/fimg]

Does Baseball America consider Gsellman graduated or just not good enough?

So how about that huge rating on Gsellman followed by a kick in the balls with Smith? Prospectus totally ignores the consensus of their peers. They stand alone and give not a shit.