Edgy MD

These are unMetly times. What a sweet reward for the remaining faithful that ending must've been.

It is interesting and depressing to see the twin American wonders of baseball and rock 'n' roll made low by the same forces.

There are several films with similar or the same name and presumably a similar premise. We found this better than a Hallmark film.

Yeah, I try to make clear that I did not and do not buy The Knight Thesis. I guess the point is that I am trying to reconcile my rejection of that thesis with my lamenting the Mets not re-signing Iglesias — rejecting that idea, in fact, even as he was still available during spring training, and did not come off the market until nine days after Nick Madrigal was knocked out for the season. And I found myself lamenting even as Iggy had exactly the sort of season I expected Knight to have in 1987 if the Mets re-signed him.

I understood the two non-white guys — Lindor and Soto — to be somewhat pitted against each other in this telling. That tracks with the seeming resistance of Soto through the year toward Lindor-as-captain talk, as he argued for the primacy of Starling Marte among Met clubhouse leaders. I do not rank it as a zero — as much as this may be about filling offseason column inches — as these tend to be problems teams try to solve, for better or worse, and the lamentable trading of Nimmo and the possible trading of Lindor can partially be viewed through the lens of the team trying to put clubhouse rivalries to bed.

Hayden is in the Dominican, which certainly has a higher standard of play than the VWL, but he has had only 13 trips to the plate.

Luisangel Acuña is pouring it on to the tune of .276 / .427 / .553 // .980 in The Venezuelan Winter League, despite taking a vicious beaning off the forearm last week. Those numbers represent 96 plate appearances. [FIMG=550]https://pxcdn.meridiano.net/122024/1734383526024.jpg?&cw=1200&ch=630[/FIMG]

A pair of college friends find themselves at romantic loose ends in a year when all their friends are tying the knot. Realizing they have a lot of upcoming ceremonies, they agree to be each other's "plus one" at all nuptial events. You know where it is going but now quite how it will go. [FIMG=400]https://www.reelviews.net/resources/img/posters/thumbs/plus_one_poster.jpg[/FIMG]

I am paywalled out of the Post article. Is it really framed that way?

That really is not the Mets' MO.

If you have a guy who can shut down the ninth inning, and want to expand that ability into the eighth, the best way to do it is to bring that same guy in an inning earlier. Giving up three guys for Helsley, another three for Rogers, and two more for Gregory Soto was chasing fool's gold.

Well, shame on me for conflating my baseball moms. My apologies to Amy Rogers. It looks like the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants are all coming after him.

I realize his ERA did not reflect it, but he was not particularly effective with the Mets. Seeing so many opposing hitters elevate against him was maddening. How do you bring it from so low and still leave it up? I do not think that it is something that can not be affected with adjustments, but Helsley was not the only trade that failed to yield dividends. On the other hand, I probably let his numbers with the Giants for the first four months of the season lull me into holding him to an unreasonable standard. Also, the whole publicity-chasing-Trump-cheerleader-of-a-mother thing is creepy.

My defining memory is seeing him enter in a save/hold situation to a MASSIVE scoreboard display of "Hell's Bells" and it all feeling so wildly false and forced, as he had scant Met equity as yet, and his tenure to date had been shaky to say the least. It all seemed so inappropriate, but — I soon realized — actually made sense, because the bell tolled for me. And for the 2025 Mets.

Transactions, 11/25/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]COMING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed away from BOS to Minor-League Contract, Invited to Spring Training, Projected for Syracuse[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Relief Pitchers[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_213,q_auto:best/v1/people/476594/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Robert Stock [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]1989-11-21[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]L/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90]MLB (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] Robert Stock was first drafted as a catcher back in the second round of 2009 — a round that included the likes of Nolan Arrenado, Billy Hamilton, Steven Matz, Jason Kipnes, DJ LeMahieu, and Patrick Corbin. By 2012, he had switched full-time to pitching and sixteen years and 75 MLB innings later, he has a 4.90 career ERA to show for himself. Has played with eight different teams just since throwing five innings for the Mets in a pair of starts back in 2021 — the second one producing a season-ending hamstring injury — but has only managed to add only 2 1/3 MLB innings in that time. Still, he presses onward, confident that he has something to offer. “And yet MLB teams continue to give me chances. Why? Because I continually find new ways to improve.” What he is specifically referring to when he speaks of his ”new ways” is the introduction of the knuckle curve to his repertoire. God bless the spirit of the ballplayer. Not a lot of seasons produce an R.A. Dickey (so far, only one has) but if there is to be an R.A. Dickey of 2026, he is by far the leading candidate. Until things change — and change they will — you can pencil him into the Syracuse starting rotation, along with Jonah Tong, Brandon Sproat, Christian Scott, and TJ Shook. Transactions, 11/26/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]COMING[/td90][td90]COMING[/td90][td90]COMING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed away from Monclava (Mexican League) to Minor-League Contract, Invited to Spring Training, Projected for Syracuse[/td90][td90] Signed away from BOS to Minor-League Contract, Invited to Spring Training, Projected for Syracuse[/td90][td90] Signed away from LAD to Minor-League Contract, Invited to Spring Training, Projected for Syracuse[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Relief Pitchers[/th][th]Relief Pitchers[/th][th] Outfielders[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_213,q_auto:best/v1/people/644429/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_213,q_auto:best/v1/people/595897/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_213,q_auto:best/v1/people/682947/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Anderson Severino [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/dominican-republic-flag-small.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]Nick Burdi [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]José Ramos [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/panamanian-flag-small.jpg[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]1994-09-17[/td90][td90]1993-01-19[/td90][td90]2001-01-01[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]L/L[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90]MLB (2022)[/td90][td90]MLB (2025)[/td90][td90]AAA (2024)[/td90][/tr][/table] Anderson Severino is a journeyman's journeyman, who must be capable of sporadic moments of transcendence when scouts are watching — moments that prove unsustainable after contracts are signed, because he has pitched seemingly everywhere on God’s green earth, including multiple continents, and 7 1/3 innings in the big leagues back in 2022. If you are wondering what type of pitcher it would take to get Tony LaRussa to finally retire, Anderson may be it. With a minor league record alternating solid seasons with ERAs north of seven, he may sound like a Met by name, but he feels like a one-man game of Russian roulette. Look for the Mets to call him up in June, send him in to pitch the last inning of a blowout game, after which he will get two quick outs, looking sharp enough for you to think he might be worth keeping around for a few weeks, after which he will immediately give up three runs in a blink — possibly on a walk, a hit-batsman, and a BOMB — and never be heard from in Metland again. But still, he would be found pitching years later in Ciudad Juarez or somewhere. If LOOGys were still legal, there might be a place for him in this world, but alas. Nick Burdi was throwing 95 coming out of high school, and 100 coming out of college, and so, unsurprisingly, he has spent the last 10 years trying to stay healthy. He should not be confused with his brother Zack who also had a couple of chances in the big leagues, but hung ‘em up in 2023. José Ramos has had a solid minor-league career, but been kept down by the man. He has a well-rounded skill set, while not displaying any standout skills — at least not yet at the upper levels. He is still young, however, and currently profiles as the team's top Syracuse outfielder, and so, one injury short of big-league action. Also, the organization has been woefully low on Panamanians, historically. So please welcome José.

Given 20 more guesses or so, I totally would have gotten Dick Schofield. Alvaro Espinosa? Maybe a thousand guesses.

Framber Valdez has never sold a lot of posters, maybe, but he has stayed healthy year in and year out, averaged 192 innings the last four seasons, and has never really had a bad season since he became a full-time starter. All the same is kinda true, but to a lesser extent, about Ranger Suarez, for what that is worth. Reliable may be just what the team needs, as long as you don't get too shocked when banking on it falters.

I wouldn't bank on it, but I wouldn't doubt it either. Anonymous sources appear at the end of a season. In the case of Ottavino, real ones do also. Also notable that it comes shortly after a report that Lindor has been discussed as a trade candidate.

And Lindor has the five-and-10 rights.

I went for Carlos Beltran because he is a Hall of Famer, and possibly the best post-season performer ever. I went for Andy Pettitte and Bobby Abreu because Beltran was looking really lonely on my ballot.

Also, it seems it did not take a whole lot of mental strain to figure out how to slot the games from that Dodger series in there.

Terrific reading. Thanks for sharing, FaFiF. I honestly was preparing myself for some reassessments.

This can be the potluck party post!

For what it might be worth, I have been bouncing this thread around in my brain since the first half of the season.

Frequently injured, but effective when healthy relief pitcher Nick Burdi has signed a minor-league deal with the old invite to Florida included. Nick spent most of 2025 with the Worcester Red Sox, lamenting how stupid a name Woosox is, while striking out 45 dudes in 35 innings and pitching to a 2.83 ERA. In a handful of appearances for Boston, he was unscored upon in 5 1/3 innings — all but one of those innings coming against The Braves, interestingly enough. Nick spent 2024 with the Yankees and kind of looked the part, with the short hair and the baggedy-ass home uniform. [FIMG=450]https://bloggingtheredsox.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/gettyimages-2155660776-594x594-1.jpg[/FIMG] That will take a moment to un-see. When a Yankee pitcher wears that oversized jersey and lets the top buttons fly open, it makes it look like he is sweating out a night of drinking. (Clarification: I am not suggesting such a thing is in any way true. I am only saying it is a bad look. C.C. Sabathia fans know what I am talking about.) Curiously enough, his road uniform actually was too small — like, he-took-it-from-another-player small. [FIMG=450]https://empiresportsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/MLB-New-York-Yankees-at-Arizona-Diamondbacks-nick-burdi-22931266-scaled.jpg[/FIMG] Get it together, Yankee equipment manager guy!