Edgy MD

I definitely think there's an element of beating the "lame duck" story line to the punch. IT'S A DISTRACTION!

Centerfield wrote: Maybe if he regresses next year, someone can go out and twist his knee. It makes little sense, but I sometimes wonder if some injuries that are nagging but not debilitating can help lock a guy in. Whether it helps guide their focus or whatever, I could only conjecture. Wildly. But watching him perform the way he did when he could barely answer the bell the last six weeks was pretty spectacular.

Well, I was certainly thinking he'd be a possible hedge against d'Arnaud not taking a step forward. Since he's out of action for (let's say) the first third of the season, you can give a one-year deal with a healthy option. Say, $6.5 million for the first year and $11.5 million for the option year. If d'Arnaud isn't prospering, he arrives in June, becomes the starter, and hopefully earns that option. (You can even put a vest on the option to guarantee it if he gets into 100 games, or perhaps 90). If d'Arnaud is prospering, he becomes the backup. If d'Arnaud and Plawecki are both prospering and healthy and he arrives healthy in June, they have a lovely problem on their hands. But there's no reason to get too fixated on Ramos. There's Jonathan Lucroy, who a lot of Met fans were clamoring for and offering up shiny pieces in pursuit of a few months back. There's Govany Soto, Nick Hundley, and Matt Wieters. And of course, there's the trade market.

[table:hy8hwwac][tr:hy8hwwac][td:hy8hwwac][fimg=200:hy8hwwac]http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/b/b2/Atlanta_Braves.png/revision/latest?cb=20100925025244[/fimg:hy8hwwac][/td:hy8hwwac][td:hy8hwwac][fimg=200:hy8hwwac]https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b_jOzdV-j2E/VCpKpzTndmI/AAAAAAAAU00/o1Azy4eTF5A/s1600/MetsRealogo2015-z14.png[/fimg:hy8hwwac][/td:hy8hwwac][/tr:hy8hwwac][tr:hy8hwwac][td:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Enciarte, cf[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Garcia, 3b[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Freeman, 1b[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Kemp, lf[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Markakis, rf[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Flowers, c[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Peterson, 2b[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Swanson, ss[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Teheran, sp[/*:m:hy8hwwac][/list:o:hy8hwwac][/td:hy8hwwac][td:hy8hwwac][*:hy8hwwac]Reyes, 3b[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Flores, 2b[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Cabrera, ss[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Granderson, cf[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Bruce, rf[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Duda, 1b[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Conforto, lf[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]d’Arnaud, c[/*:m:hy8hwwac] [*:hy8hwwac]Syndergaard, sp[/*:m:hy8hwwac][/list:o:hy8hwwac][/td:hy8hwwac][/tr:hy8hwwac][/table:hy8hwwac] That's not a bad lineup the Braves have. Enciarte isn't exactly an on-base machine, but apart from the four and five hitters, it's a pretty young group. The Mets, on the other hand, remain solid, top-to-bottom, but — unless they return Céspedes — lefty-heavy and with no obvious standouts. Second base is wide open, with Rivera in a good position to displace Flores and claim the Keystone, but if Wright is ready to answer the bell, Reyes may move over to second and displace them both.

According to multiple sources, Terry Collins is considering playing out the last season of his contract in 2017 and hanging 'em up. Marc Carig didn't break the story, but he got some money quotes. “I love what I do. I love managing in New York. It’s kept me young, it’s kept me energetic. But I just had two friends die and all of a sudden it hit me. They were retired and they got to enjoy it. All I’m saying is with what happened to me at Milwaukee at the end of the year, I’m going to evaluate where I am.” ... “It’s made me think. Especially with what happened to me in Milwaukee. You don’t want them carrying you out of the clubhouse, that’s all I’m saying.” Him and Alderson being where they are in their respective careers, it might be an indicator of them going all-in next season, though it's certainly debatable what all-in might look like. A year to line up a successor is certainly an interesting situation as well. A good chance to be thoughtful.

Same actress in a different role, though. Simonetta Vespucci.

There's certainly a handful of good catchers out there to pursue. Wilson Ramos would have been one of the most appealing, but unfortunately, he's going in for knee surgery, and will likely miss most of the first half of 2017.

Grandy was healthy for 162.

Octopus Fighter looks like Matt Harvey. Backpack Girl looks like Backpack Girl.

Yoenis Céspedes, Player of the Year while never winning Player of the Month. If game 163 counted, Syndergaard would have taken it.

The name is Murphy.

Funny? Sure. But sensitive too. [youtube:2ttin8ec]6cByTBI1odc[/youtube:2ttin8ec] That's a TK original!

Zvon wrote: d'Arnaud could frame my testicles in gold and it means jack shit if he can't block pitches properly or throw guys out. I've said it before. He has a stamina issue where he wears down way to soon. In individual games and over the long haul as well. Also that wrist cock thing. I wouldn't call it giving him a second chance. Come spring he gets to show if he has worked on and improved on where he lacks. If he hasn't he'll have to move aside for good, as far as being a first string catcher goes. He's pretty much already been relegated to 2nd string behind Rivera, IMO. Sure, but that was 2016, and now we are looking forward. Does the evidence really demonstrate that d'Arnaud distinctly or consistently allows passed balls or fails the throw out throw-out-able runners below the mean? Because I have my doubts that it does, especially considering he has worked with one or two pitchers who just don't keep an eye on the runners at all at all.

Becoming a full-time catcher suxx. You have to learn to hit major league pitching at the same time you have to learn your staff and what they can do — a staff that is now perhaps 13 dudes — as well as learn the vulnerabilities of every hitter in the league. And you have do that while bearing the daily wounds and fatigue while coming to play four times in five. This adjustment is known to take several years. Or several years and bucket of roids if your name is Hundley. Yeah, the Yankees had a wunderkind come up and hit a massive amount of homers, and good for him. But a lot of guys have come up and made a splash before the realities of the grind drew them back to the pack. Devin Mesoraco, what's doing? J.P. Arencibia, long time no see. None of that is necessarily to say that d'Arnaud is the way the team should go. Only that I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed to find out they were still invested in him. But how about getting a catching instructor back on the staff this year?

If they return him (and I suspect they are inclined to) they probably want a thumpier backup plan than René Rivera, though.

I wanted to congratulate Tebow just for putting the ball in play three times against relatively high-level competition, but I always ned to remind myself that breaking pitches don't tend to break in Arizona.

But yeah, I sort of expected him to head to Canada years ago looking to pull a Flutie and make fools out of NFL GMs.

One thing that may be earlier on the Mets to-do list than signing their left fielder is taking a long hard look at their list of arbitration eligibles. Projections have them taking more salary on through arbitration raises this offseason than any team save the Orioles. Player2016 SalaryExpected 2017 SalaryAddison Reed$5,300,000$10,600,000Jeurys Familia$4,100,000$8,700,000Josh Edgin$625,000$8,000,000Lucas Duda$6,725,000$6,700,000Matt Harvey$4,325,000$5,200,000Jacob deGrom$607,000$4,500,000Rene Rivera$1,700,000$2,200,000Wilmer Flores$526,014$1,900,000Travis d’Arnaud$542,604$1,700,000Justin Ruggiano$1,650,000$1,500,000Jim Henderson$600,000$1,400,000Zack Wheeler$546,250$1,000,000Total$27,246,868 $53,400,000 Interestingly enough, that could have been higher, as a lot of guys due big raises (Duda, Ruggiano, Harvey) ended up spending most of the season hurt. I"m guessing there'll be one or two non-tenderees on that list. Had Duda not returned at the end of the season, I was thinking he was a good candidate for non-tendering. Now I'm a little more dubious. But they may see Reed as a wasteful luxury at $10+ million, and move him to a team that sees him as a closer, and perhaps fill a need they see somewhere else.

Shows how out of it I am. I was thinking the guy standing over the fallen fan was wearing a TEUFEL-11 jersey.

Put it in the box score as 0-3, with a grand slam. [tweet:30zwbd8y] [/tweet:30zwbd8y] [tweet:30zwbd8y] [/tweet:30zwbd8y]

I think the plan is to delay the surgery as long as possible, and if it does become necessary, hopefully it'll come in May or something, and therefore not interfere with his offseason golf and racquetball plans.

Asdrubal Cabrera (knee) and Noah Syndergaard ('bow) have joined the modest list of Mets who won't require offseason surgery.

More hills in the outfield! And sand pits, while we're at it! And inflatable lawn ornaments! And water hazards! Ice slicks! Oil spills! The possibilities are endless!

BOOOOOoooooOOO!

Replacing a star in the aggregate rather than with one greater-than or equal-to star isn't guaranteed, but neither is the one-for-one replacement. Well, nothing is guaranteed. Not even bringing back the star himself. The object of the off-season is to field the team that gives you the best chance of success. Going after one star to replace another is one way but it's not the only way and sometimes that sort of thinking leads to mis-steps like Coleman for Strawberry or Appier for Hampton, where you not only end up with a worse player but also a long-term contract where you have buyer's remorse practically during your drive out of the showroom. Agreed. And this is the type of move I hate the most. Spending money on B-level talent. I feel like in most of these instances your cheap-in-house option is not far off, and the money is better invested elsewhere. But sometimes they do get you close to what you lost, which is why I guess these moves continue to get made. The way I see it, in terms of likelihood of success, the team facing the loss of a superstar can: 1. Bring back the Star himself. You know your guy. You know what he can do. Barring injury or decline, you can generally expect your guy to be your guy. Sure. This costs money, but this is your best chance of success. 2. Replace the Superstar with Another Superstar. Like the Cardinals and Mariners in the examples above. And depending on the guy you bring in, maybe he can even be better. Variables like switching teams, new ballpark, how he'll react to a new city factor in (in Ichiro's case, crossing the ocean), so your chance of success is probably a tick lower. But I'm cool with this option too. 3. Replace the Star with B Level Talent. The Kevin Appier Principle. Like I mentioned above, I don't like this route at all, but going this way helps minimize the chance that you have a complete black hole. I mean, Kevin Appier wasn't bad. And neither was Todd Zeile. They just may not have been worth the money. Chance of success is less than options 1 and 2, but undoubtedly higher than... 4. Replacing the Star with two C- players and trying to justify it with arguments about splits and improving the bench. Which is what the prevailing thought was last year. If Cespedes had walked, and we trotted out the De Aza/Lagares platoon, we would have been fucked. We would have been under .500 and not sniffed the Wild Card. And for all the talk of minimizing AB's for quadruple A players, we still trotted out our fair share of Campbells and Ty Kellys. And that is the risk of trying to go the cheap route. The chances of success are low, and the downside is tremendous. Even the much celebrated Scott Hatteberg "success" resulted in 84 fewer runs for the A's the following year. There's also Replacing the Star with a Guy or Guys You Already Have, That You Strongly Feel Is/Are Ready to Break Through, and Are More Likely, by Your Estimation, to Provide Stardom over the Duration of the Terms of the Contract that the Star Is Asking for, While Freeing Up Money for Upgrades Elsewhere.