Edgy MD

There I was, ready to scold Terry for pinch-hitting De Aza, putting his off-the-interstate status on the line. De Aza makes a fool of faithless me.

Another strong inning lowers this creature's ERA as a Met to 1.65 Ignore the post above.

Strong start by Gsellman, but I'm not sure I'd be saying that if the wind and Curtis Granderson's glover weren't on his side.

I'm just realizing that, if the Mets clinch tonight, they can't really go nuts celebrating and start the B-team tomorrow, because they kind of have to keep their foot on the gas to pursue home field advantage. I mean, I realize it's over-rated, but who the hell wants to go to San Francisco?

Not to mention, "Whip Around" sounds like a sexual maneuver that's too filthy to describe. Everybody pretends they know what it is, but only A Boy Named Seo is truly privy to the secret knowledge.

Four straight two-outers. [fimg=450]http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/3/files/2016/09/9474284-jay-bruce-mlb-new-york-mets-arizona-diamondbacks.jpg[/fimg] I like three things: trucks, mud, and trucks in the mud

Check out Bruce — staying within himself and getting the base hit instead of going down flailing for the homer. This is the 2016 version Bruce they meant to trade for.

I think the Mets mentally moved on after he broke with them on putting off his surgery and trying to play out the season.

I'm not sure the Mets have given up on Flores, but it's certainly a real possiblity. T.J. has three innings in the bigs at first in recent weeks, and 40 games in the minors over there. But I imagine it's the question they have to deal with as soon as they first deal with Duda-vs.-Loney. I wonder. If Duda's ready to play, I kind of trust him more with lefties than Loney. Kelly and Rivera can both fit on the roster if they carry 11 pitchers, and that would allow an option of Kelly at second and T.J. at first against a lefty. But Kelly ain't playin' much so I'm not sure how seriously Terry is considering him.

All sources I checked (one or two) still list Asher as our starter. Let's achieve. [youtube:1u98leah]GyhOCv1IAO8[/youtube:1u98leah]

I don't think Wright's opening the season healthy next year, but yeah, I think Reyes is ticketed for second when Wright comes back. That's part of why I spoke about the roster rather than the lineup. "Steve Napolitano" is name I've heard Howie Rose say 1,000 times (in my imagination, anyhow). In what context? Damned if I know. Assistant to the assistant trainer?

Joe Maddon is supposedly getting heat from his players for his liberal substitution policy as the season winds down. Probably a tempest in a teapot, but little dissent can't be anything but good from the Mets' perspective. Amazin' that the Cubs and Bucs have given us our first tie in captivity since 2005.

Absolutely not. I just like that smug Suzuki photo. You're absolutely right in that he's working with an unsustainable act. I think T.J. has bounced ahead of Reynolds and ChiChi in the race for opening day roster status in 2017, but it's best not to fall in love with him at this juncture.

Two of his saves came in his first two appearances, before it was clear his season (and ultimately, his career) was going south. The third and last one came on June 12, while his ERA was still in the low threes. Then came the ugly finale that awaits most every ballplayer not named Papi. He would give up 20 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings over the next three weeks before his final career appearance on July 7. But hey, I bet he still got a World Series share.

[fimg=300:2agh9c2l]http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/jt6stt/picture38014854/ALTERNATES/FREE_640/Marlins%20Cardinals%20Baseball[/fimg:2agh9c2l]

It's unclear from that short obit whether Hennigan served in Vietnam (or "Vietman" as they write), or merely served during the conflict. I try and keep track of such things, but there are a lot of Mets who did service during this time (Wayne Garrett, Mike Jorgensen) in which the nature of their service is unclear. I know Rich Folkers served in-country. And so did Jim Bibby, but the Mets traded him off before his MLB debut.

This guy's a godsend. They let Murphy walk, jettison Tejada, see Campbell hit his way off the team, lose Walker for the year to injury, possibly the same with Flores, and the still have a choice between two second baseman getting the job done regularly. And three more are picking splinters behind them. I'd tell you to get on your knees and thank the heavens for Mackey Sasser, but I bet most of you already do that.

I mostly like Ty Kelly because he always looks like he's this close to crying.

i think the same guy called me.

Campbell is Campbell, but the paucity of righty bats is a concern.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Terry uses Rivera and he doesn't use Plawecki, which pretty much tells me that Rivera has the advantage. Do we know for sure whether or not Salas is eligible? And deGrom is definitely out. He had surgery and recovery time is three months. No doubt, but I treated him as a live player since they haven't bothered putting him on the disabled list. I didn't create a "Certainly Out" category, but he would be it.

I've got it thusly Starting Pitchers Almost Certainly In Bartolo Colon Robert Gsellman Seth Lugo Noah Syndergaard Bubble Sean Gilmartin Gabriel Ynoa Logan Verrett (0 or 1 of these guys can expect to make it) =#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out Jacob deGrom Rafael Montero Relief Pitchers Almost Certainly In Jerry Blevins Jeurys Familia Erik Goeddel Addison Reed Hansel Robles Bubble Josh Edgin Jim Henderson Fernando Salas Josh Smoker (2 or 3 of these guys can expect to make it) =#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out Nodody Catchers Almost Certainly In Travis d'Arnaud René Rivera Bubble Kevin Plawecki =#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out Nobody Infielders Almost Certainly In Asdrubal Cabrera Kelly Johnson José Reyes T.J. Rivera Bubble Lucas Duda Wilmer Flores James Loney Matt Reynolds (probably 2 of these guys can expect to make it, but possibly 3) =#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out Eric Campbell Gavin Cecchini Outfielders Almost Certainly In Yoenis Cespedes Curtis Granderson Jay Bruce Bubble Michael Conforto Alejandro De Aza Juan Lagares (probably 2 of these guys can expect to make it, but possibly 3) =#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out Ty Kelly Brandon Nimmo 18 pretty solid locks, 15 bubblers, and 6 lockouts. Although Vic suggests that Soup may be in the mix too. That's some hard choosin'!

The same guy has used the game to simulate an entire league of Bartolo clones. There an 18-inning marathon on opening day that included one walk the entire game. And that was it. It was the last walk for anybody on any of the 30 teams the entire season. Cloning is bad, even when it's cloning the one guy nobody can get enough of.

Yeah, the Mets have a lot of post-season roster questions. A pile of them. It'll probably make a nice thread once they clinch. They may not have a lot of high-end performers, but their depth right now is demonstrably impressive. The October Surprise/Melvin Mora/Timo Perez character on this team would be Nimmo, and there's no way they can find room for him.

Team's don't celebrate "At-Least-a-Tie Night," right? Only "Outright-Sole-Possession-Guaranteed Night," right? I just don't want to end up confused on the spot like Steve Zabriskie.