Edgy MD

Thanks for burning your challenge there, Wells.

The Yanks need two more Juniors in their infield.

Going to Weisenberger for a second inning felt like a white flag, but landed like a yellow hammer.

What a time for an idiot on the field incident. Lindor chased outside the zone twice there.

They've sure gotten to him — and now chased him — but I'd sure like to get more than one point out of this.

That was exactly what the Tyrone Taylor game was like until Tyrone Taylor. It'd be nice to get to Paul Blackburn here.

Holy smokes! Jack Weisenburger is back!

A lot of futile swinging for the fences by the Metzgers.

WFAN basketball team back in the day. Mike Francesa coaching.

Ronnie reports Lombard comes out of Gulliver Prep in Pinecrest, FL. If their nickname isn't something along the lines of The Travelers, then they should just fold their tent.

I could get used to the Mets having a good rightfielder.

Never really used to the Yankees having a good shortstop.

Mets took two of three. The third and deciding game was the stunning Tyrone Taylor Game.

I just continue to think that, unless the managing bug has really gotten back into Andy Green's blood in the last eight weeks, he really prefers the stability, creativity, collaboration, and behind-the-scenes anonymity of front office work. A lot of things can go wrong at a lot of different levels in an organization, but as Mendoza has demonstrated, the manager guy is usually the first whale to get harpooned. Andy Green went to Kentucky on an academic scholarship, not a baseball one, and graduated summa cum laude. I don't think he's in the game for the love of the locker room smell. Fun Fact: The Mets signed him to his last professional contract as a player on the same day they signed R.A. Dickey. Come crazy scout said "Let's sign a bunch of really smart guys from the Cumberland Mountain states, who are seemingly at the end of the line in journeyman careers — but maybe, with enough brains, one or two of them will somehow will figure things out in their thirties."

Reporting today (or maybe yesterday) suggests there was nearly a deadline deal between Atlanta and Texas featuring Jacob deGrom and Spencer Strider as the principals, prevented only by deGrom exercising his no-trade clause. Whatever rational arguments for or against such a deal, at a visceral level, that might have really been a kick in the nuts. deGrom was widely reported to be vaguely part of discussions at the time, but the to-Atlanta-straight-up-for-Strider business is all new, as is the suggestion that it was a fait accompli until the deGrom refusal. Oddly, it was initially merely a side note in a Mark Feinsand column filler story about off-season trade candidates, but kind of blew up in Braves, Rangers, and Mets quarters.

Greenie has also had a lot more of healthy Soto and Lindor available to him. The doubling down that got to me was less about management doubling down Mendoza as Mendoza doubling down on Devin Williams.

Yeah, that is admittedly less than a full picture. And a less-than-comprehensive look at Jonathan Santucci also.

After a scratch first half, Syracuse has been tearing it up of late, leapfrogging several teams and sitting in fourth place, but only three games behind Rochester in the International League East Division. They're up 6-2 on St. Paul tonight in the eighth. A lot of the turnaround came around August 1, as the cleared a lot of vets off the roster to make room for people brought in via their deadline deals, and also guys they were calling up from lower levels. Some of the guys that they let go were having decent seasons, but the results triggered by the new blood speaks for itself. Jonathan Santucci took a few weeks to find his footing after his callup, but he's got a share of the minor-league stirkeout lead. Deadline acquisition Billy Amick has six homers in only 15 games since being called up, after hitting seven in only 12 games for Bingo. His 36 homers are fifth in all the minors this season, and his 105 RBI are ninth.

An exchange during last night's program: Steve Gelbs (passing on a question in the "Questions for the Booth" segment: "What’s something you’re convinced you could be world-class at with just a little training?” Ron Darling: "For my age, I still think I would be one of the better water skiers. 'Cuz I can still water ski. I can still one-ski. So I would be a good water-skier for someone that's 66 years old." Gary Cohen: "I think you could also — if you spent a lot of time on it, because you're pretty good to begin with — golf could be something that you could pursue." Ron Darling: "Yeah but the guys that are my age are Fred Couples — some of the greatest players ever. I'd have to compete against those guys. So I think ... water skiing is my answer." ... (Gelbs interjects here as Ron jazzes on about his water skiing trixxx, followed by getting back to the game for a bit for a little play-by-play.) ... Ron Darling: "It's hard, right, Gary? It's hard to think of." Gary Cohen: "I think that ... perhaps ... I could follow in the footsteps of my old friend George Stephanopoulos, and I could be a political operative." Ron Darling: "Oh, yes, you could. Yes, you could." Steve Gelbs: "That's a good ... . I could absolutely see that. That's a good one, Gar'.” Ron Darling: "Uhh ... you could lose Keith as a friend, but you know ... ." Gary Cohen: "I'm not saying, you know, in what manner I'd be operating, but I just ... I feel as though I have a good handle on the issues, and know how to pull (or possibly poll) the right people to put things in place." So there Cohen is, circumspect as always, respecting that his viewers come from across the spectrum, not putting his thumb on either side of the scale, not checking any box (despite Ronnie's implication), and it's not enough to escape FOX News notice.

Sorry. Somebody (I'm not saying who!) insisted on talking to me whilst I was typing, and I left the name out altogether. The man is big, beefy Venezuelan righthander Albert Suarez.

Baltimore pitcher Albert Suarez is 36 years old, gray-bearded, and tired of getting caught in the DFA trap. Baltimore DFA'd him one more time this week, and after he cleared waivers, he declared himself a free agent instead of taking the AAA assignment. He might come in handy against the Yankees this weekend.

The Japanese flag hangs still today with news of the passing of NPB legend Isao Harimoto. Born in Hiroshima to Korean immigrant parents, it was a minor miracle that he made it to professional baseball at all, first badly damaging his hand in a childhood accident that forced him to become a lefty and use a specialize glove for his right hand, and then surviving the atomic blast that has become synonymous with his native city, as he and a sister were shielded from the explosion by his mother. Known as the only Hiroshima attack survivor to play professional ball, he — like Ty Cobb and Rusty Staub — debuted as a teenager and continued to play into his 40s, a tenure that allowed him enough years to compile more hits than any other player in Japanese professional baseball, and clobber 500 homers along the way.

The Mets are suddenly within 4 1/2 games of four different teams. It would sure be helpful if the next six games (and nine of the next 12) weren't against AL teams.

It's good that they have tomorrow off, because they were going to need to call up an infielder and about three pitchers if they had a game.