Edgy MD

Man, Buchanan has gotten away without much stuff, from where I'm sitting. Pulling him after 4 2/3. Who is he, Denny Neagle?

I root for O'Flaherty to knock 'em dead over these last two series and make the choice as hard as possible. Harder than it is now for the 25 of us, anyhow.

Recently added to the roster: Travis' older brother Chase d'Arnaud. The Phillies were clearly concerned their Chase factor was getting low.

Hey, let's get back to catcher for a minute. A.J. Ellis is like Grandal in that he's a low average guy who is nonetheless an on-base monkey. A contemporary Wes Westrum, if you will. He doesn't have the pop, and unlike Grandal, bats exclusively right-handed, so he'll probably start against Matz. OOPS! A.J. stunk at the plate last year, and smelled up the place even more the first half of 2015 after he was relegated to backup duty, but he's come on strong in the second half, so much so that he's got a piece of his old job back. A.J.'s wife is Cindy Ellis. Here she is getting Papelbonned by her middle child.

Injuries tend to settle these redundancies. Not always the way we want them to.

That's good stuff. In a locker room, the moral high ground is attained via getting older, not wiser. Thus, he who has been there longer makes the rules. This is Papelbon. The only way to change those rules, beyond becoming the longest-tenured yourself, is to play so well that the rules no longer apply to you. This is Harper. But, even then, you're not safe from the clubhouse purists who believe the sport should be played exclusively by battle-hardened veterans whose only emotional note is white-hot righteous anger. There is a camp that believes this fight stems from the fact that Harper is a young, flashy, emotionally demonstrative prick who doesn't always hustle, can be whiny, and has been known to say brash stuff, like, "That's a clown question, bro." The only reason he hasn't gotten his comeuppance, in this reading, is because he's played well enough to avoid it. One thing I'd add. It's perhaps meaningful that the day this all went down is the day after the Nats were elimated. In other words, Papebon finally had the upper hand to strike (or felt he did) because it was the day that Harper being the best player on the team suddenly didn't matter anymore.

Well, it's certainly true that I didn't see him flying the flag before the first winning streakTM started taking off.

The irony is that they altered the rule because the Mets seemingly got caught with their pants down when Hernandez got hurt. But they ended up flourishing behind Oliver Perez � sort of fixing what wasn't really broke. Is it that hard to carry more than four starters?

That's great and awful and great. Am I the only only one resistant to the Jim Breuer having become the Semi-Official Voice and Face of Mets Victories? I'm not sure why he should bother me so much. He never did anything to me.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I think I'm one of those guys who screwed up the 25. Sorry! It's programmed to allow for revotes. Edit your ballots as new information becomes available! My guess is some of the long-timers and hard cuts will get get to t/d/w with the team. O'Flaherty and Monell, maybe not.

Interesting that we're all carrying Matz, even though the role for him isn't clear. Also notable is general agreement that there is no room for Carlos Torres, despite there having been room for about three seasons now. Congratulations to Dilson Herrera on his first taste of support. But the Goeddel/Gilmartin clash goes on. STARTERS (6) Jacob deGrom 24 Matt Harvey 24 Steven Matz 24 Noah Syndergaard 24 Bartolo Colon 22 Jon Niese 19NON-STARTERS (1) Tim Stauffer 0 . . . . .RELIEVERS (5) Jeurys Familia 24 Tyler Clippard 24 Addison Reed 23 Hansel Robles 22 =#FF0000]Erik Goeddel 10 .RELIEVED (6) =#FF0000]Sean Gilmartin 10 Logan Verrett 6 Carlos Torres 2 Dario Alvarez 2 Bobby Parnell 1 Eric O'Flaherty 0CATCHERS (2) Travis d'Arnaud 24 Kevin Plawecki 21BELLY-SCRATCHERS (2) Anthony Recker 3 Johnny Monell 0INFIELDERS (7) David Wright 24 Lucas Duda 24 Daniel Murphy 24 Ruben Tejada 24 Kelly Johnson 24 Wilmer Flores 23 Juan Uribe 16FUTILITY INFIELDERS (2) Dilson Herrera 1 Eric Campbell 0 . . . . .OUTFIELDERS (5) Yoenis Cespedes 24 Curtis Granderson 24 Juan Lagares 24 Michael Conforto 23 Michael Cuddyer 22LEFT-OUTFIELDERS (2) Kirk Nieuwenhuis 6 Eric Young, Jr. 4 . . . Do the leftovers get invited to travel, dress, and work out with the team?

Pro'ly.

Josh Thole!

Just-in Turner That's an Interregnum Met if ever there was one.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: So long, Orioles. Disappointing year for them, and they've got a rebuild ahead. I'm grateful to the 2015 Orioles for their September sweep of the Nationals. It came at a perfect time and kept things from getting scary in the NL East race. It also helped trigger the emotional implosion of the Washington team. And who'd've guessed they'd make a closer of Darren O'Day. Buck Showalter may not have won the big one, but Baltimore fans are behind him coming and going. I hope the rebuild isn't too painful. They've got some big decisions coming up, with regard to re-signs.

So, just for curiosity's sake, who kicked Conforto off the bus?

Well, the proof will be in the pudding, if the Mets have the honor of facing one of those teams but... May 11 @ Chicago Juan Lagares CFJohn Mayberry RFDaniel Murphy 3BMichael Cuddyer LFLucas Duda 1BWilmer Flores SSKevin Plawecki CDilson Herrera 2BJacob deGrom PMay 12 @ Chicago Curtis Granderson RFDaniel Murphy 3BMichael Cuddyer LFLucas Duda 1BWilmer Flores SSKirk Nieuwenhuis CFKevin Plawecki CNoah Syndergaard PRuben Tejada 2BMay 13 @ Chicago Curtis Granderson RFDaniel Murphy 3BMichael Cuddyer LFLucas Duda 1BWilmer Flores SSKevin Plawecki CKirk Nieuwenhuis CFDilson Herrera 2BMatt Harvey PMay 14 @ Chicago Curtis Granderson CFDilson Herrera 2BLucas Duda 1BMichael Cuddyer LFJohn Mayberry RFWilmer Flores SSAnthony Recker CRuben Tejada 3BJon Niese PMay 22 @ Pittsburgh Curtis Granderson RFEric Campbell 3BLucas Duda 1BMichael Cuddyer LFDaniel Murphy 2BWilmer Flores SSJuan Lagares CFKevin Plawecki CNoah Syndergaard PMay 23 @ Pittsburgh Curtis Granderson RFJuan Lagares CFLucas Duda 1BDaniel Murphy 2BWilmer Flores SSEric Campbell 3BDarrell Ceciliani LFKevin Plawecki CMatt Harvey PMay 24 @ Pittsburgh Curtis Granderson RFWilmer Flores SSMichael Cuddyer 1BDaniel Murphy 2BJohn Mayberry LFAnthony Recker CDarrell Ceciliani CFRuben Tejada 3BJon Niese PJune 30 vs. Chicago Curtis Granderson RFRuben Tejada SSLucas Duda 1BDaniel Murphy 3BMichael Cuddyer LFWilmer Flores 2BKevin Plawecki CJon Niese PJuan Lagares CFJuly 1 vs Chicago Curtis Granderson RFRuben Tejada SSLucas Duda 1BDaniel Murphy 3BJohn Mayberry LFWilmer Flores 2BKevin Plawecki CJuan Lagares CFBartolo Colon PJuly 2 vs Chicago Curtis Granderson RFDarrell Ceciliani CFDaniel Murphy 3BLucas Duda 1BWilmer Flores 2BEric Campbell LFJohnny Monell CJacob deGrom PRuben Tejada SSAugust 14 vs. Pittsburgh Juan Lagares CFCurtis Granderson RFYoenis Cespedes LFJuan Uribe 3BDaniel Murphy 2BMichael Cuddyer 1BWilmer Flores SSAnthony Recker CBartolo Colon PAugust 15 vs. Pittsburgh Curtis Granderson RFYoenis Cespedes CFDaniel Murphy 1BJuan Uribe 3BKelly Johnson 2BTravis d'Arnaud C[Michael Conforto LFRuben Tejada SSJon Niese PAugust 16 vs. Pittsburgh Juan Lagares CFCurtis Granderson RFYoenis Cespedes LFJuan Uribe 3BDaniel Murphy 2BMichael Cuddyer 1BTravis d'Arnaud CRuben Tejada SSMatt Harvey P Those Pittsburgh and Chicago teams faced a whole lot of Ceciliani and a few shovelfuls of Mayberry to boot. Only the last series featured something like the lineup that the Mets are sporting now, and those were all close games, at least until the moment that Bobby Parnell threw the ball into centerfield.

That's it. My mistake. Ow, stop hitting me, Paps! OW!

Yeah, I don't think they're thinking it through/seemingly don't realize that he initiated the violence. Where's the old-school, Billy Wagner-style passive-aggressive enforcement when you need it?

I imagine that the braintrust is going kick themselves no matter what. If they take Niese over a practiced relief pitcher, and Niese has a bad relief outing, they'll get killed. A small ugly part of them is probably hoping that an injury or two helps make the choice easier. I expect Terry to try Niese as a reliever once or twice over the final two series to get him acclimated. I think that giving a start to Johnson at shortstop � acclimating him for any emergency duty he might be needed for over there � was a good indicator that he'll be on the bus. An argument we've overlooked for Uribe: Injury or not, that guy wins rings in odd-numbered years.

Deadspin suggested Nitkowski put his own comments in the mouths of nameless "players" � pretty much suggesting he made them up. So I'm glad he was able to get somebody to back him, even if I disagree.

Parnell for Lucas Giolito. Do it, Steve!! Or Omar!! Or whoever!!11!!

But not striking out should mean more double plays. Except he grounded into 146, which is fewer than David Wright (for comparison's sake) in 25% more career plate appearances, while striking out one fourth as often. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

I wonder if they made any attempts to trade him last night. The Angels (for instance) could use a week's worth of an All-Star closer. But he probably hasn't cleared waivers.

So, Papelbon is done as a National. And maybe Williams as well. Bench Coach Randy Knorr, your moment is now.