Edgy MD

It's an interesting choice. Lagares has certainly shown value as a bench player since Cespedes took over and even since Cuddy returned from the DL. He's probably a better on-base threat than Nieuwenhuis and Flores, while lacking either of their power, and certainly better on the bases than Flores and probably a wash with Kirk. He comes in against a lefty, he's probably not as screwed if the opposition goes to a right-hander as Kirk would be in the opposite scenario. He also brings more defense than Nieuwenhuis, if only somewhat, considering that Kirk has a right fielder's arm, and Laggy seems to have a throwing impediment that he's playing with. But all your points are valid, particularly that the bench is deeper from the right side than the left, and going to Kirk over Laggy (or Cuddy!) could bring some balance. And Cuddy ain't gonna be left behind. Tough choices!

The Nats who are going to bother with sides are going to side with Harper. (1) He's their bread and butter. (2) He has been their teammate far longer and can expect to be around far longer. (3) Papelbon started this verbally and escalated it to physical. There's no stock in siding with him. Even the guys in the bullpen aren't gonna wanna sit next to him. Rizzo should just send him home at this point. That said, Harper's got a track record of being a dick going back 'til when he was like 15. Scouting reports going back to high school were all over it. The real wonder is that Matt Williams said he wasn't really aware of what happened. (1) It went down in your dugout, where you sit during the game. (2) You had to pull your best player as a result. And you didn't know quite what happened? How disengaged can you get?

Pythagorean winning percentage vs. the Cubs: .142 Pythagorean winning percentage vs. the Pirates: .068 (!!) That said these teams (particularly the Cubs), caught the Mets during their mid-season lineup crisis. The Mets aren't the same team, and hopefully won't behave like the same team. Anyhow, we gots to get past the Bridegrooms first.

That puzzled me too. Apparently it's erstwhile Savannah Sand Gnats manager Jos� Leger, who has been an unpublicized September addition to the Mets coaching corps.

That's almost encouraging. Almost.

And yet all 20 voters have gone for him. I think, while none of us perhaps want to make the argument, there might be something to be said for the idea that a guy has been in the trenches with you all year, and it might undercut the whole esprit d'corps to toss him aside now, as much of a luxury or a redundancy has he may have become. Applies to Niese also. And hey, the world needs redundancies too. But I do imagine he'll be the pinch-runner that Young might have been had their been room for him.

Dilson Herrera (.193), Eric Campbell (.188), and even Johnny Monell (.174), Daddy hasn't lost hope that you can get off the interstate before the year is through. I'm writing Terry Collins and asking him to give you the at-bats to do so. This is a season of redemption, and that means you, too. Anthony Recker (.133) ... well, next year can be a season of redemption, also.

Not for nothing, but in the second angle, Harper can be seen hitting the back of the dugout pretty hard with Papelbon's hands to his throat. He might well have not been in any shape to continue. I guess if I'm Rizzo, I'd be sending Bon-Bon home early for the winter.

How fired is Matt Williams? What better way to demonstrate how resigned you are than to send Papelbon back out there? Wally Backman is totally brushing up his r�sum�. Harper, meanwhile, on his way to becoming the first guy since Barry Bonds to be jumped by a teammate in his own dugout on his way to an MVP award. Congratulations Bryce! Papelbon, amazingly, is under contract for next year. He may be a terrific guy who is misunderstood (I mean, who doesn't want to punch Harper?), but he sure seems to have left behind a long trail of teammates who hate him. I see him going to Miami for dimes on the dollar.

Sending a guy to Brooklyn in his first year out of high school is tough to ask of anybody. But his walk tool apparently stayed intact. In fact, those numbers look strangely Nimmoid.

Gilmartin pulling into a late tie with Goeddel. It's good to be a lefty. Battles among the relievers on the bubble may be some of the biggest drama of the remaining games. This is really interesting. I can't remember ever having to worry about leaving more than one effective weapon behind. The Mets could be leaving six. STARTERS (6) Jacob deGrom 19 Matt Harvey 19 Steven Matz 19 Noah Syndergaard 19 Bartolo Colon 18 Jon Niese 15NON-STARTERS (1) Tim Stauffer 0 . . . . .RELIEVERS (5) Tyler Clippard 19 Jeurys Familia 19 Addison Reed 18 Hansel Robles 17 =#FF0000]Erik Goeddel 9 .RELIEVED (6) =#FF0000]Sean Gilmartin 9 Logan Verrett 4 Dario Alvarez 2 Carlos Torres 2 Bobby Parnell 1 Eric O'Flaherty 0CATCHERS (2) Travis d'Arnaud 19 Kevin Plawecki 16BELLY-SCRATCHERS (2) Anthony Recker 3 Johnny Monell 0INFIELDERS (7) David Wright 19 Lucas Duda 19 Daniel Murphy 19 Ruben Tejada 19 Kelly Johnson 19 Wilmer Flores 18 Juan Uribe 12FUTILITY INFIELDERS (2) Eric Campbell 0 Dilson Herrera 0 . . . . .OUTFIELDERS (5) Yoenis Cespedes 19 Curtis Granderson 19 Juan Lagares 19 Michael Conforto 18 Michael Cuddyer 17LEFT-OUTFIELDERS (2) Kirk Nieuwenhuis 5 Eric Young, Jr. 2 . . .

Niese may be used out of the pen, but his track record doesn't betray the kind of splits you'd look for from a LOOGy. I wouldn't be looking for short workdays from him.

JP got a piece of Harper's neck. Had higher ground, too. http://thebiglead.com/2015/09/27/bryce-harper-and-jonathan-papelbon-had-to-be-separated-in-nats-dugout/

I figured Horace had encountered some dwarves bowling in the Catskills and then fell asleep for 20 years.

Looks like the voters refuse to make the hard choice between Uribe and Johnson (and Lagares and Cuddyer), and instead decide to brave it with an 11-man staff, including only five experienced relievers.

There's some pretty solid consensus developing, based on the votes thus far. The next thing to decide then is which of the six starting pitchers you're planning to carry gets held back in emergency duty/bumped to the pen. STARTERS (6) Bartolo Colon 12 Jacob deGrom 12 Matt Harvey 12 Steven Matz 12 Noah Syndergaard 12 Jon Niese 9NON-STARTERS (1) Tim Stauffer 0 . . . . .RELIEVERS (5) Tyler Clippard 12 Jeurys Familia 12 Addison Reed 12 Hansel Robles 10 Erik Goeddel 7 .RELIEVED (6) Sean Gilmartin 6 Logan Verrett 3 Carlos Torres 1 Bobby Parnell 1 Dario Alvarez 1 Eric O'Flaherty 0CATCHERS (2) Travis d'Arnaud 12 Kevin Plawecki 11BELLY-SCRATCHERS (2) Anthony Recker 0 Johnny Monell 0INFIELDERS (7) David Wright 12 Lucas Duda 12 Daniel Murphy 12 Ruben Tejada 12 Kelly Johnson 12 Wilmer Flores 11 Juan Uribe 8FUTILITY INFIELDERS (2) Eric Campbell 0 Dilson Herrera 0 . . . . .OUTFIELDERS (5) Yoenis Cespedes 12 Curtis Granderson 12 Michael Conforto 12 Juan Lagares 12 Michael Cuddyer 11LEFT-OUTFIELDERS (2) Kirk Nieuwenhuis 3 Eric Young, Jr. 0 . . .

Goeddel has gotten some support. Torres is in need of some work, I guess. He needs to prove he's healthy. Surprisingly, Johnson has been named on all 11 ballots, topping Uribe (7 votes) decisively. Uribe may be the more inspiring player, but in the cold light of day, voters not only see the health issue, but the versatility Johnson brings, not to mention the left-handed stick off the bench, which'll come in handy, seeing as they are unlikely to find room for Nieuwenhuis. And frankly, he'd come in handy even if they can, seeing as he gives a team more contact and consistency. Johnson is proof that every team could use two Daniel Murphys. d'Arnaud has been named on 11 ballots and Plawecki 10, while neither Recker nor Monell have gotten a single vote. So one of you maniacs wants to head to the playoffs with single catcher.

In a night full of historical redemption, the Mets once again pushed terribleness deeper into the past. The Mets are now at least a .500 team over their last 7,460 games, going back to Saturday, April 19, 1969, an improvement of 7 games. This takes us back to an old-skool 2-1 pitchers duel in which Holla-Fame right-handers Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson each went the distance. The game probably took about 27 minutes. [fimg=600]http://www.ultimatemets.com/scorecard_graph.php?game=1147&font=1[/fimg] [fimg=200]http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.1303294.1247835406!/image/4063974275.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_600/4063974275.JPG[/fimg] This takes us back to the time before British troops in Northern Ireland. Heck we are almost back to a time before the Seattle Pilots. The 2015 Mets have a chance of dialing the decency clock back to before 1969 before the season is through.

[*:21tghjbz]Young, rf[/*:m:21tghjbz] [*:21tghjbz]Herrera, 2b[/*:m:21tghjbz] [*:21tghjbz]Johnson, 3b[/*:m:21tghjbz] [*:21tghjbz]Conforto, lf[/*:m:21tghjbz] [*:21tghjbz]Campbell, ss[/*:m:21tghjbz] [*:21tghjbz]Nieuwenhuis, cf[/*:m:21tghjbz] [*:21tghjbz]Recker, c[/*:m:21tghjbz] [*:21tghjbz]Monell, 1b[/*:m:21tghjbz][/list:o:21tghjbz] All other parties, prepare to party.

Pretty impressive that he's making a run at the doubles record in a season that he's hit the DL and also spent the first month of the season playing like he was still in spring training. Mets Doubles in a Season 1) Bernard Gilkey, 1996: 44 T2) David Wright, 2008: 42 T2) David Wright, 2005: 42 T2) David Wright, 2007: 42 T5) Edgardo Alfonzo, 1999: 41 T5) David Wright, 2012: 41 T5) Howard Johnson, 1989: 41 T8) Carlos Beltran, 2008: 40 T8) Daniel Murphy, 2012: 40 T8) Gregg Jefferies, 1990: 40 T8) David Wright, 2006: 40 T8) Edgardo Alfonzo, 2000: 40 Daniel Murphy Projected to the End of the Season: 39.72 T13) David Wright, 2009: 39 T13) Paul Lo Duca, 2006: 39 T13) John Olerud, 1999: 39 T13) Daniel Murphy, 2009: 39 T17) Robin Ventura, 1999: 38 T17) Carlos Beltran, 2006: 38 T17) Daniel Murphy, 2013: 38 T17) Daniel Murphy, 2015: 38

Yeah, let's not go in this direction any longer.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Went to Modell's and they're already sold out of the championship shirts in XL. Met fans descended like locusts. Go to Monell's instead. Nope, no shirts there.

Part-man, part-woodland creature, Yamani Grandal is your Dodger catcher. A very effective pitch-framer, Yasmani is in his fourth year. He tends to produce low batting averages but high walk rates. Got some middling Lo Duca-like power, too, but he switch-hits. It seems like the number of switch-hitters is dropping dramatically these days, but here you have it, an old-fashioned switch-hitting catcher. A Cuban by birth, Grandal is part of Generation Y, but came to the US as a child, growing up to star for the Miami Hurricanes. He was drafted by the Reds and went to San Diego as part of a big, fat package of talent for Mat Latos. Before establishing himself with the Dodgers, his Padre tenure would include a 50-game suspension due to a high testosterone level, a ripped up knee, and an association with Biogenesis. In contrast with his pitch-framing success, he's never been particularly good against the running game. Unfortunately, that's not a weakness the 2015 Mets have a history of exploiting, but maybe Curtis gets cute. Mrs. Grandal is Heather, and she likes to fold down her high tops for special occasions. [fimg=500]http://sureawesomeness.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/dance_FB-1024x672.jpg[/fimg] He's been grinding a bit down the stretch with shoulder soreness. Catchers will grind this time of year. Anybody know any more about Yasmani? Else let's talk about first.

Gwreck wrote: I think calling it "a snapshot of sorta where things sit now" invites a response when it is clearly in error. Double Jeez.