Edgy MD

That's no hit. Error for Johnson.

Brewers showing heart! Up 10�2.

Hey Gary, stop over-romanticizing Jos�. He was pulled from a game twice for not running balls out and he probably deserved it more than that.

Some more 4-6 action from Curtis.

Keith's right, you have to pitch inside here. You'll get burned if the batter catches up to it, but you get burned anyway, and pitching guys away gets you burned more frequently when you have the bats perform like they're made of aluminum.

We've worn a real path through the 4-6 hole.

Looks like we're gonna chase ol' 50 Shades here.

Gonzalez faking out Gary Cohen on the grand slam!

A 2-1 game with the bases loaded, one out, and Murphy up in the second. That's all good, but we have a wounded warrior on the mound, perhaps unlikely to report for the next inning. Now, 3-1.

You want to give Conforto a final start as a send-off gift, Terry, then I'm down with that. But how cruel to bat him eighth where he has Colon behind him? But hey, maybe Colon homers today. Hey, a Colon hit batsman.

Daniel Murphy may not return, but he's now on a pace to become the second-doubliest Met ever before he goes. Career Doubles by a Met 1. David Wright 375 Daniel Murphy Projected to the End of Season: 225.10 2. Ed Kranepool 225 3. Jos� Reyes 222 4. Daniel Murphy 216 5. Howard Johnson 214 6. Edgardo Alfonzo 212 7. Carlos Beltran 208 8. Mike Piazza 193 9. Darryl Strawberry 187 10. Cleon Jones 182 =#FF8000]Daniel Murphy at Start of Season: 190 Not bad for a two-injury season.

Arrenado will singlehandedly keep David Wright from ever even thinking about a Gold Glove again.

Tejada looking like the forgotten man these days.

Cuddyer would be just fine in that role. And it would take him out of the mix of the left/center platoon between Conforto and Lagares with Cespedes taking swinging back and forth. It would be an awesome September, with Cespedes and maybe Duda as the only guys you could expect to be playing everyday.

I'm not so sure I concur. The draft, as much as it may be treated as such with regard to professionals, was never bargained into place by the amateur talent it most affects as they seek their first professional opportunities. If two agents and 10 high-end prospects announce that they have no intention of negotiating only with one team, it'd terrify MLB lawyers, and shake them to their core. These players might lose anyhow, of course.

I'm not speaking on behalf of soccer, so much as against anti-competitive behavior. But what's great that I would love is the presence of a team in every small town, with the players fighting not merely for their own advancement but for the glory of the team and the town and the fans, as it should be. That's great. And it once existed in American baseball and made baseball the quintessential American game, where every farm boy in Kansas knew the names of the starting nine of his team, and where they worked in the offseason, as much or more than he knew the big league players. Affiliation � another anti-competiive vestige of the reserve clause ruined all that. Promotion relegation � along with tournament play � would allow that ambitious Kansas team not merely to sell off her players to higher leagues, but potentially to resign and retain all her players, and to climb into those higher leagues and compete against the best, all for the glory of Topeka or Shawnee.

Your facts were obvious to any middle schooler and already understood within the context of the conversation.

Ceetar wrote: I'm merely pointing out facts that (should) contribute to the discussion. Here's two other facts: grass is green and the sky is blue. See how infuriating that is?

Sure, but he's been looking like Keith Richards' older sister of late.

Ceetar wrote: The Long Island Ducks, and the Japanese leagues, and (probably not the Australian league, since that's sort of MLB) other countries are allowed to sign Max Scherzer when his contract expires. Reductionism is a terrible way to argue. You assume the stupidity of your opponent while engaging in willful ignorance of your own. Please stop.

Yes. This is well known to the general baseball fan.

d'Kong76 wrote: I'd be more than happy to go play A ball for $1,000/month... where do I sign? I think you miss the spirit of the thing. I like to think I would too, but my skills don't allow it. If I was the rare man who did have the skills and the small window of opportunity in my youth still remaining, I would hope it was worth more than $6,000 per year. Along with an understanding that if I tried to shop my skills to another team, the whole industry would blackball me. And the rich get richer. As for the analogy of interns in other industries, many of those are exploitative too, and courts are starting to say so. But at least you have professional freedom of movement.

d'Kong76 wrote: I looked up the minor league salary stories too and was just going to withdraw or amend that comment. However, to be fair, these are young men who if were in college (for example) they'd be struggling to make ends meet anyway unless their parents can afford to float their boat. Sure, it ain't much, but neither is it nothing. But it sure isn't based on what the market will bear.

d'Kong76 wrote: Anyone can access major league baseball. I want to start a team in Boise. I am unallowed to sign Max Scherzer no matter how much money I give him. If I even begin to negotiate with him, it's made clear to him and everybody else that they will never play big league ball again. Boise fans can go get wet. The backlash would be even more vicious if I started my team in Park Slope. d'Kong76 wrote: Pro-players sign contracts and have an intricately negotiated agreement and can strike, Under terms that are anathema to the rest of US employment law. d'Kong76 wrote: amatuer players begin when they make a the team Amateur players begin their pro careers by being told they'll play for who the industry wants them to play for, no matter what their preference. d'Kong76 wrote: and most minor league players aren't poor. Until a minor league player is placed on a 40-man roster, monthly salaries are $1150 for the short season teams, $1300 for low A and $1500 for high A. For players repeating a year at the same level, the salary goes up $50 each year. For AA, the monthly salary is $1700 and it goes up $100 per month for subsequent years. For AAA, the monthly salary is $2150 per month and it goes up to $2400 the second year and $2700 the third year. (source) d'Kong76 wrote: The players have the most powerful union in the country. Minor league players aren't allowed in the union. d'Kong76 wrote: Hard to beleive you feel so strongly about all those things and still devote so much love and time to such a vile picture you painted from your podium. I don't believe I'm on a podium, but rather just responding in the natural course of the conversation. I like the game, but disagree with the system of the industry and its captains. I take that a lot of folks here dislike the captains far more than I do, but still pursue the joys of the game. Montreal should have a team that some guy in an office in New York can't just decide will cease to exist.