Edgy MD

Mets got the coveted 36-year-old. Totally un-Sandy-like to dive in the first day of the GM meetings. Fierce dimples.

I guess, in a sense, Plawecki has snuck up on things. But among guys who never did in the minors what they would eventually do in the majors, how about Jayce Boyd? Or Logan Verrett?

More than $25 mills, in fact.

The promise of Jacob deGrom and the Mets That pitcher struck out about seven batters for every nine innings he pitched in the minors, right around the league average at every stop. He was a ninth-rounder who was hit hard by teenagers in Rookie League for five starts before he underwent Tommy John surgery, and he started the year in the minors because the Mets figured they had five better starting pitchers. Look at the video again. Back to the first two sentences of this paragraph. Back to the video. Back to -- how did an arm that good produce such underwhelming numbers in the minors? How did an arm that good not break camp with a Mets team having open auditions for fifth starter? It doesn't matter. The straw is gold now.

It's a good thing we don't have a porn filter, or that list would have been blocked.

An increasingly sequel-dependent Pixar has announced a fourth installment on the franchise. Rumors ebberywhere about plot concepts.

Itchy is a counter, and no doubt would love to somehow chalk up the final 156 hits to get to 3,000 stateside. But with who? Colorady? Arizona? Toronto? Would the Padres pay tribute to Tony Gwynn by signing the Tony Gwynn of Japan as their Outfielder Emeritus?

As the world defends itself against an alien invasion, Tomato Cruise plays a military officer specializing in PR who gets thrown into a combat regiment, despite no combat experience or training, about to be launched in an important assault that's expected to be the turning point in the war. (It's clearly set up as an historical parallel to D-Day --- beach assault in France launched by a multi-national force headquartered in Britain, against a foe expanding out of Germany, as the Russians push back from the East.) The wrinkle comes as the protagonist is killed, as expected, within minutes of the landing, but then wakes up at the beginning of the day, before the assault, and it starts all over again. It's Groundhog Day, except in the near future, with enormous guns and powerful telemetry suits. Like a kid in the arcade with a pocket full of quarters, he does only modestly better with each return to the battlefield, until he enlists the help of Emily Blunt, a hardened war hero who he has to re-introduce himself to every day. Like most latter day Cruise-missiles launched on a weary public, the film did much better on the international market than domestically. The studio gleaned that the soap opera-y title was a big part of the reason, and so quickly redirected to feature the film's tag lines more prominently than the title in the second-generation film posters and DVD packaging.

I'm on my way out. Keep a-postin' in this thread and I'll split later.

Speaking of fielders, Yadier Molina has won his third Platinum Glove award in four years. The PG goes to the one top defender. It's been around since 2011, and I think its time has more than come, but it's voted on by fans, so judge that as you will. Year League Player Team Position 2011 American Adri�n Beltr� Texas Rangers 3B 2011 National Yadier Molina St. Louis Cardinals C 2012 American Adri�n Beltr� (2) Texas Rangers 3B 2012 National Yadier Molina (2) St. Louis Cardinals C 2013 American Manny Machado Baltimore Orioles 3B 2013 National Andrelton Simmons Atlanta Braves SS 2014 American Alex Gordon Kansas City Royals LF 2014 National Yadier Molina (3) St. Louis Cardinals C Know what? Don't judge that as you will. Listen to me. Boo that result. Boo it to the moon and back. That's Lagares' hardware Molina's collecting.

The short answer, and one I disagree with, is because pitchers "have their own award."

Casey McGehee and Chris Young are your Comeback Dude winners. Young spent 2013 in the minors, making only nine starts. McGehee spent it in Japan.

Ramones Day writes itself.

Yeah, Chris Young was a commitment. Jose Valverde was a flyer. Bobby Abreu and Taylor Teagarden.

That's certainly a good argument. Plus healthier portions, particularly of the more palatable stuff.

We're wandering into "my food is awful and the portions are too small" territory here.

He was certainly the better player last season, but there's a lot he could learn from Ruben Tejada. I mean, not Tejada was supposed to be the virtue that redeemed Stephen Drew

That's all true and we're right to rail against it. But it's also true across baseball. Teams sink toward sameness, and are regressing into variations on the umbrella brand that is MLB.

Centerfield wrote: Philosophical question: Is it, indeed, pandering to the military, or using the military to pander to the greater populace? Or is it using the military to pander to the greater populace in a way aimed at deriving the most revenue? Well, that was sort of meant to be in implied.

Yes, we've had this conversation. Ceetar was quite intransigent. I don't see him rolling over for a patch.

Philosophical question: Is it, indeed, pandering to the military, or using the military to pander to the greater populace?

Dunn, Konerko, and Soriano make it three 400+ HR guys retiring in the same off-season. Bet that's a first. I think I'll take that bet. But... I won't take it when Giambi jumps on board the bye-bye bandwagon and makes it four. Damn, nobody laying their money down. Finishing Up in 2012 Jim Thome: 612 HR Chipper Jones: 468 HR His brother Andruw: 434 HR

Ashie62 wrote: Soccer also. MLS is a nightmare. You might as well tell the players that they have to play for free and be thankful for the exposure it gives them

Sure. What do you have in mind? Patriotic and pro-service member gestures are the exact sort of thing folks mail in. (The Nats are a notable exception here.) I mean, an Air Force Master Sergeant did a head-scratchingly weird "God Bless America" during Game Seven of the World Series. And you just know that nobody from the team or the league vetted her. "She's an active service member, and she sings? GREAT! HIRED! We're so great and patriotic and everybody should love us." (Not that I got the idea anybody in San Francisco vetted that tool from Staind when he sang.)

I no think the Mets fancy that Monell is better than Recker, but perhaps a cheaper alternative. The Mets proved last year with Justin Turner that they can be some cold-hearted non-tenderers, and I suspect that maybe Gorgeous George might feel some of that this year. Eric Young, too.