Edgy MD

They're definitely the opponent in recent years against whom I think we regularly lose winnable games.

And under-reported angle of the Richie Incognito saga is that Miami already had survived a sports bullying scandal earlier in the year, after Tino Martinez resigned after several Marlins went to management to complain that he was mistaking taunting and brutalizing for coaching instruction. The players who came to management, of course, are either gone or have been subsequently marginalized. Tino? He's chillin' with Vic Sage and all his Yankee buds at Bronx Bombers. (And you know, I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that Joe Pepitone was dead.) The Marlins had a legendarily inept offense last season, so Tino wasn't long for this world anyhow. But the Fish go through batting coaches like (insult pop culture reference here). The current guy? Frank Menechino. You know, it's one thing when a guy who wasn't much of a big league hitter gets a batting coach job --- as long as hitting was his game. You know, minor league stars who don't have the physical skills to execute at the big league level as consistently, but have the science down. Corner infielders and corner outfielders. But Menechino? A banjo-hitting backup middle infielder? Doesn't give me much hope that the article underscores his "blue collar" traits. But, that's OK. I'm not looking to hope much for the Marlins.

Three things to know about the Nats. 1) New manager. 2) Bryce Harper. Coming off a concussion year (never diagnosed as such, as I recall, but the performance certainly suggested as much). Expect the narrative every day for some time to be about whether or not he's still messed up. 3) They're the new Phillies, in that they're highly LOOGy vunerable. LaRoche, Harper, and Span hit .198, .214, and .223, respectively, against lefties, so whoever gets the Pedro Feliciano/Tim Byrdak job has an opportunity to look like a real hero this season.

Hi, we're the Phillies, and here's some brotherly love for you.

Yup. Only had 112 plate appearances in 2012. In recent years, the strategy of delaying the launches of top prospects by 6-8 weeks to keep them on the ranch an extra year down the road has often robbed the Rookie of the Year race of full seasons from many of the top candidates. Not having a full season isn't valued as highly in the RotY race as it is in MVP and Cy Young voting (Darryl Strawberry won handily with only 122 games in 1983, and Gregg Jefferies got votes after only a month of action in 1988), but it still counts for something. So it may be nice to see the Mets get a candidate with a full season of work to recommend him.

WE'RE smart! Let's go!

It's one post UP!

I guess that "offer on the table" Mike Francesa broke was eyewash.

Bill Madden's a Hall of Famer, guys. This really underscores the need for us to buy up one of those abandoned spring training facilities, preferably the old Dodgertown, and create a camp for unsigned vets.

Ashie62 wrote: I'm not sure if her sneakers are trendy or just shot... She laces them top to bottom. Is that even LEGAL in Texas?

Hawkeye? The Incredible?

Am I the only one having trouble getting on board with this nickname?

Well, the same bomb looms whether or not the team is going to be contending --- possibly shutting down five or so pitchers with six or so weeks to go.

Listen, if you want to argue for fewer restrictions on the talent marketplace, and every last vestige of the reserve clause destroyed, you've got no greater ally than me. My only point is that he wasn't a particular victim of collusion, beyond the greater collusion that is the restrictions of free agent system itself.

Well, we may not have "it" but they may be in a position of shutting down so many pitchers at once that they suddenly go from a wealth of effective pitchers to shortfall, playoffs or not. But certainly, if such a wealth does materialize, it may indeed lead to a chance to lighten workloads through shorter starts and/or a six-pitcher rotation.

If they were going to collude, why him and apparently only him? Why not Peralta? There's usually somebody left over around now. Last year it was Bourn, this year it's him.

In his debut cartoon of 2014, Joe P. puts Ike Davis' head on what appears to be Bud Harrelson's body, but he gets Bartolo Colon pretty accurately. [fimg=500:22yih3a8]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ8bKDPfB6Q/UwLFfgYCKuI/AAAAAAAAEDM/JNmJZ5Vh94c/s1600/Mets2014Spring1.jpg[/fimg:22yih3a8]

"Section 106, Row K, Seat 14, please come down and collect your human brain!"

It's a zombie jamboree! New York Mets Presents Zombie Night to Support BOOM!Health, 6/13 February 18 1:27 2014 BRONX, N.Y., Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ The New York Mets have teamed up with a local charity, BOOM!Health (http://www.boomhealth.org), for their 2nd annual Zombie Nightat Citi Field on Friday, June 13, 2014 at 7:10pm versus the San Diego Padres. A portion of ticket proceeds will be donated to support BOOM!Health, a not-for-profit agency that promotes health, wellness and safety for all New Yorkers in need. Ticket and sponsorship donations will be used to fight hunger through BOOM!Health's meal programs and drop-in center. Visit zombienight.boomhealth.org to order discounted game tickets for a great cause before they sell out. The $40 field level seats will be in the "Zombie" section near the Bullpen Plaza. Tickets include a special charity wristband and a chance to win zombie-themed prizes. Sponsorship packagesare available, which include access to a luxury VIP suite and promotional opportunities. Fans are encouraged to wear zombie makeup and costumes with their complementary Mets t-shirt as part of Free Shirt Friday. Let's go Mets! BOOM!Zombies will cheer you on to an apocalyptic victory! Watch the BOOM!Health "Hunger is a Zombie" video. Media Contact: Candia Richards-Clarke, BOOM!Health, (347) 234-9969, crichards-clarke@boomhealth.org News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com SOURCE BOOM!Health Read more at http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwfitness/article/New-York-Mets-Presents-Zombie-Night-to-Support-BOOMHealth-613-20140218#pgQGWe1cHrGuOYsD.99

Ceetar wrote: Fine. I'll keep it simple since discussion doesn't seem to be your thing.

It's really a simple thought. One of the simplest I've had all day. If anybody else wants to dive in, go ahead. I'm exceedingly tired of you hijacking the simplest threads with bizarre bombs of obfuscation.

I don't know why you want to create a pointless conflict. Ceetar wrote: Well, it doesn't. Which is fine. It's also not what I'm speaking to. Ceetar wrote: but that wasn't my question. Your question was "What's the other issue?" And I answered that. You're inferring these guys are going to pitch in September for the Mets. If "these guys" is "Wheeler, Mejia, Syndegaard, Montero, deGrom... Matz, Familia," I'm inferring the exact opposite. I guess my problem is your assumptions. They're not mine. I described them as broadly held. Please don't ask me to produce documentation. I think any hope the Mets have on the playoffs hinges a lot on Ike Davis/first base and Travis d'Arnaud and the offense more than the pitching. and it's pitching health that's the concern. And I think it hinges on a cholera outbreak during a weekend series when the Braves are in Washington. But please try and stay with the point of the thread. With the possible exception of Thor (and probably not him), I don't think any of those guys are even remotely expected to be part of the 2014 playoff push. I don't think there's broadly expected to BE a pennant push, but whatever the team's position in the standings, the progression of many of these pitchers to major league contributors has been broadly presented as part of the goal for the season. In fact, I think they may be detrimental to it. Getting Zack Wheeler out of the rotation --- key to the pennant push. Got it. Especially if you hold them back in extended spring training. You're suggesting pick two pitchers to pitch 90-60 minors-majors instead of 120-30, but those 30 innings of AAA are important for development, and unless it's your top guy who you think is mostly ready and say only needs 50 AAA innings, you're just going to end up promoting someone who's even less ready for the adjustment period of stepping up a level. Somebody else is going to have to parse this. But I'm not advocating here for limiting pitchers' workload by a single inning. Nor am I suggesting that they pitch a greater or lesser percentage of their innings in the minors than they already would have. What I am suggesting is that IF it is the team's plan (and it is broadly reported to be such) to limit young pitchers' workloads (and I am NOT speaking to the advisability of this) than perhaps it might be helpful to not end everybody's seasons six weeks early, but start some of them six weeks late. It's really a simple thought. One of the simplest I've had all day.

Ceetar wrote: Ceetar wrote: yes, but the guys they're holding back early are actually guys that still need to pitch innings to develop. It's not (just) service time issues. I'm not speaking here to service time issues.well what's the other issue? The issue is innings caps that have been generally imposed on young pitchers in recent years for the intended purpose of protecting their health.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Or they go into the playoffs with a rotation of Niese, Gee, Matsuzaka, and Lannan. Well, I don't consider that necessarily an "or" but an example of one of the outcomes I'm projecting --- unless Matsuzaka and Lannan were part of the rotation that pitched them toward the playoffs all season long, in which case, assumption (2) will not have come to pass. Ceetar wrote: yes, but the guys they're holding back early are actually guys that still need to pitch innings to develop. It's not (just) service time issues. I'm not speaking here to service time issues.

So, working with a bunch of broadly held assumptions: 1) The Mets have a lot of talented young pitchers with a chance to crack the rotation. 2) Any hope of the Mets entering into a playoff race depends on some of that talent coming to fruition. 3) Much if not all of that talent --- Wheeler, Mejia, Syndegaard, Montero, deGrom... Matz, Familia (though he's much more likely to land in the pen) --- will fall under the organizational policy of holding young pitchers to innings limits and not increasing their total more than X amount per year. So a scenario can develop where a few of these guys help pitch the Mets into contention by late August and then get pulled out of circulation --- replaced by journeymen/waiver claims/vets hanging in there. (Or maybe Matt Harvey ZING!) That's a what-if, of course, but even if the playoff scenario doesn't come to pass, recent years have certainly demonstrated how it can be dis-spiriting to a team and a fan base to be improving through the season based on the addition of young talent, only to shelve that talent just as they become the most interesting part of the season's story. Modest proposal: If all of those guys are on innings limits, pick two of them and send them to extended spring training camp on opening day, and keep them on the shelf until mid-May, so there'll be a couple of young pitchers who aren't maxed out come late August.