Edgy MD

Colin Cowgill is that sort of guy. He's not consistent enough to keep on the bigs, but his talent is enticing enough that he's hard to sneak through waivers. So when Oakland needed his spot on the roster, they traded him to the Mets for Jefry Marte, rather than risk waivers. Collin was briefly good for the Mets, then he really wasn't. So when the Mets needed his spot on the roster, they traded him to the Angels for Kyle Johnson. Kyle's a college-educated (Washington State, alma mater of Gary Larson, Dolph Lundgren, and Ed Bouchee) speedy outfielder that gets on base. He's got a .382 career OBP on top of his .289 batting average, and if the extra base hits aren't there, well, he's got more than you do. He was ripping up his season to the tune of .308 / .416 / .421 // .837 in the Low-A Midwest League, and the Mets promoted him to High-A St. Lucie shortly after getting him, depressing his performance, but he still came away with a .278 / .344 / .380 // .724 slash in 48 games. This spring, all eyes will be watching to see if he stays in Florida when camp breaks, or heads north to Elysian Fields of Binghamton. I've read about him, and he just really seemed to need someone to love him. He talked about the day he was traded: �I was just like, �OK.� I was caught really off-guard. I didn�t really know anything about it. He (Bobby Scales) asked if I had any questions, and I was just kind of speechless.� The poor guy and his fiancee had to make the drive from Iowa to Savannah, Georgia � and then drive again to Port St. Lucie to join his new team after less than ten games with the Sand Gnats. Johnson was a nice addition to the St. Lucie team and immediately gave them a boost at the top of the line-up with his speed. In his two-year pro career between the Angels and Mets, Johnson has hit .290 with a .395 on-base percentage. He has stolen 46 bases in 53 attempts in 128 career games. 39 of those stolen bases have come this year as he approaches the 50 mark quickly�no joke intended there. When he makes the trip up north, AND HE WILL, here's hoping he leaves this misbegotten uniform behind.

Or the worst. I agree.

It gets embarrassing when you call one Ivan and the other one answers.

Ooohh. Nice one.

I don't believe that at all.

Yup.

'most-disliked owners in professional sports" "Every fiber of my being" Pow!!

Plus'n he's spent the offseason working the fuck out. Him, Duda, and Tejada all passed on winter ball and are up in Wisconsin making themselves quick, lean, and supple. If that doesn't make superior fielders out of them all, you know at least it's good for a couple of "best shape of my career" quotes in February. And hopefully Tejada doesn't sneak home in between and get snagged by visa problems again.

Interesting that perhaps the three best players (for the Mets, anyhow) on that list were near-ace guys who got waylaid --- Swan and Gentry by injuries and Aguilera just not being able to prosper on a starter's workload and peaking only after becoming a full-time reliever.

Ceetar wrote: Edgy MD wrote: I'm sorry. I promise not to talk about anything. no no, we can talk about it. That's fun. Flores to SS is humorous. Trying to figure out how to make Duda work in LF is funny. It's acting like this stuff is even remotely likely that's sorta silly. Reporting it like they're talking about it any more seriously than we are. I don't know about remote. It's more likely after Alderson's statement than it was before, and it's completely (almost literally) out of left field, which makes it exciting to me, even if it doesn't come to pass (and Duda did play left field! and right too!)), because I like that my team is considering game-changing maneuvers. When I treat it like a fait accompli, please let me know.

I'm sorry. I promise not to talk about anything.

Holy smokes. I can't read it because ESPN is block'd at work (where's my smart phone?), but Rubin just posted and article titled "Alderson: Flores at shortstop not dead?" Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants if the Mets had a stealth plan all along to defy the defensive dismissals and go with a low-range/offense first option nobody at all had considered?

'Taint Fitzy. He went from playing a small handful of September games in '83 to being number-one in 1984 to going to Montreal in the Carter trade.

17: Clint F. Hurdle.

I guess Ron Hodges got into enough games circa 1983-4 to technically qualify as a number one, making the hat-eschewing Junior Ortiz the backup.

Yeah, here's all the third-round draft choices from Mets history. The last four or five have yet to peak, perhaps, but out of the 94 guys listed, maybe five you wouldn't swap for Drew in a heartbeat. And even those are five aren't all sure things. Most are utterly forgotten. Year Player 2013 Ivan Wilson 2013 Casey Meisner 2012 Matthew Koch 2011 Logan Verrett 2010 Blake Forsythe 2009 Robbie Shields 2008 Kirk Nieuwenhuis 2007 Stephen Clyne 2006 Joe Smith 2004 Gaby Hernandez 2001 Lenny DiNardo 2000 Josh Reynolds 1999 Jeremy Griffiths 1998 Jason Saenz 1997 Cesar Crespo 1996 Ed Yarnall 1995 Ryan Bowers 1994 Bryon Gainey 1993 Mike Welch 1991 Jeff Kiraly 1990 Micah Franklin 1989 Brook Fordyce 1988 Derrick Warren 1988 Doug Saunders 1987 Tim Hines 1986 Jim Morrisette 1986 John Wenrick� 1986 Ronald Height 1985 Rob Lemle 1985 Andy Berg� 1985 Robert Doman� 1985 John Sellick� 1984 Mark Brunswick 1984 John Alva� 1984 Mike Westbrook 1983 Rick Aguilera 1983 Miles Schuler 1982 Roger McDowell 1982 Jim Benedict� 1982 Kal Daniels 1982 Marvin Parker 1981 Greg Griffin� 1981 Reynaldo Tolentino� 1981 Nick Esposito� 1980 Jody Johnston� 1980 Charles Nat 1979 Craig Jones� 1979 Sheldon Andrews� 1979 Marques Cooper 1978 Brian Giles 1978 Marty Barrett� 1977 Steve McQueen� 1977 Donald Hess 1977 Michael Matlock 1976 Curtis Baker� 1976 Michael Coppess� 1976 Jody Davis 1976 Michael Coppess 1975 George Milke 1975 Rick Sander 1975 Jackie Smith� 1974 Keith Bodie 1974 James Eble 1973 Gary Nevinger 1973 Andrew Jackson 1973 Chris Lynch� 1972 Craig Swan 1972 John Blue 1972 Roger Danson 1971 John Busco 1971 Michael McManus� 1971 Paul Bagnasco 1971 Keith Buckingham 1971 Mardie Cornejo� 1970 Michael Graham 1970 Ken Wamble� 1970 Clarence Bass 1970 David Breshears 1969 Garnett Davis 1969 Larry Fritz 1969 Doug Britelle� 1969 Greg Archer 1968 Bernie Boehmer� 1968 Ray Peters� 1968 Fred Kampf 1967 Gary Myers� 1967 Gary Gentry 1967 Thomas Grubb 1967 Richard Carlson 1966 Donald Linehan 1966 Danny Frisella 1966 Mike Griffith 1966 Dewey Weaver 1965 Joe Moock

I see... "fimg=3423." That's... quite an integer.

Try the "fimg=" button instead of the "img" button and put a number 800 or less after the "=."

Backup catcher on the 1961 Mets. Now there's a calling card.

Not quite yet, though. Deep sad sighs.

Cano was coming off his age 30 season. Greinke off of age 28. Hamilton 31. Pujols 31. Fielder 27. The prime is pretty much the median in there, I think. Ripken's best season was at age 30. We can disagree on "prime," but I think 28-31 or 32 feels right. But it goes without saying that if a HoF talent in his prime signs a free contract, that contract will likely take him well past said prime. Glory is fleeting.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Yabbut, Cal Ripken in his prime doesn't ever make it to free agency anymore. Really? I think it happens all the time. This year, Cal Ripken's name was Robinson Cano. Last year: Zach Greinke, Josh Hamlton. Two years ago, Pujols and Fielder hit the market a the same time. Hall of Fame talents in their prime, all.

I think the Tigers said they weren't interested in signing Prince Fielder -- none whatsoever -- right up until the moment they announced they signed him. I don't think we can believe much of what we read about these things. Boras is a notorious leaker and he often waits until the last minute. Plus, Sandy hasn't created the salary hole by trading Ike or Duda. I don't recall that. By the way, at the risk of hijacking, how much bloody damage is Fielder going to do with his bat in Texas?

Ashie62 wrote: Sandy has a bad case of Californiaitis paralysis by analysis.....Make the move dude... What move are we talking about? Five years and $250 million? Every deal has a price. It's part of GM's job to get the right price for his organization. If that means walking away from Stephen TinTin Drew, I get that.

Which is probably why we should take him at his word this morning. OE: And heck, if he's just trying to bluff Boras that he's walking away, how can we expect Boras to buy it if we don't? Deep sad sighs, everybody.