Edgy MD

Sounds to me like he's easing fans into the (likely disappointing) reality of the situation --- that he believes Boras likely has better bids in hand and they are not interested in being drawn above their position into a bidding war.

Yeah, that seeming paradox on Smith is a thinker, but I think it's resolved by the notion that firstbasemen are the worst kind of offensive prospects, because they're the only ones who can't casually slide to another position if things don't work out. They're sort of starting already at the end of the line.

Here's last year's modest thread. When it disappears, look for it in threads started in January 2013. Anywutz, Fonzie is taking questions through the Mets official feed:

Now you know why Junior always wore his helmet.

I like the Mets. A lot.

Stumbling across photos of Junior Ortiz, I'm just now remembering that Junior had an issue with baseball caps. He didn't like wearing them and, --- though he was generally forced into them against his will for the team photos --- he would typically find a way to do the individual photos for the yearbook and the baseball cards wearing a batter's helmet or a catcher's helmet, or perhaps no headdress at all. This was true even though he came to the Mets with a rep of being capable of playing infield in a pinch. Maybe. Maybe in theory he could play as infielder, but he couldn't dress like one. [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n50oZXeaSJI/UGX5R8A71MI/AAAAAAAAgCw/oisdgGWxlfU/s320/junior+ortiz++(5).jpg[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://paulsrandomstuff.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/junior-ortiz.jpg[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/158/158-498Bk.jpg[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/me15hOT7xu80UqdHMYqvvwg.jpg[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRdIvy61I2TaqeIBseRdy8-kCsqBJa6FY7Lz-rHm0tWe_Xtfe1k[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mTn0QeJIJyXk5DTl6IAoHmA.jpg[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://www.mainlineautographs.com/images/product_pics/ortiz0003_20101122324.gif[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] By the time he reached the AL at the butt end of his career, either the teams weren't having it, or he had gotten over his hangup. [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://www.twinsdugout.net/images/TwinsBaseballCards/JuniorOrtiz92ToppsFront.jpg[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/attachments/ootp-mods-rosters-photos-quick-starts/182112d1268292699-gambo-t_wil1-photopack-junior-ortiz-1994-rangers-2.jpg[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] Look hard enough, you can even find odd exceptions from his Pirate years, both before and after the Mets. [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://www.rackrs.com/Content/images/library/9607/JuniorOrtiz.jpg?maxwidth=680&maxheight=1000&crop=auto&bgcolor=fffaef&format=jpg&quality=100[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] [fimg=200:2jw0k4hu]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2Bm4FMEqBL._SY300_.jpg[/fimg:2jw0k4hu] But it's a real challenge to find a cloth cap on the guy during his Mets tenure --- team photos, as noted, excepted.

He's a catcher. No need to depict an insignia.

I've long thought we were gravitating toward helmeting the pitcher.

So being a corporate social media director > being a baseball beat writer. Huh. Tells you where the industry is, I guess. We had a kid doing our social media who still had his schoolboy bacne. I loved him but they dumped him after six months. E-mail Kerwick a Pool invite.

Barry Lyons and his latter-day wife Julie (nee Pinson).

Don't know if we had a nu thread. I think we used one for 2012 and 2013. Anyhow, Barry Lyons has had a tough, tough time of it. Doing better, thanks.

That's good stuff. Here's what I can tell youse about backne from high school. Guys who got it were rapidly maturing guys who had raging hormones (and I'd say a 6'3", broad-beamed jock qualifies) and they aggravated it by constantly jocking out and sweating all over themselves.

MLB Prospect Watch leaves us out of the top ten in shortstops and outfielders too (only ten outfielders?), but we're not exactly dry at those positions, either, particularly the former.

Ronny Paulino, clubhouse poison.

RealityChuck wrote: "Taylor" is imprecise. Slammin' Sammy Taylor.

Taylor

Piazza

Stoins

Grote

Carter

Earl Weaver has gotten credited for the loss, as all wins and losses go to the nominal manager, whether he is in the game at the time or not, or indeed, whether or not he is even at the park. But I would like to see a recalculation with this loss attributed to Hunter's record, attributed to the relief manager on the same terms it would be attributed to the relief pitcher.

Tim Foli and wife Ginnette. (Still current, by the way.)

I don't know that it'll be for minimal bucks if he makes the bigs, but I guess something gravitating toward it, yeah. He's certainly not the first guy to keep struggling on the fringes of the big leagues rather than return to Japan where success may come easier, and a big contract up front may come easier as well. I wonder if the motivation has been discussed at length, perhaps by Robert Whiting. I imagine they retain high profile status back in Japan, with some of their enriching endorsements still coming through.

Gotta hand it to the Lockhorns --- keeping those Levittown roots.

God bless BP --- not giving up on Wilmer and his little mini-curly mullett.