Edgy MD

Ceetar wrote: ooh, he's fast. his only skill. How obnoxious.

Well, that's just a number I threw out there, being as close to what I was imagining he might be asking for as I was willing to go. Add your own offers.

He's old. He's fat. And his representatives are talking with the representatives the New York Mets! Tracksuit is dubous. Andy Martino @MartinoNYDN I am told Mets likely not serious players for Bartolo Colon. Too pricey. Tracky doesn't run the world, though. (What a break it would be for Adidas if he did, though!) Can anybody explain how he was so good at 40 years old last year and how much that made him worth? Uh... two years and $23 million? Doesn't sound like something he'd go for but I'm shy about going higher, even if I have the munny.

I don't understand that post, sir. (I strive for clarity and enlightenment, only to find out I don't understand anything at all.)

Smoly crap! This division is softening up! (Get with the program, Nats!)

Matt Kemp's agent drops a minor bomb at the winter meetin's, saying he'd be surprised if Kemp doesn't get traded. Would the team dare make a move for a third outfielder, and therefore force the current holders (Lagares, Eric Young, and/or Duda) of the third slot (if only nominally) to become moving pieces (which they kind of already are, if not forceably so)?

ceetar wrote: ...but even some makes an already limited usefulness player into one slightly less useful." correct. This is based on data. The Mets as a whole were better at baserunning. Are you really quoting yourself for the purpose of agreeing with yourself? ceetar wrote: There ARE people suggesting Young should play second base. This threads mere existence suggests it. Who in this thread has suggested it? ceetar wrote: I mean, isn't this thread primarily to talk about Eric Young's value? isn't that what I'm doing? It seems to be clearly presented to inquire about whether he can play shortstop.

Frayed Knot wrote: Edgy MD wrote: Jim Reeves (I dunno) Not quite sure how he got into the HoF voting, but "Gentleman" Jim Reeves had a whole string of country and gospel hits over the years. Maybe somebody with Cooperstown connections is a big fan. bpi8Bek6jdM Jimmy Reeves was also a minor league pitcher before severing his sciatic nerve. But seeing as how he's been dead since 1964, I don't see how he'd be a useful member of the Veteran's Committee. metsguyinmichigan wrote: Looking at this committee, how in the hell does Miller NOT get elected? Seems simple enough to me. Enough of those guys continue to be beholden to the offices of MLB in the living they make and they have perfectly rational professional reasons not to elevate a symbol the owners' adversaries. It takes 75% of the committee's votes to get elected and that's not easy.

Ceetar wrote: because people suggest Young should be a regular player, I'm not sure which people you're speaking of, but the case for Young as a regular player begins and ends with "unless there's somebody better available." Ceetar wrote: therefore there's never enough evidence to put forth. What about bad evidence? Should manipulated, cherry-picked and distorted evidence be welcome because he's just such a disaster that the end of his tenure justifies it all? Ceetar wrote: The Mets WERE a much better baserunning team as a whole. Wonderful. Ceetar wrote: Perhaps this is totally random fluctuation and luck, but I doubt it's ALL luck. I'm not sure why you're capitalizing that "ALL." It suggests a nonexistent argument that people who disagree with you are loudly making. Nobody, of course, is claiming this at all. Ceetar wrote: And it's probably not just Goodwin, Teufel making the right calls at third base on send/stay adds value too. And probably the players too. Ceetar wrote: Besides, I'm not saying most of his value was reproducible via coaching... Ceetar: "Clearly the Mets had some sort of organizational focus there that worked out, which while doesn't negate Young's value there, but does mean that a lot of the value Young added would've be translated to the person who replaced him, supposing it was anyone but like Lucas Duda (and hell, maybe it can negate some deficiencies that have him sap almost all, or all depending how you measure, his offensive prowess?)" As maddening as that sentence is to parse, it really really really seems to say something like this. Ceetar wrote: ...but even some makes an already limited usefulness player into one slightly less useful. Yes, coaching makes people better. On this we agree. But of all the Mets, all exposed to the same coaches, and of all the other talented players in the league with many coaches and organizational philosophies good and bad, only one won the National League stolen base championship.

Ceetar wrote: because people suggest Young should be a regular player, I'm not sure which people you're speaking of, but the case for Young as a regular player begins and ends with "unless there's somebody better available. Ceetar wrote: therefore there's never enough evidence to put forth. What about bad evidence? Should manipulated, cherry-picked and distorted evidence be welcome because he's just such a disaster that the end of his tenure justifies it all? Ceetar wrote: The Mets WERE a much better baserunning team as a whole. Wonderful. Ceetar wrote: Perhaps this is totally random fluctuation and luck, but I doubt it's ALL luck. I'm not sure why you're capitalizing that "ALL." It suggests a nonexistent argument that people who disagree with you are making. Nobody, of course is making. Ceetar wrote: And it's probably not just Goodwin, Teufel making the right calls at third base on send/stay adds value too. And probably the players too. Ceetar wrote: Besides, I'm not saying most of his value was reproducible via coaching... "Clearly the Mets had some sort of organizational focus there that worked out, which while doesn't negate Young's value there, but does mean that a lot of the value Young added would've be translated to the person who replaced him, supposing it was anyone but like Lucas Duda (and hell, maybe it can negate some deficiencies that have him sap almost all, or all depending how you measure, his offensive prowess?)" As maddening as that sentence is to parse, it really really really seems to say something like this. Ceetar wrote: ...but even some makes an already limited usefulness player into one slightly less useful. Yes, coaching makes people better. On this we agree. But of all the Mets, only one won the National League stolen base championship.

Tommy John Ted Simmons Dave Parker Dave Concepcion Steve Garvey Dan Quisenberry G. Steinbrenner Marvin Miller Tony La Russa Joe Torre Bobby Cox Billy Martin That's a pretty strong ballot, and I guess we've all got to breathe a sigh of relief that Steinbrenner didn't get through. It's really starting to look like the Vet's committee is treating vetting managers as their most important job, and with four managers with strong resumes on the ballot, this was the most likely --- and probably most sensible --- outcome. The Current Composition of the Veterans Committee Hall of Fame Players: Rod Carew Carlton Fisk Joe Morgan Paul Molitor Phil Niekro Frank Robinson Hall of Fame Managers: Whitey Herzog Tommy Lasorda Executives Paul Beeston Andy McPhail Dave Montgomery Jerry Reinsdorf "Historians" Steve Hirdt (Elias) Bruce Jenkins (San Francisco Chronicle columnist) Jack O�Connell (BBWAA chair/secretary/treasurer/whatevs, covered the Mets in the eighties) Jim Reeves (I dunno)

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Well, Duda is extremely unlikely to bump Granderson out of the outfield, and probably not Young either. He may be able to dislodge Lagares. Or end up as backup outfielder and firstbaseman, hopefully providing the team a pinch-hitter and a fallback alternative.

I like Tom Goodwin as much as anybody, but I think it's highly speculative that Young's baserunning value is entirely or even mostly a result of an easily reproducable dose of organization coaching. I don't get it. The case against Young is clear and not particularly weak. Why should we stretch so to augment it?

Well, an alternative option, while maybe not considered viable by many, is something akin to last year's status quo, with Davis at first and Duda in the outfield, and Duda continuing to fight for more time at first and better outfielders fighting to take away his time in left. The status quo may be unpalatable, but certainly nobody's won the job outright yet. So keeping options open is defensible.

Tell, me about it, Marlin! Hi, I'm Jack Zdurienicik, currently under siege as GM (and alleged fraud) with the Seattle Mariners. In between extended periods of trying to spell my name, I've held several different posts with YOUR New York Mets. Area Scout, 1983-1989 National Crosschecker, 1990 National Crosschecker again 1994-1995 Director of Minor League Operations, 1995-1998 Special Assistant to the General Manager, 1998 You might think that's a heckuva lotta tenure, but during that time, only six Mets players have officially fallen onto my ledger sheet as Zdurienicik signings, and while three have made the majors, and a .500 batting average should be encouraging, the overall results are, well, I'm not planning to present them as Exhibit A as I seek to defend my honor this coming week. Player SignedDraft YrOverallHigh LevelCurrent StatusML WARML AS TeamsAnthony Young1987977MLB�Retired1.3Archie Corbin1986414MLB�Retired0.5Terry McDaniel1986152MLB�Retired-0.4Lee Johnson1986799AA�RetiredSteve LaRose19900AA�RetiredMike Westbrook198454AA�Retired

Got to wonder if going public is going to do more damage to Blenigno's career than his jettisoning did.

Just be sure the ink is dry on that Cano deal.

I'm sorry. Did I forget to mention the gun to your head? Because it's, like, this enormous gun. And the guy holding it has big beefy, sweaty arm. His whole body is sweaty, I think he's been up for about 70 hours by jacking up on energy drinks. I'd answer if I was you.

That's two guys the Mets have signed for the outfield who wear their socks high.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Yeah... the Mets batted around in the fifth; ten batters went to the plate starting and ending with Byrd. I'll have to see why and how I lost the plate appearances from Cowgill to Buck. And Byrd's strikeout to end the fifth ended up slotted in the sixth inning. ARRRGGGH! Clearly batting around is the key to futzing up your programming. That makes sense and futzes up scorers everywhere. It's just real lucky for you that you displayed a rare game where the team batted around. Else we mightn't have spotted the glitch for years.

The athletic Athletic joins the Mets for one year and $7.25 million. We shouda polled this at the time. Shoulda, but didn't. [fimg=600]http://snymetsminors.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/chrisyoungoaklandathletics.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=600]http://www.google.com/hostednews/getty/media/ALeqM5iwNHmkpoMnVnpOKy9-c8zjv6m_Og[/fimg]

This should be obvious to me, but how does Duda ground out to end the fourth and walk to start the fifth? Where are the other runs scored that inning? Presumably, they all scored on the homerun, but they're not shown to have advanced.

Edgy MD wrote: I make no claim otherwise. Except I'm not counting no seven seasons.

I make no claim otherwise.

You're putting "bounce-back year" in quotes, but I spoke of his performance after the trade that brought him to the Mets, during which he did demonstrate positive value.