Edgy MD

Man, lucky Medlen. Knock that flat brim off his head.

My wife just said Medlen looks like a lighter version of the asshole prospect in Trouble with the Curve. I had eliminated that film from memory.

Pounding time is here.

Yeah, tough, but they're going to point Medlen. POUND.

Anybody else going to Washington this weekend? I feel like cooking in the sun.

Star Wars night with the Mets. I hope Jason Fry is medicated.

Well, that spot can open up by transitioning a Marcum to the 60-day, I imagine. But I really thought you were unallowed to release a guy from the DL.

I didn't think you could release a player under such circumstances. Why not release Johan, too?

There you go, Laggy getting the call vs. a righty. (After striking out last night in the ninth on ball four from a righty up by his chin, but there you go.)

Ceetar wrote: All I'm saying is "no one has bothered to find out yet" if they're good or not. Yes, well, but his statement that you referenced was a lot longer than that, detailing several things that were true of Young and not true of those other guys. You know who else nobody has bothered trying to find out yet whether he's any good? ME. And I'm real bitter.

I just think Terry was a bit short-sighted and when he had to play catch-up in the ninth he ate the shit end of the stick. You've got a choice. Nieuwie vs. a lefty (a minus) plus the chance that he may face a righty later versus Lagares vs. a lefty (a plus) plus the bump in defense, minus the chance that he may face a righty later, minus the bench shortened by one guy. The Let's Make a Deal test seems to fall to Terry here.

Ceetar wrote: Is there a long precedent? Yes. Ceetar wrote: Suggestive results? As New Order says, I'm not sure what this could mean. Ceetar wrote: Or is it just one of those things baseball managers do? Ergo, a long precedent. Ceetar wrote: Maybe the best way to get Nieuwenhuis to his lefties is to play him against lefties. repetition after all.. Maybe it is. And maybe you burn a few years trying that. Or alternatively, you play guys in situations where they succeed and try to work guys into situations that they've failed in when you find low-leverage opportunities --- blowouts and late in the season. This was neither. Ceetar wrote: Or is the best time for him to learn to hit them... I understand that you contend that he doesn't have to learn to do it. That he certainly can, current evidence be damned. Ceetar wrote: ...after months of not seeing them at all? He's seen plenty in the minors, and he'll see more. Ceetar wrote: I remain unconvinced that 82 PA across two years means anything useful. Terry's been in this organization for four years and probably has seen and considered more than 82 plate appearances. And now, he's got games to win.

The Mets have Murphy, Tejada, and Turner all who can play second base. I'm not really sure that flexibility is a big factor here. Positional flexibility not mattering --- true or no --- is a very different argument from "you could say much the same [including apparently positional flexibility] about Collin Cowgill, Andrew Brown, Hoffman... . You can't. They're different players with different histories and profiles.

Nieuwie couldn't touch lefties last season either. There's a long precedent for working young players in by initially placing them in situations where they are most likely to perform, and then expanding their role as they demonstrate their ability.

Collin Cowgill is a lot of things, but he never had any big league traction approaching what EY had last year, and he doesn't compare with regard to flexibility.

The platoon is working. It hopefully won't be necessary forever, but those two guys, outside of platoon protection, ain't working. [list:2p39w8i2]Lagares vs Righties: .243 /.253 /.324 // .578 Lagares vs Lefties: .278 / .305 / .456 // .761 Nieuwenhuis vs. Righties: .222 / .312 / .395 // .707 Nieuwenhuis vs Lefties: .000 / .111 / .000 // .111[/list:u:2p39w8i2] Let's not confuse Terry with anything else. Even if Byrd disappeared tomorrow, the platoon would/should likely/hopefully stay mostly intact, with Brown and Duda taking most of his time.

It's also worth noting that the brand of baseball played in the ninth was very different from your standard game, and a ton of X-factors are at play.

No, he was playing. Hitting .357 too, though being too old for the GCL after playing in the Appy League last year.

I knew this would happen when Jane's Addiction went back on tour.

1. Well, maybe that's the plan, to only use him in emergency situations until Tejada finds his way back. 2. It's perhaps the same old story. The managerial pool is disproportionately composed of plucky infielders, often with marginal skills (like Terry). They tend to fall in love with/over-rate the value of plucky infielders, often with marginal skills. They are subconsciously redeeming their own careers. It seems like Willie (who was hardly marginal as a player, but seemed to have insecurities of his own) had four secondbasemen on his bench at any given time. If he needed them to pinch-hit or play shortstop, outfield, first or catcher, he was confident they could, because they were part of his part of his plucky breed. it goes beyond that, of course, defensive catchers who were managers can become enamored of defensive catchers. Tony Muser, when he was with the Royals, seemed to always have a defensive firstbaseman, because (I speculate) all he could do in his brief major league career was competently catch the ball at first.

Zvon wrote: Bad game for us, but great baseball. All of Terrys moves were working out fine. Got the ball to Parnell with a lead. Parnell was due, I guess. I don't buy into this "Parnell has finally become a real closer" club. Its the big games where he has to be the most effective. Its not a back breaking loss. But it would have been a wonderful win, and should have been. Score more runs True enough. With regards to all Terry's moves, forgetting for a moment that Justin Turner ripped the ball against a clearly gassed Kimbrel, was it the right move to pinch-run Brown and end up with a fresh-off-the-DL Turner as your last hope, instead of going the other way? Not that Turner is even particuarly fast, by infielder standards, and maybe coming off the intercostal strain, he's even less of a weapon on the bases, but Brown is there to hit, and Turner is there to do the utility stuff. Second question: Was Heyward even correct to dive there? If that ball splits the outfielders, Quintanilla scores from first with the walkoff winner. On the other hand, maybe that ball hits the wet turf and dies. Did it look like Johnson had the play backed up?

Or Al Leiter.

That would kind of kill the idea of adding El Mysterioso with the spontaneously developing 26th spot on the roster that they have available for double headers.

Don't put a gun to my head, but it kinda feels like a false choice. The Mets retain the rights to Young. But Byrd's like a bird. He'll only fly away.

Two spots --- Wright's strikeout and Buck's passed ball. That's the diff.