Edgy MD

I don't think those numbers are particularly poor either. The batting average may disquiet one's nights but it's him doing what he can with what he's given. Drop Lucas Duda 2013 into a good lineup and he's looking a lot scarier.

Hard to argue otherwise. Here's Fangraphs trying to corral the problem.

Just trying to isolate the central location of our woes here. NL Catchers: .240 / .306 /.383 // .689 Mets Catchers: .216 / .278 / .417 // .695 League Rank: 6/15 NL Firstbasemen: .264 / .333 / .428 // .761 Mets Firstbasemen: .170 / .248 / .261 // .509 League Rank: 14/15 Pop quiz: Who is getting less from their first basemen? NL Secondbasemen: .260 / .326 /.394// .720 Mets Secondbasemen: .300 / .336 / .465 // .801 League Rank: 2/15 NL Thirdbasemen: .255 / .323 / .393 // .715 Mets Thirdbasemen: .286 / .380 / .473 // .853 League Rank: 1/15 NL Shortstops: .261 / .314 / .394 // .708 Mets Shortstops: .225 / .278 / .299 // .577 League Rank: 13/15 NL Leftfielders: .265/ .335 / .445 // .780 Mets Leftfielders: .238 / .344 / .467 // .811 League Rank: 4/15 NL Centerfielders: .258 / .324 /.399 // .723 Mets Centerfielders: .197 / .238 / .332 // .570 League Rank: 15/15 NL Rightfielders: .266 / .330 /.428 // .759 Mets Rightfielders: .215 / .294 / .365 // .666095 League Rank: 14/15 (Totally not the problem.)

You don't see Wheeler as projecting to have an impact? Rafael Montero or Rainy Lara or Jack Leathersich or anybody? Man, some of those guys are gonna flail and fail, but some are gonna punch the world in the face. Some of them.

The catcher is Yadier Molina. Once upon a time he was defensive gem with puncher's power and not much else on offense. Then he hit a homer against the 2006 Mets, and the batter and opponent have had remarkably divergent fates ever since. He's currently leading the league in batting average (.354) but has hit only four homers and walked only 15 times, but an empty .354 is still .354. Backup Tony Cruz is OPSing at a backupian rate of .615. Molina recently received a suspension of one mere game for throwing his helmet at an ump, so he's CLEARLY juicing it.

Because it's worth understanding what is actually going on, and folks aren't getting enough of a realistic representation of it. Good journalism.

What only just barely learning from Sandy is to deflect questions by asking them to himself out loud, as he does at the end. "Is it happening as fast as anybody wants? No.� Bam! Sandifirffic. Sandy, though, would have pounded through the whole statement that way. �Can you just say it�s not going as fast as we want? No. You�ve got to let the plan go all the way down the line. If you�re going to buy into something, do you got to buy into it? Yes, you got to buy into it. Can you change midstream? Absolutely not, because if you�re constantly changing, there�s no chance you�re going to succeed. Are we going to constantly change? I would conclude we are not. Are we happy with the plan and the direction we�re going? Absolutely. Is it happening as fast as anybody wants? No. Should we have bought Jose Reyes some chocolates? Maybe. Would it have made a difference? I don't think so, but I regret it at a personal level.� Anticipate the reporters next five questions and two or three he never would have asked in 100 years. Leave the reporter boggled. Control, control, control.

Yeah, really. Promise me that executive never works for the Mets.

I was about to swoop in with "Say You Love Satin."

'Sides, in comparing him to a "brain-damaged epileptic," you tacitly acknowledge that a physical condition can be at play. Maybe he is a brain-damaged epileptic.

I don't know. If illness can sap you of your energy or reflexes, then the adaptations to these shortcomings can lead to failed mechanics and approach. Illness, of course, can also impair your judgment, concentration, and perception, leading to breakdowns in these things --- as has seemingly been at play in the failures of players with post-concussion syndrome. I don't know if this is the issue, but I certainly think it's on the board.

I opt against any moves that will destroy all flora and fauna in the five boroughs. Marcum has been pitching well of late and getting none of those shiny wins credited to his unshiny record. How about we offer him to the Yankees (against whom he pitched well) for the now-redundant Lyle Overbay? When the Yankees stop laughing, we'll find out what they'll actually give us, and maybe shop him around to other teams. The starting pitching has been more consistent than the rest of the team has deserved, so having six dudes seems like a luxury they can't afford. Maybe somebody has something to offer for one of them that isn't Harvey.

The Mike Jacobses of the world go on to hit 250 homers at AAA waiting for a 20-day callup every two years where they add three more homers to their totals. Even if this professional morass is where Davis is heading --- and there's a good chance it could be --- I think he'll get more callups and longer spells when he is called up, due to his defense and broader skill set. I wouldn't be surprised to see him return to being an effective starter, but I'll guess 87 more homers by the end, getting 10 here and ten there as a borderliner for a few teams. But Mike Jacobs, lest I sully him, was never as bad as Ike when he's been bad. And, if I may kick Ike a little --- it seems worse this year than last. Last year, it just wasn't working for him. This year, to see him is to see a player for whom it couldn't possibly work. Everything about his approach seems bolluxed. Or maybe it's the fever, and maybe he's done. Done-done.

Basically Everyone Related To An MLB Player Was Drafted We've gone over this before, but there's no sport that can match baseball for pure draft nepotism. Some of them are legit prospects: Colin Moran, J.P Crawford, and Hunter Harvey went in the first round. But most won't amount to anything, despite their superior baseball genetics. It's still understandable: the PR of taking a legend's son, or even a great-grandnephew more than outweighs the value available the 35th round. Now that the 2013 draft is in the books, let's run down the bloodlines. Sons and grandsons: Craig Biggio's son Roger Clemens's son Andy Pettitte's son Torii Hunter's son Bucky Dent's son Clay Bellinger's son Edwin Diaz's son Ned Eades's son Mike Benjamin's son Bryan Harvey's son Paul Quantrill's son Calvin Schiraldi's son Kirt Manwaring's son Jamie Moyer's son Scott Nielsen's son Lee Mazzilli's son Tim Wallach's son Walt Weiss's son John Farrell's son Tim Unroe's son Ed Williams's son Frank Wren's son Mark Leiter's son (and Al Leiter's nephew) Vance Law's son (and Vern Law's grandson) Lee May's grandson Carl Yastrzemski's grandson Brothers: Jason Heyward's brother Justin Verlander's brother Rex Brothers's brother Kyle Seager's brother A.J. Griffin's brother Nolan Arenado's brother Other: Carl Crawford's cousin Brad Lidge's cousin B.J. Surhoff's nephew Paul O'Neill's nephew Gary Sheffield's nephew Robin Yount's nephew Chris Speier's nephew "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's great-grandnephew Undrafted: Manny Ramirez's son Kurt Bevacqua's son Rafael Palmeiro's son Pat Borders's son Jay Buhner's son John Cangelosi's son John Franco's son Bob Geren's son Frank Wren's other son Harmon Killebrew's grandson Willie Stargell's grandson Alex Rodriguez's nephew Dan Plesac's nephew Ruben Amaro's nephew

With the success of Perez and Bay, I'm half surprised Luis Castillo's agent hasn't swung a deal with Seattle. Other sex-Mets toiling for the Sailormen include Kelly Shoppach (poorly) and Endy Chavez (pretty OK).

Why does he seem to have womanly hips?

It's funny (and not ha-ha funny) how the offense switches gears without going anywhere. The extra inning game was similar. They got eight walks in regulation, but couldn't plate anything. Then they utterly stopped walking in extra innings, but got eight or nine hits, but still nothing.

The definition they established after the first Marlin sweep still works for me.

I'll take it for what it is. I'm a little surprised not to see Flores, but Satin deserves it. A little odd to lose two lefties and gain two righties.

And these guys didn't get whacked.

Trying to remember the last time I saw that much blood shed in one day. Wish there was one among the three guys called up that felt like a little more than filler.

Niese gets the hook with two on and two outs.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I can't imagine that activating Charlie Puleo and putting him in left field would be at all helpful. I just now figured out who he was talking about.

Hometown Dodgers originally picked Seaver.

Gary reviewing the Tom Seaver signing and getting meaningful details wrong.