Edgy MD

Yeah, let's knock this guy out so he can go back out on the road with Redd Kross where he belongs.

That 11-5 win by Baltimore over the Yanks looks sweet.

Wheelio does good in his alleged last start for Bingo. IPHRERBBSOHR6 2/34224111 Finishes (hopefully forever) AA at 10-6, 3.26 over 116 innings.

Met catcher, Met catcher Please make the catch Throw someone out Hit like the Batch Met catcher, Met catcher Here comes the hook Make me a perfect catch!

Yeah, but I said as much using more words. Rodriguez, as far as he goes, netted Danny Herrera (<<<<), who got hurt and was forced to miss the season, and Adrian Rosario, who was great at St. Lucie this year (0.89 ERA in 20.1 innings) and nearly the opposite at Binghamton (5.81 in 26.1 innings).

Also adding --- having a 2.2% chance to make the playoffs ain't good, but it ain't nothing. That's 11 times what the Phillies were showing today.

I'll add that under the new collective bargaining rules, the calculus is changed for both buyers and sellers. Scott Hairston, should he jump at the end of the season, brings the Mets no free agent compensation, unless they are willing to offer him some real healthy compensation only to get spurned. But also, any team trading for him would be entitled to no compensation at all, should he jump at the end of his brief tenure. I'll add also that the team may still make a waiver deal or two in July.

Part of a plan is having players in place who can do the job until others are ripe and ready. Hairston's success may be one the great lucky payoffs in team history of a veteran bench player cracking the lineup and succeeding --- the all-Valentin team --- but Branch Rickey'll tell ya luck is the residue of design. And George Patton'll tell ya that heroes are the ones who hold the line until reinforcements come .(I made that up. Repeat: I made that up. That's not an actual quote or even a paraphrase.) Having people who are ready to step in when others fall or flounder is part of a plan, and not a little-considered one. He's certainly not a bench player any more.

Gwreck wrote: Edgy DC wrote: I can think of at least a half dozen reasons. I think that's generous. 1. Might sign player to extension during balance of season/exclusive negotiating window. I'm not so clear on 2-6. 1) He's the cleanup hitter. He's the hottest hitter. There is a value in winning games today, for tomorrow may never come. Even should it come, it may not come for me, and it may not come for you. Even as we post, there are fans out there for whom tonight is the last Mets game they'll ever see. There are others for whom tonight is the first game they'll ever see. Whether they see it live in San Francisco, or stay up late and tune in by cable television, radio, internet, for them and for all fans, but particularly for them, may it be a win. 2) And each of those first-time fans may be a last-time fan if the team stinks tonight without Hairy. 3) There is a value to the other members of the team in not selling strong teammates out from under them. It tells them their struggles are not in vain. It keeps them together and motivated. It reminds them that their GM and front office gives a shit, and it's good that they give a shit. If the value of that sort of morale boost is merely marginal this year, it has a long-term benefit beyond this year. Think , for instance, of what it could mean to David Wright --- who has slogged through all sorts of shit with this team and kep' a cheery face and been a model citizen with, at times, less positive reinforcing organizational feedback than he likely deserves. If re-signing him is the number-one organizational priority this off-season, why invest yourself these last two months in making things even harder for the guy to win? Why make his career even more Sysiphian? 4) "Might sign player to extension during balance of season/exclusive negotiating window." This shouldn't be poo-pooed. A player has a much greater history of returning to the team of his last contract than to the team who traded him mid-season the year before. 5) Diminishing the team has an effect on the profitability of the team, which hurts the financial returns, which diminishes future investment. 6) The front office, doubtless, has done more than their share of professional calculations regarding how many wins keeping Hairston is worth and how many any potential packages (unbeknownst to us) were worth. They considered these using the best art and science of player evaluation and valuation that they keep privy to themselves, and were unimpressed with the birds in the bush vs. the bird in their hand. We all may disagree --- possibly correctly --- when applying our math, but it's wrong to think they haven't put a whole lot of thought into it with a whole lot more facts and data available to them. 7) Wins are wonderful things. The idea that a win isn't worth anything unless it is the margin between a playoff appearance and its lack is a joyless thing that takes the excellent wonder of baseball and guts the shit out of it. It's a sad thing to stand for. 8) You invest in losing for later wins often enough, you just become a loser. Do this rarely and strategically. 9) Keeping Hairston shows faith in the plan. Showing faith in the plan keeps everybody on project. On focus. Trades re-write the plan, throwing chaotic elements into the machine, throwing shadows of uncertainty on the clarity of the work day. 10) Speaking of the plan, maybe that fucking blueprint gets all bolluxed up if you trade Hairball and have to promote Duda or Den Dekker when you really think it's healthier for them to be in the minors. 11) Trades diminish team identity, watering down the brand. Maybe when you're the Yankees, it's cool that putting your logo on a mailbox will make the fans go and hump the mailbox. That's not the team I want to root for. I like continuity, and it can be maintained while progressing with team improvements. 12) Maybe they just like Scott Hairston. He demonstrates great work habits for the younger players, buys them clothes, treats women well, but warns his teammates when negative women are hanging around. He puts long hours in ironing the rough spots off his game but takes a child-like joy in celebrating the things he does well. Maybe, if anybody is more enthusiastic about showing up to community events, then it's his wife. And he brings his father around, and Jerry tells his son's Met teammates about the history of the game, and growing up the son of a disappointed negro leaguer finally getting all of seven plate appearances in the bigs, and how proud his father was when Jerry finally got the chance he had been denied, and it makes everybody really appreciate the chance they have, and try harder to be worthy of it every day. And if they trade Scott, well, fuck it, maybe they fear it'll just tell the players all that stuff's for shit, and they're all going to look out for number one, because no matter ho much they sacrifice for the city and the organization, if the team is 8 1/2 out on July 31, no matter how well they're playing and how much they're bringing to the organization, they'll get sold down the river just like Scott did. 13) And a lucky number 13, maybe, just maybe, Scott Hairston knows where the bodies are buried.

What a fucking whale your guy is. Does he think about nothing else?

ON my way home.

Sandy explaining his choices: "Maybe you're not a Mets fan, Adam." Always making friends with the GMs is Mr. Rubin.

Gwreck wrote: If there's no reason to believe trades will get you to the playoffs this year, why are we keeping upcoming free agents with trade value? I can think of at least a half dozen reasons. Gwreck wrote: Is there any actual evidence to suggest that a player is "more likely to re-sign" with the Mets versus getting something back and then still having a chance to sign that same player on the open market just like everyone else? I'm certain. Gwreck wrote: Can we just file that idea away already, together with the measurement of how "clutch" a player is? But it's empirically true --- simply because for the remainder of the season, the post-season, and the beginning of the off-season, the team a guy is traded to has exclusive rights.

BREAKING: Raul Reyes demoted from Buffalo to Binghamton!

Trade-horny Twitterers beating the crap out of Sandy out there.

Let's make like old days and break out our old Manny Ramirez wigs and have a demonstration. SIGN MANEEE NOWWW!!!

As a member of the 2AM crowd, I care about the rest of the season. Winning is fun.

Reports of the Tigers being Hairinterested. He'd fit well on the Sawx also, and help hurt Yankee hopes.

Pretty cool on the Seuss thing, there. Frayed Knot wrote: -- Pirates picked up one-time uber-prospect Travis Snider from Toronto for reliever Brad Lincoln Snider, an OFer, was the 14th overall pick in 2008 who got to the big leagues by age 20 with plenty of fanfare but has never really panned out. Hitting the hell out of the ball in the PCL this year, though, and in his 40 PA with Toronto, so he could be a good grab of a guy who might just be blooming late. (And at 24, not as late as all that.)

Well, it's probably unreasonable anyway considering the hole they've dug, heightening the risk/reward ratio of such a move.

Well, there's certainly a case for standing pat.

Swan Swan H wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Yes, I believe the majority of the responsibility for the lost lead belonged to others. Define majority? 51%? 99%? There's a lot of room in there. Also, Pantone lists 394 colors with the word 'green' in their name. Be more specific, would you please? How can Ceetar argue properly if he doesn't have all the facts? Oh, I'm SO going give you such a pinch.

Yes, I believe the majority of the responsibility for the lost lead belonged to others.

Are you just gonna argue with me about everything I post the rest of my life? Let me test: The grass looks green.

Bat aside, if he's still got some big-league backstopping skills, I'm interested.