Edgy MD

I don't know why you're putting that in quotes. He didn't write "most power."

Wright has shown plenty of power to right center in past years. I don't see how that's misrepresentation.

David Wright better be thankful. Like, sign him to an extension the same day as the announcement.

Get 'em in. We're wrapping this one up tomorry.

Here's some real news. Three Mets, kicked to the curb. ReleasedRemoved From RosterRelief Pitchers Infielders=#0000FF]18 Ryota Igarashi=#FF8000]67 Manny Alvarez=#FF8000]36 Dale Thayer=#0000FF]15 Valentino PascucciDoB: 5/28/1979DoB:12/18/1985DoB: 12/17/1980DoB: 11/17/1978 The Mets website says it's Manny Acosta that's being removed from the roster (and exposed to waivers) but I'm pretty sure the reporter has his Mannys ("Menny"?) mixed up and Newsday's Alvarez report is correct. Sorry, Valentino. You never really got a look, but you had a great cheer. Cutting the roster down to 34 at this time of year is interesting. They may gorge early. Your Projected 2012 Mets (Orange Indicates Players Have Options) Starting Pitchers=#0000FF]43 R.A. Dickey=#FF8000]35 Dillon Gee=#0000FF]49 Jonathon Niese=#0000FF]34 Mike Pelfrey=#0000FF]57 Johan SantanaDoB: 10/29/1974DoB: 4/28/1986DoB: 10/27/1986DoB: 1/14/1984DoB: 3/13/1979Relief Pitchers=#0000FF]46 Manny Acosta=#FF8000]27 Pedro Beato=#0000FF]33 Taylor Buchholz=#0000FF]40 Tim Byrdak=#0000FF]77 D.J. CarrascoDoB: 5/1/1981DoB: 10/27/1986DoB: 10/13/1981DoB: 10/31/1973DoB: 4/12/1977Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders=#0000FF]19 Danny Herrera=#0000FF]39 Bobby Parnell=#0000FF]9 Ronny Paulino=#0000FF]30 Josh Thole=#FF8000]29 Ike DavisDoB: 10/21/1984DoB: 9/8/1984DoB: 4/21/1988DoB: 4/28/1986DoB: 3/22/1987 Infielders=#0000FF]28 Daniel Murphy=#0000FF]11 Ruben Tejada=#0000FF]2 Justin Turner=#FF8000]63 Jordany Valdespin=#0000FF]5 David WrightDoB: 4/1/1985DoB: 10/27/1989DoB: 11/23/1984DoB: 12/23/1984DoB: 12/20/1982 Outfielders=#0000FF]44 Jason Bay=#FF8000]21 Lucas Duda=#0000FF]6 Nick Evans=#0000FF]16 Angel Pagan=#FF8000]20 Jason PridieDoB: 9/20/1978DoB: 2/3/1986DoB: 1/30/1986DoB: 7/2/1981DoB: 10/9/1983 Also on 40-Man Roster Starting Pitchers Catchers=#FF8000]32 Jennry Mejia=#FF8000]66 Armando Rodriguez=#FF8000]63 Chris Schwinden=#FF8000]64 Josh Stinson=#FF8000]13 Mike NickeasDoB: 10/11/1989DoB: 1/28/1988DoB: 9/22/1986DoB: 3/14/1988DoB: 2/13/1983 Infielders Outfielders=#FF8000]65 Zach Lutz=#FF8000]3 Josh Satin=#FF8000]23 Mike Baxter=#FF8000]26 Fernando MartinezDoB: 6/3/1986DoB: 12/23/1984DoB: 12/7/1984DoB: 10/10/1988 Potential Free Agents Starting PitchersRelief Pitchers Infielders=#0000FF]47 Miguel Batista=#0000FF]38 Chris Capuano=#0000FF]55 Chris Young=#0000FF]45 Jason Isringhausen=#0000FF]7 Jos� ReyesDoB: 2/19/1971DoB: 8/19/1978DoB:5/28/1979DoB: 9/7/1972DoB: 6/11/1983 Outfielders=#0000FF]12 Scott Hairston=#0000FF]22 Willie HarrisDoB: 5/25/1980DoB: 6/22/1978 Free Agents Relief Pitchers=#0000FF]18 Ryota IgarashiDoB: 5/25/1979 Prospective Coaching Staff (Orange Indicates Purely Speculative Information Based on the Most Obvious Internal Candidates) ManagerBench CoachBatting CoachPitching CoachThird Base Coach=#0000FF]10 Terry Collins=#FF8000]57 =#0000FF]Bob Geren=#0000FF]52 Dave Hudgens=#0000FF]59 Dan Warthan=#FF8000]81 =#0000FF]Tim TeufelDoB: 5/27/1949DoB: 9/22/1961DoB: 12/5/1956DoB: 12/1/1952DoB: 7/7/1958First Base CoachBullpen CoachBullpen CatchersHead Trainer=#FF8000]50 Kevin Morgan=#FF8000]56 =#0000FF]Ricky Bones=#0000FF]53 Eric Langill=#0000FF]54 Dave Racaniello=#0000FF] Ray RamirezDoB: 12/3/1969DoB: 4/7/1969DoB: 4/9/1979DoB: 10/15/1981Assistant Trainer=#0000FF] Mike Herbst

Wow, you went to school with Jimmy Squillante, "King of the Garbage Protection Racket"? Body was never found, if I'm not mistaken.

Thorogood returns to the Mets: http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/story/_/id/7130588/blues-rocker-george-thorogood-talks-baseball-music-touring-page-2

They don't have to agree to it. The players are free creatures, endowed by their creator with the inalienable right work for whomever they choose.

Not for nothing, but let them hate. It's a competitive game. The system as it stands is designed to reward the club over the player... of course.

What they should do is ditch this posting system and start signing more Asian prospects at 18.

And I'm sure Lunchpail could run circles around that kid.

Earlier in this thread, his dad openly lamented his MLBS status and hinted at jumping ship.

Ceetar wrote: minimizing the culture shock is the new market inefficiency. That's what I'm thinking. Ceetar wrote: I wonder how this applies to raw 17 year old talent drafted out of Latin America? Probably less of an issue in the low minor leagues..but I wonder how much teams consider bilingualness an asset when hiring a single-A manager? I'm sure they consider it a lot. And if not managers, certainly coaches.

Yeah, sure, but we're looking to get a leg up on the competition. And finding a way to translate Far East ability to US fields more consistently may be one way to do it.

Forget it.

He's already not on the projected roster.

He really had some great moments, usually when you were just about ready to toss him on the trash heap. A real feast-or-famine guy. His last appearance was him in a nutshell. Entered in a tie game in the eighth with Jay Bruce on second after a double. Intentionally walks Chris Heisey. He gets Todd Frazier on a grounder to third. He hits Ramon Hernandez to load the bases, and then strikeouts Cincinnati's pinch-hitter --- Dontrell Willis. Gets through the 11th after a two-out triple, and intentional walk to Votto, and unintentional intentional walk to Bruce, and a groundout by Heisey. Effective, but not sustainable. I wonder a lot about the Mets lack of success with players from the Orient. Two things jump out at me. One is the lack of a broader communications plan beyond hiring an interpreter --- leaving the players confused and alienated. The other is getting them too late to effectively coach. Japanese players come over here benefiting from a marvelous physical conditioning program, but both the hitters and the pitchers seem to have these complicated and studied motions with a lot of moving parts. Western coaching, I would think, would have simplified these motions at a young age, to make them more adaptable to new circumstances, but now they're ingrained in the players' game as they face the most profound new circumstances they'll ever see. That difficult adaptation combined with the cultural isolation is a tough load to bear. If I'm a Japanese player considering the US, I'd probably gravitate toward San Francisco or Seattle.

Thirteenth of 16 NL teams in catcher OPS. Not sharp, but not that far off the mean, standard-deviation-wise. There's something to work with in there, I think. Houston looks like the re-activated young Jerry Grote. # Team OPS sOPS+ 1 ARI .831 135 2 ATL .816 132 3 STL .785 123 4 COL .739 112 5 CIN .733 110 6 WSN .708 101 7 PIT .702 100 8 SDP .700 99 9 LAD .698 98 10 MIL .696 98 11 FLA .691 97 12 PHI .687 98 13 NYM .682 96 14 CHC .663 89 15 SFG .628 80 16 HOU .550 57

As much fun as it has been to solicit votes for Metly post-season awards, many of these categories had an obvious standout. But no position category is so doomed to feature an obvious winner as catcher, where a single man staffs the position at once, and usually one guy has clear primacy in that role over his teammates, whether he's particularly good or not. Not so much this year, even though there were few injuries and not trades. (But there was a suspension.) Please vote for your top three Mets catchers of 2011. They will be awarded five points for each first-place vote, four for each second-place vote, etc. He with most points after a week is awarded the Crane Pool Forum Gary Carter Award for Outstanding Mets Catcher. Three Mets made themselves eligible by catching for the Flushing Nine this season: Mike�Nickeas, Ronny�Paulino, and Josh�Thole. If you want to fill out a five-man ballot, I won't stop you from including Eric Langill and Dave Racaniello. Just, you know, do it with some degree of seriousness. History is in your hands, here. Please vote so we may honor the most esteemed of the Mets' catchers of 2011. In voting, please consider only the performance of the players in question that occurred while they were catching. (See the stats below.) Feel free to include your arguments in your posts or to add stats beyond those included. Tweeters, please send the word out to Crane Pool Nation. Catcher Hitting CatchersGPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPHBPSHSFIBBROEMike Nickeas185752410101600410.192.250.269.51914101001Ronny Paulino602292132060130217001134.282.316.371.68779911332Josh Thole973693262190160339023541.276.351.353.703115841352 Catcher Fielding (See Glossary of Terms Below) �?GGSCGInnChPOAEDPFld%RtotRtot/yrRctchRdrsRdrs/yrRsbCRerCRF/9RF/GPBWPSBCSCS%Mike�Nickeas201513143.21241186001.000-1-5-118017.776.20459431%Ronny�Paulino6856465114123753073.983-4-10-4-4-9-3-17.135.96617471220%Josh�Thole1029176793.17036574424.997-5-8-5-5-8-4-17.956.871624651721% Glossary of Terms G -- Games Caught. GS -- Games Started at Catcher. CG -- Complete Games at Catcher. Inn -- Innings Played as Catcher. Ch -- Defensive Chances. Putouts + Assists + Errors. PO -- Putouts. A -- Assists. E -- Errors Committed. DP -- Double Plays Turned. Fld% -- Fielding Percentage. Putouts + Assists / (Putouts + Assists + Errors). Rtot -- Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Avg. The number of runs above or below average the player was worth based on the number of plays made. This number combines the Rtz, Rdp, Rof, Rcatch numbers into a total defensive contribution. Rtot/yr -- Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Avg per 1,200 Inn. The number of runs above or below average the fielder was worth per 1,200 Innings (approx 135 games). This number combines the Rtz, Rdp, Rof, Rcatch numbers into a total defensive contribution. Rctch -- Total Zone Catcher Runs Above Avg. The number of runs above or below average the catcher was worth based on baserunner kills and baserunner advances. Rdrs -- BIS Defensive Runs Saved Above Avg. The number of runs above or below average the player was worth based on the number of plays made. This number combines the Rpm, Rbdp, Rbof, Rbcatch numbers into a total defensive contribution. Rdrs/yr -- BIS Defensive Runs Saved Above Avg per 1,200 Inn. The number of runs above or below average the fielder was worth per 1,200 Innings (approx 135 games). This number combines the Rpm, Rbdp, Rbof, Rbcatch numbers into a total defensive contribution. RsbC -- BIS Catcher Runs Above Avg. The number of runs above or below average the catcher was worth based on baserunner kills and baserunner advances. RerC -- BIS Catcher Pitch Calling Runs Above Avg. The number of runs above or below average the catcher was for the pitcher ERA. RF/9 -- Range Factor per 9 Inn. 9 * (Putouts + Assists) / Innings Played. RF/G -- Range Factor per Game. (Putouts + Assists) / Games Played. PB -- Passed Balls. WP -- Wild Pitches. SB -- Stolen Bases. CS -- Caught Stealing. CS% -- Caught Stealing Percentage. CS / (SB + CS).

Jeff Weaver? Who ever heard of him?

Wally Backman and Kevin Mitchell have also seen the inside of a cell also, if not done real time. I get the idea McDowell has an arrest or two in his past we don't know about, if not in his future. But no, I'm not that surprised.

Omar interviewing for the Angels' GM job. I'm not betting on it, but good luck to him.

That was an astounding (and possibly well oiled) comment from Steverino. Hopefully, five years down the road, he's climbed as far up the ladder as the Times has slid down. Maybe they'll pass each other going in different directions one of these years.

One thing about WAR. Whether you use it or not, respect it or not it is designed to measure the player's contribution in toto. This thread asks you to measure their offensive and defensive contributions as outfielders alone, and some of these guys' WAR points represent their contributions as pinch-hitters or as infielders. With Hairston and Harris, that would seemingly be meaningful.

Whoah. Homer by Suppan.