Edgy MD

It's my understanding that the Mets control Paulino until next year. Like Buchholz, he became a free agent last year not because he had yet accrued service time, but because he had been non-tendered.

I'm getting the Marlins feed, with the Mulrooney's commercials running.

Relief PitchersAdded to Projected Roster Not Actually Available=#0000FF]Buchholz=#0000FF]IgarashiDoB:DoB:10/13/19815/28/1979 Starting Pitchers=#0000FF]Dickey=#FF8000]Gee=#0000FF]Niese=#0000FF]Pelfrey=#0000FF]SantanaDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:10/29/19744/28/198610/27/19861/14/19843/13/1979Relief Pitchers=#0000FF]Acosta=#FF8000]Beato=#0000FF]Buchholz=#0000FF]Byrdak=#0000FF]CarrascoDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:5/1/198110/27/198610/13/198110/31/19734/12/1977Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders=#0000FF]Herrera=#0000FF]Parnell=#0000FF]Paulino=#0000FF]Thole=#0000FF]DavisDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:10/21/19849/8/19844/21/19884/28/19863/22/1987Infielders=#0000FF]Murphy=#0000FF]Tejada=#0000FF]Turner=#FF8000]Valdespin=#0000FF]WrightDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:4/1/198510/27/198911/23/198412/23/198412/20/1982Outfielders=#0000FF]Bay=#FF8000]Duda=#0000FF]Evans=#0000FF]Pagan=#FF8000]PridieDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:9/20/19782/3/19861/30/19867/2/198110/9/1983

Gwreck wrote: Igarashi is not under Met control for 2012 (that's the standard used, right?) and is certainly a goner. This is correct! How do the Arn Tellums of the world negotiate freedom for the Japanese that nobody can get for western-born players?

Memory. Such a precious thing to lose. What was this thread about again? Anyway, I also found this funny place called the Crane Pool....

Not me necessarily saying that. I just stumbled across a blog dedicated to it. You'd figure that it wouldn't be that stimulating, what with the really narrow agenda, but bam, it's really well written. Then I click the "More About Me" link and find out it's Paul Lukas. Where do they find the time?

StartingPitchersDickey=#FF8000]GeeNiesePelfreySantanaDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:10/29/19744/28/198610/27/19861/14/19843/13/1979ReliefPitchersAcosta=#FF8000]BeatoByrdakCarrascoHerreraDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:5/1/198110/27/198610/31/19734/12/197710/21/1984ReliefPitchersCatchersInfielders=#FF8000]IgarashiParnellPaulinoTholeDavisDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:5/28/19799/8/19744/21/19884/28/19863/22/1987InfieldersMurphyTejadaTurner=#FF8000]ValdespinWrightDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:4/1/198510/27/198911/23/198412/23/198412/20/1982OutfieldersBay=#FF8000]DudaEvansPaganPridieDoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:DoB:9/20/19782/3/19861/30/19867/2/198110/9/1983

Met Hunter wrote: Post season bound Phillies-Brian Schneider, Wilson Valdez, Juan Samuel (coach). Brewers-Carlos Gomez, Francisco Rodriguez. Cardinals-Octavio Dotel, Jose Oquendo (coach). Diamondbacks-Henry Blanco, J.J. Putz. Tigers-Omir Santos. Rangers-Endy Chavez, Darren O'Day, Darren Oliver, Mike Maddux (coach). MFYs-Luis Ayala, Raul Valdes. Long Island Ducks-Tyler Walker, Kevin Baez (manager), Bud Harrelson (coach). Had to throw that one in there. Add former Mets and now Diamondbacks batting coach Don Baylor, who reportedly fainted at Miler Park.

I'm always for solving problems through development, rather than dealing on the market. On the other hand, baseball-reference compares Bay's career to that of Geoff Jenkins, and Jenkins fell of a cliff at 32. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jenkige01.shtml

So, Ceets, you vote to hold 'em --- at least regarding Bay --- and try to get better? PlayerTeam2011201220132014201520162017OtherBayNYM.245/.329/.374//.703$16 million$16 million$17 million or $3 million buyoutMatsuzakaBOS3-3, 5.30$10 millionTommy John surgery in June.ZitoSF3-4, 5.87$19 million$20 million$18 million or 7 million buyoutOption vests with 400 IP in 2012-2013 or 600 IP in 2012-2014.ZambranoCHN9-7, 4.82$18 million$19.25 million optionOption vests if CZ finishes in top four in 2012 CYA voiting. Also put up an .848 OPS in 48 PA. (.646 career.) Mercurial and volcanic temper.*LoweATL9-17, 5.05$15 millionTacky wedding after tacky affair. Drag-racing and charged with DUI after declining to take a breathalyzer test.CrawfordBOS.255/.289/.405//.694$19.5 million$20 million$20.25 million$20.5 million$20.75 million$21 million Boston would have to add a lot of sweetener to get me to swallow that Crawford contract. Hopefully Francona reminds the media that he's not the guy who handed out that deal.

PlayerTeam2011201220132014OtherMatsuzakaBOS3-3, 5.30$10 millionTommy John surgery in June.ZitoSF3-4, 5.87$19 million$20 million$18 million or 7 million buyoutOption vests with 400 IP in 2012-2013 or 600 IP in 2012-2014.ZambranoCHN9-7, 4.82$18 million$19.25 million optionOption vests if CZ finishes in top four in 2012 CYA voiting. Also put up an .848 OPS in 48 PA. (.646 career.) Mercurial and volcanic temper.*LoweATL9-17, 5.05$15 millionTacky wedding after tacky affair. Drag-racing and charged with DUI after declining to take a breathalyzer test.

Well, as a Hall of Famer with more to lose than to add by returning to the dugout in a new role, but still wanting to do it in the uniform and city where he had his glory, I'd certainly give him more props than that. More analogous to Gary Carter or Alan Trammell, I think. You're a Cubs legend. Unimpeachable. Why put that on the line and risk becoming another in a long line of ignominious failures as Cubs manager? I admire the heck out of that. It's the post-career professional equivalent of staying in the game and taking your swings with the batting average title seemingly out of reach.

I knew I'd find this article before searching for it. Cubs likely to reconcile with Ryne Sandberg By gordon wittenmyer gwittenmyer@suntimes.com September 27, 2011 1:02AM SAN DIEGO � Sources within the team expect the Cubs and estranged icon Ryne Sandberg to reconcile before next season, possibly with him as the Cubs� next manager. But as of Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies hadn�t been asked permission by any team to talk to Sandberg, who led their Class AAA Lehigh Valley affiliate to its first winning record and the International League playoffs in his first year back with his original organization, according to the Phillies� website. Sandberg, a favorite of the Ricketts ownership, is open to a return to the Cubs because general manager Jim Hendry � who hired Mike Quade over Sandberg last fall � was fired, according to a source close to Sandberg. Whatever the Cubs� timeline on having a new GM in place, they might need to act quickly on Sandberg, who is finishing the season on the Phillies� big-league staff. Some loose speculation even had him linked recently to the White Sox before Ozzie Guillen�s exit. �I thought he was fantastic,�� Phillies GM Ruben Amaro told mlb.com. �He should get an opportunity to be in the big leagues as a coach or manager. I�m certain he has the ability to do that. For his sake, I hope people come calling for him. For our sake, I hope they don�t because we�d love to have him in our organization.��

Keith always insisted that defense slumps. If so, I imagine that it's just not as obvious as batting because the chances don't come on you so regularly. And the odds remain on your side even at your Butch Hobson-y worst. I guess we're going to be spending a lot of the offseason talking about potentially still-useful pitchers who have prohibitive contracts. Here's a few of the obviousies. Please add any I've missed. PlayerTeam2011201220132014OtherMatsuzakaBOS3-3, 5.30$10 millionTommy John surgery in June.ZitoSF3-4, 5.87$19 million$20 million$18 million or 7 million buyoutOption vests with 400 IP in 2012-2013 or 600 IP in 2012-2014.ZambranoCHN9-7, 4.82$18 million$19.25 million optionOption vests if CZ finishes in top four in 2012 CYA voiting. Also put up an .848 OPS in 48 PA. (.646 career.) Mercurial and volcanic temper.* Amazing how much of the burden of Zito's contract is still to come. * Yes, it takes comparisons to two gods to describe Carlos' temper.

I've been re-reading and wondering too. Before taking it on here, I think he was steamed on Facebook at me and others who didn't like the Reyes move. Certainly seemed so. Before Sage entered the frame, anyhow. I'm not sure if Baby Point #2 has arrived yet, but if not, it's the homestretch. Who wants to supervise collecting for a baby giftie?

Downwardly mobile sadsack draws the maid of honor straw for the wedding of her upwardly mobile best friend. Hijinks? Oh, they ensue.

Willets has indeed closed his account. Not to talk about him behind his back, but I'm sorry to see him go. Try as I might, I can't see why this disagreement should be so much more distressing than any others. We're certainly not going to agree on everything. No need to make it or take it personal.

I like that he crushed on Murphy as much as I did. I wouldn't share his hope that Capuano won't be a Type A or Type B. But then again, definitions are changing this season, aren't they?

holychicken wrote: Again with the rules. Nobody is claiming this is about the rules. I could cite for you dozens of behaviors far more troubling than this that weren't in contempt of the major league rule book. That's not what's at issue. Yeah, it's about some, IMO, phony definition of honor that means putting yourself, and the fans, more at risk of losing something that they have never gotten. There is nothing phony about it, and you clearly don't speak for all the fans. Do you really think that it arguably wasn't a "solely" selfish move speaks well of him? That his last act as a Met wasn't "solely" selfish? This was a dramatic stage which a conspiracy of fate and human will had set up for him to possibly cap his legacy. And he exited it near immediately in an act that you defend as not solely selfish? holychicken wrote: Playing baseball, in and of itself, is not even remotely a selfless act. Finishing the game because he wants to defend his "honor" would be a partially selfish act as well. I'd really like to hear about how. It's clear we have very different lexicons. I certainly don't get the continued setting of "honor" in quotation marks. It does have a meaning. It's a shame that so many people are making such a big deal out of this. I can only speak for myself. I'm not making such a big a deal out this.

Sandy is such a tease.

Vic Sage wrote: I asked you before. What have I said that offends you so? Willets isn't talking to you, Ed. He's talking to... i mean, about... me. He's had a stick up his ass about me for as long as we've both been on this forum. so don't take it personally. Well, he's speaking pretty broadly, so I dunno. As fellow Angry Liberals with a Thing for Redheads, I see it as you two having more in common here than most. Maybe you two could meet at the next convention and, you know, square things.

I got no problem with the bunt. And I wouldn't expect Braun to play the victim. He's got to look ahead.

holychicken wrote: Playing something close to a full game for a group of 30,000 fans who showed up for a weekday game to delight in him, celebrate him, love him, photograph him, and express their appreciation for him one more time before he possibly disappears. Other than the "one more time before he possibly disappears," you are talking about something he has done roughly 500 times vs something a Met has never done. Again, it is subjective opinion, so it is hard to debate. But to me you are putting something that has happened numerous times above something that a Met has never done. I think it's a highly significant "other than." It's why many of them showed up. It was how interest was generated for the game. It's how the announcers billed it. It's how my thread title billed it. holychicken wrote: First you say winning doesn't matter --- 76 versus 77 wins is irrelevant --- and then you say you play to win. I never said winning doesn't matter. What I said is that one win is irrelevant. If he did something like this when they still had a shot at the post season, I would be bothered by it. But that batting title is more of a win, for both Reyes and the fans, than win #76. I disagree. A lot of fans disagree. They came to see him with a predisposition to cheer him so profound that they dropped good money for the privilege. They got an ephemeral appearance and very many booed instead, and took little solace in a battle average title completed, in the end, the shade of the dugout. holychicken wrote: If you don't see any higher code of honor you'd like the players on your team to display than staying within the baseball rulebook to serve their own wants, then I'm not going to try and evangelize you. I see it different. I don't see it as solely a selfish move. It is something that the franchise and the fans will always have now. It's not just his. What I am saying is that what he did is not dishonorable, he played within the rules to win a title. Again with the rules. Nobody is claiming this is about the rules. I could cite for you dozens of behaviors far more troubling than this that weren't in contempt of the major league rule book. That's not what's at issue. And if what he did was for the fans, I'm not hearing an overwhelming joy among them. Do you really think that it arguably wasn't a "solely" selfish move speaks well of him? That his last act as a Met wasn't "solely" selfish? This was a dramatic stage which a conspiracy of fate and human will had set up for him to possibly cap his legacy. And he exited it near immediately in an act that you defend as not solely selfish? I think that's pretty disappointing.

Willets Point wrote: This is just ridiculous. We really don't need holier-than-thou types making moral issues out of a meaningless baseball game. Just take a moment to look at what you're saying and realize just how petty it is. I seriously have had enough of this forum. I asked you before. What have I said that offends you so? (Tryin' to have a conversation here.)

Well, I'm not yelling. And I'm not haranguing. But I disagree with the notion that there's no moral dimension to this.