Edgy MD

Your memories may be claudi, but Álex's 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Mets makes him the active leader in total Mets innings without yielding an enemy tally. Signed off by the Milwaukee Brewers back on January 3, moving like thieves in the night. [FIMG=500]https://cdn.mlbtraderumors.com/files/2023/01/alex-claudio-pitcher-1024x683.jpg[/FIMG] The move thins out what had been the Mets' growing Puerto Rican bloc.

The irony is that the giant wall in center field at The Polo Grounds invites all sorts of room for an inset photo. Not that it can't be cropped out.

Edgy MD wrote: Fuck, they're dropping like flies. You mean dropped like flies. Well, they were actively dropping when I wrote that.

Yeah, BABY HOLD ON is clearly a stronger concept, but I went for the stronger photo. Change my mind!

Won 17 games in '76 and 13 more in '77, all out of the pen.

I think it's fairly clear that an agent can't "make" a client sit out a year.

Frayed Knot wrote: Oven Mitt vs Opera Glove Two of Marvel Comics' lesser known characters. Frank Springer did a great job on that cover, IIRC.

Also, if Coca-Cola owned the network, it wouldn't be carrying the debt load.

It's weird but I love the fact that we have a catch-all Omar Minaya thread to exchange all Omar Minaya-related information throughout the year. How much do you think we should expect?

Edgy MD wrote: I wouidn't be surprised to see the Twins enter back into the picture. They have more on his current condition than most teams, and they already have a contract that he opted out of. It wouldn't be so hard to say to Boras, "That deal is still open to opt back into, or at least serve as a starting point." I'm Edgy MD and I'm happy to offer stock market advice for a reasonable upfront fee.

I'll also throw a Gaylord Perry guess into the fray.

I'm starting to feel that there is a possible conflict of interest with the Mets former principal owner continuing to own and operate the cable outlet that holds the team's broadcast rights. SNY owns broadcast rights to the Mets through 2035, but they attained that at a below-market rate, as it was a Sterling entity dealing with a Sterling entity, so Cohen would likely love to renegotiate that, but that's the contract. SNY is a big money-maker for Sterling, but cablecasting in the era of online streaming is a slowly dying industry, and so SNY, like all regional sports networks, is losing value. Knowing this, the Wilpons have been looking to sell the entity off, but it's under a lot of debt (including debt incurred by the station buying a piece of the baseball team), so the family needs to get a sale at least as much as the debt obligation. The most obvious buyer would be Steve Cohen, but his motivation to buy is mixed, as it (again) is a fading asset. Having the potential to bail the Wilpons out gives him leverage, though, so he can drive a hard price. But here's where the conflict occurs. The only leverage they have over him is their coverage of the Mets. They have motivation to devote fewer resources to a relationship that is no longer a sweetheart deal, no longer polishing their own apple. As far as I can suss out, Keith Hernandez isn't under contract yet for 2023. Maybe (and I'm speculating here), the former team owners feel less motivated to put resources into a diminishing asset that serves to promote their former asset which is accruing value. I'm totally spitballing here. But if Keith is demanding top dollar, SNY can hold out, knowing his absence really diminishes the Mets as much as or more than them. And however much it diminishes them, they make up for it with the far cheaper Todd Zeile in the SNY booth. There's no similar flipside for Cohen and the team if Keith walks. And that way, maybe the former owners try to exercise some leverage over the current owners. If you want Keith so bad, you pay him, or better yet, buy us out for our asking price. It's all speculation, most of it baseless, but with Keith unsigned, my mind wanders in such a direction.

Also ... oven mitt.

That calendar month that Anthony was with the Mets was celebrated throughout the five boroughs. Kids laid their heads down on their pillows excitedly wondering what their new favorite lefthander would do tomorrow. You couldn't get in a cab without a driver asking you, "How about that Anthony Banda?!" You'd catch the glance of a stranger on the subway, looking up from his commuting tabloid, and rather than feeling awkward or threatened, there'd be an unstated bond between the two of you, your eyes saying, "Banda, right?" and his replying, "Oh, hell yeah." 　　Linsanity:Knicks::Bandamonium:Mets Damn, it was glorious. Like so many precious things, it was doomed to last but a short time, but what a time it was.

Sure, but that's just one bullish guy. I wish they got more value out of the pick too, but I sure didn't know then who that was going to be. Baseball America ranked Smith 14th, MLB.com ranked him 16th, and Bleacher Report Prospect Pipeline had him 16th as well. All are below the Mets' 11th slot, but all firmly entrenched in the first round. But hey! They got Jeff McNeil 11 rounds later!

Baty's sleeve going into his batting glove looks like he's rocking some sleek, glamorous opera gloves — far more sexy than the double-chin that Nimmo's laugh is giving him.

Good change. Played well off a decent fastball. [media=youtube]Zecs-5BtFWg[/media]

I don't know anybody projected to hit 40 homeruns in the big leagues at 18, but yes, he was projected to develop power, by both the Mets and outside rankers. I mean, look at him. He's got the strength, he's got the swing, and he's got the bat speed. And he has shown what he can do, power-wise, if not consistency-wise. I think if you review reports from the time, you'd generally see a 65 rating for his power potential.

I'm just rolling with Correa and his kid up top.

Transactions, 1/4/2022 [th]Direction[/th][td90]COMING[/td90][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed away from STL to Minor League Contract, Projected for Syracuse[/td90][th]Position Group [/th][th]=#FF8000]Relief Pitcher[/th][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_213,q_auto:best/v1/people/519008/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][th]Name [/th][td90]T.J. McFarland [fimg=50]https://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/US-flag.png[/fimg][/td90][th]DoB[/th][td90]6/8/89[/td90][th]B/T[/th][td90]L/L[/td90][th]High Level[/th][td90]MLB (2022)[/td90] As T.J. McFarland displaces Tommy Hunter as the highest-profile pitcher to get a minor league deal, he has to be considered a serious contender to break camp with the Mets once the everybody-gets-injured part of our spring begins. For now, his projection takes him toward the top of Syracuse's pen, from whence he dispatches Stephen Ridings toward Binghamton*. * Until, again, everbody gets injured.

Both Alonso's bat and the ball distorted as they make contact is pretty awesome.

Greinke is definitely my first guess. Kevin Brown after that.

Nobody has 40-homer power coming out of high school, though. You do your best to make projections, it works out for five to seven teams, and everybody else chalks it off to experience. The first 30 picks that year were pretty much Kris Bryant and everybody else. Aaron Judge went with a supplemental pick between rounds.

J.C. Martin and R.A. Dickey have been ... less than philosophical over the rejections of their applications for membership in Club J.

A.J. Ramos, C.J. Nitkowski, D.J. Carrasco, D.J. Dozier, J.J. Putz, P.J. Conlon, and R.J. Alvarez salute this signing. T.J. Rivera is all, "We had T. covered, dude."