Edgy MD

Andrew McCutcheon. Not a lot of time in division, and not a lot of time at peak power, but a lot of time.

Committed juicer [bIGPURPLE]MARCEL[/bIGPURPLE] [FIMG=150]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTh0cMDV9kD5_7DE1vjAh23LUJHnIuGosZ_Hw&s[/FIMG] [FIMG=268]https://media.hswstatic.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50Lmhzd3N0YXRpYy5jb20iLCJrZXkiOiJnaWZcL2dldHR5aW1hZ2VzLTE0NDgwMDAzODEuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo4Mjh9fX0=[/FIMG] [FIMG=268]https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDVhMzZhMmEtMTcxYy00YTRjLWIxNDktYjg4ZGQwZWE3YWIxXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg[/FIMG]

I designate Gwreck as Quizmaster General at the new forum. Starting a new quiz without having wrapped up the last one is a boss move. Frederick Freeman.

And apart from Kimbrel's inning, that was a pretty quick game.

Bases loaded with two out in the eighth, and Ben Rortvedt trying to rewrite his story, and ... ... he goes down swinging!

Stupid committee. Kevin Herget will have to stand in for Mauricio. AS LONG AS THAT IS OK WITH YOU, COMMITTEE!!

3-21 and 3-12 are really close to being the same thing. To heck all you non-dyslexics.

I dunno, Brujan is as dark as Mauricio. Two reserves who haven't hit in the bigs, who need an opportunity to open up before they can show what they can do. And yet, Craig Kimbrell is eligible for cavallo oscuro status? He's got one foot in The Hall of Bloody Fame!

My info was apparently bad, and Alec Burleson was hit by a pitch, and the Cards are still out there, doing Card things. OE: OK, now they're out of the inning.

A Masyn Winn GiDP and a K of Alec Burleson and Kimby comes back to the dugout the picture of success. Brett Baty is in right.

We're in the fourth, with the Mets trailing 3-1. Polanco homered in the top o' the first, but Manaea got hit hard. Kimbrel on for the Mets, but has walked his first guy.

In fairness there are also one or two Canadians and Venezuelans with Italian last names. And some guy named "Fischer," who I have to admit looks pretty Italian.

That would be great, but Kong didn't last very long as a Cub. He is, on the other hand, probably a better guess than D'Amico.

It's a stretch to think Jeff D'Amico could have piled up 19 WAR with The Brewers, but who knows what goes on in Milwaukee? So I'm gonna guess Jeff D'Amico.

WHAT I MEANT TO SAY IS ... Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Team USA is off the hook a little bit too. Italy clearly plays for keepsies.

Way off! So much for hotness!

Whoah! Bob Friend is your friend!! I'm white hot! So I'll reach out to Texas and Tom Grieve!

Mark DeRosa also comes from Italian-American stock. New Jersey Italian-American stock. Highly suspicious!

Starting pitchers keep burning me, but Imma go with Pittsburgh Pirate Bob Friend.

I was last year's league-wide wins leader. I was an All-Star. I was fifth in Cy Young voting. The Mets gave up the better part of two prospects for me. Two really good prospects. For one year of me. That all suggests I'm a big shot, but here I am — six guys got GYPo26 threads before me. That's what starting pitching is worth these days. It sucks not to have a lot of it, but even when you do, we get hurt so much and are used so carefully that our upside is damned hard to approach, and so even as I have the highest ZIPs projection of any pitcher on the team, it's not really particularly high. Francisco Alvarez has a higher projection and he gets hurt every year. Brett Baty has as high a projection and he doesn't really have a position. But I've got a ticket to start on opening day, I've got terrific teeth, cool hair, a solid chance of pitching enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, and I have All-Star pedigree, even if that isn't worth what it used to be for starting pitchers. What it will be worth is the question before us. [FIMG=350]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ034umLMPamsk2fVqPevGxYazd0_yBaXFslA&s[/FIMG] [FIMG=350]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQnEM1RpwQtGSFH1qHq3s3mYLXwDdJUO2GZvQ&s[/FIMG]

That is akin to how I am seeing it.

Stockpile had a strange sequence back in 2021 when he got called up to start for a single game by the Cubs and was battered around by the Mets, and then the Cubs tried to put him through waivers immediately after and the Mets grabbed him. Win-win. He later got a single start for the Mets and looked half-way decent (relative to the pounding the Mets hung on him) but the Mets didn't score for him and he took the loss.

A handful more of guys (all hitters, this time) who found new homes some time ago. Transactions, 8/20/2024 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]GOING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Joined State College (MLB Draft League)[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th] Outfielder[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/castro-sebastian-2024.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Sebastian Castro [fimg=30]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]2004-08-27[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90] A+ (2024)[/td90][/tr][/table] Sebastian Castro played little more than a half season with the Mets in 2024, and then found himself with an opportunity to join the MLB draft league — a summer post-collegiate league for players who didn't get invited to one of the high-end collegiate wood-bat leagues, trying to showcase themselves for the draft, as the name suggests. Apparently it also offers eligibility to players who have been dumped by the pros so quickly that nobody thinks it particularly unfair for them to go back and play with amateurs again, which has to be some cold comfort. Transactions, 2/1/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]GOING[/td90][td90]GOING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed away by Rocky Mountain (Pioneer League)[/td90][td90]Signed away by Rocky Mountain (Pioneer League)[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th] Catchers[/th][th] Outfielders[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/pregent-christian-2023.png[/fimg][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/clark-kellum-2023.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Christian Pregent [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]Kellum Clark [fimg=30]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]2000-12-26[/td90][td90]2001-04-21[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]L/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90] A+ (2025)[/td90][td90] A+ (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] Two cast-off Mets signed by the same team on the same day, and if the strategy was to head to the thin of the Rockies to help boost your resume, you can see what they might have been thinking. Look at these turnarounds from 2024 to 2025. [TABLE][TR][TH]Player[/TH][TH]2024 in Brooklyn[/TH][TH]2025 with Colorado[/TH][/TR] [TR][TH]Christian Pregent[/TH][TD].166 / .281 / .204 // .485[/TD][TD].371 / .452 / .571 // 1.024[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]Kellum Clark[/TH][TD].203 / .345 / .235 // .580[/TD][TD].377 / .471 / .628 // 1.098[/TD][/TR][/TABLE] That has to be fun even if you know it is completely unfair to the pitchers. And I'm not sure if they fooled anybody, because I don't have any record yet of either of them having a better home for 2026. But, hey, don't discount the confidence boost! Transactions, 4/16/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]GOING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed away by Mississippi (Frontier League)[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th] Outfielder[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/paz-karell-2024.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Karell Paz [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cuba-flag.jpg[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]1999-08-11[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]L/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90] A+ (2024)[/td90][/tr][/table] The Frontier League is filled with creepy names suggestive of low-budget, youth-oriented, cheesy 1960s drive-in horror films, and the outfit wayward Cuban Karell Paz found himself with in 2025 was The Mississippi Mud Monsters. Not the kind of employer you want to write home about.

Did he actually say prior to the game that he knew the spot wasn't secure? Either way, I cannot see the deployment he has used (along with that of prior Team USA managers) and describe it as "managing to win."