Edgy MD

One-out walk to Garret Martin, who I believe used to produce the Beatles! Tying runs on!!

Carlos Guzman — 27 and on his third organization — on for the save!!

Get Gerber out of there!!

Kenedy Corona went in the easy-to-forget Jake Marisnick deal. Zack Short, also scoring on that homer, gave the 2024 Mets 12 highly futile trips to the plate. But Ji Hwan Bae has led off the ninth with a double and all is good with the world.

Kenedy Corona homers for the Yanks in the bottom of the eighth and they get those three runs back. Get Kimbrel up!!

A three-run homer by JT Schwartz puts the Mets in the catbird seat with a 6-1 lead! Go, Ambiguously Metly Mets!!

Yankees' new DH is Jorbit Vivas, which is an NPC name if I ever saw one.

Gameday now backing up and telling me that second homer was Hayden Senger, pinch-hitting for Torrens. Fake news! Alternative facts!

Mets have pulled the plug on the Carson Benge experiment, replacing him with Ji Hwan Bae.

Second homer on the day for Luis Torrens! All hail Mr. February!!

Carson Benge is not bringing his Benginess.

Sorry to see you feel that way. I think this fine establishment is very much a sinking ship that could be so much more.

We've got Mike Bauman bringing knuckle curves for the Mets. And hey, that's Amed Rosario up there for the Yankz.

Bat Torrens third, find out that he can hit like a #3 hitter. Same with batting Young fourth. Seriously, though, this is a day-after-clinching lineup that they sent up to Tampa.

Here are your big-shot relievers and a very narrow slice of their HoF credentials. [table][tr][th]Rank[/th][th]Pitcher[/th][th]Seasons[/th][th]Saves[/th][th]Notes (good and bad and other)[/th][/tr] [tr][td]1[/td][td]Mariano Rivera (HoF)[/td][td]19[/td][td]652[/td][td]The swimming-pool thing[/td][/tr] [tr][td]2[/td][td]Trevor Hoffman (HoF)[/td][td]18[/td][td]601[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]3[/td][td]Lee Smith (HoF)[/td][td]18[/td][td]478[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]4[/td][td]Kenley Jansen[/td][td]16[/td][td]476[/td][td]Active[/td][/tr] [tr][td]5[/td][td]Craig Kimbrel[/td][td][CROSSOUT]37[/CROSSOUT] 17[/td][td]440[/td][td]Active[/td][/tr] [tr][td]6[/td][td]Francisco Rodríguez[/td][td]16[/td][td]437[/td][td]Mets!, Assaulted his father-in-law at Citi Field[/td][/tr] [tr][td]7[/td][td]John Franco[/td][td]21[/td][td]424[/td][td]Mets!, Captain![/td][/tr] [tr][td]8[/td][td]Billy Wagner (HoF)[/td][td]16[/td][td]422[/td][td]Mets[/td][/tr] [tr][td]9[/td][td]Dennis Eckersley HoF[/td][td]24[/td][td]390[/td][td]Spent a good part of his career as a starter[/td][/tr] [tr][td]10[/td][td]Joe Nathan[/td][td]16[/td][td]377[/td][td]Seawolf[/td][/tr] [tr][td]11[/td][td]Jonathan Papelbon[/td][td]12[/td][td]368[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]T-12[/td][td]Aroldis Chapman[/td][td]16[/td][td]367[/td][td]Active[/td][/tr] [tr][td]T-12[/td][td]Jeff Reardon[/td][td]16[/td][td]367[/td][td]Mets![/td][/tr] [tr][td]14[/td][td]Troy Percival[/td][td]14[/td][td]358[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]15[/td][td]Randy Myers[/td][td]14[/td][td]347[/td][td]Mets![/td][/tr] [tr][td]16[/td][td]Rollie Fingers (HoF)[/td][td]17[/td][td]341[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]17[/td][td]John Wetteland[/td][td]12[/td][td]330[/td][td]I mean, he escaped conviction via a deaocked jury, but he was indicted and tried on some of the most shocking charges imaginable.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]18[/td][td]Francisco Cordero[/td][td]14[/td][td]329[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]19[/td][td]Fernando Rodney[/td][td]17[/td][td]327[/td][td]Did that arrow thing.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]20[/td][td]Roberto Hernández[/td][td]17[/td][td]326[/td][td]Mets![/td][/tr] [tr][td] [/td][td][MetsBlue]Also[/MetsBlue][/td][td]17[/td][td]326[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]27[/td][td]Rich Gossage HoF[/td][td]22[/td][td]310[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]T-30[/td][td]Bruce Sutter HoF[/td][td]12[/td][td]300[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]45[/td][td]Hoyt Wilhelm HoF[/td][td]21[/td][td]228[/td][td]Knuckler[/td][/tr][/table]

Transactions, 2/19/2026 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]COMING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed awy from SAC to Minor-League Contract, Projected for Binghamton[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Starting Pitchers[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto/w_360/v1/people/676785/headshot/milb/current[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Bryce Conley [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]1994-08-22[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90] AAA (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] If you long for teams to again scout for guys who provide pitchability over power, Bryce Conley is your man. His strikeout and walk numbers certainly won't knock you out, but he keeps the ball down, limits hits, and keeps the hits he doesn't allow in the ballpark. All that has him at 31 without getting a tumble in the majors, and not having succeeded at AAA to even make an argument for the majors. Part of what has impeded his progress is that he3 tends to fail in his first pass at a level before mastering it on the second go, and when you reach AAA and put up a 7.00 ERA, teams don't really want to give you a second go. His shiniest most recent experience isn't so much the 2.03 ERA he put up in a brief run in The Mexican League last summer, but the 3.31 he clocked in the much more competitive Puerto Rican Winter League last winter. Still, his experience of late has been scant, and a lot will have to go right with him (or a lot wrong with everybody else) if he is going to make enough of his last chance to appear in Queens. But hey, the R.A. Dickey roadmap is there.

We had a game today — the first in months, man — and no thread. Please just consider that we're living in tumbleweeds.

If anyone wants you to be moderator, you have my blessing. As I write, if folks think things are going well, then that is their choice.

I am paid up through November, when the price will inevitably bounce up from my introductory offer. I certainly appreciate the offer of passing the hat (and KC generously offering to get the action started) but the death of this forum is the greater issue. I want it to live and thrive and prosper, not merely exist on life support. I have long wanted it to be the centerpiece of a KCMets.com-like magazine site, but have failed to get that off the ground despite a couple of false starts. And I realize managing the platform, maintaining the database, building in the SEO — while it is not beyond me — is a huge pain in the ass. (I ****ing hate SEO, and it was a big part of my job loss at Catholic Relief Services.) I get within five years of being caught up in the state of the art of Web editing and site programming, and then something goes on in my life — a health thing, or a job thing, or a family thing — and I have to put that aside, and the "state of the art" has moved ahead and I am out of my depth again. Also, I am bad at leadership, or else I'dve put together a programming team, and editorial team, a design team, etc. The "state of the art" is now "let AI do all that **** for you" but **** that noise. What I want is a platform adjacent to this forum that I can contribute to as a Metsfan writer alongside other showcased Metsfan writers, finding our audience and growing a community. Accepting that maintaining such a site under my control is always going to be a life hassle, and I see this as an opportunity to do that/be a part of that, even if that means ceding some control. I (personally, anyhow) need to put the Web management hours of my life into writing. I appreciate everybody being suspicious, but I encourage them to visit these other communities, weigh what is good or bad about them, and maybe discuss with the people from other forums. And I also ask them to appreciate whether what we have here is all that precious anymore. I look around and I see some once-enthusiastic and terrific posters for whom their Wordle scores now represent 78-80% of their posting. Our most frequent posters of late have been our most obnoxious. And fun **** like Tabloid Cover Derby and the like are being cancelled for want of participation. I see contributions for the WHO DIED? thread being forumites just rushing to be the first to post a name after a death is announced publicly, with no commentary, like checking a box. I put up a MEMORIES thread and folks can't be bothered to write a specific memory and just write that a player sucked. I get rid of our most toxic poster after years of malicious abuse and our best posters leave with him. That's the price we pay and that's their right, but who is going to replace their contributions? And I can't even talk cowtipper out of posting AI slop. I appreciate if folks want to contribute to keep the site alive, but please consider that this can't be life. Is this really what you want to pay good money and contribute good time to? Because I think your thoughts and ideas deserve better.

I am. I am lending this idea credence. And as somebody spending money (money I don't really have) to make this site live, I am not afraid of the notion that money might be made.

Thanks. Yes, I did not mean a forum-level editing spree. Just someone who strives to ensure that this community remains representative of this community and its founders.

We have a history of some good writers here. How much control do we get over who provides the non-forum content? How much editorial control do we cede? Do any of us act as editors? Is layout and skinning something we contribute to? If there is money down the road, do contributors get a modest taste? Do we make deals with outside bloggers to say, "HEY! You have great stuff, but it stands alone, doesn't get the traffic it deserves, and you need to do all the hustling to promote it. How about moving it to this site and you can concentrate on writing?"?

Can we please pause and consider the thought that went into this?

Can you clarify what "this" you are objecting to? For what it's worth, I am happy to ban anybody throwing the n-word around also.

I see you've met cowtipper.