Edgy MD

=seawolf17 post_id=86804 time=1647005504 user_id=91] You know, I wasn't sold on Kershaw before the lockout, but HOLY SHIT deGrom/Scherzer/Kershaw/Walker would be something.

Jansen. Getting a name-brand closer gives you the illusion that you've solved, like, 20 problems at once. Perfect acquisition for panic-shopping season. He also grows his beard sort of like LeBron James. That adds a weird sort of subliminal market demand.

That's OK. I'm not jumping to agree, but I think being a broken record is great. Fight, fight, fight for your turf!

Yeah, he was pretty much a lefty Omar Oliveras.

I'd go for two games each against every team in the opposite league, one each at home and on the road.You'd get the plurality of contests played in-division, but just one shot every year to see your beloved Gatlinburg Gumboshoes come to town. It would be glorious. It would also add up to the same 30 games per year that you get by playing six against each of the division rivals.fi .................. 18 games against each division rival = 72 games ... 6 games against each non-division league rival = 60 game ........ 2 games against each opposite league rival = 30 games ........................................................................ ------------ ........................................................... Total = 162 games Playing the Angels and Cubs the same number of times per year is just wrongy-wrong.

Before we brace for any post-lockout activity and spring training invites, we have one more guy who never made it out of babyball. Transactions, 8/31/2021 [td90]Direction[/td90][td90]GOING[/td90][td90]Transaction[/td90][td90]Released[/td90][th]Position Group[/th][th]=#00BF00] Catcher[/th][td90][/td90][td90][fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/silhouette/180x270.jpg[/fimg][/td90][td90]Name[/td90][td90]Domenico Pascale [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/venezuelan-flag-small.jpg[/fimg][/td90][td90]DoB[/td90][td90]1/6/00[/td90] [td90]B/T[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]High Level[/td90][td90]DSL (2019)[/td90] Cool name, my young Italo-Venezuelan friend. Too bad it wasn't meant to be.

Man, I loved that guy. He had one really good year as a kid and hung on for what seemed like 15 meh years based on that. Always good enough to hang on in the back end of somebody's rotation, but capable of pitching one or two terrific games a year just when you're about to get sick and jettison him. Broad across the chest, full of emotion, and often seemingly pitching on not much more than the adrenaline.

I like that they've narrowed one of the locations down to "Asia."

I don't care about roster updates, but I've long argued that the attempt by teams to try to expand their roster size to 29 or 30 players, by regularly swapping out the back-end relievers, is competitively counter-productive. Is certainly not conducive to a player's career progress.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm happier about the end of the extra-inning baserunner and the seven-inning games than I am upset about the DH. (And I really hate the DH.) =nymr83 post_id=86746 time=1646945894 user_id=54] Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm happier about the end of the extra-inning baserunner and the seven-inning games than I am upset about the DH. (And I really hate the DH.) Ditto. I don't like the DH but I hate those two rules even more - ESPECIALLY the extra inning baserunner.

I'm so happy that I will finally get the chance to start miserably booing the proliferation of the designated hitter.

Sure, but those other clubs are constrained by bonus caps. Just drop it all. No spending constraints. It's all boochit and it will lead to work stoppages into perpetuity. Get rid of it. Burn it down like Left-Eye. Everyone will be the better for it.

The exploitation is not the signing players in their mid-teans, but the reserve on them once signed. The idea that the institution of a draft would be to benefit the players is rich.

[bLOCKQUOTE]MLB's new streaming deal with Apple is why the Major League Baseball Players Association needs to scrap its entire bargaining strategy and go for a salary cap.[/bLOCKQUOTE] Just in case that it wasn't clear that the new Deadspin bears little relation to the prior publication to bear that name.

I care.

Today's update features some short-season relievers who been shuffled off, it's true, but we also have some of the first newcomers (and returnees!) we've seen a while. Exciting!! Transactions, 4/26/2021 [td90]Direction[/td90][td90]GOING[/td90][td90]Transaction[/td90][td90]Released[/td90][th]Position Group[/th][th]=#FF8001]Relief Pitcher[/th][td90][/td90][td90][fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/688873/t453/180x270/688873.jpg[/fimg][/td90][td90]Name[/td90][td90]Matt Mullenbach [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/US-flag.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]DoB[/td90][td90]10/6/96[/td90][td90]B/T[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]High Level[/td90][td90]SS A+ (2019)[/td90] Transactions, 5/3/2021 [td90]Direction[/td90][td90]GOING[/td90][td90]Transaction[/td90][td90]Signed Away by Lake Erie (Frontier League)[/td90][th]Position Group[/th][th]=#FF8001]Relief Pitcher[/th][td90][/td90][td90][fimg=90]http://www.milb.com/images/688873/t453/180x270/688873.jpg[/fimg][/td90][td90]Name[/td90][td90]Matt Mullenbach [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/US-flag.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]DoB[/td90][td90]10/6/96[/td90][td90]B/T[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]High Level[/td90][td90]SS A+ (2019)[/td90] Mully didn't really excel much in his new organization, but he managed to reach AAA last year with the Twins. Transactions, 8/30/2021 [td90]Direction[/td90][td90]GOING[/td90][td90]Transaction[/td90][td90]Released[/td90][th]Position Group[/th][th]=#FF8000]Relief Pitcher[/th][td90][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto/w_180/v1/people/667391/headshot/milb/current[/fimg][/td90][td90]Name[/td90][td90]José Zorrilla [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Dominican_Republic.jpg[/fimg][/td90][td90]DoB[/td90][td90]10/2/98[/PTEXT][/td90][td90]B/T[/td90][td90]S/L[/td90][td90]High Level[/td90][td90]RK (2021)[/td90] The ex-Reds prospect José only managed three innings in the Florida Complex League before his Mets career wound to a close. He was set to be a STAR in future Tabloid Cover Derby matchups. Transactions, 8/31/2021 [td90]Direction[/td90][td90]GOING[/td90][td90]Transaction[/td90][td90]Released[/td90][th]Position Group[/th][th]=#FF8000]Relief Pitcher[/th][td90][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/davidson-kody-2020.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]Name[/td90][td90]Kody Davidson [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/US-flag.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]DoB[/td90][td90]11/10/98[/td90][td90]B/T[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]High Level[/td90][td90]RK (2021)[/td90] Kody had played in Junior College before transferring to Tennessee. His one season there was brief, giving up no runs in 5 2/3 innings. He then went on to join the Mets where his entire pro career amounted to giving up no runs in 1 2/3 innings. That's some brief careering in pro ball and in the super-competitive SEC, but if his career is done, at least he gets to look back at a perfect ERA at both levels. Transactions, 2/18/2022 [td90]Direction[/td90][td90]=#008410]COMING[/td90][td90]Transaction[/td90][td90]Signed Away from Long Island (Atlantic League)[/td90][th]Position Group[/th][th]=#FF8000]Assistant Coach[/th][td90][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto/w_180/v1/people/592130/headshot/milb/current[/fimg][/td90][td90]Name[/td90][td90]Danny Barnes [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/US-flag.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]DoB[/td90][td90]10/21/89[/td90][td90]B/T[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90] There's a story we're not getting to Danny Barnes joining the big league coaching staff. He has no officially announced assignment. He's a former pitcher, but isn't being described as an assistant pitching coach. He has no real coaching experience, and was trying to restart his playing career as recently as last season by joining, but not appearing for, the Long Island Ducks. He's working on a graduate degree at Columbia and the Mets are encouraging him to complete it going forward. Joining the team late in the offseason, all of that kind of makes it feel like the sort of we'll-figure-official-duties-out-later-but-he's-just-a-guy-we-had-to-have announcement a team makes when they get towards spring training and realize their staff is minority-poor, but Danny's another bearded white guy, and what they're going for here remains a curious mystery. Transactions, 3/2/2022 [td90]Direction[/td90][td90]=#008410]COMING[/td90][td90]=#008410]COMING[/td90][td90]Transaction[/td90][td90]Signed Away from MIL to Minor League Contract, Projected for Syracuse[/td90][td90]Signed Away from LAA to Minor League Contract, Projected for Syracuse[/td90][th]Position Group[/th][th]=#FF8000]Relief Pitcher[/th][th]=#FF8000]Relief Pitcher[/th][td90][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto/w_180/v1/people/571439/headshot/milb/current[/fimg][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto/w_180/v1/people/570240/headshot/milb/current[/fimg][/td90][td90]Name[/td90][td90]R.J. Alvarez [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/US-flag.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]Felix Peña [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Dominican_Republic.jpg[/fimg][/td90][td90]DoB[/td90][td90]6/8/91[/td90][td90]2/25/90[/td90][td90]B/T[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]High Level[/td90][td90]MLB (2015)[/td90][td90]MLB (2021)[/td90] Here's two big league vets — both bullpenning righties — brought in on minor league contracts coming in on very different tracks in their career. R.J. Alvarez threw 28 innings in the bigs way back in 2014 and 2015, and has been hammering out perfectly respectable seasons at AAA ever since. Unfortunately for him, he's never been the hot hand at the time the team needed one, and he hasn't been quite good enough to force the issue. A steady and dependable AAA reliever. Peña, on the other hand, has been pitching in the big leagues pretty much since R.J. disappeared, being steady and dependable at the big league level. He's done plenty of work out of the pen and in the rotation, and even pitched seven innings of a combined no-hitter back in 2019. A real asset, he. But last year, he got shellacked in his first two appearances, resulting in him getting outrighted to AAA, where he was bad all season. What precipitated this career turn may well have been reported, but I haven't been able to dig up anything as yet. With the Mets expected to carry eight relievers, assuming there is a season to relieve in, both are currently projected for Syracuse, with Peña 10th on the team's relief depth chart, and Alvarez 14th. Peña's probably going to get a peek as a starter also, but those days may be over. Transactions, 3/6/2022 [td90]Direction[/td90][td90]=#008410]COMING[/td90][td90]Transaction[/td90][td90]Signed Away from CHC to Minor League Contract, Projected for Syracuse[/td90][th]Position Group[/th][th]=#FFC2C2] Outfielder[/th][td90][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/fargas-johneshwy-2019.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]Name[/td90][td90]Johneshwy Fargas [fimg=50]http://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Puerto_Rico.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]DoB[/td90][td90]12/15/94[/td90][td90]B/T[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]High Level[/td90][td90]MLB (2021)[/td90] Fargas hit a bit in his brief time with the Mets last season, and his hustle and outfield defense were just sparkling. But he joins a deeper outfield group this year than the Mets have had in previous seasons, even with the fate of Michael Conforto still unknown. He's about #9 on the team's outfield depth chart, and the guys at #7 and 8 — Khalil Lee and Jake Plummer, respectively — are also superior defenders. Johneshwy is only 27, so it's reasonable to think that his otherworldly speed might still be there, and if he finds a way to weaponize it on offense, he's a big league player.

Amazing that they are coming up with new ways to constrain game play while not letting the players actually play games.

Might as well ban the slider while you're at it.

Suck it, Cubs!

May your post reach the commissioner's desk.

Somebody's gonna have the dubious honor of winning a championship after finishing the season below .500, and it's a-gonna happen soon. And it very well could be your team.

I nominate the teams' major sponsors to step forward. The league, and its teams are in non-compliance with their obligations to sponsors as well as their obligations to their municipally owned stadium leases and, to a large part, probably their training facilities as well. Let the big-name sponsors — who are frequently banks — field the teams, taking over the leases, honoring the contracts under the terms of the expired CBA, using off-brand names and logos. It would take 10 lawyers less than 24 hours to establish an entity called Big League Baseball or the like, and the pointlessness of the owners will be laid bare. Not bloody likely, but if it happens, I hope they throw a few dollars my way.

Edgy MD wrote: I feel like the role of "commissioner of baseball" needs to go. If he's just responsible for the interests of management, and not for the wellbeing of the game and all of it's stakeholders, is that really a commissioner at all, or just a shinier name for a CEO? Nothing new. Baseball's commish is the owner's stooge. And that's it.To absorb all the flack that should be going the owners way. Which is exactly what's happening. The owners run things. You know this. I know it. Thus it virtually always has been. It doesn't mean I can't object to it. The office was created to "act in the best interests of baseball." It's an open lie, of course, but not one I have any desire to perpetuate. If a police commissioner put the interests of the wealthy ahead of the safety of the city, blahblahblah.

I feel like the role of "commissioner of baseball" needs to go. If he's just responsible for the interests of management, and not for the wellbeing of the game and all of it's stakeholders, is that really a commissioner at all, or just a shinier name for a CEO? It's bizarre, in retrospect, that MLB and Commissioner Selig's selling of him was that he could be the only succession choice because of his success in keeping labor peace, which had to be the priority placed above all others going forward.

You may appreciate the film, but it won't be hi-jinx you experience. It's more of a cautionary tale. Dostoyevsky-esque. You see from the posters that this film has more than a little bit of Reservoir Dogs in its mindset. But it's based on a real story. (Actually, at the beginning of the film, they make the distinction that it isn't based on a real story; it is a real story.) It's also a quasi-documentary in that the film regularly pulls back from the dramatization of the story to include commentary from the actual young men involved, as well as their family members, and eventually, their victims. The four guys who perpetrate the heist have very little in common, apart from apparently coming from the same suburb, and don't even like each other very much, but they're all disillusioned by college life and affluenza. They plan the heist by watching as many heist DVDs as they can. The young man who first comes up with the plan is a really talented artist, but feels his life needs a transformative experience in order for his art to come alive. He pitches the idea to his doobie brother, narcissistic soccer turd Warren, and once once he gets involved, he becomes the alpha, and any time one of the others thinks that they're taking this too far and want out, he either bullies them back in, or they make their consciences go away with copious weed usage. Even as things go sideways, a part of them (and all of Warren) just can't resist the need to see what's on the other side of the criminal line. Something about the young male brain compels them to put their hands on the hot stove. The best thing about it, and it's odd to say it, is the violence. In most white-boys-get-mixed-up-in-some-hinky-shit stories, you either get the cool sanitized violence of a spy flick, or the fetishized violence of a Tarantino film. The violence in this is brief and light, but as ugly and unsettling as violence really is when perhaps-otherwise-good people are disgusted by what they are doing even as they are doing it.