Lefty Specialist

The home run and the way Gary Cohen's voice cracked like a teenager's, all while Ron was giggling. But I think the behind-the-back flip summed him up. It was such a Bartolo moment and you couldn't imagine anyone else even attempting it, let alone pulling it off.

Centerfield wrote: Well this sucks. I get that this makes sense. $12 million is better spent on other areas. But man I will miss the big guy. My son will bummed. This week needs to be over. This. He was a good soldier but not worth $12.5 mil. Always entertaining, and he'll be missed. But he has to fall off a cliff sooner or later and I'd rather part ways too early than too late.

Sorry, jumped into the thread late- I was talking about Walker, not Napoli.

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: ... What do we ask him to do? Be Jeff Wilpon's food taster? Bartolo gave the Mets a solid (actually more than solid) season in 2016. You'd be signing him to do in 2017 what he should have done in 2016, except that the injuries of other players intervened. Ride the horse til it drops.

He's coming off back surgery. I'd be afraid he'd take the offer, given that teams might be leery of signing him. They have in-house options. The 'free draft pick' has to be weighed against 'what if he accepts?'

Well, he opted out. Now the game is afoot.

I think both managers fell in love with the idea of, "Hey, he's been good. There's no tomorrow. Let's push him until his arm falls off." Game 7 showed the limits of that theory.

I loved Kris Bryant's smile when he fielded that ball for the final out. You don't normally see players showing emotion while the play is going on. Just an amazing game, with a million twists and turns packed into it. Coming back from a 5-1 deficit to tie. Two runners scoring on a wild pitch. A tying home run off an elite closer by the last guy you'd expect. Extra innings. A rain delay. A home run by a guy playing his final game. Scoring two in the top of the tenth and having to hang on for dear life. Just, wow. And good for the Cubbies. Now sign Cespedes, Metsies.

This team could win anywhere from 60 to 100 games next year. I want a better catcher than d'Arnaud. I want a better first baseman than Duda. I'm not happy with revolving doors at third, second, and center. Those are my positions of least confidence. Cespedes or Conforto in left. Bruce or Granderson in right. Oh my. Shortstop is a guy with a knee hanging by a thread. Yes, there's depth, but it's dumb depth. We don't need two left-handed right fielders. Don't need 2 right-handed second basemen, 3 if you sign Walker. And that doesn't even get to the pitching staff, 60% of which couldn't finish the season and 20% of which is a free agent. Oh, and a closer who's going to start the season in Rob Manfred's penalty box. Now this could all play out great. But it's scary how uncertain practically everything is with this team.

David Wright says, 'Back at ya, Maja!' [youtube:3bjw7299]eu6PytnfCQ0[/youtube:3bjw7299]

50 Shades of Awesome.

d'Kong76 wrote: I just got a phone msg, he's day to day. How am I going to sleep? Could be worse, he could be on the sidelines for the Jets.

He probably could have escaped being killed by Spanish forces if it wasn't for that bad quad.

Sad but not entirely unexpected given the circumstances of his death.

Somehow I think this would be giving too many at-bats to the Eric Campbells of the world.

Cubbies. I want them to get it out of their system so that the Mets can go for it next year.

If Theo can get the Red Sox to break 86-year World Series drought, then get the Cubs to break a 108-year World Series drought, all by the age of 42, he'll be Hall of Fame material.

He'd be crazy not to opt out. It's a weak FA class and I'd have to think he could command at least 6/150 if not more. Of course, i didn't think there was a chance in hell that they'd re-sign him last winter, so yaneverknow.

I want the Cubbies to come back. I think a Cubs-Indians World Series will be fascinating.

Edgy MD wrote: Our crack security officer Ørn back there always had one eye on the winning cover display, but was never too overbearing a presence. People felt comfortable approaching the display, but not too comfortable, you know? The change in our security protocols since he replaced Valter can be felt up and down the organization. He's a wiz at the cyber, too. And like all Swedes, Ørn makes a mean meatball.

Well, if there's one guy who knows about not taking the foot off the gas when you've got a 3-0 lead, it's Terry Francona.

I'm for moving on from Travis. Even before the injury he wasn't that good at throwing out runners. And in typical Met fashion, we don't really know how bad that rotator cuff injury is. His saving grace may be that his value is rock-bottom right now so he's not tradeable. But I'd prefer someone else behind the dish.

I get that the loss of hitters like Cespedes and Walker will have an effect on a run-starved offense, but these guys were 26th in offense despite being 5th in home runs. They need to create baserunners and drive in the ones that get into scoring position, two things that they were really crappy at. Walker had 23 HR and 55 RBI. Cabrera had 23 HR and 62 RBI. Granderson had a mind-boggling 30 HR and 59 RBI. They don't have to be the 1985 Cardinals, but they need to create runs better. Yes, keep Cespedes. But what this team really needs is a Dee Gordon type to lead off, have a .380-.400 OBP, and get around the bases. This team has absolutely no speed, goes first to third poorly and probably leads the league in getting hits with runners in scoring position and NOT scoring. Reyes used to be that kind of guy, but his skills have eroded. It's why I like TJ Rivera and think he'd be a good #2 hitter on this team (unless he falls into Conforto-hell, that is). TJ isn't a speedster, but he can hit for average, something a team with the 29th-ranked BA can use. Since they need a CF (Lagares notwithstanding), this is the kind of guy they should pursue. Just my .02, your mileage may vary.

Not exactly a spoiler alert, but it all depends on whether Cespedes opts out or not, and if he does, how much they have to pay to keep him. Bruce has his option picked up and they trade him. There'll be a market. Catcher is a glaring need. There's no one close in the minors, so you have to trade for them. I'm done with Travis; Rene is a good backup, but he's not an everyday guy. Keep Duda for one more season, but Dom Smith may be ready to take over by the end of the year. I'd like to see TJ get the nod at second. He played well enough to get his shot. There are viable backups in Flores/Reynolds/Cecchini if it goes sideways. I really don't think you can count on Wright at all next year. At best, he's platooning with Reyes, who can also give Asdrubal a breather. At worst, Reyes plays third every day. OF, until the elephant in the room is dealt with, you can't speculate.

Fman99 wrote: I liked 'Generations," personally. I thought it was a good bridge from the TOS cast to the TNG. Plus Malcomb McDowell. Ditto on Generations. The interaction between Kirk and Picard is geek heaven, and played out exactly the way it should have.