RealityChuck

It's really a tossup. I lean toward Reyes, especially since he probably can't command $6.5 million.

Lots of hopeful signs in the game: Harvey pitched just fine, Familia seemed to be in good form, and Nimmo showed some power.

bmfc1 wrote: Marc Carig said today that he didn't understand why Aoki is on the team and they should be playing young players. Who? Taijeron is 28. Anyone else? No one else is alive so it's not like he's taking Nimmo's spot in the OF. Stupidest bit of commentary this year. The only other outfielder on the 40-man roster is Becerra, who isn't ready. There's no one at Vegas who's major-league ready, or close to it. And if you put them on to the 40-man, and they show promise, you'll only have to remove them (and possibly lose them). And bringing players up before they're ready only hurts their development. With no Aoki, Taijeron, Lagares, and Nimmo have to play every inning of every game (with Reynolds and Reyes). And what's wrong with auditioning Aoki, anyway? He may not be worth much, but would Victor Cruzado be any better?

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: RealityChuck wrote: At this point, only three position players from the opening day roster haven't been on the DL -- and all three have been traded. Twelve pitchers have started for the Mets this year. Only four have avoided the DL -- Degrom, Montero, Flexen, and Tyler Pill. I thought 2009 was bad, but this is a disaster. Pill had surgery the other day. Man, you can't tell the DL list without a scorecard.

At this point, only three position players from the opening day roster haven't been on the DL -- and all three have been traded. Twelve pitchers have started for the Mets this year. Only four have avoided the DL -- Degrom, Montero, Flexen, and Tyler Pill. I thought 2009 was bad, but this is a disaster.

Odd thought: The Mets have a lot if starters with arm injuries. The Mets pitchers throw a pitch no one else does: the Warthan slider. Coincidence?

Shrug. Cespedis cleared waivers earlier this year, too. Means absolutely nothing other than, "if you blow us away, we might make a deal."

More on Ryder Ryan: What is interesting about Ryan is he pitched only one game in college because he focused on being a third baseman. To that end, he should remind you a bit of Max Kuhns. Essentially, these are arms with not a lot of mileage, a lot of potential, but the both lack polish. As a result, mechanics and location become the biggest issues. As of the moment, Ryan has a high 3.7 BB/9, but it is a step in the right direction after he posted a 4.3 BB/9 last year. He has struggled in the second half with a 10.67 ERA after posting a 1.67 ERA in the first half that earned him a spot in the Mid-season All-Star spot. Ultimately, Ryan has strikeout ability, and when batters make contact, it is in the ground. So the low draft was because they thought he wouldn't sign, and the current low regard is because he has very little pitching experience. He seems to be better than the basic information implies. He has decent potential. OTOH, the Mets were stupid not to take on some of Bruce's salary and get someone with even more.

Let me just say that I claim credit for the Jay Bruce trade. It's exactly what was needed to open roster space for Smith.

I think it's more an issue of finding a spot for him. There are ten position players (not counting catchers) on the roster. The only ones with options are Conforto, Rosario, and Nimmo (Walker seems to have them, too). Nimmo is the only one who you can send down, and you need him as outfield backup. So who do you release? Cabrera is owed a buyout. If Walker does have options, sending him down would mean there's no chance he'll be back next year. The rest would not clear waivers (yes, some cleared revokeable waivers, but that's a different matter -- teams who passed on them would snatch them up if they didn't have to give up anything to get them). So you'd have to send down a pitcher. And given the state of the pitching staff these days, you need as many relievers as you can get. Further, you have to account for any players who are ready to come off the disabled list before September 1. Smith is just caught in a roster numbers game.

As far as names are concerned, Carlos May had his birthday on the back of his uniform.* Lugo definitely has the best nickname of the bunch. *May 17

It's an all-shortstop infield!

Centerfield wrote: Looks like he wears #1 in Las Vegas. Of course that's Mookie's number. But it's not retired. Will be interesting to see. Yeah. And 7 was Ed Kranepool's number. It looked strange to see Hubie Brooks with it, too. But no one connects it with Ed nowadays. I should also point out that 3 was Bud Harrelson's number.

It seems a smart move. Sandy wants to compete before the starters leave. He's betting that the injuries this year are bad luck, and next year you'll get productive years out of at least two of the group of Syndergaard, Harvey, Gsellman, Matz, Lugo, and Wheeler. If four of them are healthy, the offense and the better defense of Rosario will make them a contender. So the weakness will be the bullpen; Ramos improves that. Rebuilding from scratch will take years, but if they can keep their starters healthy, they'll be on the verge.

SteveJRogers wrote: Cespedes suggesting that he'd like to end his big league career where it began is setting off a social media shit storm. Which is the stupidest controversy I've ever seen. He makes an offhanded comment about liking to play in Oakland before he retires and everyone wrings their hands about how much he must hate being a Met. Hell, this is a guy who signed with them twice when he could have gone anywhere else.

Bartolo wanted to remain a starter; we knew that last year. Since money is not a factor, he was going to go where he could start? That wouldn't be his role for very long, if at all, with the Mets.

It is.

I liked it a lot. I don't usually care for car chase films, but the staging and the (non-CGI) stunts made it great to watch. Interesting characters, sharp dialog, and they knew exactly when to ease off on the tension and when to ramp it up again.

Film by Edgar Wright about a young getaway driver who constantly listens to music, and gets caught up as he tries to put the heists behind him.

Colon certainly could replace a lot of the dismal callups the team has used when trying to find starting pitchers. They only have to pay him the league minimum, too.

Some of the songs: Dangerous Business [youtube:xwzztid2]PiN3SL7SZ-Q[/youtube:xwzztid2] This what they think about it. [youtube:xwzztid2]WjU9_bXgD0U[/youtube:xwzztid2]

Ishtar was never reviewed fairly, except by Newsday (which gave it a generally positive one) and the Times (which gave it an honorable mention on its ten best list of the year). The film was Extraordinarily expensive for its time, and had little spectacle to show for it, and many of the critics went into it saying "it can't be any good because it was so over budget" (literally; some critics actually said that). It quickly developed a reputation for being an awful film. In reality, it's a generally good, but uneven film. The first twenty minutes are comedy gold, showing two untalented songwriters who can't see how awful they are. (Paul Williams's songs are hilariously bad.) The film flags a bit when they get to Ishtar, but picks up when they look for the blind camel. The gun auction scene is classic comedy. The ending, though is rushed and very lame, like they had no idea how to end it and just did something to give it an end. There's a lot to like in the film. It's not great, but it doesn't deserve the reputation it has as one of the worst films ever.

Montero's first win since 2014. People were talking about how long Wheeler went between wins earlier this year, but Rafael beat him.

If he pitches poorly, will the Giants Chase Bradford?

Not-so-fun-fact: Montero has a worse WHIP this year than Kevin Plawecki.