RealityChuck

metirish wrote: It is a great situation to be in , we are lucky , Verrett would slot in nicely to most staffs in the NL .... But not in the AL, evidently. The Rangers probably aren't happy with his success.

I just read the column. What a whiney little temper tantrum. "They can't afford to live in that apartment! Civilization is ending! Movies hare a duty to be 100% accurate! The slightest variation from reality deserves a mob with pitchforks! Everyone bow down to the God of Realism!"

Frayed Knot wrote: ... a "non-baseball medical issue" Hmmmmm, hemorrhoids? I hope it's not the same "belly ache" Babe Ruth had. But they have penicillin now.

SI predicts Mets to win NL East. The last time this happened in 2009. That worked out well.

Eric Campbell has got the game face.

Some reports speculate Tejada may go to the Dodgers to form a double play combination with Chase Utley.

Ashie62 wrote: To Mejia I would say "where there is smoke there is fire." As Colonel Dreyfuss said . . .

There's no way Boras is going to agree to it. But it's a nice thing for Harvey to say.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: How about they wear these uniforms? According to Wikipedia, the team colors of the 19th Century New York Mets were teal, black, and white.How were the team colors teal when the name of the color wasn't coined until 30 years later after they played?

Haven't seen many this year, but my list would be: Mr. Holmes. Ian McKellan was brilliant as Holmes, in a movie that was extremely well written and cleverly plotted. It possibly was the most complex and smart movie I've seen in a long time. Inside Out. Pixar has been weak lately; this is their best in a while.. The Martian. Nicely acted and a breath of fresh air. Like Mr Holmes, it actually has a smart protagonist. Trainwreck. Very funny, and also gets the romance right. Schumer was excellent. The Hateful Eight. Not Tarantino's best, but plenty to like. Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Good, but no real depth or characterization Star Wars ripped off many other movies, this only ripped off Star Wars. Shaun the Sheep. A children's film and good as such. Also the lack of dialog gets a big plus.

No problems with his hip? If that had come up, I think there would be tears. And here's an analysis of the Nationals' offer to Cespedis. It seems that the $100 million figure included a lot of deferred money, so the net present value of the offer was $77 million. That only slightly more than the $75 million the Mets are paying.* The Nationals are caught in a financial bind over TV rights fees. It's nothing like Madoff, but it forced them to have to offer deferred payments to the free agents this year, meaning they were actually paying less than they claimed to be offering. *I don't pretend to understand NPV, but it calculates on the basis that money in the hand is worth more than money down the road. The Mets contract is actually slightly less than $75 million using NPV, since it's over three years.

Interesting article on how the Mets built a culture of winning. It ties in with why they were able to get Cespedes -- players love to play for the Mets, something we saw even before the team got hot last year.

Mex17 wrote: Still waiting for that physical to come through. . .Yeah, but that's a formality. Unless he has some mysterious hip problem...

Cespedes is a slugger with a low OBA. A contract of more than three years starts getting to the point where his slugging skills will erode, so you're stuck with a big contract if you go too far out. Zobrist is more an OBA guy, a skill that doesn't erode so precipitously. Even toward the end of the contract, he'd be useful. But the Mets aren't the only ones who thought a long-term contract was a risk. Washington's bid was a desperation play, but most other teams thought that Cespedes was too much a risk.

How about Washington? Offered more money for Zobrist, Heyward and Cespedes and were jilted each time. Maybe they need a better pick up line. It didn't help that this is was part of their recruiting film:

Not likely they made it without him. He got hot at exactly the right time, especially in the series in DC. Without him, they lose the second game (well, they almost lost it because of him) and possibly the third and the Mets are only three games up. Suddenly, that final series of the season looms large, and you can bet the Gnats would have smelled blood.

If this works out, we have Jason Papelbon to thank. Cespedes certainly noted how Papelbon treats superstars.

Looks like he's our Bastardo now. Assuming the report is legitimateo.

Lefty Specialist wrote: RealityChuck wrote: I don't care for the DH, but since most pitchers never get a chance to bat in college and the minors (Matt Harve had 25 PAs, Degrom 34, and Syndergaard, 47), it's unfair to have their first experience in the batter's box against major league pitching. Well, eliminate the DH in the minors, too. Problem solved. Won't happen unless the AL and college and HS programs drop it.

I don't care for the DH, but since most pitchers never get a chance to bat in college and the minors (Matt Harve had 25 PAs, Degrom 34, and Syndergaard, 47), it's unfair to have their first experience in the batter's box against major league pitching.

Gee, Gandil wasn't running too hard when he was put out at third, almost as though he wasn't trying....

Source: Mets and Cespedes Closing In On 1-2 Year Deal?

4284

The 73 team won on the fact that Wayne Garrett had a 1.015 OPS in September (lifetime .691). Rusty Staub and Cleon Jones also had great months. Given their pitching, that was all they needed. There was no way Garrett was going to repeat that in 1974 and Jones was on a downhill slide. Willie Mays was at the end of his career and would have retired if the team hadn't made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and as bad as Mays was, Don Hahn was even worse. Last year's team was far better offensively. Conforto will probably be a replacement of Cespedes and I would expect Lagares to bounce back after playing injured. Wright is on a downhill slide, but still better than Garrett in any month other than September 1973. So offensively things are better. Pitching wise, the starting pitching is comparable. There's no Seaver, but the rotation matches up well. Bullpens are hard to compare, since they're used differently (Tug McGraw had only 25 saves; he's comparable to Familia). We're probably a big weaker on infield defense (Harrelson and Millan). One interesting fact that in games where the big four starters pitched this year, the team was on a pace to win 92 games -- even before the late season trades. The offense took a hit, but even with Eric Campbell and John Mayberry, Jr., the team played well enough with the big four to compete. The offense now is better than it was on opening day, so the wins will come.

This is Rinku Singh. Prospect in the Pirates organization and subject of the Disney movie. I'm hoping that the Mets get him, and through some double switch, are forced to bat him in the middle of the lineup. So that when you see the "Due up" screen, it will say: Duda Wright Singh You're Sikh.