metsmarathon

why bother with divisions anyways? you can shuffle up the schedule unbalancedly, prioritizing on prior season's record and distance of opponent. if the mets win 100 games, and san diego wins 60, the don't play the padres much next year. but if san diego also wins 100, they play slightly them more, but not as much as they would play against a 100 win pirate team. so lets say the 100-win mets would play 4 games against a 60-win padres team and 6 games against a 60-win pirates team. and they would play, say, 18 games against a 100-win padres team, but 24 against a 100-win pirates team. how many games would we play against the phillies? well, more than two would just be unfair, seeing as how they only won 30... and maybe then you limit the inter-league games to teams with similar records, but ditch the locational priority...?

i don't think i ever get nominated. i'm like a bullet of uncool.

SMT = small market team http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/messages/thread/18414375 apparently... other leading candidates include: 1. surface mount technology 2. society for music theory 3. subject matter training and my personal favorite, 4. scars, marks, & tattoos

this seems like something i can partake in (tho my fantasy sports participation has been noticeably flagging lately)

oh, come on now. santana's not going to lose seven games.

so... there'll be an orange line at the top of the first layer of padding, and above that will be out of play, and therefore a homer? i don't think they're removing structural elements of the wall; only the padding, right? good thing we have video replay, i guess...

well shoot. sheets didnt show up on espn's free agent tracker for me. yeah, he's signed away, and bucket can only tie now. thats what i get for trying to figure it out...

ok, so i've been looking thru the mlb sites... angels fan strong astros 45th anniversary logo a's... couldn't find anything... ditto blue jays braves' the excitement of turner field brewers 40th anniversary logo cardinals are asking you to pledge allegiance to cardinals nation cubs and dbacks dont seem to have anything, but the dodgers have dodgertown the giants appear to be counting down to fanfest, which i hope isn't their slogan, while the indians are asking about your tribal affiliations the mariners believe big and the marlins are serious fun the mets we know about, while the nats come out in commie red the orioles you can see above, some ridiculous birdland thing. the padres have nothing, and the phils have some slilly nl champs logo that i needn't paste here... the pirates need to do a better job of choosing colors, as their logo taks teh visual consistency of baby poop, of which i'm becoming rather experienced.. the rangers, rays, redsox, rockies, and royals all live sloganless lives the tigers have always been so the twins, in addition to opening a new stadium, are trying to mark out their territory the white sox are proud of their traditions... like gambling... and losing... and hte yankees suck. though last year, i swear they had one too.

just guessing here... you get more leverage by throwing downhill off the mound, and by having the rubber to push off of. that extra leverage translates into the athlete being able to get more rotation on his body, and ultimately, more force imparted via the shoulder and arm into the ball, which means that throwing off the mound should mean more stress on the arm. i would guess, too, that it may force the pitcher to maintain a certain level of mechanics that he may not use when throwing from flat ground, and that it can also serve as a psychological carrot to dangle in front of the rehabbing player. but mostly the first thing.

were delgado's 26 games so tremendously good that they outweigh daniel murphy's 155, and jose reyes' 36?

gee, i just don't know how anybody could get their signals crossed up with omar - he's always so succinct and precise in his language.

so i'm looking through my schaeffer voting, and here's my rankings based on that: note, my #2 starter is livan hernandez. ugh! also, if i add my votes for francoeur and church, i get the 4th ranked met. ugh, some more! oh god, and luis castillo of all people is licking the heels of johan santana. my god, what had this season become!? [table:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]player[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]votes[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]rank[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]player[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]votes[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]rank[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]player[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]votes[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]rank[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]player[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]votes[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]rank[/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Wright[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]97.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]1[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Green[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]38.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]16[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Perez[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]17.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]31[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Berroa[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]1.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]46[/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Santana[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]85.5[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Santos[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]38.7[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]17[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Reed[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]16.5[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]32[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Oday[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]1.1[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]47[/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Castillo[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]84.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]3[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Parnell[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]36.8[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]18[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Nieve[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]15.3[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]33[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Switzer[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]1[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]48[/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Murphy[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]76.5[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]4[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Cora[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]34.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]19[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Valdez[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]13.4[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]34[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]AGreen[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]0.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]49[/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Beltran[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]63.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]5[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Church[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]30.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]20[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Putz[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]13[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]35[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Anderson[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]0[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]50[/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Tatis[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]61.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]6[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Sullivan[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]30[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]21[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Castro[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]12.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]36[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Pagan[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]61.1[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]7[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Maine[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]27.1[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]22[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Thole[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]10[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]37[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Rodriguez[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]60.5[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]8[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Misch[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]25.4[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]23[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]FMartinez[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]9.8[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]38[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Hernandez[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]53.6[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Takahashi[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]24.8[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]24[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Niese[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]7.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]39[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Francoeur[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]52.7[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]10[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Dessens[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]24.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]25[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Evans[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]5.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]40[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Pelfrey[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]51.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]11[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]AHernandez[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]23.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]26[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Stoner[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]5.8[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]41[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Sheffield[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]50.1[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]12[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Figueroa[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]22.5[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]27[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Broadway[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]5.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]42[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Feliciano[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]47.6[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]13[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Reyes[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]22.2[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]28[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]RMartinez[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]3.4[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]43[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Stokes[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]42.8[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]14[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Delgado[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]22[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]29[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Wagner[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]3.1[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]44[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][tr:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Redding[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]42.5[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]15[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Schneider[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]20.9[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]30[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]Fossum[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]2.3[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3]45[/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][td:2bo1c7z3][/td:2bo1c7z3][/tr:2bo1c7z3][/table:2bo1c7z3] i've still gotta give this some more effort and thought, but its a start. an ugly start.

i'm annoyed that, yet again, i have to hear about how embarrassed i should be to be a mets fan. i'm disappointed that the team has put itself in this situation yet again. and i'm discouraged that the braintrust continues to reveal neither brains nor trustworthiness. but most of all, i keep hoping they will succeed despite their best efforts to the contrary.

this does not reflect well upon the mets. ugh. it sounds like boras/beltran might not've gotten express written permision from the mets to go ahead with the surgery, while everyone from minaya down to ray ramirez was acting like it was porbably ok to have the surgery. now, its also entirely possible that altchek talked to steadman, agreed that the surgery was needed, and his agreement was misunderstood as tantamount to the mets officially sanctioning the surgery. ditto the forwarding of the workmans comp paperwork. that minaya said good luck only indicates that he knew beltran was injured, and was considering surgery. wishing a player good luck doesn't equate to sanctioning his surgery, especially when its unclear that minaya was told that the surgery was to take place wednesday morning. unfortunately, since so much is unknown about the timeline, and since there's so much confusion in what was said and when by whom to whom, it makes the team look liek its in disarray - which it may well be. and even if the mets are in the wrong, and boras/beltran did not adequately communicate that the surgery was indeed scheduled to take place wednesday morning, the mets come off as petty by holding that conference call. tehy would have been better off saying nothing, putting out a tersely written press release acknowledging that beltran had the surgery, and taking the time to look into the timelines out of the public eye, while realizing that leaking any of their displeasure would not at all reflect well on them, no matter if beltran really did do this without their permission/knowledge.

the most intriguing name still out there on the fa market is rick ankiel. he has the ability to play cf full time, and at a minimum can share that time with pagan, and also has the ability to mimimize the risk posed by jeff francoeur returning to what he'd been with the braves of late. he'd provide us with the most depth and the most upside this side of a healthy carlos delgado. i'd love to see the mets take this as a cue to give up on pursuing bengie molina, but i'm afraid that they'd see this as creating the imperative to lock down the catcher spot so they can then better focus on the beltran situation. in my head, the mets should go out and bring in rick ankiel, carlos delgado, and ben sheets, and call it an offseason. ok, ok, i'd accept joel piniero instead of sheets, i guess... that would give them about as much flexibility and redundancy as i figure they might need.

so, uh... lets bring back endy...

"J. Richard Steadman, M.D. is a specialist knee surgeon, practising in Vail, Colorado and a Clinical Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He is best known medically for his work in the area of Microfracture surgery, and publicly for treating injured sports stars from around the world."

"not good" probably means molina. at least it pretty much does for me...

my slew of seemingly random guesses: Games:chipperDecisions:glavinePlate Appearances:chipperAt-Bats:chipperLosses:glavineRuns:jeterWin-Loss % (min. 100 decisions):pettitteGames:riveraTriples:pierreStarts:halladayComplete Games:big unitRBI:arodShutouts:big unitGames Finished:riveraStrikeouts:arodInnings:halladayERA (min. 1000 IP):johnsonCaught Stealing:pierreERA+:martinezHit by Pitch:biggioEarned Runs:glavineSacrifice Bunts:biggioRuns:glavineSacrifice Flies:jeterHits:glavineBatting Average (min. 3000 PA):pujolsWalks:moyerStrikeouts:martinezHome Runs:zambranoWild Pitches:zambranoBalks:zambranoGIDP:thomeIntentional Walks:hamptonOuts:ichiroHit Batsmen:hamptonTotal Bases:arodWalks per 9 IP (fewest):santanaExtra-base Hits:arodHomers per 9 IP:johnsonTimes on Base:bondsStrikeouts per 9 IP:johnsonHits per 9 IP:martinezWHIP:martinezK/BB Ratio:martinezSingles allowed:glavineDoules allowed:glavineTriples allowed:glavinePickoffs:webbGIDP induced:webbQuality Starts:halladayInherited Runners:weathersInherited Runners Scored:weathersStranding Pct. (min. 200 IR):dotelPitches:halladay i figure i've gotta get at least one right... right?

my only problem with the admision is that, at a minimum, he's lying to himself that the steroids didnt help him hit any more home runs than he woulc have, cleanly. i mean, by his own admission, he was able to stay in the game because the steroids helped him heal. by staying in teh game, and not retiring early or deteriorating as rapidly as he would have without steroids, he was able to hit more home runs. duh. now, he may not believe that the steroids enabled him to hit the ball better, harder, or farther, but it allowed him to maintain a higher level of performance on the field for a longer duration in terms of both games per season, and seasons per career, than he would have been able to on his own. and he's kidding himself if he doesn't see that. i believe that he doesn't see that, by the way. or at least, that he's actively deluded himself over the past 20 years so that he can no longer see it. well, i imagine there's a high probability that he's been coached to say that, or encouraged to say that, so that he can still lay claim to his accomplishments in his career. that as soon as he acknowledges that steroids let him hit even one more home run, the thread starts to unravel to the point where every one of his home runs since 1989 may be culled from his record. but he could be delusional, too.

i advocate the FK plan above. piniero can match or approximate what you'd get out of harang, at a much lower cost. he also won't cost you any players. i'd much rather prefer to trade castillo for a painful one-year obligation than a painful multi-year obligation. in fact, if the choice is between hamstrining ourselves with luis castillo for the remainder of his contract, or trading him for a more odious two-year contract, wherein the return on investment is the same or worse, i'd rather just keep luis castillo. i think that overpaying for harang and phillips qualifies as worse ROI than castillo. more upside, sure, but its more likely we'd see what those two have provided in their most recent seasons.