LWFS

So... their 2022 rotation will likely include Snell, Clevinger, Darvish, Lamet, and Paddack. They've gotten Clevinger, Snell, and Darvish over the last six months, and given up 2 top-100 minor-league prospects in total. The Padres have a pretty acute nose for a salary dump.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: San Diego strikes again. Kim to the Friars. Um... does he want to BE on a good team, or, like, PLAY on a good team? I mean, they're pretty set on the left side of the infield for the next 6-8 years. Hell, they're 2-deep on the right side, too.

His thinking re: payroll bugaboos does appear to be less "Let's not overspend," so much as it is, "Let's not do anything stupid." It's getting really hard not to like this multi-billionaire.

Best defense ever at the position and walks.

The Rays... they do have a pattern, don't they? Snell, at 10.5 M for 2021, would have accounted for 16 percent of https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/tampa-bay-rays/payroll/TB's 2021 payroll. (Given their priorities, I'd imagine Kiermeier is probably available for a song; he's still excellent defensively, and he might not be a terrible backup plan, should Springer things fall through and FA money goes elsewhere.)

I mean, dude's been doing it successfully for ten years or so, so... those mechanics don't seem to be getting in the way. (I think I have a weakness for a weird, balk-tempting hitch.) The control seems superlative, and he looked pretty damn fine (3 starts, 4 G, 14 1/3 IP, 16 K, 2.51 ERA) against top-shelf major league-level competish-- US, Cuba, Australia-- in the WBC last go-round.

Camping is fun. Maybe invite him along, and see what happens amidst the songs and s'moremaking.

Great. We just got a catcher who OPS+'ed under 100 for the first five years of his career, barely cracked 100 in his sixth season, and OPS+'ed 144 in the lunatic 2020 season of the coronavirus. I'm so excited. (Not). Is Fred Wilpon still running things? On the plus side, he's also apparently https://247sports.com/college/arkansas/Article/State-of-the-Hogs-Strong-Tower-104793979/REALLY into https://sportsspectrum.com/the-increase/2018/04/05/the-increase-anything-is-possible-james-mccann/[url=https://sportsspectrum.com/the-increase/2018/04/05/the-increase-anything-is-possible-james-mccann/]Jesus. I think I'd more readily buy the I-worked-on-this-and-that's-why-I'm-better-at-this explanation of the fluky-y improvement last year if he could actually explain what he was working on, specifically. (Like, say, Bauer. Or Murphy.) The underlying plate-approach numbers don't seem to reveal anything, in and of themselves.

Frayed Knot wrote: Olney (Robert Stanbury Olney III) grew up on a dairy farm in Vermont, so that would be the prize for anyone who cares to take him up on that bet. Then the only question that remains is whether you'd consider gaining ownership of a dairy operation in north-central Vermont to be a 'win'. "Buster" > "Trip"/"Tripp" (but it's close)

He IS a Trevor, and we could always use another 1-4 of those

Sources: LWFS Family considering pupusas for tomorrow's dinner; at moment, not getting done; family could opt for something else if plans fall through-- chicken and rice is an option

=smg58 post_id=51841 time=1607446218 user_id=62] While it would help the Mets to have a DH next season, neither the universal DH nor expanded playoffs serve the best interests of the sport. The Mets could theoretically have gotten Lynn and Sonny Gray for the same amount of money they're paying Stroman. Obviously there are players involved with the trades too, but it's a buyer's market right now and we need to take advantage of it.

Soft-throwing sidearm (!) guy, was working with Hefner when he was kicking ass (2017). Assuming he can find his way again, a good sort of guy to have in the bullpen, considering how many power-arm dudes we're now sporting. We really ARE building quite the Trevor market share.

Heck of a salary dump. Ramirez is seemingly competent, but the same age... unless the player to be named later is someone REALLY interesting, that is VERY little return (especially considering they're paying a portion of Iglesias' salary in the deal).

This is the second best FA catcher? A guy with a career OPS under .700 and inconsistent power numbers? I'm unimpressed. Everybody saying that he's the second-best catcher available neglects to note that it ain't a win-place-show point-getting race. I mean, Ramos was the consensus "second-best" last time around. We don't get points for "meaningful signings;" we get runs created and prevented by whomever is in the lineup. Realmuto is, even after a career "year" from McCann, considered by those who know-- and idiots like me who cite cherry- picked stats like gospel--- to be head and shoulders above McCann, a pretty-okay platoon catcher before last year (unless you guys see something different in his plate approach, a la Murphy in 2015-16). McCann seems like someone you settle for, not someone you approach. If he's asking for four years-- keeping in mind that he's just about a year older than Realmuto-- that seems a TOUGH swallow. I'm not sure the who-else-we-can-afford fangames make it easier to swallow.

Did his (Zoom) introduction conference today, after a physical in Queens yesterday. Getting a little seasonally-apropos Frank Costanza: this guy... this IS https://twitter.com/_beewilly/status/1334558638162194438?s=19[url=https://twitter.com/_beewilly/status/1334558638162194438?s=19]my kinda guy. [bLOCKQUOTE]when Trevor May was in New York getting his physical, he stopped by a sandwich shop in Queens. he bit into a chicken cutlet sandwich and said he realized "this is where I was meant to be."[/bLOCKQUOTE]

Ha. Some of his fastballs had that Gingergaard-y look to them, IIRC. =LWFS post_id=51550 time=1606853336 user_id=84] That happened quickly. Seems a good get, though-- and I'm probably being silly here-- I'd feel a wee bit more comfortable we took care of our engine issues before spending on luxe spare tires.

That happened quickly. Seems a good get, though-- and I'm probably being silly here-- I'd feel a wee bit more comfortable we took care of our engine issues before spending on luxe spare tires.

This. Friggin'. Guy. [Grabs Cohen's imaginary face, kisses it full on the lips]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I hate the DH too, but I have to admit I got used to it. It makes the game less interesting, and I got used to the less interesting game. Also, I despise the automatic runner on second base thing even more, so that probably distracted a little bit of the bile from the DH rule. I think I've come to accept, sadly, that the DH is inevitable. It may recede in 2021 but I fully expect a full DH to be part of the next CBA in 2022. Time-traveling 2019 Me would probably call what I'm about to say heresy (y'know, because this is DEFINITELY going to be the thing that disturbs him most about the present day), but: while the DH does make the game less interesting... it's not THAT much less interesting, as it turns out. The pitchers being SO bad at hitting makes the pinch-hit-or-don't-pitch-hit decision almost as automatic after a certain point in the game as, like, having a DH come up. Plus, it shortens the bench, and reduces options for other late-inning substitutions/defensive weirdness. If it's practically a push, and it'll let me root for Polar Bear AND Dom (or future Polar Bear-and-Dom-type combos), well, why the hell not. =Centerfield post_id=51370 time=1606316375 user_id=65] Again, all this suggests that perhaps executives weren't as eager to join this team as one had hoped. I wonder if the impression that Sandy would be calling the shots works against them. Who knows.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I had to look up "suplex" Pencil neck.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I've read in at least two places that the prospect most likely to be able to help the Mets in 2021 is Thomas Szapucki. 24 years old, probably would have spent much of 2020 in Binghamton, but as it is, he's only pitched one game in AA and none in AAA. College draftee, was killing it in A-ball that one year... then TJ a month into the next, IIRC.

Sigh. [YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/R9OMZlGmBywhttps://youtu.be/R9OMZlGmByw[/YOUTUBE]

=Centerfield post_id=51329 time=1606238722 user_id=65] Maybe we could just ask Tampa who they want and then we know who not to give up in the Lindor trade.

What I like most is how focused and aggressive they are. Like, look at what they've done in the last three offseasons-- Donaldson, Ozuna, Morton-- and how quickly they've gotten those deals done.