Fman99

Miguel Cairo, minor league deal with Philly. Hard to imagine him getting onto a major league roster, though I would have said that each of the last 6-7 years.

Thirty four my ass. Key words here are "minor league contract." The more the merrier.

Fascinating. Reyes has shown his skill with runners on base in the past... I like it.

Unless he comes with a Delorian and a flux capacitor, pass.

="Frayed Knot":2co5mxmt]Maybe someone should mention to Hugo about the players who were thinking about not playing because they believe that bureaucrats within the gov't of Venezuela are pocketing much of the money intended for the players.[/quote:2co5mxmt] Still you can't be mad at Chavez. He made that sick catch in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS! Oh wait, what? Frayed Knot Feb 13 2009 10:17 AM Easy to confuse the two, they're both Venezuelan lefties. metirish Feb 14 2009 04:38 PM High cost of insurance is reason why Johan will not play in WBC ] PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Although the withdrawal of Johan Santana from the World Baseball Classic was for weeks a foregone conclusion within the Mets' organization, Santana said Saturday the club never withheld its approval for him to participate with the Venezuelan team in the international tournament. Santana's remarks came one day after the Classic released a statement explaining that the issue that would deny Santana an opportunity to pitch for his country was the high cost of an insurance premium. Santana, who underwent left knee surgery Oct. 1, said he is one of a number of big league players who will not participate in the Classic because of the insurance issue. He named no others. "It has nothing to do with my willingness to play in the [Classic]," Santana said. "I was preparing myself. Everything was on the right track." Santana said he had heard from his agent, Peter Greenberg, on Friday that the Classic had made a decision. Mets general manager Omar Minaya confirmed the situation with Santana on Saturday morning. "We never had to make a decision about his participation," Minaya said. "It's tough," Santana said. "It's sad. I wanted to pitch." LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 15 2009 10:03 PM Speaking of things Venezuelan: IN (provisional roster): Victor F-ing Zambrano OUT: Freddy Garcia Really? (HAS to be a lack of interest on the Chief's part.) Edgy DC Feb 17 2009 08:31 AM Albert Pujols, out. The pattern seems that any player who had any sort of offseason surgery, and hasn't yet returned to action (like playing winter ball) is uninsurable. Nymr83 Feb 17 2009 08:41 AM ="Edgy DC":3foyo3u8]Albert Pujols, out. The pattern seems that any player who had any sort of offseason surgery, and hasn't yet returned to action (like playing winter ball) is uninsurable.[/quote:3foyo3u8] Seems like a wise policy to me. F. Garcia was injured, if he wants to make the Mets' opening day roster he's probably better off avoiding the WBC anyway and concentrating on getting healthy to the Mets' satisfaction. I hope Zambrano gets rocked. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 17 2009 10:58 PM Endy and K-Rod are playing for the 'Zuelas, too. I'll enjoy the games, I'm sure... but a little part of me will be rooting against with too many of Flushing's finest on 'em, if only in hope of fewer injuries. Also, needs more team mascots. Edgy DC Feb 18 2009 05:55 AM Endy was the unlikely star for Venezueal three years ago. Brought his power stick then also. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 02 2009 01:17 PM Fare thee well, Metsies, and come back safe: Beltran Cora Delgado Feliciano Figueroa (shouldn't he be reppin' Brooklyn?) Ollie P. Putz Reyes KRod Wright Am I missing anyone? Edgy DC Mar 02 2009 01:56 PM You've got to be. I saw reports saying the Mets and Red Sox led the bigs in WBC-bound players with 15 each. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 02 2009 02:01 PM Had everyone on the 40-man... but was missing a handful, yet. As broken down by country in Newsday: Australia Stefan Welch Canada Shawn Bowman Dominican Republic Jose Reyes Mexico Elmer Dessens Oliver Perez Panama Ruben Tejada Puerto Rico Pedro Feliciano Nelson Figueroa Alex Cora Carlos Delgado Carlos Beltran Jesus Feliciano United States J.J. Putz David Wright Venezuela Francisco Rodriguez So... who else is rooting for Cuba-Japan II? Nymr83 Mar 02 2009 02:04 PM Shawn Bowman (Canada), Stefan Welch (Australia), Ruben Tejada (Panama), and Jesus Feliciano (Puerto Rico) are all listed as part of the Mets' organization and are on the rosters on espn.com edit- i got beat to it, but Elmer Dessens is listed as a Brave not a Met here: [url:3izz30jv]http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/worldclassic2009/news/story?id=3844570[/url:3izz30jv] Edgy DC Mar 05 2009 11:17 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 24 2009 11:38 AM So, if you're the manager of Equipo DR, and you lose Alex Rodriguez, who is your thirdbaseman? Do you go to Adrian Beltre or do you move Hanley Ramirez (or Miguel Tejada) over there and free up short for Jose Reyes? Nymr83 Mar 05 2009 12:13 PM mpve Ramirez so that you have no trouble starting both him and Reyes Edgy DC Mar 09 2009 10:11 AM Answer is Tejada. Yeah, I'd move Hanley there also, or move one of them to second, keep Tejada at third and go with the three shortstop lineup. metirish Mar 09 2009 10:27 AM In his minor and major league career Rameriz has played one game at third , Alou can't just slot him in there surely. Edgy DC Mar 09 2009 10:32 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 09 2009 10:36 AM Porque no? It's about catching and throwing. If Tejada can do it, why not Hanley Ramirez? The key is getting the bats in the lineup. Given a few days to work out in the spot, will he be so much worse than a Fernando Tatis that the giveback with his offensive ability isn't worth it? Anyhow, at this point, he's the better weapon, so if you won't move him to third or Reyes to second or outfield or even one of them to first, Reyes is left to be a a pinch-runner. metirish Mar 09 2009 10:33 AM Sounds good but I wonder what his club would think about moving him. Edgy DC Mar 09 2009 10:44 AM If some alleged negative consequence of Ramirez playing third for a few games is upsetting Florida, I'd sure like Alou to push the issue to find out exactly how much kowtowing the WBC managers are expected to do. At any rate, nobody stopped him from moving Tejada over. John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 09 2009 10:46 AM The Snooze tried, not very hard not very effectively, to make Reyes' remark that he's be play wherever Alou asked into a controversy which "may make Met management cringe" in a tortured allusion to the Matsui-at-SS thing in '04. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 09 2009 01:56 PM ="Edgy DC":2elgx6dp]Porque no? It's about catching and throwing. If Tejada can do it, why not Hanley Ramirez? The key is getting the bats in the lineup. Given a few days to work out in the spot, will he be so much worse than a Fernando Tatis that the giveback with his offensive ability isn't worth it? Anyhow, at this point, he's the better weapon, so if you won't move him to third or Reyes to second or outfield or even one of them to first, Reyes is left to be a a pinch-runner.[/quote:2elgx6dp] Porque no? This tournament means a LOT more to the Dominicans than it does to us. The criticism from the leadup and after game one has been so harsh, GM Stan Javier's already tendered his verbal resignation, effective after the games. One key error by an out-of-place guy, and who knows what happens to Felipe Alou's house postgame. They shoot people over dominoes in the DR. (Well, okay... the psychotic, 100-mph-armed ones whose names rhyme with "Gurgos," anyway.) Edgy DC Mar 09 2009 02:49 PM Well, like I said, they already are playing a shortstop out of position, and world stayed intact. High stakes mean high pressure. It's no place for the weak-kneed, but you still want to make the most effective decision. I think most any shortstop can play anywhere else on the infield with modest preparation. Benjamin Grimm Mar 09 2009 02:52 PM ="Edgy DC":1u447jdd]I think most any shortstop can play anywhere else on the infield with modest preparation.[/quote:1u447jdd] I would think so. And the difference between third base and shortstop is, I think, less than the difference between second and short. At third the key difference is that you have to react a bit quicker, and at second it's the trickier turn of the double play. MFS62 Mar 09 2009 06:42 PM Many years ago, I spoke with Yank utility player Gil McDougald who played in the majors for several years. http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcdougi01.shtml I asked him about the difference in playing the three positions and about the preparation for playing each. He mentioned the things you folks said above. Then he added that it only took him a few throws during pre-game at the position he was going to play that day to get his arm ready. That surprised me. I guess that's why he was so valuable to the Yanks of that era. Later metirish Mar 18 2009 01:56 PM I like the opening paragraph. That scout for the Marlins talking about the Koreans using BP to work on moving runners over and hitting to the opposite field is what Manuel was preaching at the start of camp. I wonder if that is still a big part of BP for the Mets. Scouts See Works of Art in Asian Teams� Workouts ] By ALAN SCHWARZ Published: March 18, 2009 SAN DIEGO � He could see Meadowlark Lemon turning two, almost hear �Sweet Georgia Brown� whistling through vacuous Petco Park. As Japanese and Korean infielders gobbled up grounders during infield practice Tuesday and whipped the balls among themselves in bouncy syncopation, Mark Weidemaier sensed he was watching a different sport, a different show. �They�re the Harlem Globetrotters,� said Weidemaier, who has spent this week scouting the San Diego bracket of the World Baseball Classic for the Los Angeles Dodgers. �They�re not flashy or showy, I don�t mean that. But the footwork and timing. They�re going full bore, full speed. They go through every play that needs to be made in the game. They�ll get more ground balls than a big-leaguer takes in a week.� Baseball scouts are known for watching games, but the best in the business focus just as much on pregame practice, sometimes more. Three games can pass without getting to see how a shortstop can flash into the hole, or how well a second baseman charges a slow grounder. But when top Asian teams take batting practice, a scout�s inner aesthete awakens to the beauty of the game. Tuesday night � when Korea beat Japan, 4-1, to advance to this weekend�s W.B.C. semifinals � presented a double shot for the two dozen scouts in attendance. All of them want to be prepared in case any player becomes available to be signed, and both teams� hour of pregame drills had oodles to eyeball. �Korea has a B.P. routine they use where it�s more about moving runners over and hitting to the opposite field,� said Orrin Freeman, a longtime scout for the Florida Marlins who has watched international baseball since the 1980s. �You watch a major league team in the United States take B.P., and most of the guys are just playing home run derby.� As Japan and Korea practiced before Tuesday�s game, Freeman watched from the loge seats behind first base. He saw a distinctly Korean defensive drill in which any ball that goes beyond outfielder depth draws an infielder deep onto the grass to take a relatively short cutoff throw, in large part because third-base coaches tend to hold runners if cutoff men already have the ball. After Korea left the field, Japanese infielders took fungoed grounders at almost infield-in depth, pushing their reflexes so that the real game would feel easier, not unlike how a hitter might swing three bats in the on-deck circle. Rob Ducey, a former major league outfielder who scouts for the Toronto Blue Jays, sat beside the third-base dugout and enjoyed a sonata of skills rarely seen in the majors. He saw Japanese shortstop Yasuyuki Kataoka field grounders in perfect position to turn double plays, and other infielders moving to balls on angles that would make Euclid proud. Korean third baseman Bum Ho Lee charged grounders with the intensity of October, which for many foreign players this W.B.C. might as well be. �They work their craft a whole lot more than we do,� Ducey said. �They work on their swings instead of being pull, pull, pull.� Asked how a typical major-leaguer might respond to pregame practices as intense as those of Asian teams, Ducey said: �They�d feel like it was overkill � �I don�t want to get gassed.� Major league players, not all of them, but they do enough to get by because physically they�re such gifted athletes.� Not unlike how Asia�s practices are more rigorously exacting than those in the major leagues, several scouts said that Japan�s infield drills are generally more taut than Korea�s, a difference they ascribed to Korea�s having larger players with more power and less reliance on basic run-at-a-time fundamentals. Cleanup hitter Tae Kyun Kim packs 220 pounds on his six-foot frame, while first baseman Dae Ho Lee stands a downright behemoth 6-foot-4, 264. Japan has only one regular who weighs as much as 205: catcher Kenji Johjima, who perhaps not coincidentally makes his living with the Seattle Mariners. �The Japanese, they are far superior fundamentally,� said Ducey, the Blue Jays� coordinator of Pacific Rim operations. �They take thousands of ground balls a week, not just the young guys, all of them. The Japanese run hard down the line all the time. Koreans, it�s a little haphazard at times. And Koreans are generally more physical, more aggressive at the plate. They�re more suited for our game.� And still, a few hours later, the Koreans proved that they were plenty fundamental, more so, on this night, than Japan. They beat Japan on execution alone, all in the first inning. It started with the first two batters of the game: second baseman Keun Woo Jeong grabbed a high chopper and threw to first to barely nip Japan�s speedy Ichiro Suzuki, and on the next play, first baseman Tae Kyun Kim dived to his right for a hard ground ball and threw to the pitcher hustling over to cover first. Rather than an early first-and-second, no-out jam, the inning soon ended peacefully. And in the bottom half of the inning, Japan looked uncharacteristically clumsy. After a leadoff single, second baseman Akinori Iwamura double-clutched a ground ball in the hole for what was ruled a single; later, with Iwamura trying to start a double play, Kataoka could not handle Iwamura�s low throw and got no out at all. Two batters later, Korea�s Jin Young Lee stroked a beautiful opposite-field single through the left side for two runs, a 3-0 Korea lead and San Diego�s best imitation of Tony Gwynn in years. With the loss, Japan left itself having to play Cuba on Wednesday night to stay alive in the tournament it won three years ago. Disappointing for Japanese fans, but a treat for American scouts. Just another day at the symphony. �Watching the Japanese fungo hitters is great,� Weidemaier noted. �They�re hitting every type of ball that can happen to an infielder: to the left and right, backhand, sharp one-hoppers, backspin, top spin, slow rollers. Rat-a-tat-tat, they�re so precise in all their movements. To me, that�s what makes this game so beautiful.� metirish Mar 24 2009 07:36 AM I think this quote from Davey Johnson in a way ties in nicely with the observation above from the scout. ] "I'm kinda feeling like Earl Weaver, I don't push the running game," Johnson said. "I don't think that was a big factor when I was playing in Japan. I don't think it is today. I think the stolen base and the bunt base hit, those are becoming less and less a factor in the game." Is "small ball" as Davey suggests becoming less a factor in the MLB game ? Edgy DC Mar 24 2009 07:41 AM A difficulty in such discussions is that we treat "small ball" as a monolith. Not all small ball approaches have the same merit. metirish Mar 24 2009 07:47 AM True , I shouldn't have used that term. Edgy DC Mar 24 2009 08:01 AM Not at all. It's how the writers use it. metsmarathon Mar 24 2009 08:34 AM americans love to americanize their sports. and by that, i mean that we love to turn every sport into football. american football. who needs quickness and finesse when you can have power and strength? we prefer our sports to be blunt instruments presided over by blunter athletes. Edgy DC Mar 24 2009 11:40 AM Not a bad allusion. Centerfield Mar 24 2009 11:58 AM Dae Ho Lee. Not about speed and quickness. Not to rain on the "Playing baseball the right way" parade, but am I the only one that thinks the Asian players lack fundamentals? At least at the plate anyway. They all step in the bucket, they all overswing, and some of their leg kicks are ridiculous. There isn't a short, compact swing on either team.

I heart you Mrs. Lima.

="G-Fafif":27adq1wo]Jeter's totally into Peds[/url:27adq1wo]. Reportedly.[/quote:27adq1wo] I prefer speds myself. metirish Feb 19 2009 01:15 PM Yeeees , Jetes has never done steroids because he says so and that's good enough for Bob the bollox. ] Klapisch: Jeter makes all the right moves TAMPA, Fla. � The education started early, long before Derek Jeter ever wore pinstripes for the first time. He grew up recognizing the unyielding line between right and wrong, a testament to Charles and Dorothy Jeter�s influence. They taught their son so well that when temptation whispered in his ear, the future Yankee captain took off on a sprint the other way. This history lesson is relevant, of course, because of a Yankee teammate who couldn�t say no to steroids. It was Jeter�s turn to deliver a verdict on Alex Rodriguez�s fall from grace, but before he did, the shortstop wanted to clear the air about the pervasive cheating in baseball. Don�t count me among the crooks, was the essence of Jeter�s message. �One thing that�s irritating to me, and it upsets me a lot, is when you hear people say �this is �the steroids era, everyone�s doing it,� � Jeter said. �That�s not true, everyone wasn�t doing it.� With that, Jeter took a sweep of the reporters clustered around him and made sure they understood: He�s never used steroids, HGH, amphetamines or any performance-enhancing substance. �You can go down the list,� he said, and still come up clean. Jeter doesn�t dare take a census on the number of syringes that were floating around in 2003. For now, all that matters in Yankee camp is that one of them belonged to A-Rod. That�s why the captain is faced with an impossible dilemma, forced to support a fellow Bomber who has committed an unpardonable sin. To his credit, Jeter handled the balancing act with grace Wednesday. Sitting in the first base dugout at Steinbrenner Field, Jeter made it clear that, while he doesn�t condone A-Rod�s decisions, he considers it an obligation to make the third baseman as welcome as possible. The interaction between the two Wednesday was hardly warm, but certainly professional. When the Yankees stepped onto the field for their first full-squad workout, Jeter made sure to long-toss with A-Rod � his way of sending a powerful and positive vibe to the rest of the team. The gesture was subtle, but hardly unnoticed. The fans in the ballpark cheered A-Rod, although he took batting practice on a back field, away from the morning�s hub of activity. No one, of course, is pretending that A-Rod�s penance is complete. In fact, according to ESPN.com, Major League Baseball will request a fuller account of Rodriguez�s steroid use, including the identity of his unnamed cousin in the Dominican Republic. Jeter said, �Alex made a mistake, and it�s something he�s going to have to deal with.� The Yankees were similarly neutral about A-Rod in the aftermath of Tuesday�s news conference. No one confused his opening statement with the Gettysburg Address. But at least one element of A-Rod�s defense � that steroids were a swarm, preying on otherwise well-meaning ballplayers � bothered Jeter enough for him to speak up. He and A-Rod may wear the same uniform, but when it comes to cheating, the two live in different worlds. Jeter made that distinction a decade ago, when chemicals were allowing mediocre hitters to turn into home run-hitting monsters. The shortstop, who�s never hit more than 24 HRs in a season, decided it would�ve been poison � and certainly dishonest � to artificially remake his offensive profile. �In the situation I was in, [steroids] didn�t occur to me,� he said. �I was fortunate to be with a team that won, so in terms of that temptation, it wasn�t there.� Abstinence has kept Jeter�s r�sum� clean, even if it means paying a surcharge in his statistics. He�ll soon turn 35, and by every indication, the shortstop is indeed aging. His power numbers are down, notably his slugging percentage � .408 last year was his lowest since 1997. Gone are the days when Jeter was an opposite-field gap hitter. More recently he�s become a singles specialist, a ground ball machine who bounced into a team-high 24 double plays last year, tying him for fourth in the American League. Jeter makes no alibis about his shrinking footprint in the Yankees� offense, but club officials are hopeful that he�ll become more of a threat in 2009, now that he�s fully recovered from a devastating hand injury. As long as Jeter is unwilling to talk about it, there�s no way to quantify the damage he suffered after being struck by a Daniel Cabrera fastball during a May 20 game against the Orioles. But it was obvious Jeter had lost power and his signature ability to inside-out fastballs that crowded him. Jeter finished the month just 4-for-40 (.100), and even though his final average stood at .300 � and he remains the only shortstop in history with 2,500-plus hits, 200 or more home runs and .300-plus career average � it was the quietest summer of his career. That kind of slow, insidious slide would be enough to drive a lesser man into the arms of a steroids dealer. If anyone needed a boost, it would�ve been the skinny-armed Jeter. But true to his word, he stayed away from the junk, remembering the lessons of his youth. In fact, it seemed like only yesterday when Charles and Dorothy Jeter were reminding their son about the virtues of old-fashioned hard work. The words stay with Jeter because, as he said, �I don�t want to disappoint my family.� It might sound corny, a grown man still listening to his mother and father. But with three of baseball�s biggest stars � A-Rod, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds � sucked into the steroids vortex, the sport could use some of that corniness now. Jeter suffered from a devastating hand injury last season?Checking baseball-reference I see Jeter didn't miss any games after that devastating fastball to the hand from Daniel Cabrera on May 20. http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?n1=jeterde01&t=b&year=2008

="metirish"]My wife tells me that of course this is shocking news in Puerto Rico , anyway Robbie's current squeeze is a TV personality and model and she has been all over TV over there today talking about how all of this is false and that in due course all will be reveled , she did say that the ex told Alomar that when they broke up she was going to ruin him.Current GF also claims that Robbie is in good health. I'd shake that shack.

ESPN now saying that Dunn is getting closer to a deal with the Nationals.

As far as I know Cruz is the only type A reliever out there at this point.

="Edgy DC":2edbfdqu]I see Juan Cruz out there, baby. He's had an on-again-off-again career, but he's been really on the last two years with Arizona, with strikeout numbers off the charts, whiffing 12.8 and 12.4 guys per nine innings, respectively. He's a type A, but, hey, we already lost our first rounder. Twelve months ago, he'd get a three- or four-year deal after two years like that. This year, he's unemployed in mid-February. There's not a lot of room in the Mets' pen, but neither do I see Feliciano/Green/Muniz/Putz/Rodriguez/Sanchez/Stokes all entitled to automatic jobs. Not at all. Who do you see out there?[/quote:2edbfdqu] TSN had chatter that they think now he may go back to Arizona. Certainly that type A status is costing him. Odd that others, like Hoffman, were type B guys where Pena was not. Centerfield Feb 11 2009 10:38 AM Manny Adam Dunn Orlando Hudson Vic Sage Feb 11 2009 10:57 AM The Mets are more than $20m under the luxury tax threshhold. Sign Dunn and Hudson, then pay someone to take Castillo off our hands. or better yet, offer Manny $20m/1year, with a $5m buyout of two additional $25m option years. We'd still be under the "cap" and with new sold-out stadium and a cable network, and the additional merch revenue Manny brings, and the additional revs from post-season, it would be a great investment. But of course guys who invested with Madoff wouldn't know a great investment if it were sukking their collective cox. Edgy DC Feb 11 2009 11:06 AM Well, as we have threads (and threads) about those guys, I was kind of looking for guys that come up on a finer tuned radar scan. smg58 Feb 11 2009 11:22 AM Will Ohman and Joe Beimel would be upgrades at the position vacated by Schoeneweis. I don't really like the idea of Casey Fossum or Tom Martin facing Utley, Howard, and Ibanez while trying to hold a one-run lead. I don't think the Type A label would have hurt Cruz that much if he had pitched more than 51 innings last year. He strained his oblique and lost a month even though the D-Backs were only using him for 10 innings a month. An elite set-up guy should give you 70 IP, and Cruz can't. John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 11 2009 11:30 AM Beimel's a type A too, no? metirish Feb 11 2009 11:35 AM Type B from what I am seeing. Fman99 Feb 11 2009 12:20 PM As far as I know Cruz is the only type A reliever out there at this point. metirish Feb 11 2009 12:28 PM http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/features/freeagents?season=2008 Edgy DC Feb 11 2009 12:29 PM He's a workaholic --- impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about his status, highly competitive, hostile and aggressive, and incapable of relaxation? I dunno, sounds like a lot of relievers. MFS62 Feb 11 2009 12:42 PM ="Edgy DC":3uf4clc9]He's a workaholic --- impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about his status, highly competitive, hostile and aggressive, and incapable of relaxation? I dunno, sounds like a lot of relievers.[/quote:3uf4clc9] Remember what those guys were like before they started testing for Amphetamines? Worse. The Dibble, Myers and Charlton bunch in Cincy come to mind. Later Frayed Knot Feb 11 2009 01:05 PM The problem with Cruz is that you're giving up a draft pick (yes, a 2nd rounder not a 1st, but still) for a guy to slot in as your 3rd line reliever for one year. Or ... do we really want to be giving out multi-year deals for an up-again/down-again reliever while Putz is still under control for another year and F. Rodriguez for another two? Fman99 Feb 11 2009 01:22 PM ESPN now saying that Dunn is getting closer to a deal with the Nationals. Edgy DC Feb 11 2009 01:22 PM All I sez is he's still out there. Obviously, his Type A-ness (he said anus) is a big problem, which restricts his unrestricted free agency. attgig Feb 11 2009 01:40 PM dunn with nats is supposedly done. I wonder if they'd get rid of one of their RH bats in a small trade so that we can have more RH's off our bench. Dmitri was great a couple years ago but his weight scares me. and I don't get Jim Bowden at all. I don't think he knows how to put a team together. he's putting a team together like he has room for a DH. MFS62 Feb 11 2009 01:56 PM What's the over and under number for the number of NY area papers that will report this as a "Dunn deal"? Later smg58 Feb 11 2009 02:10 PM Dunn gets two years and $20M -- considering what Abreu got, he can't complain. If Nick Johnson or Dmitri Young is healthy he'd presumably play left, which makes me wonder what they'll do with Willingham/Dukes/Milledge/Kearns/Pena. They'd almost have to move one of them, if not two. Frayed Knot Feb 11 2009 02:18 PM Don't know what's happened to Kearns - and specifically his power. He and Dunn were the 1st & 2nd round draft picks in the same year by Cincy (Kearns = 1st, Dunn = 2nd) back when Bowden was the GM there. Dunn of course had the better power but Kearns was considered to be the better all-around player: better BA, better glove, etc. Now Bowden's got them back together but, yeesh, Kearns has gone downhill in recent years and Dunn probably more one-dimensional than ever feared. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 11 2009 02:25 PM Um... weren't Kearns and Dunn two of the guys ever-priced-to-move when Bowden was running the Reds' shop? And as for OUR bench options... do Nomar and Alou seem like workable names as part-time players, once Marlon Anderson is finally deemed droppable? (At midseason, perhaps-- Senor PeeHands would make a smashing bench ornament, no?) Centerfield Feb 13 2009 10:38 AM I wouldn't mind bringing him back in that capacity. Of course, if he does well, we might be tempted to let him play more, in which case, he'd hurt himself and be useless again. Manny still out there. Orlando Hudson too. duan Feb 13 2009 11:14 AM i actually came here proposing a taking the salary off washington's hands move on Austin Kearns. Last year was his first actual bad year, but he carries a bit of a whiff of unfulfilled potential that has probably turned people off. I'd love to take a whirl on him being our lefty mashing outfielder to replace Church/Murphy or even Delgado. Vic Sage Feb 13 2009 11:24 AM ]Dunn probably more one-dimensional than ever feared. OB% = .381 SLG% = .518 looks pretty 2-dimensional to me... Vic Sage Feb 13 2009 11:52 AM [u:1dsvs0fu]Big FAs to sign:[/u:1dsvs0fu] Manny Ramirez, LF - rh (36) - type (A) Orlando Hudson, 2B -rh (31) - type (A) [u:1dsvs0fu]situational lefties:[/u:1dsvs0fu] Joe Beimel, RP (31) -type ( Dennys Reyes, RP (31) -type ( Will Ohman, RP (31) [u:1dsvs0fu]rh bat[/u:1dsvs0fu] Emil Brown, LF (34) Nomar Garciaparra, SS (35) Jay Payton, LF (36) [u:1dsvs0fu]fifth starter[/u:1dsvs0fu] Mark Mulder, SP -lh (31) - worth a minor league look metirish Feb 13 2009 11:55 AM I read in the last few days that Ohman was offered a deal from the Mets and from the Phillies....what's going on there? duan Feb 13 2009 11:56 AM ="duan":cxtxds99]i actually came here proposing a taking the salary off washington's hands move on Austin Kearns. Last year was his first actual bad year, but he carries a bit of a whiff of unfulfilled potential that has probably turned people off. I'd love to take a whirl on him being our lefty mashing outfielder to replace Church/Murphy or even Delgado.[/quote:cxtxds99] to explain, I mean that he's traditionally murdered lefties whereas they don't and that having him in the mix would give us a great threat. Frayed Knot Feb 13 2009 12:04 PM ="Vic Sage"]]Dunn probably more one-dimensional than ever feared. OB% = .381 SLG% = .518 looks pretty 2-dimensional to me... What I meant was that back when they were young pups Kearns was considered the better all around player/athlete while Dunn the better hitter but only a hitter. Now years later hiding his glove is becoming more of a problem than even previously imagined and I think part of the reason the offers were slow in coming. smg58 Feb 13 2009 12:47 PM Jay's 36? That's scary. I have to think that guys like Beimel and Ohman will take any major-league offer that comes their way at this point. I can't imagine Hudson will be too stubborn if presented with even a modestly decent offer, either. If we had $36M to throw at Ollie, I can't imagine we're too broke to even look at these other guys. smg58 Feb 13 2009 12:55 PM ="Frayed Knot":3973hsgs]What I meant was that back when they were young pups Kearns was considered the better all around player/athlete while Dunn the better hitter but only a hitter. Now years later hiding his glove is becoming more of a problem than even previously imagined and I think part of the reason the offers were slow in coming.[/quote:3973hsgs] I don't think his glove has necessarily gotten worse, so much as defensive value (or the lack thereof) has become better quantified. If the defensive numbers generated in places like the Fielding Bible are credible, then the old notion that you could stick a good bat/bad glove player in an outfield corner or first base and not have to worry about his glove hurting you that much has been discredited to at least some degree with particularly bad fielders. This applies to a number of players (like Dunn and Abreu) who were free agents this year. Frayed Knot Feb 13 2009 01:47 PM Yeah that's probably part of it. Plus there were several sources this winter saying that GMs are taking an increasingly close look at OF defense in particular and factoring that in to how much they would otherwise pay for bat-only FAs - something they could have affected the likes of not only Dunn but Abreu, Manny, Burrell, too. As for Dunn himself, he may not have gotten worse with the glove as much as the early hope that he'd at least grow into a mediocre glove at some position never materialized. Both defensive metrics and eye-ball observers rate him as a virtual train-wreck wherever you plop him. Edgy DC Feb 13 2009 01:52 PM The thing about the previous generation of defensive metrics is that they seemed to undervalue outfield defense by measuring balls caught against balls fielded by the same standard as those for infielders. What they missed was that a failure to field a ball by an infielder typically resulted in a single base, while a failure to field a ball by an outfielder resulted in two or three. cooby Feb 13 2009 05:43 PM Lady Caca? LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 13 2009 08:23 PM Ladies don't caca; they perspire excrement. And speaking of excretions... with all this dancing around old friends (Stache, Pedro, Figueroa), Omar's got no room in his pay rolls for ol' Pee Hands? (I hate to repeat myself, but if we're not going hard after Ohman, and our other RH bat options are Nomar and those two... yeep.) Or, from the so-crazy-it-just-might-work department... Frank Thomas? (Still got a great eye, and could spell Delgado 1-2 times a week.) Gwreck Feb 19 2009 11:05 PM We got Alex Cora to back-up instead of Nomar? Seriously? Reyes is going to play 160 games or something, and if he gets hurt, then we can sign Alex Cora. I'd take my chances with giving Nomar the 5 starts at short we give Reyes off. Edgy DC Feb 20 2009 05:36 AM ="Gwreck":3u3fvm4z]Reyes is going to play 160 games or something, and if he gets hurt, then we can sign Alex Cora.[/quote:3u3fvm4z] How do you figure? Nobody's going to sign him? Ever? Gwreck Feb 20 2009 08:25 AM Maybe not Cora himself, but there'd likely be another no-hit, good-field middle infielder available somewhere, no? Edgy DC Feb 20 2009 08:30 AM But, for a reserve, Cora is actually a modest-hit, excellent field guy, and a rarer bird than you're giving him credit for. He's perfectly capable of stealing the second base job. Nomar remains what he's been the last couple of years --- a good enough hitter to demand more PT than a reserve infielder (five games? you think he'd go for that?), but no obvious position. Gwreck Feb 20 2009 10:15 AM I don't think Nomar would start only 5 games; I think he'd also spell Delgado occasionally against a tough lefty, and also serve as Wright's backup at third. He'd also be the primary pinch-hitting bat off the bench. The 5 games reference is that the Mets don't necessarily need a player taking up a spot on the bench, when all they require is a player who has the defensive skills to be a shortstop for about 5 games a year. I see the point about him being a good enough hitter to deserve more PT than a reserve but submit that if he's unsigned, he's not getting PT anywhere. Nymr83 Feb 20 2009 12:24 PM ]situational lefties: Joe Beimel, RP (31) -type ( Dennys Reyes, RP (31) -type ( Will Ohman, RP (31) Someone brought up in the Griffey thread what they saw as a need for another lefty. I disagree. I thought one of the problems with the 2008 Mets was that Schoenweis and Feliciano were redundant- they both got lefties out but couldn't handle righties- and this forced the managers to use them in situations they weren't suited for, leading them to fail. One situational lefty is all I want to see on the team. If theres a Dennis Cook out there who can get righties out too that would be great, but I don't see him in these guys. Ohman and Reyes both get abused by righties, Beimel actually isn't too bad for his career but he was the past 2 years. attgig Feb 20 2009 01:13 PM hudson is apparently now a dodger. Nymr83 Feb 20 2009 01:19 PM it says he signed with LA on rotoworld but the terms of the deal havent been disclosed yet. smg58 Feb 20 2009 01:51 PM According to mlb.com, Hudson is getting one year and $3.4M, with up to $4.6M in incentives. If bringing in Ollie at 3 and 36 made it impossible to offer Hudson even that little, then the Mets should have settled for Garland at half the annual salary, or even Looper for less than that. Somebody else signing Ollie would have also gotten us two better draft picks than the one Hudson would have cost. Or perhaps Minaya is not yet willing to own up to the blunder he made in giving Castillo four years. Either way, I'm unhappy. metirish Feb 20 2009 01:55 PM I just can't accept or I don't buy the idea that the Mets couldn't offer Hudson a deal because they signed Perez to a reasonable deal.Maybe they just couldn't be arsed with him. I like Hudson but am not going to be thinking about him all season that's for sure. Frayed Knot Feb 20 2009 02:01 PM I don't think it's any one reason exclusively why they sidestepped Hudson -- I think it's the extra money, on top of the draft pick it would cost, on top of the fact that they'd either have to still pay Castillo and/or have two 2Bmen who both wanted to start. Benjamin Grimm Feb 20 2009 02:05 PM I can't help but see Hudson as a missed opportunity, whatever the reasons. Hopefully Castillo will have three kick-ass seasons from 2009 through 2011 and make it all moot. (I can hope, can't I?) Frayed Knot Feb 20 2009 02:25 PM A good example of the adage about how it's easier to recover from the guy you fail to sign than it is to recover from the guy you sign at the wrong price. In this case the difference is made even more stark by throwing in a bad 1st year on top of a dramatic price fall in the market place overall. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 20 2009 04:42 PM ="smg58":jlankl2g] Or perhaps Minaya is not yet willing to own up to the blunder he made in giving Castillo four years. Either way, I'm unhappy.[/quote:jlankl2g] I think you've hit it exactly on the head. A hard head, at that. Tenuous job security-- like Omar's, after two disappointing near-misses-- tends to lead to a whole lot of good-money-after-bad-ing. Centerfield Feb 21 2009 05:29 AM It's because he's saving for Manny. Edgy DC Feb 21 2009 10:36 AM I'm going to insist on looking on the dark side with Hudson. He's two years removed from his last golden glove. He ended 2007 with a thumb injury that was listed as "day to day," but cost him the last three and half weeks of the season as his team finished a game and a half out. Then he started the season with recurring hammy problems, and ended it in August with a dislocated wrist, which is an injury that could give a man pause. Signing him costs that draft pick and means giving up pretty much on the duration of Castillo's contract, and perhaps the possiblity of transitioning Murphy over there this year, which the scoreboard shot suggests is maybe in the cards. Cheap, yeah, but I'm here to sing the praises of standing pat. I'm always here for that. Benjamin Grimm Feb 21 2009 03:48 PM And Hudson may be a free agent again after 2009. So we may have another shot at him. Nymr83 Feb 21 2009 04:07 PM a year older and possibly in a worse buyer's market. the Mets really dropped the ball here considering the price they paid for freakin Cora and the bargain rate at which Hudson signed. Edgy DC Feb 21 2009 06:10 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 21 2009 07:15 PM I don't think they dropped the ball at all. They made their choice decisively --- that they were looking to buy a new starter at second only if they could deal their current one. Argue against that, but let's not imply that the Mets pursued him and failed by misreading the market. Or bought somebody else high. Kong76 Feb 21 2009 06:43 PM smg58: Or perhaps Minaya is not yet willing to own up to the blunder he made in giving Castillo four years <<< I doubt that a guy running an ~ $200,000,000 business model let's that come into play. His fish will be fried on the outcome of 2009 and not owning up to prior poor signings will have nothing to with it. LWFS: Tenuous job security-- like Omar's, after two disappointing near-misses-- tends to lead to a whole lot of good-money-after-bad-ing <<< I typed five things and backspaced five times ... never mind. Edgy DC Mar 03 2009 06:08 AM Alou hinting at retirement after the WBC. Rockin' Doc Mar 03 2009 06:14 AM Alou has been semi-retired the past two seasons.

="soupcan"]="Benjamin Grimm"]That kind of rings a bell with me. (The gay Alomar rumors.) There was some article making the rounds written by a gay writer who said he had an affair with a 'prominent baseball player with an east coast team'. At the time I think that many people assumed he was talking about Piazza but there were also whispers that it could have been Malomar. We used to joke here that Mary Pierce was a bad choice for a beard for Robbie because she looked more like a man than he did.. Wow I can't believe Robby Alomar had sex with Geddy Lee.

ESPN saying the Angels are trying to get him on a one year deal.

="metirish":2uepqax4]Johan Santana feels great but will not play in the upcoming WBC.[/quote:2uepqax4] Perfect. Frayed Knot Feb 10 2009 07:44 AM Ichiro to pitch in WBC?!? Probably not, but maybe[/url:1a2k82o1] Edgy DC Feb 13 2009 07:29 AM Mets making the wrong sort of enemies. Chavez wants players cleared for WBC Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez urged major league baseball teams on Thursday to allow Venezuelan players to represent their country in next month's World Baseball Classic. "They take away the athlete's right and duty ... to represent Venezuela," said Chavez, speaking during a ceremony to honor Venezuela's under-20 soccer team. "It's constructive criticism of professional sports." Chavez said baseball should follow the example of professional soccer teams in Europe and the United States, which are forced under FIFA regulations to clear players when they want to join their national teams in international competitions. Edwin Zerpa, president of the Venezuelan Baseball Federation, said Thursday that he was particularly concerned that the New York Mets might not clear ace Johan Santana to pitch. "What's most worrisome is that they attempt to stop the pitchers, who are in excellent condition, from playing," Zerpa said. "Without good pitching, you cannot win in baseball." Mets general manager Omar Minaya has said he is in favor of having players in the WBC. Other big league stars on the Venezuela roster include: Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, Detroit outfielder Magglio Ordonez, and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Bobby Abreu. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press Frayed Knot Feb 13 2009 10:02 AM Maybe someone should mention to Hugo about the players who were thinking about not playing because they believe that bureaucrats within the gov't of Venezuela are pocketing much of the money intended for the players. Fman99 Feb 13 2009 10:07 AM ="Frayed Knot":2co5mxmt]Maybe someone should mention to Hugo about the players who were thinking about not playing because they believe that bureaucrats within the gov't of Venezuela are pocketing much of the money intended for the players.[/quote:2co5mxmt] Still you can't be mad at Chavez. He made that sick catch in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS! Oh wait, what? Frayed Knot Feb 13 2009 10:17 AM Easy to confuse the two, they're both Venezuelan lefties. metirish Feb 14 2009 04:38 PM High cost of insurance is reason why Johan will not play in WBC ] PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Although the withdrawal of Johan Santana from the World Baseball Classic was for weeks a foregone conclusion within the Mets' organization, Santana said Saturday the club never withheld its approval for him to participate with the Venezuelan team in the international tournament. Santana's remarks came one day after the Classic released a statement explaining that the issue that would deny Santana an opportunity to pitch for his country was the high cost of an insurance premium. Santana, who underwent left knee surgery Oct. 1, said he is one of a number of big league players who will not participate in the Classic because of the insurance issue. He named no others. "It has nothing to do with my willingness to play in the [Classic]," Santana said. "I was preparing myself. Everything was on the right track." Santana said he had heard from his agent, Peter Greenberg, on Friday that the Classic had made a decision. Mets general manager Omar Minaya confirmed the situation with Santana on Saturday morning. "We never had to make a decision about his participation," Minaya said. "It's tough," Santana said. "It's sad. I wanted to pitch." LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 15 2009 10:03 PM Speaking of things Venezuelan: IN (provisional roster): Victor F-ing Zambrano OUT: Freddy Garcia Really? (HAS to be a lack of interest on the Chief's part.) Edgy DC Feb 17 2009 08:31 AM Albert Pujols, out. The pattern seems that any player who had any sort of offseason surgery, and hasn't yet returned to action (like playing winter ball) is uninsurable. Nymr83 Feb 17 2009 08:41 AM ="Edgy DC":3foyo3u8]Albert Pujols, out. The pattern seems that any player who had any sort of offseason surgery, and hasn't yet returned to action (like playing winter ball) is uninsurable.[/quote:3foyo3u8] Seems like a wise policy to me. F. Garcia was injured, if he wants to make the Mets' opening day roster he's probably better off avoiding the WBC anyway and concentrating on getting healthy to the Mets' satisfaction. I hope Zambrano gets rocked. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 17 2009 10:58 PM Endy and K-Rod are playing for the 'Zuelas, too. I'll enjoy the games, I'm sure... but a little part of me will be rooting against with too many of Flushing's finest on 'em, if only in hope of fewer injuries. Also, needs more team mascots. Edgy DC Feb 18 2009 05:55 AM Endy was the unlikely star for Venezueal three years ago. Brought his power stick then also. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 02 2009 01:17 PM Fare thee well, Metsies, and come back safe: Beltran Cora Delgado Feliciano Figueroa (shouldn't he be reppin' Brooklyn?) Ollie P. Putz Reyes KRod Wright Am I missing anyone? Edgy DC Mar 02 2009 01:56 PM You've got to be. I saw reports saying the Mets and Red Sox led the bigs in WBC-bound players with 15 each. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 02 2009 02:01 PM Had everyone on the 40-man... but was missing a handful, yet. As broken down by country in Newsday: Australia Stefan Welch Canada Shawn Bowman Dominican Republic Jose Reyes Mexico Elmer Dessens Oliver Perez Panama Ruben Tejada Puerto Rico Pedro Feliciano Nelson Figueroa Alex Cora Carlos Delgado Carlos Beltran Jesus Feliciano United States J.J. Putz David Wright Venezuela Francisco Rodriguez So... who else is rooting for Cuba-Japan II? Nymr83 Mar 02 2009 02:04 PM Shawn Bowman (Canada), Stefan Welch (Australia), Ruben Tejada (Panama), and Jesus Feliciano (Puerto Rico) are all listed as part of the Mets' organization and are on the rosters on espn.com edit- i got beat to it, but Elmer Dessens is listed as a Brave not a Met here: [url:3izz30jv]http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/worldclassic2009/news/story?id=3844570[/url:3izz30jv] Edgy DC Mar 05 2009 11:17 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 24 2009 11:38 AM So, if you're the manager of Equipo DR, and you lose Alex Rodriguez, who is your thirdbaseman? Do you go to Adrian Beltre or do you move Hanley Ramirez (or Miguel Tejada) over there and free up short for Jose Reyes? Nymr83 Mar 05 2009 12:13 PM mpve Ramirez so that you have no trouble starting both him and Reyes Edgy DC Mar 09 2009 10:11 AM Answer is Tejada. Yeah, I'd move Hanley there also, or move one of them to second, keep Tejada at third and go with the three shortstop lineup. metirish Mar 09 2009 10:27 AM In his minor and major league career Rameriz has played one game at third , Alou can't just slot him in there surely. Edgy DC Mar 09 2009 10:32 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 09 2009 10:36 AM Porque no? It's about catching and throwing. If Tejada can do it, why not Hanley Ramirez? The key is getting the bats in the lineup. Given a few days to work out in the spot, will he be so much worse than a Fernando Tatis that the giveback with his offensive ability isn't worth it? Anyhow, at this point, he's the better weapon, so if you won't move him to third or Reyes to second or outfield or even one of them to first, Reyes is left to be a a pinch-runner. metirish Mar 09 2009 10:33 AM Sounds good but I wonder what his club would think about moving him. Edgy DC Mar 09 2009 10:44 AM If some alleged negative consequence of Ramirez playing third for a few games is upsetting Florida, I'd sure like Alou to push the issue to find out exactly how much kowtowing the WBC managers are expected to do. At any rate, nobody stopped him from moving Tejada over. John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 09 2009 10:46 AM The Snooze tried, not very hard not very effectively, to make Reyes' remark that he's be play wherever Alou asked into a controversy which "may make Met management cringe" in a tortured allusion to the Matsui-at-SS thing in '04. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 09 2009 01:56 PM ="Edgy DC":2elgx6dp]Porque no? It's about catching and throwing. If Tejada can do it, why not Hanley Ramirez? The key is getting the bats in the lineup. Given a few days to work out in the spot, will he be so much worse than a Fernando Tatis that the giveback with his offensive ability isn't worth it? Anyhow, at this point, he's the better weapon, so if you won't move him to third or Reyes to second or outfield or even one of them to first, Reyes is left to be a a pinch-runner.[/quote:2elgx6dp] Porque no? This tournament means a LOT more to the Dominicans than it does to us. The criticism from the leadup and after game one has been so harsh, GM Stan Javier's already tendered his verbal resignation, effective after the games. One key error by an out-of-place guy, and who knows what happens to Felipe Alou's house postgame. They shoot people over dominoes in the DR. (Well, okay... the psychotic, 100-mph-armed ones whose names rhyme with "Gurgos," anyway.) Edgy DC Mar 09 2009 02:49 PM Well, like I said, they already are playing a shortstop out of position, and world stayed intact. High stakes mean high pressure. It's no place for the weak-kneed, but you still want to make the most effective decision. I think most any shortstop can play anywhere else on the infield with modest preparation. Benjamin Grimm Mar 09 2009 02:52 PM ="Edgy DC":1u447jdd]I think most any shortstop can play anywhere else on the infield with modest preparation.[/quote:1u447jdd] I would think so. And the difference between third base and shortstop is, I think, less than the difference between second and short. At third the key difference is that you have to react a bit quicker, and at second it's the trickier turn of the double play. MFS62 Mar 09 2009 06:42 PM Many years ago, I spoke with Yank utility player Gil McDougald who played in the majors for several years. http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcdougi01.shtml I asked him about the difference in playing the three positions and about the preparation for playing each. He mentioned the things you folks said above. Then he added that it only took him a few throws during pre-game at the position he was going to play that day to get his arm ready. That surprised me. I guess that's why he was so valuable to the Yanks of that era. Later metirish Mar 18 2009 01:56 PM I like the opening paragraph. That scout for the Marlins talking about the Koreans using BP to work on moving runners over and hitting to the opposite field is what Manuel was preaching at the start of camp. I wonder if that is still a big part of BP for the Mets. Scouts See Works of Art in Asian Teams� Workouts ] By ALAN SCHWARZ Published: March 18, 2009 SAN DIEGO � He could see Meadowlark Lemon turning two, almost hear �Sweet Georgia Brown� whistling through vacuous Petco Park. As Japanese and Korean infielders gobbled up grounders during infield practice Tuesday and whipped the balls among themselves in bouncy syncopation, Mark Weidemaier sensed he was watching a different sport, a different show. �They�re the Harlem Globetrotters,� said Weidemaier, who has spent this week scouting the San Diego bracket of the World Baseball Classic for the Los Angeles Dodgers. �They�re not flashy or showy, I don�t mean that. But the footwork and timing. They�re going full bore, full speed. They go through every play that needs to be made in the game. They�ll get more ground balls than a big-leaguer takes in a week.� Baseball scouts are known for watching games, but the best in the business focus just as much on pregame practice, sometimes more. Three games can pass without getting to see how a shortstop can flash into the hole, or how well a second baseman charges a slow grounder. But when top Asian teams take batting practice, a scout�s inner aesthete awakens to the beauty of the game. Tuesday night � when Korea beat Japan, 4-1, to advance to this weekend�s W.B.C. semifinals � presented a double shot for the two dozen scouts in attendance. All of them want to be prepared in case any player becomes available to be signed, and both teams� hour of pregame drills had oodles to eyeball. �Korea has a B.P. routine they use where it�s more about moving runners over and hitting to the opposite field,� said Orrin Freeman, a longtime scout for the Florida Marlins who has watched international baseball since the 1980s. �You watch a major league team in the United States take B.P., and most of the guys are just playing home run derby.� As Japan and Korea practiced before Tuesday�s game, Freeman watched from the loge seats behind first base. He saw a distinctly Korean defensive drill in which any ball that goes beyond outfielder depth draws an infielder deep onto the grass to take a relatively short cutoff throw, in large part because third-base coaches tend to hold runners if cutoff men already have the ball. After Korea left the field, Japanese infielders took fungoed grounders at almost infield-in depth, pushing their reflexes so that the real game would feel easier, not unlike how a hitter might swing three bats in the on-deck circle. Rob Ducey, a former major league outfielder who scouts for the Toronto Blue Jays, sat beside the third-base dugout and enjoyed a sonata of skills rarely seen in the majors. He saw Japanese shortstop Yasuyuki Kataoka field grounders in perfect position to turn double plays, and other infielders moving to balls on angles that would make Euclid proud. Korean third baseman Bum Ho Lee charged grounders with the intensity of October, which for many foreign players this W.B.C. might as well be. �They work their craft a whole lot more than we do,� Ducey said. �They work on their swings instead of being pull, pull, pull.� Asked how a typical major-leaguer might respond to pregame practices as intense as those of Asian teams, Ducey said: �They�d feel like it was overkill � �I don�t want to get gassed.� Major league players, not all of them, but they do enough to get by because physically they�re such gifted athletes.� Not unlike how Asia�s practices are more rigorously exacting than those in the major leagues, several scouts said that Japan�s infield drills are generally more taut than Korea�s, a difference they ascribed to Korea�s having larger players with more power and less reliance on basic run-at-a-time fundamentals. Cleanup hitter Tae Kyun Kim packs 220 pounds on his six-foot frame, while first baseman Dae Ho Lee stands a downright behemoth 6-foot-4, 264. Japan has only one regular who weighs as much as 205: catcher Kenji Johjima, who perhaps not coincidentally makes his living with the Seattle Mariners. �The Japanese, they are far superior fundamentally,� said Ducey, the Blue Jays� coordinator of Pacific Rim operations. �They take thousands of ground balls a week, not just the young guys, all of them. The Japanese run hard down the line all the time. Koreans, it�s a little haphazard at times. And Koreans are generally more physical, more aggressive at the plate. They�re more suited for our game.� And still, a few hours later, the Koreans proved that they were plenty fundamental, more so, on this night, than Japan. They beat Japan on execution alone, all in the first inning. It started with the first two batters of the game: second baseman Keun Woo Jeong grabbed a high chopper and threw to first to barely nip Japan�s speedy Ichiro Suzuki, and on the next play, first baseman Tae Kyun Kim dived to his right for a hard ground ball and threw to the pitcher hustling over to cover first. Rather than an early first-and-second, no-out jam, the inning soon ended peacefully. And in the bottom half of the inning, Japan looked uncharacteristically clumsy. After a leadoff single, second baseman Akinori Iwamura double-clutched a ground ball in the hole for what was ruled a single; later, with Iwamura trying to start a double play, Kataoka could not handle Iwamura�s low throw and got no out at all. Two batters later, Korea�s Jin Young Lee stroked a beautiful opposite-field single through the left side for two runs, a 3-0 Korea lead and San Diego�s best imitation of Tony Gwynn in years. With the loss, Japan left itself having to play Cuba on Wednesday night to stay alive in the tournament it won three years ago. Disappointing for Japanese fans, but a treat for American scouts. Just another day at the symphony. �Watching the Japanese fungo hitters is great,� Weidemaier noted. �They�re hitting every type of ball that can happen to an infielder: to the left and right, backhand, sharp one-hoppers, backspin, top spin, slow rollers. Rat-a-tat-tat, they�re so precise in all their movements. To me, that�s what makes this game so beautiful.� metirish Mar 24 2009 07:36 AM I think this quote from Davey Johnson in a way ties in nicely with the observation above from the scout. ] "I'm kinda feeling like Earl Weaver, I don't push the running game," Johnson said. "I don't think that was a big factor when I was playing in Japan. I don't think it is today. I think the stolen base and the bunt base hit, those are becoming less and less a factor in the game." Is "small ball" as Davey suggests becoming less a factor in the MLB game ? Edgy DC Mar 24 2009 07:41 AM A difficulty in such discussions is that we treat "small ball" as a monolith. Not all small ball approaches have the same merit. metirish Mar 24 2009 07:47 AM True , I shouldn't have used that term. Edgy DC Mar 24 2009 08:01 AM Not at all. It's how the writers use it. metsmarathon Mar 24 2009 08:34 AM americans love to americanize their sports. and by that, i mean that we love to turn every sport into football. american football. who needs quickness and finesse when you can have power and strength? we prefer our sports to be blunt instruments presided over by blunter athletes. Edgy DC Mar 24 2009 11:40 AM Not a bad allusion. Centerfield Mar 24 2009 11:58 AM Dae Ho Lee. Not about speed and quickness. Not to rain on the "Playing baseball the right way" parade, but am I the only one that thinks the Asian players lack fundamentals? At least at the plate anyway. They all step in the bucket, they all overswing, and some of their leg kicks are ridiculous. There isn't a short, compact swing on either team.

I can't comment. I'm busy sculpting little Derek Jeters out of bars of soap and piles of mashed potatoes here.

I am constantly tossing golf clubs around, drunk, in the summer months, driving over curbs and such. I'm F-fucking-man99. Fuck Bronx County.

="Frayed Knot":1zv55w66]Andruw to the Rangers - apparently gets a ML deal for low-end money (500K) plus incentives. 15mil to practically minimum wage in one year is tough to do.[/quote:1zv55w66] Yeah, poor guy. My heart breaks for him. /sarcasm Edgy DC Feb 09 2009 07:07 AM It's not like he doesn't get to keep the 15 miills. Vic Sage Feb 09 2009 09:08 AM yeah, i mean basically he just got a raise! Frayed Knot Feb 09 2009 09:26 AM Sure, it just shows a helluva difference between what someone thought he was worth last year vs what they think he's worth barely a year later. How the mighty (and fat) have fallen.

Wow, that's the second thing he's had injected into his ass this decade.

9) My all time favorite movie is Tommy Boy.

="Edgy DC"]The News reports today that Fred's buddy Sandy Koufax got schemed also. Tim Teufel too! That's the last straw. You don't bilik Tim Teufel. I think Teufel was always so fidgety at the plate because someone had their hands in his pockets, takin his dagburn money!

In other winter news, Fman99 is bored retarded with the lack of MLB being played this month. Curse the seasons! I vote for a 240 game schedule and five rounds of playoffs. Also, add the entire AAA to the majors and have a 60 team super league.

="Frayed Knot":2b44ozxk]MLBN gets Bob Costas on board -- a logical choice that brings tiny Bob out of his baseball-less world (he'll still work for NBC) but still a good "get" for them. Will do p-b-p for some of their games as well as studio work - kicking off tomorrow with a one-hour Torre interview[/quote:2b44ozxk] He's a pompous ass. Back to the shire with you, Costas. Frayed Knot Feb 04 2009 07:15 AM ="metirish":10z02g9u]I have no memory of Costas doing p-b-p , has he been out of the picture that long , was he any good?[/quote:10z02g9u] Back when NBC had the national package he was their main guy for years. As with most guys he's going to have his fans as well as his detractors (see FMan). But at least with Costas he's one of the few national sports voices who doesn't either look down at baseball with barely disguised contempt or ignore it until there's a negative story (steroids, contract disputes) to stomp on with both feet. IOW, rather than being a network grunt only doing baseball because some media giant is paying him big bucks and therefore feels obligated to give him something do during the summer, he actually likes and knows the game. Edgy DC Feb 04 2009 07:47 AM The guy has opinions, but he supports his positions with rational arguments, unlike "I'm Brockton T. Fuckin' Broadcaster, with thirty years in this business and a golden throat/All Star career background, so I know whereof I speak." Frayed Knot Feb 14 2009 06:18 AM An hour-long 1969 WS highlights show on today at 9:30 AM and again at 6:00 PM bmfc1 Feb 14 2009 08:42 AM Mr. Administrator, Can we please change the name of this thread to simply "MLB Network" as it is long since passed the preview stage? I appreciate this thread as my online TV Guide still doesn't include the program names for the channel. Thank you. Kong76 Feb 21 2009 12:12 PM Seaver's 300th win going to ninth inning NOW!!! at Yankee Stadium. Lindsey Freakin' Nelson in the booth! Frayed Knot Feb 24 2009 08:47 AM The name of the nightly show on MLBN has morphed from 'Hot Stove' to 'MLB Tonight' - something that sounds like thier way of acknowledging that games (even meaningless ones) are starting on a daily basis. And their nightly preview feature '30 Teams/30 Days' visits Port St. Lucie for their Mets run-down tonight (and likely repeated 7 or 8 times over the next few days). bmfc1 Feb 24 2009 09:34 AM It looks like the MLB Network will have 2 or 3 ST games each day, using a local feed. Friday's game will be on live, w/the SNY crew. metirish Mar 03 2009 01:15 PM I caught Sever on the other night , he was interviewed in Studio 42. At times it was painful to watch as the host tried to engage Seaver in some banter and getting curt responses in return. An ex pitcher whose name escapes me was also there and asked the usual questions about pitch counts that gets Seaver going , at times like that Seaver can be engaging . I was surprised that they got him out to Jersey for an interview. Frayed Knot Mar 03 2009 01:39 PM ]An ex pitcher whose name escapes me Joe McGrane - came up with the Cards in the late '80s/early '90s and I guy I thought was going to be real good, sort of a bigger, better Al Leiter-type. But his career never really panned out so he quickly turned his quotable personality and good looks into a broadcasting jobs almost immediately after he quit playing. apmorris Mar 03 2009 01:57 PM ="metirish":1gdycu5c]I caught Sever on the other night , he was interviewed in Studio 42. At times it was painful to watch as the host tried to engage Seaver in some banter and getting curt responses in return. An ex pitcher whose name escapes me was also there and asked the usual questions about pitch counts that gets Seaver going , at times like that Seaver can be engaging . I was surprised that they got him out to Jersey for an interview.[/quote:1gdycu5c] I thought he was pretty frank - especially concerning pitchers today and the overuse of set-up and closers. He did look a little uncomfortable. metirish Mar 03 2009 02:28 PM Uncomfortable yet confident enough to sport dark blue denim jeans with brown cowboy boots and a sleeveless zip up jacket thing.( wears similar sleeveless jackets a lot) metirish Mar 03 2009 04:33 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 03 2009 06:20 PM video Seaver[/url:2rm6m0xe] themetfairy Mar 03 2009 05:55 PM Irish - that's an adorable picture, but it's not video. Nor is it Seaver. metirish Mar 03 2009 06:21 PM Thanks metfairy.... themetfairy Mar 03 2009 06:26 PM Ah - much better. Thanks Irish apmorris Mar 03 2009 07:18 PM I haven't seen Al Leiter, who's always good, on MLBN yet but I have seen most of the rest of the crew. Let me break it down for you. MLBN, The Best Damn On-Air Personalities Period! Matt Vasgersian Theater Major (like most ESPN Anchoroons), has all the smarminess of Costas and is easily a half inch taller. Harold Reynolds is feeling it. Free from all ass-grabbing accusations, cutting lose and taking over every panel they put him on. He's so comfortable up there. maybe he can start working getting off whatever meds he's taking. Hazel Mae has a great name if you're the Weather chick on WSTRPPR in Cincinnati. Too much lip gloss to be taken seriously, seriously. BTW, some of my best friends are Polynesian. Mitch Williams has a bad attitude, which is always a plus. Barry Larkin is a mannequin or Yul Brynner in Westworld resurrected. Jon Heyman Great to see Heyman has no real solid leads or news or opinions on TV also. Trenni Kusnierek Hope home girl is using sun block 180. Joe Magrane can trigger epilepsy episodes with his misplaced pregnant pauses. Sounds like a fully recovered stutterer. Has a great head of hair, which may or may not be his own. Dan Plesac Hey, remember Dan from the Brewers in the 90s? ... me either. The 80s?. Seems like a nice guy. Scored high on the Wonderlic. more later .... http://mlbnetwork.mlb.com/network/personalities/ John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 03 2009 08:24 PM Vasgerian sounds like a treatment for that not-so-fresh feeling. Hazel Mae has nice pineapples. Gwreck Mar 03 2009 08:31 PM MLB Network is producing their own documentaries/features as well now: apparently there's one on the Young family (Dmitri and Delmon) and one on Josh Hamilton. Watched the Hamilton one (was ok, nothing special) except for the moment early on in the show when they're talking about Hamilton's various baseball skills and they mention his arm, and cut to a shot of him throwing out a runner at third. I mention I think we were there for the game...go quickly check the scorecard I kept, and yep, it was Hamilton throwing out Marco Scutaro, 9 to 5, top of the 6th inning on August 2nd of last year. All of this is mostly just a long way of saying that this channel is great and is my default "flip to" channel when whatever I'm watching goes to commercial, or is boring, or I can't find anything else to watch. John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 03 2009 08:36 PM Yes, I'm liking it too. I'm gonna forget what channel espn was any day now. Fman99 Mar 04 2009 08:02 PM Just noticed that my cable provider has added the HD feed of MLB Network. Very happy about that. apmorris Mar 04 2009 08:07 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":2yiupyby]Yes, I'm liking it too. I'm gonna forget what channel espn was any day now.[/quote:2yiupyby] Yes. I even went so far as to block ESPN. Don't need the hype machine no more. soupcan Mar 04 2009 08:17 PM Lost in the this thread is ap's excellent comedic analysis of the MLB Network on-air staff. You made me laugh anyway. Kong76 Mar 08 2009 11:08 AM Maybe it's a comment on my lack of a life, but that sound bite they play over and over and over and over for the 30 Clubs in 30 Days song is going to put me over the edge. Excellent show, they don't think the Mets will suck much either! Kong76 Mar 08 2009 12:09 PM F99: Just noticed that my cable provider has added the HD feed of MLB Network <<< Thanks for mentioning that, Cablevision snuck it onto channel 790 while I wasn't paying attention. Kong76 Mar 08 2009 01:10 PM Never mind HD, South Africa wouldn't look good in 3D Sensory Smellavision. themetfairy Mar 13 2009 06:02 PM Right now they're showing the MFY/BoSox game. Boston is up 7-1, and it's the NESN feed so we get to hear Jerry Remy's Bahston accent. Next to a Mets game, this is as good as it gets metirish Apr 07 2009 07:47 PM I hate the day after Opening Day but at least we have MLB Network. I've been watching their MLB Tonight 1st to 3rd show , love it. They pop back and forth between games , they just had a Milton Bradley AB against Wandy Rodriguez in a big spot in that game , two men on base. They showed the whole AB that ended with Matsui turning a sweet DP. themetfairy Apr 07 2009 07:54 PM Plus this is the free preview week for MLB Extra Innings, for out of market games. metirish Apr 08 2009 09:52 AM ="themetfairy":14hamc5h]Plus this is the free preview week for MLB Extra Innings, for out of market games.[/quote:14hamc5h] I was going through those too, Rob Dibble doing color for the Nats , he's as useless as tits on a bull. Watched some of the games featuring the Blue Jays at home and the Twins at home , I absolutely hate watching games on FieldTurf. John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 08 2009 09:29 PM Vin Scully calling the Dodgers-Pods game, Padres wearing their fatigues. DocTee Apr 08 2009 09:31 PM ]Rob Dibble doing color for the Nats , he's as useless as tits on a bull. Quote of the year candidate right here. MFS62 Apr 09 2009 06:26 AM About how many games into the season do you think it will take for mlb network to realize that Bonds is no longer playing for SF, and therefore nobody cares about watching their games? Later Fman99 Apr 09 2009 06:28 AM ="MFS62":3q171fhs]About how many games into the season do you think it will take for mlb network to realize that Bonds is no longer playing for SF, and therefore nobody cares about watching their games? Later[/quote:3q171fhs] They actually have quite a few young talented hitters (Ishikawa, Sandoval, Lewis) a pretty solid rotation and a few live arms in their pen. They're missing a big bat though. themetfairy Apr 09 2009 06:39 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":2znwpofn]Vin Scully calling the Dodgers-Pods game, Padres wearing their fatigues.[/quote:2znwpofn] I love listening to Scully call games. Centerfield Apr 09 2009 12:17 PM ="themetfairy":1dpmlfux]="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1dpmlfux]Vin Scully calling the Dodgers-Pods game, Padres wearing their fatigues.[/quote:1dpmlfux] I love listening to Scully call games.[/quote:1dpmlfux] Yup. ON EDIT: He's one of the handful of people who when I hear their voice makes me feel like a kid. Brent Musberger and Casey Kasem are some others. metirish Apr 24 2009 02:25 PM Nearly a month into the season and MLB Network is my default station. I love all the live look-ins to games , as soon as SNY goes to break I flip over to MLB. I don't watch Baseball Tonight anymore , no point really. HahnSolo Apr 24 2009 02:48 PM I agree, although none of the hosts/analysts have really grown on me. Larkin is about as bland as they come, and he seems to always be on. Harold Reynolds is OK. Frayed Knot Apr 24 2009 02:56 PM Neil Best in today's Newsday[/url:2aq3rzp9] on MLBN's nightly show. He does this every once in a while: goes the entire day (or a good portion of it) watching one sports-TV related thing just to see how sane he comes out on the other side. I know he's done the NFL draft (I'd shoot myself by hour 2) and once did MSG on a summer day not long after they lost the Mets and had nothing but the winter sports teams remaining. Lotsa informercials and cheesy in-house stuff IIRC. apmorris Apr 24 2009 09:21 PM I've had it on in the background since the season started. I agree about Larkin. The hosts for the most part are OK, this guy though has an acute case of Scott Van Peltism Edgy DC Apr 24 2009 09:45 PM Did you have to pick a wanking shot? G-Fafif May 06 2009 01:12 PM If you're outside the NYC area, you can watch Thursday night's game on MLBN, Bob Costas and Al Leiter at the mics. Blacked out here. Benjamin Grimm May 06 2009 01:17 PM I'm sure it will be blacked out in Philadelphia too. Since I don't have Comcast cable, I can't see most of the local Phillies broadcasts, except for the relatively few that are on the over-the-air channel. apmorris May 06 2009 01:31 PM MLBNetwork, The Best Damn On-Air Personalities Period! (part 3) Billy Ripken He got the job on his own merits, just like how he got his job with the Orioles. ps. Does MLBN know we have to look at him whens he talks? from G-Fafif May 06 2009 01:44 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":2rks6vvy]I'm sure it will be blacked out in Philadelphia too.[/quote:2rks6vvy] I suppose. It was hard enough to acknowledge there was a world outside of New York to remember another city might be involved. bmfc1 May 06 2009 05:07 PM Billy Ripken does a good job on MLBN, just as he does on XM Baseball. He is also a great teacher of the game at the Ripken Baseball Camp. Swan Swan H Jun 27 2009 10:48 AM Game 5 of the 1968 NLCS on NOW! It's the bottom of the 1st, and it's scheduled to run until 4:30, if you want to check in for the big finish.

="smg58":drf6vvdn]Flushing Meadows would have been a better place for him. I'd have offered two years and $7M, he appears to have gotten two and six. Sigh.[/quote:drf6vvdn] He wouldn't have taken that deal. In Baltimore he will get more AB's. He doesn't have a position to play in Queens... as long as Castillo is on the roster. Even then his glove is shaky at 2B. Frayed Knot Feb 03 2009 10:05 AM Wiggy would be a train-wreck as a full-time 2B 86-Dreamer Feb 03 2009 11:37 AM I had been hoping that Wiggy could be part of a corner outfield platoon, but as pointed out in the Bobby Kielty thread, the Mets may have already signed someone who can do just as well at the plate, and is actually an outfielder by trade. Career vs lefties: Wiggy: PA 827 OBP 364 SLG 514 OPS 878 Kielty: PA 803 OBP 379 SLG 503 OPS 881 that is about as as similar as you can get. Overall Wiggy: PA 2995 OBP 330 SLG 460 OPS 790 Kielty: PA 2084 OBP 348 SLG 408 OPS 757 Kielty is a couple of years older and coming off injury, hence the non-guaranteed deal, but could turn out to be a solid contributor. Edgy DC Feb 03 2009 11:39 AM Mark Bradley is in da hous! seawolf17 Feb 03 2009 12:01 PM ="Edgy DC"]Mark Bradley is in da hous! I guess I should duck. attgig Feb 03 2009 01:46 PM I think he takes over at 3B, and they find a way to trade Mora. Either that, or, he's part of a 3 way platoon with huff, scott, and himself between 1b & DH Luke Scott was supposed to be the regular DH after they got Pie from the cubs, but this changes things. metirish Feb 03 2009 01:48 PM Wasn't Luke Scott at one time considered a big time prospect destined for great tings , did that work out or what? G-Fafif Feb 03 2009 02:04 PM ="metirish":35whjb6h]Wasn't Luke Scott at one time considered a big time prospect destined for great tings , did that work out or what?[/quote:35whjb6h] Luke Scott hit the deep fly ball Carlos Beltran wrangled on the Minute Maid hump. It sent him into a deep depression and then, logically, the Orioles. sharpie Feb 03 2009 02:19 PM Mora can still play and had a very good year for the O's til he got hurt. The 'Stros got tired of Ty's lack of range at third and moved him to the outfield once Carlos Lee got hurt. I think the O's playing him at first makes sense. OlerudOwned Feb 03 2009 04:24 PM Luke Scott didn't have a bad year at all last season, and it was his first as a regular. He is 31 years old, though. smg58 Feb 03 2009 05:14 PM I liked Wigginton as a platoon leftfielder who could allow Tatis to spell Church or Delgado against some lefties, who could also provide insurance at a number of positions in the event of an injury or ineffectiveness. I'm not sure if Baltimore is guaranteeing him anything more full-time than that. I never suggested him as a second baseman, although it's worth pointing out that the guy we currently have playing second was himself a train wreck with the glove last year. Wigginton is a below average defensive infielder, but not disastrously so -- especially if he can come close to duplicating his 128 OPS+ from last year. I think the Astros non-tendering him had a lot more to do with money than with Ty's glove, but they had to offer a more publicly palatable reason than being too cheap to try and contend. I'm not sure if Luke Scott was ever considered an elite prospect, but the 1.047 OPS he put up in his rookie half-year for Houston in 2006 generated more hype than he could live up to. He's still a decent hitter though, at least against righties. I thought Kielty was a very good pickup. I'm concerned that another righthanded bat on the bench beyond Tatis and Castro is a necessity and not a luxury, and I'd be more comfortable with Kielty as insurance given that he never saw the majors last year. Yes there's Nick Evans, but it's in his and the Mets' long-term best interest that he play full-time at first in AAA. PatchyFogg Feb 04 2009 03:53 PM I'm just impressed that the Orioles are making nice (not earth-shattering, but nice) moves this Winter