Valadius

I figured we could use a thread to post about random player movement. A couple of items: The Braves will not re-sign Andruw Jones. Boras, if you can believe it, is looking for $20 million a year. He's insane. Bob Wickman is likely to retire. Craig Biggio retired.

Sox, but I really don't have much of a preference. I just don't want them to go much farther, lest Red Sox fans actually start to get spoiled.

I'm glad he's staying. I think we can give him another chance considering 2006. We just need some new coaches around him.

I am a firm believer in assessing players in two ways for the Hall of Fame: 1. Accumulated statistics (career totals) 2. Peak performance (ideally 10 seasons) I've come across the cases of Hack Wilson and Chick Hafey. Both are Hall-of-Famers, but they had abbreviated careers. One drank himself out of baseball and the other was derailed by injury. In Hafey's case, he suffered from what Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig, in their book, The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time, call "Smokey Joe Wood Syndrome". They defined this as, to quote Hafey's Wikipedia article, "where a player of truly exceptional talent but a career curtailed by injury should still, in spite of not having had career statistics that would quantitatively rank him with the all-time greats, be included on their list of the 100 greatest players." I think this argument really ought to get more consideration. The way measurements and formulas are weighted is predominantly in favor of players with longer careers. However, some great players can't help that their bodies might deteriorate faster than others. It happens. Therefore, I would like to make the case that, failing that a player doesn't accumulate large enough numbers to initially satisfy induction, that you apply both the Ralph Kiner Exception and the Smokey Joe Wood Exception, meaning that if a player has 10 exemplary full seasons under his belt, preferably in a row, he should get in. If for 10 years he was considered one of the best in baseball, he should get another look. So, since Juan Gonzalez put up incredible numbers in at least 10 full seasons, and since he ended up suffering from Smokey Joe Wood Syndrome, I think he ought to get in.

The wild card team that wins the play-in game would be at a significant disadvantage. They likely burn their ace and potentially tire their pen, players are less rested, and there's an added chance of injury. Hey, if a third-place team makes it through the gauntlet to win it all, more power to them. They deserve it.

Rockies. Always had a soft spot for them, along with the Brewers. Plus, I hate the Phillies with a passion now.

Cubs. I want a Cubs-Indians World Series. Battle of the Milestone-Avoiders. For the Cubs, averting 100 years without a championship. For the Indians, averting 60 years without a championship.

I'll fill these in by the end of the week. NL MVP - Matt Holliday AL MVP - Alex Rodriguez NL Cy Young - Jake Peavy AL Cy Young - C.C. Sabathia NL ROY - Ryan Braun AL ROY - Dustin Pedroia NL MOY - Bob Melvin AL MOY - Eric Wedge NL Gold Gloves: 1B - Todd Helton 2B - Brandon Phillips 3B - Ryan Zimmerman SS - Troy Tulowitski OF - Alfonso Soriano OF - Aaron Rowand OF - Jeff Francoeur C - Russell Martin P - Tim Hudson AL Gold Gloves: 1B - Kevin Youkilis 2B - Placido Polanco 3B - Akinori Iwamura SS - John McDonald OF - Ichiro Suzuki OF - Coco Crisp OF - Nick Markakis C - Kenji Johjima P - Jake Westbrook and finally, where do mets rank: David Wright, MVP: 4th Carlos Beltran, MVP: 11th Jose Reyes, MVP: 13th John Maine, Cy Young: 12th Oliver Perez, Cy Young: 10th

I wonder how many of the Benson Bunch are free agents again this year.

I really, really doubt that there can ever be a wild-card winner that wins it by 14 games, but even if there was, them's the breaks. Hopefully last night's game opened a few eyes.

You really have to ask?

Linebrink had a stellar '05: 1.83 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 70 K, 23 BB in 73.2 IP. He's been good, but not amazing, the last two years. This year he had a 3.71 ERA, 50 K, 25 BB in 70.1 IP.

Scotty Steroid-weis has a hissy fit: ]Report: Schoeneweis denies steroid report October 2, 2007 NEW YORK (Ticker) - New York Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis has denied a report which claims he received six shipments of steroids from the Signature Pharmacy in Florida in 2003, according to the New York Daily News. Schoeneweis told the Daily News he was unaware of the allegations and insisted they were unfounded. "I don't even know what that is," said Schoeneweis when asked of the report. "Steroids in Florida? I never received anything from Florida. I'm not going to comment. I never even heard of it." "We have no knowledge of the situation. We have no comment," Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said. ESPN The Magazine reported on Monday that Schoeneweis received six steroid shipments from Signature Pharmacy, the subject of an ongoing investigation by Albany, New York district attorney David Soares, while playing for the Chicago White Sox from 2003-04. According to a source in Florida close to the ongoing investigation of Signature, Schoeneweis' name appeared on packages that were sent to Comiskey Park while he was with the White Sox in 2003. Two more shipments arrived at the stadium in 2004, months before Schoeneweis, a testicular cancer survivor, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow. The doctor who prescribed the drugs, Ramon Scruggs, also wrote prescriptions for Toronto third baseman Troy Glaus, according to the report. Scruggs has since been suspended by California's state medical board on charges that he "prescribed approximately 6,073 prescriptions of dangerous drugs or controlled substances over the Internet without a good faith examination of the patients." Last month, Sports Illustrated reported that Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons received shipments of steroids and growth hormones from the Signature pharmacy between 2003 and 2005. Gibbons met with MLB officials on September 17, afterward telling reporters he was "happy to answer all of their questions," but he did not elaborate on the situation. Soares is accusing Signature's owners, Stan and Naomi Loomis, of running a prescription mill in which doctors furnished prescriptions online for as little as $25 each without ever meeting patients. The married pharmacists are charged with unlawfully distributing steroids and other drugs. Another 21 people have been indicted and 10 have pleaded guilty, including five doctors.

No. Absolutely not. That is a horrendous idea. I'd give up Gomez and Pelfrey in deals, but I would never trade Reyes. He just needs to go to detox.

Scuttlebutt is that Willie's staying: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AnPhFZM4X2dF9J0Fdj1cNNPavrYF?slug=txmetsrandolph&prov=st&type=lgns

Found a story from last month that now is quite hilarious: ]Scott Schoeneweis nearly dropped his sandwich Friday when told that Troy Glaus allegedly received shipments of performance-enhancing steroids, as reported that same afternoon by SI.com. Schoeneweis was Glaus' teammate on the Angels during part of the time in question, from September 2003 to September 2004, and also as recently as last season with the Blue Jays. "Glaus? Troy Glaus?" a surprised Schoeneweis said. "Until he comes out and admits himself that it actually was going on, I will not believe it." They were on to him.

Jesus Christ. No fucking wonder. Terminate his contract.

Quote from Moises Alou: "I don't want to go anywhere else." He's staying put.

Maine - 5.75 Milledge - 1.25 Wright - .75 Castillo - .75 Castro - .5 Delgado - .5 Alou - .5

Zvon wrote: I thought it was Ricky who turned Reyes on to the spleef. But,....It could have been Mota. Maybe he brought a bag in with him. A hefty bag. Do they test for that in baseball? Its not exactly a performance enhancing drug. Reminded me of this:

Oh hush. I just had to vent. And my requests aren't that outlandish. It's not like I'm one of those guys on the FAN saying the Mets should get A-Rod and Pujols and Holliday and Magglio, etc. These can realistically be done.

Omar, get a pen, and write this down. You miscalculated. You didn't plan far enough ahead. When the pitchers started to tire, you didn't have any fresh arms available for Willie to use. We need to develop our own relievers. Make that a priority. And let's get some more offensive talent, too. Delgado isn't getting any younger, and sooner or later we'll need a new full-time left fielder. I have no faith in Carlos Gomez, but I'll give him another chance if he improves. We need to go out and acquire some guys. I've got a wish list: Micah Owings - best-hitting pitcher in the big leagues. He's good enough to be available as a pinch-hitter, or if we convert him into a long reliever, we don't have to pinch-hit for him. That's valuable. Dontrelle Willis - available at a reduced price. If Peterson really is the wizard he makes himself out to be, he can be fixed. A defensive infield whiz - somebody like John McDonald, who can play all over the infield and spell Wright or someone else in late innings of games we're winning. A knuckleballer - because we need more variety in our pitching staff. A catcher who calls a good game - we need a catcher who works well with the pitchers and makes smart decisions. Hitting helps, but it's secondary. A better bullpen - I don't care what it takes, we need more talent in the bullpen.

Jose Reyes forgot how to steal bases. Hell, he forgot how to play baseball. This season, we were 39-24 in games where Jose Reyes stole a base. He only stole 5 in September. That said something to me.

If I only had a beer. I'm fucking miserable.

David won't get it. The one thing that would have kept him as an option at the top was that the Mets were gonna be a playoff team. Now he ends up in 4th, most likely, behind Holliday, Rollins, and Fielder.