Vic Sage

I better go start a thread about how the Phillies pitchers will finish 1-2-3 in the Cy Young voting I guess. you can start a thread about anything you want, but that topic is more likely to be an accurate projection of the 2011 season than anything else you've written about it lately.

Well, we made it 14 posts without snark. Not bad. hey, i had no intention of saying a word in this thread. Ceetar decided to challenge my point in the "worries" thread about Pagan in THIS thread, for some reason, so i responded here. If you don't want snark, don't start snarking. I hope the Mets prove him wrong. Deep down inside, I'd bet he does too. of course i do, and its not deep down inside, its right there on the surface. But i understand the difference between "hoping" and "thinking". I'm pretty sure it involves entirely different lobes.

While I agree that any optimism for the season has to be carefully measured, it's also fair to point out that not everything on your list was accurate. maybe hyperbolic, but inaccurate, as a factual matter? which ones? I'll double check. - You are right, i was inaccurate about the combined Young/Capuano numbers. Young = 18 gs /14 gs /4 gs and Capuano = 0/0/9, that = 45 Gs for the 2 of them over the past 3 years, or 27 over the past 2 years. I sit corrected. Does this affect my point at all? No, not really. - and yes, you're right again, that we do not have "no 2bman". Technically, the Mets will have a person standing in the space between the 1bman and the 2b bag. With 2 days to go til the season starts, we finally have a pretty good idea who'll that'll be too. Have great expectations for Mick Emaus do you? I will be shocked if we get anything close to league average production from the position. - as for the rest, i stand by it. Your mileage may vary, but i deny they are factually inaccurate.

Ceetar wrote: Angel Pagan, in over 1000 AB with the Mets .294/.344/.441 btw, that's better than Shane Victorino. Yes, lets pretend he's an established full-time player, instead of being a part-time player for 4 years and a full timer for 1, with a 100+ point career differential in OPS vs LHPers and 2800+ minor league PAs with an OPS just barely over .700. Because otherwise it would interfere with the rose tinting of your glasses.

i have no worries, because i fully expect this team to compete for last place in the division but, if everything goes right, reach 81 wins. they can't break my heart this year... it's pre-broken. why? hitting: - Beltran moves like Kirk Gibson in `88; - Bay's bat speed must be tracked with a calender; - we have no 2bman; and - we're assuming Pagan is a late bloomer and not just a 1-year wonder; pitching: - Our ace has a serious arm injury with no clear track record of full (much less quick) recovery; - 2 of our other starters have around 30 starts combined over the last 3 years; - about Dickey, see "Pagan" comments - After F-Rod, the pen is loaded with unexceptional, unproven arms; - F-Rod's contract may vest if he's used incorrectly management: - our manager has been run out of 2 towns already, and fans/media are poised to pounce and clamor for Wally "the Bunter" Backman - our moneyball GM just admitted to making moves (at least in part) to appease fans' blood lust; - our owners are embroiled in financial scandal that likely inhibits their ability to make any improvements in roster; in fact, it is likely to cause a major salary dump in mid-july, when we're out of it, and Sandy wants to start gathering chips for the departing Reyes, and whatever he can get for F-Rod, Beltran, Santana, and maybe even Wright. i think "optimism" in this context goes beyond merely misguided and approaches dangerously delusional.

Sometimes teams will find a player with an X-factor that goes way beyond talent. pray tell, what might that be, sir? Leo Durocher once said that second baseman Eddie Stanky could not hit, field or run � all he could do was win. Ah, the metaphysical art of "winning"!... apparently shared by few noble souls, like Stanky and Charlie Sheen. But Stanky was not helpless. He retired in 1953 with a .410 career on-base percentage, among the best in history. oh, wait... but i thought you said... BEYOND talent, um.... metaphysics... "winner".... um, you mean the talent to have a career OB% of 4 fucking 10 might have factored into it too? gee. what a douche. the NY Times... all the news we can make fit to print.

1. Where they will finish in the NL East 4th 2. What the final record will be 76-86 3. If you predict a wild card spot, say so Nyet 4. If you predict a playoff appearance, how far will they go? nowhere

i think Tulo + Street are at least = Pujols + Uribe, given the difficulty of obtaining saves in a 13-team NL only league and the likelihood of a slight regression by Uribe in LA. Wiggy > qualls, but neither is going to play enough to have an impact. Without Uribe in it, no way does GYC even consider it. And he had 2 closers, so he could afford to part with 1. It's a solid deal for you, bucket. And, if PUjols has one of his peak years, GYC will do well, too.

i like David Wright. That's why i picked him. You approached me about a trade, i didn't go to you. Under those circumstances, I wasn't going to make a deal unless it improved me in a weak area. But you were offering me guys like Nyjler Morgan (who has no roster spot) and Correia (who sucks), while asking for Bourne, or Venable, along with Jensen and Wright. I guess we have different sense of the difference in fantasy value between Pujols and Wright in 2011 season. Pujols has leveled off, and Wright still has even further he can go. Sure, Pujols is still likely have better numbers over all, unless injured (which is more likely every year), but so much better that i should significantly weaken myself otherwise? No, i don't think so. So, you made a deal with GYC; a better one, certainly, than any i was offering. Good on you! I'm still going to kick your ass.

Fernando Nieve signed by the Astros to a minor league deal.

matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match find me a find catch me a catch

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Willets Point wrote: Wow, some objective and well-written insight regarding Oliver Perez and the Mets. I think many of the fans campaigning for Ollicide signed off on his contract at the time, it was his arriving to camp in poor shape in '09 and refusal to accept the demotion in '10 that really turned them on him. I was in favor of the contract at the time and would do it again, probably. this. I remember when Trachsel was crap and was asked to go down, and he did. and he came back better. I never had any use for Trax before that (the human rain delay drove me crazy on the mound), but i gave him props for going down, working hard, and coming back stronger. Yes, Ollie had the right to say no. That didnt make it the right thing to do. Ollie can suck it.

I'm not sure why I think Evans still has some upside to show us. But I do i agree, but once they signed Hairston (and i don't know why they did, other than the org doesn't share our faith in Nicky boy), Evans' days were numbered.

If Izzy makes the pen, is it at the cost o' Costa?

metirish wrote: Oh , so , you were in the room when I insulted you for being a slow old fucker? yeah, you twat.

i ended up NOT auto-drafting (i walked out on PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT at intermission, so i was able to get home in time), but yet wish i DID! How do i draft a team and end up punting all the pitching categories? I think i was suffering from a post-PRISCILLA brain fart.

shit. stuck with autopick again this year.

I came here to play, and you didn�t give me the chance," Castillo said he told Collins and Alderson. "You didn�t use me.� he got as much or more ABs as every other 2b candidate other than Dan Murphy, who they played more to learn if he could handle the position. And what are they going to learn about Castillo that the last 3 years of his career didn't already tell them? That his range has diminished to the point that his defense is no longer an asset? that as a powerless hitter, he relied on a OB% & speed, but his speed is gone, too? Plus, he's a whiner. good riddance. Even if they play Luis Hernandez, he won't contribute less as a #8 hitter than Castillo, and he'll certainly cover more ground. I still think you play Murphy and live with his glove. The guy is producing an .850 OPS this spring.

your AGAINST "egg cream & pizza" fridays? i've got a spitball for ya...

Valadius wrote: Sign me up for the idea that sports teams be publicly traded. i'm more interested in their being publicly owned.

according to this guy... http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?id=6190028 By Jeff MacGregor ESPN.com sign me up for 10 shares and 4 tix for "egg cream" day.

finally caught up with this on dvd. my wife and i both hated it. Like SQUID AND THE WHALE (and i didn't), it's a wallow in "dysfunctional family" melodrama, light on plot and heavy on unlikeable characters making bad decisions. sure, the acting is good... with this cast, it would be hard for it not to be. but to what purpose? for another "we always hurt the one we love" slice of bullshit? whatever, dudes.

yeah, i can't see anybody being happy about the prospect of a Donald trump ownership group.

without having read either the contract, the CBA, or precedents on the issue, i think: 1 - contracts are guaranteed in MLB, but a team can always release a player (watch Ollie and Luis walk away this year with big checks from NY); 2 - if another team picks up the player on waivers, they're taking on all the obligations of his contract; but 3 - if the player passes thru waivers without being claimed, the original team is on the hook for all guaranteed compensation, less whatever he's paid by the new team, but neither they or the new team are liable for the original deal's contingent compensation provisions (which by definition were not guaranteed); 4 - the player's union has no basis for challenging the release of a player for any reason whatsoever, as long as the player is then free to sign a new deal with another team If the Mets keep exclusive control of F-Rod's services but manipulate his usage solely to avoid the vesting event, rather than either releasing him (as described above) or making a good faith use of the player as the parties intended when they both signed the deal, the union might have a claim. Of course, I'd argue that using a closer in "high leverage" late-inning situations (rather than exclusively in "closing" situations) was a good faith use of the player's services, and was forseeable usage when the deal was signed, so the Mets would have no liability. But I don't think releasing a player (as long as guaranteed salaries are paid) gives the player or his union any colorable claim.

big deal... i've been posting basically that same roster for months in this thread. Everybody has projected that same roster, basically. The only difference between his projections and mine is that he has Misch being kept in the bullpen over Acosta.