Vic Sage

Centerfield wrote: I don't know why, but I am really optimistic about Capuano. I think he will have a great season. ERA of low 4's, to high 3's, 12-14 wins. this

Ceetar wrote: ... In fact, the Mets pitching, particularly the bullpen, is slowly but surely rounding out to look pretty darn decent. hah hah hah hee hee hee... oh, wait. You were serious? whatever, dude.

Gwreck wrote: (my criteria: admission, positive test, Mitchell report, or other evidence, not mere rumors) That's a helluva criteria. Can you define how "other evidence" differs from "mere rumors" and provide an example? Perhaps with Sosa, as he wasn't in the Mitchell Report but is on your "PEDs" list. Sosa was reported by the NY Times, and other reputable news sources, as being on the list of 103 players to fail the 2003 drug test. That is in contrast to Jeff Bagwell, who voters punished this year for being on a team with Ken Caminiti while simultaneously getting bigger and playing better over the course of his career (as have many other major leaguers over the years, including pre-steriod eras). but, like "michigan", you know all this perfectly well; you just have an issue with ANY kind of line-drawing in this area so your just trying to pick a fight.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: my 2012 ballot: YES -- larkin, raines, bagwell BORDERLINE -- E.Martinez, Tramell, Walker CLOSE, BUT NO -- Morris, Lee, Murphy, McGriff NO -- Gonzo, BWilliams and every other newly elibigible player PEDs -- McGwire, Palmiero (my criteria: admission, positive test, Mitchell report, or other evidence, not mere rumors) What is this "borderline" and "close, but no" business? There are two categories: Hall of Famer or not Hall of Famer. Take a stand, Vic! And just getting named in a report is good enough to get a guy bounced off your list? You're giving a lot of credibility to folks who might not have earned it. "borderline" means i think they have a good argument and i haven't made up my mind about them yet. "close, but no" indicates that i HAVE made up my mind. I put those categories in to give readers a sense of my rankings at this point, rather than present a merely binary "in/out" scenario, which puts Rick Heiling in the same category as Jack Morris. And McGwire and Palmiero did more than "just get named in a report"; Palmiero failed a test and McGwire admitted it. But i think you know all that, and you are just being a total dick for entertainment purposes.

[u:4p8kk0k0]2013: [/u:4p8kk0k0] YES -- M. Piazza, C. Biggio BORDERLINE -- C. Schilling NO - K. Lofton PEDS -- B. Bonds, R. Clemens, S. Sosa [u:4p8kk0k0]2014: [/u:4p8kk0k0] YES -- G. Maddux, F. Thomas BORDERLINE -- T. Glavine CLOSE, BUT NO - J. Kent, M. Mussina NO -- L. Gonzalez [u:4p8kk0k0]2015:[/u:4p8kk0k0] YES -- R. Johnson, P. Martinez, J. Smoltz CLOSE, BUT NO -- Sheffield, N. Garciaparra NO -- C. Delgado

[u:15ulrwlc]my 2012 ballot:[/u:15ulrwlc] YES -- larkin, raines, bagwell BORDERLINE -- E.Martinez, Tramell, Walker CLOSE, BUT NO -- Morris, Lee, Murphy, McGriff NO -- Gonzo, BWilliams and every other newly elibigible player PEDs -- McGwire, Palmiero (my criteria: admission, positive test, Mitchell report, or other evidence, not mere rumors)

2011 Holdovers for 2012 ballot: Barry Larkin Jack Morris Lee Smith Jeff Bagwell Tim Raines Edgar Martinez Alan Trammell Larry Walker Mark McGwire Fred McGriff Don Mattingly Dale Murphy Rafael Palmeiro Juan Gonzalez [Dave Parker - eligibility period expired] failed to meet 5% holdover threshhold: Harold Baines - 4.8 John Franco - 4.6 Kevin Brown - 2.1 Tino Martinez - 1 Marquis Grissom - 0.7 Al Leiter - 0.7 John Olerud - 0.7 B.J. Surhoff - 0.3 Bret Boone - 0.2 Benito Santiago - 0.2 Carlos Baerga - 0 0 Lenny Harris - 0 0 Kirk Reuter - 0 0 Bobby Higginson - 0 0 Charles Johnson - 0 0 Raul Mondesi - 0.0

Valadius wrote: Vic, I don't disagree with you. What I do have a problem with is when voters arbitrarily impose upon themselves a magic cut-off number as opposed to voting in everyone that they believe deserves induction. what makes you think that their limited ballots are the resulf of arbitrary cut-offs? Have they stated that they are doing that? It seems to me, absent evidence to the contrary, they're simply voting for the few they feel are HOFers, and they simply have a higher standard than you do for what that means.

Valadius, your point confuses me. I agree that the system should allow voters to vote for as MANY candidates as they believe to be HOFers. They therefore should also be able to vote for as FEW as they believe qualify (as they are currently entitled to do), but you castigate those voters who do limit their vote to those few, rather than filling out names to fill an arbitrary list of 10 regardless of qualification, while insisting that the ballot should also be open-ended. You should either vote for a fixed number of candidates each year, or be permitted to vote for as many (or as few) as you believe deserve the honor. I get that you want to throw the doors way more open then they have been (and i wholeheartedly disagree with you on this), but i think your position on this point is inconsistent.

.280/20hr - will stay in CF til traded in July.

Guys I've Thought Enough About and Have Decided in Favor Of: Bert Blyleven Tim Raines Jeff Bagwell Guys I Thought Some More About and, Yeah, Support Their Candidacies: =#408000]Roberto Alomar --- Overrated fielder, but so was Sandberg. Both are in the top ten MLB secondbasemen of all time. Its relevance is dubious, but the Orioles have been lost in the wilderness ever since his loogy. =#408000]Alan Trammell --- More win shares than Ernie Banks. I'm a big pusher of Trammel and Whitaker. =#408000]Edgar Martinez --- Hard to argue with those OBPs. A lot of thirdbasemen might have been pushed to DH if it was available to them --- Ron Santo, Stan Hack --- but Martinez wasn't really that bad a fielder. Guys I Like but Couldn't Quite Pull the Trigger On: =#FFBF00]Larry Walker --- He had a 130 OPS+ his last year. Another year or two, even playing 100-120 games, might have kicked me over the edge. =#FFBF00]Dave Parker --- Most of his greatness came before he turned 29, then it was like a decade of goodness. Probably tough to be a big guy playing so much on Astroturf. =#FFBF00]Kevin Brown --- It hurts his candidacy with me that I really kinda don't like him. =#FFBF00]Juan Gonzalez --- A little defensive value might have helped him. Guys I Gave Some Thought to and Rejected: =#FF0000]Harold Baines Bret Boone John Franco Don Mattingly Jack Morris Dale Murphy Fred McGriff Mark McGwire Benito Santiago Lee Smith Guys I Gave Almost No Thought to and Rejected: =#FF0000]Carlos Baerga Marquis Grissom Lenny Harris Bobby Higginson Charles Johnson Al Leiter Tino Martinez Ra�l Mondes� John Olerud Rafael Palmeiro Kirk Rueter B. J. Surhoff um, Ed... where's Larkin? He didn't even get dismissed out of hand?

they should have stockades for such buffoons, and pass out the rotten tomatoes.

your projection is fine, based on current info. I just don't believe for a moment they'll go into the season with 4 OFers, with Ollie in the rotation, and no LOOGY in the bullpen (much less the 72 infielders you have listed). but that's just me.

smg58 wrote: Vic Sage wrote: Again i say "oy". It's still early. And the team does look to be a few wins better today than they were this time yesterday. agreed. but since i had them down as 75-77 wins yesterday, and today i have them as maybe 78-80, and they are intent on not spending the money this year to make 90+ wins a likelihood instead of an outlier possibility, i still reserve the right to say "oy".

projection: 2011 roster rotation: Pelfrey Dickey Niese Capuano Gee * *[santana - DL] *[Perez released/traded] bullpen: F-Rod Parnell Carrasco Acosta Buchholz Misch O'Connor* *[beato returned] Lineup: Reyes Pagan Wright Beltran Bay Davis Murphy / Emaus* Thole / Nickeas [Paulino]** * [Castillo released/traded] ** [Paulino suspended first 8 games] Bench: Nickeas [Paulino] / Thole © Emaus / Murphy (2b/3b/1b) Duda (LH - Of/1b) Evans (RH - Of/1b/3b) Hu (MI)* * [Hernandez released]

yeah, i don't have a problem with Paulino (outside of the whole PED suspension thing, which carries over into the opening weeks of this coming season). But focusing on that point is surely [insert denial metaphor here]...

yeah but David's correction came at age 27, a hitter's peak. Bay is 32, turning 33 next season. And I saw a slow bat, even before he rang his bell. The McReynolds comps are apt, i think. And if you look at what the Little Rock Slacker did at a similar point in his career, it was around .260-.270ba / 15-25hr / 75-85 rbi That sounds about right to me for Mr. Bay, as well, with maybe a few more RBI if Beltran and Wright have good years ahead of him.

Here's my 11/17 post in the FA thread: SP - Ill take Garland for the IP, and take a flyer on Capuano's upside. Harden? I'm not that crazy. C - Torrealba or Olivo, to platoon with Thole. LHRP - having lost 2 LHRPs, we need one from column A (Downs, Fuentes) and one from column B (Romero, DReyes, Beimel, Ohman) 2b - with Uggla gone, no obvious upgrades available, tho' i wouldn't mind Hudson for a year, or taking a flyer on LLopez as a general UT. SP- Garland was too rich for our blood, so we're taking that flyer on Capuano. That's ok with me, if he's the 5th starter. But he's the 4th. So Ollie gets a legit shot in ST to win a slot over Buchholtz, Misch, Gee, Bonzer, Moe, Larry & Curly. C - Again, apparently too much $$ for Torrealba or Olivo, so we went with Paulino, who is a decent platoon partner for Thole. LHRP - we lost Feliciano and Takahashi and do not look poised to fill these holes thru FAs. The only internal option is O'Conner, who isn't yet on the 40man roster, and Misch, who can pick up the slack for Takahashi as a spot-starter long-man. We did pick up another RHRP in Bucholtz, who has decent upside potential. But, assuming F-Rod and Parnell are set, and we use a LOOGY, who does he bump?... Acosta? Carrasco? Beato? or a 2nd LHP, like Misch? I guess so. Maybe 1 makes the rotation and 1 in the bullpen, and we finally just cut Ollie. or just give back Beato. 2b- we traded for Hu. Who? Hu. His glove (especially at SS) will probably give him the edge over Luis Hernandez as a UT. So 2b looks to be addressed with an Emaus/Murphy platoon. Again i say "oy".

take a breath. lay down. it'll pass.

HBT blogger responds to Pearlman by suggesting that, by the same logic, sportswriters are more culpable than players, and should be stripped of their HOF voting privileges. While he's only being sarcastic, or ironic, or something, to highlight the stupidity of Pearlman's position, I fully support most ideas that strip sportswriters of any kind of privilege. In fact, they should have to buy tickets to get in, too! (also sarcastic, but only sorta). http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/lets-ban-the-sportswriters-from-voting/

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2010/12/30/1903174/cairo-projections-bring-the-doom-for-the-2011-mets?ref=yahoo 76-77 wins, 4th place in the east, behind Marlins. I think they're optimistic.

I am in possession of a Rafael Santana game-used bat... so its never been used, i take it? And why the sadness over Raffy-2-Yanks? Was he an "icon", too? I must've missed the memo. Last i remembered, he was a no-hit/no-field SS that Davey sat in favor of Hojo and Mitchell whenever he thought he could get away with it.

for some reason, i like to think of the Mets sending Pedro into the MFY bullpen as akin to Andy Jackson giving smallpox-infected blankets to native leaders.

heck, i'll take him.

Q: What does being a Mets fan mean to you? A: My Mets fandom is an act of existential heroism, with no reward beyond the act itself.