Vic Sage

de Aza has hit his way into the conversation, and he's probably the most experienced CF currently on the roster, except for Granderson. But Granderson hasn't hit for shit this year (there's a shocker) and he doesn't help us by playing CF everyday. Meanwhile, Conforto is busy trying to remember how to hit and Nimmo is the least of both worlds. And all these guys (including deAza) are LHed with big platoon splits. So, if Cespedes is really not going to play CF anymore, then we need a RHed bat that can play CF to platoon with one of these guys, and Ruggiano isn't it. Reyes? Hell, yeah, why not? We're not going to win this without taking some chances. How about Herrera? We could move him to... oh, wait. nevermind.

i forgot we're playing in Yankme stadium (a.k.a, Nuremberg). Yes, Yo-anus will probably DH. And i guess it makes sense to put Grandy in, given the short porch in right. But i'd still rather they played DeAza (which says all that need be said about Granderson's hitting this year). deAza/granderson - cf Walker - 2b Cespedes - DH Bruce - Rf Loney - 1B Flores - 3b Conforto - Lf d'Arnaud - C Reynolds - SS

i'm hoping Terry doesn't bat Bruce 3rd again. He doesn't make enough contact for that slot. I'd rather he went with something like this: deAza - cf Walker - 2b Loney - 1b Bruce - Rf Flores - 3b Conforto - Lf d'Arnaud - C Reynolds - SS

injured already. A true Met!

Bastardo has been a disaster. Niese is still a serviceable 4th-5th starter.

Edgy MD wrote: Much better with Dilson but not Nimrod, I think. Dilson is a talent, but the Mets have some redundancy in middle infield prospects, and currently have three older middle infield vets under contract — and one younger one if you count Flores. This deal can help streamline the transition, and the Mets should know more than other teams about who to deal off and who to keep among Rosario, Cecchini, Herrera, Carpio, Ramos, Reynolds, Giminez, Guillorme, Guerrero, etc. well yes, it's certainly better than Dilson AND Nimmo, and we do have more MI depth than OF depth. But i just think, based on his power/speed combo and MI glove, Herrera has a greater likelihood of developing into an all-star than Nimmo does. And i'm not in love with Bruce. He's ok as a supplementary move, not as the primary move.

Lucroy/Jeffress: that's the package i wanted the Mets to get (rather than or in addition to Bruce)... I wonder what Texas gave for them?

i like Herrera's potential upside more than Nimmo. I don't like the deal, but it might give us a little boost this year. Still, without a Lucroy deal (or similar), this is too little and too much.

seawolf17 wrote: DAMMIT Sir, there are repercussions for yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. You're lucky we don't have you horse-whipped... we haven't had the time to teach our horses how to do that yet.

well THAT sucks. Its one thing to include Herrera in a deal for an all-star catcher, and quite another to give him away in a deal for a 1-dimensional power bat.

a cold shiver just ran down my spine. thanks a lot.

The TiTTS sayeth: "yea, verily, yea!"

when did Jonathan Lucroy become "just Jonathant Lucroy"? I missed the memo. A 2-way catcher in his prime, with a reasonable contract for this and next season. I like Herrera but he's potential ... actually, he's "just" potential. Lucroy is actual production. I have absolutely no confidence in d'Arnaud ever becoming anything, and we've got other middle infield prospects (including Flores, who's here already). The only way the Bruce deal makes sense is if they do the Lucroy deal, too. If we weren't doing either of those deals, then i too would support a Reed trade. But if we're actually going for it, then we need him this season.

i find that plaque text to be disappointing. Its focus on his "durability" is besides the point (100+ games for 11 seasons? Nice, but so what? i can imagine a lot of good but non-HOF catchers accomplished that or something close over the course of their careers), and mentioning an irrelevant stat like "putouts" (which is another of those "just show up" counting stats) with only 1 brief mention of 2000 WS run, yet leaving out the fact that he helped 2 other franchises to post-season play, as well as his .308 lifetime batting avg and 10 silver sluggers, doesn't really express the scope of his overall accomplishments. oh well. at least he's got a Mets hat on.

yeah, great... where were you when i needed you?

i've never seen that type of surgery work before. I think it should be at the top of medical research's "to do" list.

neon yellow. I want them to be able to see it from space.

nice night to be in the park with my family... great seats, nice weather, close game, big win, and a good fireworks show. The only irksome thing (other than parking) was the Cubs fan sitting right behind us. He was making all sorts of noise after the Rizzo HR, and somebody yelled out "sit down!", to which he replied, "i AM sitting!", to which i replied "sit quieter," to which replied "I'll be quiet when we stop hitting homers", to which i replied... nothing. I didn't say anything else. I let the Mets do the talking, and when I turned around at the end, Cubbie was gone. Maybe i just imagined him.

Kevin McReynolds: "... honest-to-God redneck .... hated baseball." hmm, tempting...

why do we continually go into these games with one hand tied behind our collective backs? MORE BATS, FEWER ARMS!

now THAT'S funny!

every time i hear his name, i think of Howard Morris, from the Sid Ceasar show, numerous Mel Brooks movies, and Ernest T. Bass from the Andy Griffith Show. So that was nice. i think i'll miss that. where are you Howard?

Coobs, I think your granddaughter was right. From 101 DALMATIONS until LITTLE MERMAID, Disney films of the 1960s-80s used a cheaper xerox technology for their animation, and they completely lacked the artistry of the hand-drawn cel animation they employed earlier, from SNOW WHITE through SLEEPING BEAUTY. The later works were feature-length cartoons, while the earlier ones were films. That being said, they could still be entertaining. DALMATIONS has a wonderful Villain that carries it, and JUNGLE BOOK has Baloo and some great songs, but, in my view, ARISTOCATS is just meh. Its story is a mishmash of elements from LADY AND THE TRAMP and DALMATIONS, but with cats. And the whole French Cat thing had been done earlier and better in GAY PUR-EE, which was produced by Chuck Jones, with songs by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg that were sung by their OZ collaborator, Judy Garland. ARISTOCATS has a very weak villain (the put-upon butler who spends his time fighting with a horse and a dog, for no apparent reason). Also, the Chinese cat stuff is dated (some of the more stereotypical references have been cut out of the DVD in recent years). The score, too, is inconsistent. I do love the swingin' EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A CAT number, but the rest of the songs are pretty bland. So, for me, the movie's derivative story, low-budget animation and lackluster score make ARISTOCATS one of the weaker Disney films, even among the xerox films of that period. But your mileage may vary, and apparently does. and now i have EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A CAT stuck in my head. Thanks alot.

d'Kong76 wrote: De Aza RF Conforto LF Cespedes CF Walker 2B Loney 1B Cabrera SS Kelly 3B Rivera C Syndergaard P now THERE'S a lineup that'll strike fear into the hearts of Mets fans everywhere.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: It's very much like last year. d'Arnaud & Wright cannot stay healthy, Plawecki gets a golden opportunity and can't run with it. In some ways it's even worse than last year because a mighty slugger in Doodoo is also out, Grandyman isn't reaching base nearly enough and the minor injuries/unavailability of Flores/Lagares/Cespy exacerbated a bad situation. And don't kid yourself on Conforto. He's been awful. That .689 is a combo of 1.118 in March/April and about half that in May/June. Neither he nor Grandy are hitting LHP even a little, highlighting the missing righties. It's probably still too early for radical fixes but Zimmo is having a pretty good year. Wouldn't be aggressively crazy to try and get Conforto going in Vegas for a few weeks, get Zim up and bat him leadoff, and drop Grandy to Conforto territory, 6th or 7th in the lineup. You might also better balance the L-R disparity by trading De Aza and finding a reserve pinch-hitting vs. lefties role for Travis Taijeron. That's weird. I had all the exact same thoughts on the train in this morning. Send Conforto down til he gets his stroke back (ditto Plawecki); bring Baron Zemo up for his OB skills at the top of the order and Monell to platoon with Rivera; dump deAza (or at least send down Robles or Henderson) and bring up Taijeron, who i've liked since he hit the cover off the ball in ST and has continued to do in AAA; and PLEASE send down Kelly and lets get Hererra up here. Nimmo/Lagares (LF/CF) Herrera (2b) Walker (1b or 3b) Cespedes (CF/LF) Granderson /Taijeron (RF) Flores (3b or 1b) Monell /Rivera © Cabrera (SS)