Vic Sage

Between the Cubs and ChiSox, Chicago has been a hub of baseball activity this off-season.

Doesn't matter if it works or not. Do it anyway. It'll embarrass them at cocktail parties. It'll make them just a tad apprehensive about attending any public events. Whatever joy they seem to milk out of owning a baseball franchise may curdle, even just a tiny bit. And, personally, I'll settle for some Wilponian discomforture in the short term. they should share our pain, hiding behind their plexiglass walls.

I think increasing the budget by $30 million is great, but I don't have $30 million and neither do you and neither does the organization All i'm saying here is that an owner of a franchise in NYC that can't afford to spend enough to be in the top 1/3 of payrolls instead of the bottom 1/3 should be facing an outcry demanding he sell the team. There should be skywriting and billboards and photobombs and every other form of fan revolt conceivable. It should not be dismissed easily with "well, that's the way it is", and it especially shouldn't be lauded as a good strategy of wise restraint. And its not that spending more guarantees anything, but its supposed to be one of the competitive advantages a big-market team should have, and we as fans that pay the highest prices in the league for EVERYTHING have a right to expect. And when they don't, its entirely appropriate to call them on it, not excuse them for it. And not because fan protests will force a change of direction, much less a sale, but because it makes us feel better to call them on it. Let the truth be spoken for its own sake. It will help us sleep better at night.

i think Sean will take Gee's spot in the bullpen as a long-man/spot-starter, while also serving as a 2nd LHP. Gee will go for a prospect.

but he wouldn'ta

There used to be (still is?) a Gil Hodges Little League on Shore Parkway just outside of Coney Island, with a nicely maintained stadium. https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3444/3944484849_f5ff6edb07_b.jpg

He's an excellent pitcher, but he's on the wrong side of 30, with 7 straight 200IP seasons. a 6-year deal for that kind of pitcher is unlikely to go well. But i guess Theo knows that and figures they're 1 pitcher away from being in immediate contention? I don't see it, but he would know better than me.

All this cautious "i'd do it if he were healthy" stuff ... yeah, well, no shit. But the only way we even sniff a consensus #1 overall prospect like Profar, an incredibly young 5-tool middle infielder whose produced in the minors, is because he DOES have injury concerns. Absent those, there's no way Texas would do that trade. Of course it's a risk. You throw the dice, and if you win, you're set for at least a decade. Thor is a valuable commodity, but with Harvey, deGrom, Wheeler already in the rotation (and a bunch of good prospects like Matz and Montero still in the system), i'd take that shot. Because its not like pitchers don't get hurt (and at a significantly higher rate than position players). And this kid at his best is projected as better than Thor at HIS best, and at a position of greater need and scarcity.

DeGrom Duda Murphy Lagares Niese D'Arnaud Wheeler Granderson Wright Famiglia Colon Torres Gee Tejada Mejia Niuehenheis Flores Edgin EYoung Recker denDekker Carlyle Eveland Campbell Black Herrera C.Young Abreu Matsuzaka Montero

I like Daniel Murphy and I think he's going to have a good year. .290, 14 homers, 38 doubles. I also think he'll walk more than he has in the past. 2014= .289/9hr/37dbl with 39 BBs (which is his career average). very close to Grimm's projections, but just a hair short. and considering his career avg = .290/10/40, its a shade short of those numbers, too. And his .332 OPB isn't an improvement, nor does his .734 OPS quite match his career .752. In other words, his numbers this season were pretty consistent with his career to date. And if he were a good middle IFer (or a decent catcher or a GG-quality CFer), this would be perfectly good offensive production. But for a below-average 2bman, they're just fair and nothing to get excited about. so i agree totally with the Baseball Prospectus pre-season analysis and, despite his all star appearance, nothing changed this year.

in a universe with a magical "force", these sorts of questions become moot, don't they?

So are they giving up on Campbell for that slot? After a solid year, he finished badly, so i can see why. He also doesn't have the power you might expect for that role. He seems like a AAAA player; still, i kind of liked him. But maybe they want to get one of these guys in ADDITION to Campbell, who has defensive versatility (even if he's not very good at any position). So the bench would be... Recker (RH-C), Tejada (RH-MI), Niehunheis (LH-Of),Campbell (RH-IF/OF), ____? (OF).

shit

Lefty Specialist wrote: GermMaine AllensWerth! Frank Cat-Alan-Otto

ditto.

avi

he's not worth investing that much of time in... i just thought the double features would suffice, in terms of giving some broad strokes about his career. But if you want my top 10 (in chronological order): (1983) Risky Business (1986) The Color of Money (1988) Rain Man (1989) Born on the Fourth of July (1992) A Few Good Men (1996) Jerry Maguire (1999) Magnolia (2003) The Last Samurai (2013) Oblivion (2014) Edge of Tomorrow And ranking my top 5: 1. The Last Samurai 2. Magnolia 3. Rain Man 4. Risky Business 5. Jerry Maguire

oh my, i am sporting quite a chubby.

so far, Ed-Mart has a 1-vote lead over Schilling for the 10th spot. Sheff is a distant 12th, with 4 votes, just ahead of Kent and Lee Smith. Nobody else is on the radar.

Tom Cruise film fest -- 14 weeks of Cruise control! Adolescence (supporting): 1981 Taps 1983 The Outsiders Adolescence (lead): 1983 All the Right Moves 1983 Risky Business Hustlers: 1986 The Color of Money 1988 Rain Man Men of action: 1986 Top Gun 1990 Days Of Thunder Oscar nominations: 1989 Born on the Fourth of July 1996 Jerry Maguire Lawyers: 1992 A Few Good Men 1993 The Firm Tom & Nicole: 1992 Far and Away 1999 Eyes Wide Shut Bad guys: 1994 Interview with the Vampire 2004 Collateral MI series: 1996 Mission: Impossible 2000 Mission: Impossible II 2006 Mission: Impossible III 2011 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Supporting roles: 1999 Magnolia 2008 Tropic Thunder SF lit: 2002 Minority Report 2005 War of the Worlds Military history: 2003 The Last Samurai 2008 Valkyrie Alien invasion: 2013 Oblivion 2014 Edge of Tomorrow *Better off forgotten: 1983 Losin' It 1985 Legend 1988 Cocktail 2001 Vanilla Sky 2007 Lions for Lambs 2010 Knight & Day 2012 Jack Reacher 2012 Rock of Ages

i had absolutely no desire to see this movie.

no to Sheff on character grounds? or because you just don't think he was as good as Schilling?

i don't see him accepting a super-Joe role the year after being among the league-leaders in hits and making the A-S team, and a year before free agency. But i don't agree that he "held his own" at 2b. I think he was probably among the worst defensive full-time 2Bmen in all of baseball last year, and i don't think he makes up enough for that with his bat. I'm not interested in giving him away just to clear payroll, because i think a Mets owner should be able to afford an arbitration salary for Mr. Muffy. But I'm willing to trade him for a SS, even a SS prospect, probably as part of a package, because i don't think our ownership is willing to pay him now or long-term, and i don't think his overall production is particularly irreplaceable, since some of our best organizational prospects play that position better than he does, and have the potential to hit more, too.

Of the 1st timers, i would vote for the following 4: Randy Johnson Pedro Martinez Gary Sheffield John Smoltz Of the holdovers i would vote for the following 6: Barry Bonds -- 34.70% Roger Clemens -- 35.40% Craig Biggio -- 74.80% Mike Piazza -- 62.20% Jeff Bagwell -- 54.30% Tim Raines -- 46.10% I would also vote for these guys if there were more spots on the ballot (or if i left off Bonds and Clemens): Edgar Martinez -- 25.20% Alan Trammell -- 20.80% Borderline: Curt Schilling -- 29.20% Jeff Kent -- 15.20% Mark McGwire -- 11% Larry Walker -- 10.20% Close, but no cigar: Lee Smith -- 29.90% Mike Mussina -- 20.30% Fred McGriff -- 11.70% Don Mattingly -- 8.20% Sammy Sosa -- 7.20% Carlos Delgado Nomar Garciaparra Troy Percival 1 & done: Rich Aurilia Aaron Boone Tony Clark Jermaine Dye Darin Erstad Cliff Floyd Brian Giles Tom Gordon Eddie Guardado Jason Schmidt

Edgy MD wrote: Either Ken Davidoff has won some degree of redemption with whispers that seem to corroborate his take on R.A. Dickey, or the alleged Wilpon Smear Machine has infiltrated the Toronto organization. The piece doesn't say he's a troublemaker, or a bad guy. All it said was that he argued with his manager about getting pulled early, but what pitcher doesn't? All i can really see in that article is that jocks don't like other guys in a clubhouse who think, particularly if they can think about things other than the game. Yeah, he's a grown up and an individual capable of independent thought, and probably doesn't have much patience for or interest in the obsessed 1-dimensional managers and teammates that are always surrounding him. And they probably resent that. I'll take him back in a heartbeat.