Ceetar

that was just the winter league, he played some non-tracked leagues too if I recall. I just don't get extreme weightlifting as either particularly impactful on what he's done as a player nor as particularly detrimental to his character. But that's mostly an aside to the idea of just cutting him for the sake of cutting him. Also we still have McNeil. And J.D. Davis, and Alonso. And Lindor, and Smith. Smith, and to a lesser extent McNeil, may not be real 'answers' in the infield, but with two big holes in the outfield and a problem at catcher, it seems like expending effort on 2B might be wasted, even with a DH. I WOULD like them to consider bringing back Villar though, who's been real useful. I don't know if he'll be looking for a starting job or not.

Edgy MD wrote: I can't speak to "that established" vs. "replacement level." That's too fuzzy. But performers fall off the table all the time. It's actually not rare at all. Especially if they get hurt, get suspended, or age catches up with them. it's not though. Literally "guys with enough WAR to be potential HoF" is a pretty high bar. And replacement level is literally a 0 WAR. not fuzzy. and yes, the list of banned substances is mostly arbitrary. "If players are taking it and doing well, and its' is not like, an FDA approved product, they'll consider banning it. Unless you get a prescription and a doctor's note. (for some of them) This is certainly a fuzzy area, but it's pretty clear the idea has always been to project the idea that baseball is clean, rather than to actually regulate PED use. Which is a fuzzy area anyway! LIke, say Bond's cream really did improve eyesight (feel like in 20 years something like that would've been distilled down and on the shelves at Walgreens). Is that really a bad thing? There are players and talking heads hot taking that we had to use grip stuff to save the batters lives, so why should something that improves eyesight be banned? Why is that on the other side of the line, the line that means we have to hate a guy and brand him a cheater and always assume all success is a result of that? Batmags mentioned Carter, Carter only had one year at or below re placement level, '89, his last year with the Mets, in only 166 PA. -0.1 fWAR. (absolutely didn't hit that year) but the next two years he weas an above average hitter. He never sunk to replacement level, even as a 38 year old catcher. Catcher. Cano can almost certainly hack it as, at worst, a 2B/DH semi-full time player better than the replacement player the Mets would use his spot for.

because he got lucky with the flyer he took on Addison Reed. (oh, and they made actual acquisitions at the deadline to fill holes, that helped. Wonder where that was this year?) And he promptly squandered all that by failing to build on it, and then he came here this year and WHIFFED on all the holes. George Springer..damn, there couldn't have been a more perfect fit short and long term. What a no-brainer, shame the Mets couldn't find another 5 bucks. Nevermind the hand waving of sexual harassment and then getting annoyed that people didn't like it.

but you wouldn't be able to isolate out the noise and randomness of year to year changes anyway. And people take all sorts of things that have no benefit, or only a perceived benefit, or a placebo effect. It's not like "take shot, be able to identify sliders 10% more accurately!" It's also an arbitrary list. Would Cano have gotten the same benefit from taking something over the counter? Lacking convincing evidence that anything he did was inflating his ability to such a degree that he's basically me in 2022, there's zero reason not to have him on the roster at least to start. Oh no, he took a drug from an arbitrary list of banned substances. It's all just PR nonsense. I don't know why anyone cares about that. Can he help the team win? Let's find out.

I have zero faith in Sandy running this team, on or off the field.

please, they're all juicing. Was he juicing in Seattle in 2018 when he hit? Did it help him jump is BB%? Can you link ANY study that even comes close to approximating the value of steroids or conclusively defines the (positive) impact they have? Until Cano shows he can't hit, I'm gonna assume he can hit. I don't have the actual numbers on this, but it's probably pretty rare for a hitter that established go from solidly above average to below replacement level in two years. Whether or not Cohen bothers to use his wealth to actually fix this team, they've already spent the money on Cano. Even the 600k they'd spend on that roster spot if they cut Cano is more. and, it's not about money, it's about maximizing the value of the guys on the roster. I like Guillorme, but damn, the chances that Cano doesn't outhit Guillorme is almost nil. Hell, the value of PRETENDING to play Cano through Spring Training 2022, just for trading leverage, is probably more than the 25th backup IF guy you'd have there instead. The last time YOU saw his bat, which was barely more than a year ago. Again, DR ball is not major league ball, but he hasn't been sitting on the couch. btw Cano put up 0.8 Def value according to Fangraphs in 2020, in those 49 games. Taez only has 33 games with the Mets, he's at 0.6. Guillorme, Almora Jr, Villar, McNeil, Conforto, Smith, and Alonso have all put up less Def value than Cano this season. It's ALONSO who should be the DH next year, and they should find someone with a glove. Seems like that might NOT be Dominic Smith.

except for like, a slow start to 2019 he's been AT LEAST 12% better than average every season since 2008!, and usually much better. And while he hasn't been facing major league hitting, he HAS been playing baseball. He's not going to get in because #bbwaa and missing time here, but his bat is HoF caliber. Maybe it'll have dropped off, but damn, I need to see it drop off before I throw more money after Javy.

he can hit. no one cares about steroids, they just put Jeter in the HoF for crying out loud. Either way there's zero value in cutting him and at least some value in trying to play him, or even just pretending you're going to.

no, that's just dumb. Also Cohen doesn't make bold statements, just blustery ones.

yes, but you didn't write that, I did. Call it whatever you want, though 'true talent' is a pretty standard usage. Doesn't change the point.

He's a career 104 wRC+. That's over 3200 PA. That's a pretty large sample, and a pretty good representative of what his talent level is. He's been hitting twice that the last few weeks. We can't let the last few weeks forget that what we're signing long term would be the 104 guy, which is fine, but not as the lynchpin of your offense, which is why his acquisition at the deadline was so poorly thought out.

yeah, that's kinda funny. I like that. It's good natured ribbing and he's got a sense of history.

more thoughts on this week's Mets On Tap podcast, in your feed. (rate, review, subscribe) https://www.barleyprose.com/beer/1515/https://www.barleyprose.com/beer/1515/ Báez is okay as part of the bigger picture, but they need 1, more 2, outfielders and particularly guys that can get on base, which is where Báez fails. We're lucky he's having about a good as stretch as he's ever had right now, though that's clearly not his true talent level.

he's only going into his first arb season. He's a Met, part of the current offensive issues. Plenty of time in the offseason to fake trade him.

McNeil has much more of a track record than Turner did. Murphy was tougher, though if the ball wasn't juiced (or wasn't going to stay juiced) it wouldn't have really been a big deal. I think they have to push for some negotiating about the ball quality control, as I believe a few Mets hinted at earlier this season. It's pretty confusing and messes with team construction, not to mention players own value if they're going into the offseason in a season that's boosting offense and they're a pitcher, or vice versa. Really look no farther than Edwin Diaz, the Mets traded for the best relief pitcher in baseball, though a fly ball one, and suddenly MLB made the ball fly like 30 more feet and made it harder to throw sliders.

MLB officials claiming something is against the rules doesn't actually make it so, especially when it's clear they're trying to stay out of the news with this stuff, not specifically stop sign stealing. Because they're fine with it, generally. Make make up your mind and either make it illegal or legal. Why do we neat nonsense "unwritten rule" gray areas? What if you don't whistle? What if you yodel? What if you just shout "FASTBALL"? What if you fake sneeze? are those okay then? That's a lot of water carrying for the Yankees grudge against the Astros though, despite it being pretty clear that the Yankees were "cheating" just as much.

I'm on team "stealing signs should be legal" so I don't care about this at all, It's absurd to be that there is a single battery in baseball that's not taking steps to prevent sign stealing. But drama and intrigue is always fun too. The legality of it doesn't matter really, in the sense of two teams competing and trying to get the better of each other.

Diaz just dominated Stanton there, who just swung at the garbage at his hands, except for taking strike three in the zone before popping up the next pitch on his hands again.

no J.D. Davis again apparently.

about unity. About people coming together.

Fox's garbage extends to the production value. They're not as bad as ESPN, but it's unpleasant.

Watching a Fox broadcast of the Yankees coupled with the over the top jingoism and false history stuff is too much for me. I'll follow along via gameday. J.D. Davis not playing for some reason.

well yeah, counting those losses for now. Though somehow it's Atlanta that's played 2 games less, feels like we've been perpetually 5 games less than everyone else all season. I don't think the Braves are very good though, so granting them those 2 wins seems unlikely. Still, gain a game this weekend. Might mean you have to sweep, but then do it. unrelated, I Noticed Atlanta has 'Terrapin Taproom Tuesdays' 3 12oz beers and BBQ before the game, and good seats, for $70. If I ever find myself in Atlanta on a Tuesday...

I still had some faith but with Nimmo out, I'm teetering now that it's 6 out. They gotta at least gain a game this weekend or that's almost definitely it.