Ceetar

Also, I assume the answer to this is "No" but since Beltran's contract, the one with the agreement not to offer Arbitration, expires before they'd actually be able to offer it, couldn't they just do it anyway? Or does the contract run until Beltran files for free agency after which point it's too late to offer it? Is this just a niciety? I mean, can a contract really dictate how the team operates and circumvent the rules of baseball?

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Because, in theory anyway, ditching Santana's salary could get you enough money to buy two or maybe three pitchers to replace him. And then there's your depth. $12 million is not going to buy three pitchers. And certainly not quality pitchers. (I mean sure, if you could ditch ALL of the salary. but for that, he'd have to be pitching like Johan Santana, and then you'd be silly to trade him) IF the Mets get into a position where they have depth because Harvey and Mejia and Niese are holding down the rotation with other arms in reserve that look promising, sure. But that's hardly the case right now, nor will it be in the immediate future.

G-Fafif wrote: TransMonk wrote: Let's take two today! Play 'em one at a time...but yeah. It'd get awfully messy on the field with two games at once. If the two games weren't in sync, and say the Rockies pitcher was on the mound as the same time as Dickey, would they try to bump each other to mess them up in the other game? Would that count as interference? If both batters were left-handed, would one have to bat righty so they could both fit at the plate?

Assuming he continues to hover around his 2008-10 average of 2.5 wins per season, a wins-to-dollar computation would likely justify a $10-11 million salary, but production just over the league average could likely be found at much less of a cost. A team in the Mets position shouldn�t be paying a pitcher like Pelfrey an eight-figure salary. Lost me here. I'm not sure finding a workhorse type pitcher of 2.5 WAR to stick in your rotation and forget about is that easy to find, particularly a young one that will presumably not fall off with age anytime soon. Sure, it could be found, but it's not like you need just one of those guys. Why let the guy you have and _is_ doing it go on the hope that the new guy you sign will put up the same numbers for a little bit less? I'd say a "team in the Mets position" should look to lock down guys like Pelfrey long term (and if you work out an extension and whatnot, probably can do it for less than 10-11 rather than having to bid against the other ~27 teams that also needs pitchers of that caliber) because it's one less thing to worry about. Also with Santana, even if someone would take him for half his salary, does anyone really think that ~12 million is going to get you a pitcher that much better than Johan? If at all? Both these points seem to ignore that the biggest thing the Mets lack is pitching depth, so why would they let pitchers go away?

bmfc1 wrote: Like seawolf17, I'm not a fan of IWs either but last night was where I would have made an exception. You hope that your pitcher will pitch carefully/pitch around to the batter but that doesn't always work out. You also have a young pitcher who doesn't have as much experience as a veteran at pitching around a batter. Also, the on-deck batter was Jose Lopez who isn't nearly as good (I'm watching my phrasing to prevent Lopez from hitting for the cycle this afternoon) so here, I would have walked the "Jeter-esque" Tulowitzki. It wasn't exactly a pitch down the middle. I probably pitch to him. Niese already walked one on his own in that inning, and after throwing 4 balls to Tulo, I'd be worried about him throwing strikes.. and baserunners are bad. Now, he'd had two hits off Niese already. Go out, talk to him. Discuss what you learned, how he beat you. (hopefully they did this between innings anyway) And then work to figure out a sequence of pitches to beat him. Doesn't matter who it is, you gotta figure out how to make the adjustments to get the guys that are hitting what you normally do.

Edgy DC wrote: I'm OK with one run there. You think they can run with Beltran here? It would appear not. At least this way they clear Willie Harris.

good game so far. Beltran two hits, Reyes a laser that was caught to save a run. Niese looking good. Starter over 53 pitches not yet through 3. They gotta play two tomorrow too. important.

TransMonk wrote: So, I've taken to listening to WFAN on my Droid during my runs which last about an hour. I usually leave the house at about the time that the Mets pre-game is starting and catch the first inning of the game at the end of my run. Today I got off work about an early, so I went on my run earlier and got my first dose of Mike Francesa for about 40 minutes before the pre-game started. I had no idea how right you guys are about what a wanker he is. It took me about two and a half minutes before I wanted to call in to him just to tell him what an idiotic blowhard he was. Steve Sommers, I like in what little I've heard. Francesa...let's just say if it looks like I'll have to listen to him on the FAN, I will make the switch to Pandora. Somers is probably the best 'entertainment' guy. Evan Roberts maybe the most aware of fans and how the world actual works and stuff. Francessa hasn't changed his opinion on anything in two decades. Only time really worth listening to is wednesdays at 5:05 for Collins.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: metirish wrote: per Rubin "Chris Young pushed back to Sunday because of biceps tendinitis.Spot starter wil be Friday" I guess 108 pitches was more than enough? That's really not good. I was kinda hoping he'd make it to May at least. geeze. Hopefully it is what they say, just precautionary, and he'll make the start normally on Sunday.

pregame press conference is at 4. Keep an eye out for beat writer tweets violating protocol.

Centerfield wrote: Anyone know why he was featured on the SNY Broadcast the other night? I happened to catch the screen but there was no sound. I remember thinking I hope he didn't die. Just googled him and nothing came up. in re: Tulo versus Reyes. They were highlighting Mets shortstops in general. lots of Ordonez highlights too. Oddly, I didn't see any of Bordick.

metirish wrote: Boyer has gone and cleared waivers and has chosen to make himself a FA rather than report to dull and uninspiring Buffalo. So will he come crawling back when no one wants him...or will he end up on the Phillies?

Encouraging: hitting the ball hard pretty consistently. Doing a good job in the first inning. Not encouraging: One walk in hiis first 50 plate appearances. Not running in big spots late in the game. (This last one may be Tjerry Collins giving him the red light with the bunt on.) Reyes will never be a 100 walk guy. He's going to be aggressive and swing at pitches that he can hit. So far that's been roughly all of them. He's got a .354 OBP right now which is on-par with 2006-2009 career numbers. And its' about OBP, not walks. bunting for a hit is an acceptable way to get on base for example. He has worked a couple of full counts that I've noticed, and seen a lot of pitches, so he does seem to be exercising some degree of selectivity. The real test to me is if he ups his walk totals when he's not hitting the ball as well. Angel Pagan's drawn 6 walks despite not hitting. And while his .304 OBP still sucks, at least it's beyond the automatic out stage.

I'd take the7line's "Even Lesbians like Dickey" and "On top in 69" over those though.

This is kinda old news. been around for a year. I remember one or two being somewhat up in arms about it. I've seen a fair amount of people in the VS stuff though. Maybe Touch is less recognizable to me, but they still have the upper hand with the shop in house.

With Zimmerman newly resident on the DL, the Nats throw a patch-of-a-patchwork lineup out there against Big, Bad Illadelph: Hairston at third, Laynce Nix in left, Wilson Ramos batting fifth, and Matt Stairs starting at first and batting cleanup. Grizzly Werth can be forgiven for tearing up a bit when he sees the lineup card. But hey, funny thing-- Werth homers and doubles, Ramos doubles and drives in two, Senor Frisbee does his thing, and it works. Soon they'll be trotting out "Record without Zimmerman" stats and proclaim they're better without him. Sort of like people proclaiming the Mets were better without Beltran because they happened to lose when he came back last year.

Edgy DC wrote: Somebody needs to adopt Adam Rubin and feed him some Calm Down Juice. Calm is not a word I'd ever use to describe Rubin.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Hell, now what? For three of you it's your move in Scrabble. 4 if you challenge me. i've been really slow lately though. I'd love to go to the doubleheader. What's this about employment and growing up though? I'm not sure I like it.

Hmm, but I thought everything handled through the website is handled by MLB? Isn't that why the Mets require the season tickets holders that get fees waived and 10% discounts and all that to actually call the ticket office versus processing it online?

Gwreck wrote: Ceetar wrote: 3/2/10 I paid a per ticket fee, an a $5 order fee. no delivery fee. Thanks for the clarification. My recollection (perhaps faulty) is that the order fee at that time varied based on the delivery method (it was different for print-at-home, vs. ballpark pickup vs. mail), as opposed to being the fixed $5/order that is is now, with the additional charge for mail, print-at-home, or UPS, etc. --- My takeaway of the added ticket charges, later ballpark opening times (and also later parking lot opening times) is an attempt to lower costs and raise revenues due to the financial problems the team is having. I vaguely remember free to ship, but 2.5 to print, but I think that was in addition to the order fee? I only have the receipts, so don't know what my selections were. I know the per ticket fee varies based on seating location. A lot of this is MLB-issue, and it's why they can get away with not charging you those fees at the box office because there are different rules.

ooh, found one from 2004 total Convenience Fee for 6 seats $30.00 $2.5 order fee

Gwreck wrote: Ceetar wrote: the order fee was always there. The delivery charge is new though. I believe you have it backwards. nope. 3/2/10 I paid a per ticket fee, an a $5 order fee. no delivery fee. Same on 3/8/9 I don't appear to have purchased internet tickets in 2008 (had a 15 game pack) Although I paid no order fee on the playoffs, but a $12 per ticket fee. I would've been sitting in section 12 of the Loge, row E. not bad. ($55+$12 for division series) in 2007 my per ticket fee was a quarter less and the order fee only $4.50 2006 per ticket playoff fee was only $10. in 2005 there appears to be no per ticket fee, and the per order fee was $3. that seems to be as far back as my emails go.

supposedly the gates only open 3 hours before the game now, as opposed to four (parking lot gates that is) the order fee was always there. The delivery charge is new though. The real annoying change is that they priced Brooklyn Brewery out of the stadium. They can no longer afford to provide their specialty beers to the four food stands in CF. http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/2011/04/11/the-mets-and-brooklyn-brewery/ Which means the only localish beer is Blue Point's one tap at Catch of the Day. No other local NY taps at Citi Field.

Vic Sage wrote: been declining for how long?, Empires wind down gradually. It used to take centuries, but in modern times, its more like decades. But if i were to pick a date, i'd say since we elected a B-movie cowboy actor as President. but i'll let the aliens sort out the rubble of our fallen civilization. Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

metirish wrote: Vic Sage wrote: NOT harmless ... her celebrity is emblematic of a culture in decline. been declining for how long The recursive answer to that is "Since you got old." Kids these days, won't stay off the lawn.