Ceetar

Edgy DC wrote: There's actual baseball going on, you detail junkies. The Mets lead 8-2 over the team that's supposed to drag them into the basement. Well, you need to update us more frequently then, since there's no freaking audio, the Android version of the app doesn't have video (those bastards) and I don't havea tv in my cubicle (you think my productivities bad now?) I do enjoy Spring Training, but this last week is the worst part of it.

I'm a little surprised Closers don't go for #9.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Indeed he is. 88, then. High numbers-- or extremely low numbers-- on bullpenners rule. I'm not always good with the numbers. (cost me $130 once) Who's a really low number bullpen guy? I assume you mean single digits and not like Wagner's 13?

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I would totally stick with 70, were I Beato. Or 77, for a little bit of Wendell-y flair (sans animal teeth). Isn't Carrasco 77?

seems like a steal to me. As far as prospect for prospect goes. Of course, I don't know the reason Dykstra hasn't been promoted past A ball, but it'd be hard not to have more upside than Kunz.

Edgy DC wrote: Certainly, but I think --- if Bay goes on the DL --- the first instinct would be to rescue Evans from the wire. His profile even resembles Bay's more. Well, according to the reports I saw, 1pm was the deadline so he's no longer on waivers.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Is Beato still wearing No. 70? He's apparently on the team now. Probably. I know Emaus is supposed to switch to 4, I doubt they'd bother stitching up a new uniform for him at this point.

Centerfield wrote: Ashie62 wrote: Now thats major League Mets win the WS Snark!!! Really? I'm trying to be sincere here. I would love to think the Mets could win it all this year, but it's hard for me to realistically believe this. But I do honestly feel good about the Mets' prospects in the coming years. We have a front office that should be able to follow the Red Sox model closely. I think this bodes really well for the future. This is the optimism thread right? You guys are optimisticking for one championship. I'm optimisticking for a dynasty. The only thing I'm really worried about is Reyes, who I'm afraid this management team may not value as much as we do (if more by our hearts than our heads) and that's why I'm hoping he comes back. two things. 1. All I think about is this year. So much changes year to year that while I keep an eye on the big things (don't sign Werth to 7 year deals or trade away prospects for crap), I'll focus on this year and what can happen. Often they're hand in hand. Davis getting better, Pagan locking down CF. Reyes getting resigned. Bay recovering. Dickey not being a flash in the pan and Niese growing and learning. The very things that I'm hopeful for this year are also tied to long term success. And beyond that, it's so easy for even smart people to make smart moves that look good and have them backfire. Omar made a lot of good moves, he just couldn't control the damage when things got out of control with injuries and performance. I'm not banking on unforseen 'smart moves' or 'prospect of the future' to get all happy about 2012. Havens could get hurt again. They could bring in a solid pitcher for a good price and still have him eat up innings by dropping to below average. I don't believe anything they've done has sacrificed 2011 for the futures sake, so I'm not going to treat it that way as a fan. 2. Alderson has said that he likes the homegrown aspect, and then there's the 'appeasing the fans' part of the Castillo decision. Both work in Reyes' favor, the biggest thing is him raising his OBP.

Vic Sage wrote: Why do you presume that was directed at you? And in what way-- except maybe to a horseblinded Phils fan-- does that sound snarky? he responded here immediately after i made a comment about PAgan in the "worries" thread -- of COURSE it was directed at me, or at least in direct response to my point. Do you think it was just a random arbitrary blurtation about Pagan's superiority? Really? Ask him. But that he chose to respond HERE, instead of there, is where the "snark" comes from, cuz its a backhand at me dressed up as a Pagan platitude. And i don't mind a response, but do it to my face, not in your little gingerbread house thread where no one dares to make a fuss! I meant it ascounter point not a backhand. Here because I believe in it, and it's not something I'm worried about didn't want to turn either thread into a debate

Vic Sage wrote: of course i do, and its not deep down inside, its right there on the surface. But i understand the difference between "hoping" and "thinking". I'm pretty sure it involves entirely different lobes. And I'm not sure that this thread was meant to be more thinking than hoping. Hoping based on thinking about 1000 AB a guy has had for our team doesn't seem that far fetched. And again, tough lefty, pinch hit Hairston. It'll also be hard to bring in a lefty to face Pagan. It's probably better served to save it for the higher power bat of Ike, when you don't have Wright and Beltran staring you in the face.

Angel Pagan's backup has a .829 (.498 SLG) OPS against lefties.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Willets Point wrote: I don't know if we really need this thread as every thread is a "worries thread" except the one I started. 1. That's not true. 2. Your thread caused Jason Bay's injury. I better go start a thread about how the Phillies pitchers will finish 1-2-3 in the Cy Young voting I guess. My worries would be that Bay, even if this ends up just being discomfort, doesn't ever get real comfortable this season.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The waivers on Evans are revokeable, right? if you revoke them, you cant put him on waivers again. They'll know by 1pm if he clears. Which probably means everyone but like the Rangers, Yankees and Red Sox have passed on him.

Edgy DC wrote: Ceetar wrote: seawolf17 wrote: Bay out with a strained ribcage. Possible DL. *mutters lots of swear words* Why don't these guys have the decency to work out there little strains in February, not days before the games count? Or maybe come clean with the trainer before Nick Evans is put on waivers. They said he pulled it during BP today right?

seawolf17 wrote: Bay out with a strained ribcage. Possible DL. *mutters lots of swear words* Why don't these guys have the decency to work out there little strains in February, not days before the games count?

Angel Pagan, in over 1000 AB with the Mets .294/.344/.441 btw, that's better than Shane Victorino.

TransMonk wrote: If this team has no long-term injuries (I'm looking at YOU, Carlos!), it will finish above .500. I haven't been as optimistic about an opening day roster since 2007. There isn't too much that bothers me about this team. From the lineup to the rotation to the bullpen to the bench, I think the talent is good enough to compete. 2011 Terry will be better than 2010 Jerry...he can't be any worse, right? 2011 will come down to durability, durability, durability. Not just our durability either. Chipper Jones, Chase Utley, etc. This is easy to say before the season starts, I'm sure there will be a goat or two, but the biggest strength may be that there are no _bad_ players on the team.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Everything will go right and nothing will go wrong. We're due for things to swing a little on that side right? I think many fans think everyone getting hurt and everything going wrong is normal and expected these days.

http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/2011/03/24/why-the-mets-can-compete-the-starting-rotation/ going up today, the best offense in the NL: http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/2011/03/29/why-the-mets-can-compete-best-offense-in-the-nl/ I feel good about this team. They're healthy, and the players people are dismissing are not washed up flash in the pans like Fernando Tatis. It's perennial sluggers or gold glovers or All-Stars like Reyes and Beltran and Bay. Chris Young and Chris Capuano aren't Brian Lawrence and Jose Lima. They aren't even John Maine and Oliver Perez. They're better than that. I can understand some skepticism about Dickey, but he showed again and again last year that it's not trickery. He beat the same teams multiple times, and he knows what he's doing out there. Why wouldn't we expect Niese to get better? Davis? Thole? All bullpens are in flux every year, why should I believe people telling me this one isn't good? Parnell throws hard and had some success last year, Frankie's still one of the best closers in the game. The Mets actually have TOO MANY relievers that they can't fit them all on the team. And it's not because they all suck and they dont' know who to take, it's that they all look good and they don't want to lose any of them.

If you look closely at that cover, you'll also notice the Yankees have clinched a playoff spot.

Why is the cover talking about the Phillies offense when it's a picture of the pitchers?

smg58 wrote: I'm pretty sure that Murphy, because he was never on the active Mets roster last year, still has options. I also think that the difference in performance between Murphy and Evans at the major-league level in 08 gives a perception of Murphy having greater upside that might not be accurate. I think the hardworking attitude/perception of Murphy (and in particular the way the beat writers portray it) works in Murphy's favor whereas Evans took getting passed over by Sheffield (which was the bigger mistake there. They obviously weren't actually comfortable with Murphy in left so went with some sort of bastardized platoon..unless that's just how Manuel interpreted the decision. I wonder if Omar meant jerry to run Sheffieldi nto the ground while Murphy boned up on defense and eventually took over to be possibly rested on lefty st arter days by Evans who would get another month or so of seasoning) took it to hard and slumped so hard he was then demoted from AAA and had to see as shrink.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I'm pretty sure that's why they've had him playing in the minor-league games for the last few days. Also allowed them to get him 7-8 AB.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: metirish wrote: Beltran will play tomorrow and break camp with team says Collins via Rubin. I'll believe it when I see it. I think the slowest thing to come along is his defense, and getting up to speed with that shouldn't be as steep a learning curve. Right because right field at CitiField is a great place for a crippled guy to patrol. he's not crippled. It's about the percentage of balls hit to RF, regardless of park, that he has to run after. Yes, he'll need some time knowing how the bounces off the Mo's zone go, but that's not something he's gonna learn at Digital Domain or what not (although in the minor league games at field 7, he's actually better off right?)

Edgy DC wrote: It's important to remember that jump starting Reyes without proper spring training prep work was an unmitigated disaster last year and remained so for the first five-six weeks of the season. There's a slight difference in that Reyes was basically laying on the couch immobile. And still managed to end up with stats near the top of the SS list. I think a closer comparison is Beltran himself, although they gave him the full 30 days (and four days off at the end?) of rehab work, they babied him and it wasn't like he was playing in 30 spring training games before he was activated last year. At least in this case he's been swinging and seeing live pitching, even if it was of a lesser quality than maybe he would've in the grapfruit league, but on the competitive balance, _no one_'s been playing major league games either. I think the slowest thing to come along is his defense, and getting up to speed with that shouldn't be as steep a learning curve.