Marshmallowmilkshake

Hair Force One touching down at LaGuardia!

Justin Verlander heads to the Giants, per Heyman.

Jack Lang went a little over the top in the lead. He's almost trivializing a serious matter.

Raley was one of the five Rays players who refused to wear the Pride Day patches on their uniforms.

Beltran's going in the Hall of Fame. If he goes in with a Mets cap, I think his No. 15 goes up on the wall.

https://sny.tv/articles/mets-interested-alex-bregman-2024https://sny.tv/articles/mets-interested-alex-bregman-2024 SNY says we're interested. Seems like we do have a lot of infield talent in the minors to go and sign a long-term deal with a guy on the wrong side of 30. The Mets are among the teams interested in free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. In addition to the Mets, the Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, and Blue Jays have interest in Bregman, per Feinsand. The Astros reportedly extended a six-year offer to Bregman, who rejected Houston's one-year qualifying offer. But him returning there seems iffy at best, with the Astros having recently traded for infielder Isaac Paredes and also connected to a potential trade for Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado. As far as the Mets' interest, it's fair to believe that signing Bregman would at the very least make a reunion with Pete Alonso less likely. David Stearns and Steve Cohen have been open about the Mets' desire to retain Alonso, whose market has been slow to develop. In a world where the Mets add Bregman, they could conceivably shift Mark Vientos to first base. Bregman, who has never struck out more than 97 times in a season and has been one of the best hitters in baseball for nearly a decade, could be a strong lineup fit and help serve as protection for the newly-acquired Juan Soto. In addition to Bregman bolstering the lineup, pairing him with Francisco Lindor would give the Mets one of the best defensive left sides of the infield in the game. If the Mets believe Bregman's relatively down 2024 was a blip (he had a 118 OPS+ and the lowest OBP since his rookie season), it could be smart to pounce.

The Mets are embracing team history and I'm in favor. Good for Wright.

That kind of structure has appeal for both sides. Pete gets the security of a five year deal plus if he puts together a couple good seasons he has the option to go FA again when he'll still be young enough at 32 y/o to get a multi-year offer. And the Mets get to keep their power guy without having to commit to the back half of his 30s As I said earlier on this thread, I thought the Mets w/should play it as if they were willing to let Pete walk if someone else was going to go north of five years. It's starting to sound like, unless someone is hiding in the weeds waiting for their moment, that teams are reluctant to go there. I like this plan. I think it works for Pete, too.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: =G-Fafif post_id=180835 time=1733944350 user_id=55] Rays grab Nate Lavender. Those fuckers!

Sad to see this. I worked for the Flint, Mich. newspaper in the 1990s and Merv was a local hero. His brother Marv -- yes, Mervin and Marvin -- was a longtime coach in the Flint schools. They're both in the Greater Flint Sports Hall of Fame.

The big "Joy of Jazz" kinds hurts the "No...Yes" cover.

Excellent, excellent news!

Dick Allen and Dave Parker elected to the Hall of Fame by the Classic Era Committee. Allen earned 13 votes, and Parker garnered 14. Players needed 12 to be elected.

Plus Buster is a new PBO no doubt trying to make an impact.

Seems like the Giants overpaid to get him before Soto signed and he was someone else's plan B.

16 would have been somewhat better had they used the Mets uniform font.

Is this the one? Love that 1974 Topps set!

I like the limits on throws to first. I suspect about 85 percent of those were half-hearted lobs. I thought I'd hate the pitch clock but have to agree it's been an improvement. Instant replay, too. (Well, replay.)

Frayed Knot wrote: =Marshmallowmilkshake post_id=180155 time=1733264092 user_id=119] I was just a kid when the DH was introduced, and I don't remember the announcement or the buildup. Wonder how people responded then. Some liked it, some didn't. Pretty much the same as now. It came on the heels of an offensive drought although the depths of that drought was a half decade in the rearview by that point so it was kind of an answer to a problem that was already solving itself (with the help of the post-'68 mound/strike zone tweaks). But what the DH was Really all about was that the AL was in a attendance and competitive slog due to several factors: - much slower on the whole in signing black and Latin players they had less young talent, less exciting talent, and more aging players who would fit the DH mold - the AL spent so long being a one-team dependent circuit (you either loved the Yanx or loved to hate them) it's not a coincidence that the rule was implemented following the decade long crash of their main meal ticket. Mantle, Berra, and Ford, the team stunk, and the draft prevented them from stocking all the future stars as they had for decades. Think about it: by the late-'60's/early '70s the NL had the better (on field and at the turnstiles) New York team, Los Angeles team, Chicago team, Missouri team, and Ohio team. That's half the league and most of the big markets with the rest of the markets being, at best, a draw meaning the AL had the advantage virtually nowhere. It was an 'experimental rule' which was supposed to expire if it wasn't constantly renewed every so often. Remember when the NFL killed instant replay after having it for a short time? ... same idea (the NFL later re-voted it back into existence after a few years without). But it then just sort of became permanent without ever officially being designated as such like some government program that keeps going on just out of sheer momentum and the lack of anyone wanting to be the one to kill it.

I don't have a problem with Willie Mays on the wall - or the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, for that matter. We are the keepers of New York National League history. Doesn't mean we retire Mell Ott and Roy Campanella. But they're not Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson.

I don't think Cohen gets outbid. But I can see how those rightfield Fenway bullpens are an inviting target.

I was just a kid when the DH was introduced, and I don't remember the announcement or the buildup. Wonder how people responded then. This is a terrible idea. One of the (many) cool things about baseball is the randomness of it. In basketball, you know LeBron is always going to get the last shot. But Tommy Edman becomes a Dodger hero - and Mets villain -- because he produced great things from the nine-hole. With this, someone like him migt not get that shot if Mookie Betts gets the golden treatment there. And that's just and example from the last season.

That cover with the split jersey is an abomination.

The OMG - One More Game one is pretty clever.

For the guys returning on the ballot, with last year's percentage: Billy Wagner | 73.8% | Enters 10th-and-final year on ballot Andruw Jones | 61.6% | 8th year Carlos Beltrán | 57.1% | 3rd year Álex Rodríguez | 34.8% | 4th year Manny Ramírez | 32.5% | 9th year Chase Utley | 28.8% | 2nd year Omar Vizquel | 17.7% | 8th year Bobby Abreu | 14.8% | 6th year Jimmy Rollins | 14.8% | 4th year Andy Pettitte | 13.5% | 7th year Mark Buehrle | 8.3% | 5th year Francisco Rodríguez | 7.8% | 3rd year Torii Hunter | 7.3% | 5th year David Wright | 6.2% | 2nd year I can't imagine Wagner getting so close and not making it this year. Would love to see Beltran make a big jump. They'll probably make him wait another year or two, which is silly. Would love to see Wright stay on the ballot to they can keep looking at his career. But it could very well just be Ichiro and Wagner going in this year from the writers.