Marshmallowmilkshake

I looked at Felix Hernandez' stats and they weren't as eye-popping as I expected them to be. Some great numbers, to be sure. But not what I'd expect of a first-ballot hall-of-famer.

Monty picked up his player option despite the owner calling signing him the biggest mistake he ever made. Dbacks might be motivated to trade him, and it would just be for the 2025 season. Got a late start in 2024 and regressed. Might be exactly the kind of guy the Mets pitching lab can restore. Not sure what it would take. DBacks might just be happy getting rid of the salary.

It's a nice ballpark! I took the tour once. It was just me and two employees, and they let me do just about everything except run up Tal's Hill, which as since been removed. I also wandered into the Astrome through a very open garage door. I looked for someone to give me permission to go in and take photos. No one was there, and I ended up in the middle of what was centerfield. It was a glorious baseball day despite not actually seeing any baseball.

Is this a test, to see how long it would take for someone to ask, "Who is O'Neil?" Later Yes, McNeil. Apologies.

I saw him pitch in that third game against the White Sox and I think he struck out the first seven Mets he faced. His point about the postseason was that he already far beyond his innings pitched, and he didn't want to get traded to a team that would abuse him for two-and-half months and not be invested in his future. If we have some surplus talent and can land him without shipping out our top prospects, I'd do it. Maybe a package around Baty, McNeil, (with the Mets picking up a chunk of salary) and one of the next tier prospects. The Sox need warm bodies who don't completely suck.

I could have picked about five of these!

Love that photo of Christian Scott. But I don't get "Low Down Dirty Shame" for the Home Run Derby. Is there a pun there? I don't think there is any actual shame attached to an exhibition home run derby.

Former Brewer and Cy Young winner. Will likely require a longer contract than we might want. Should this be our pitching target?

I'm torn about the Mays covers.

Frayed Knot wrote: https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-executives-on-where-juan-soto-will-land-in-free-agency"Wide-ranging belief within the industry" believes that the Soto signing will come down to the Mets and the Yanx ... for whatever that's worth. No word on how or if the vote count from some county in Michigan will play into all of this. Kent County is reporting solidly in favor of the Mets getting Soto.

1) Sean Manaea 2) David Peterson 3) Luis Severino 4) Jose Quintana 5) Tylor Megill 6) Christian Scott 7) José Buttó 8) Paul Blackburn 9) Kodai Senga 10) Adrian Houser

New veteran's ballot for the baseball Hall The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced on Monday this year's ballot for the Era Committee, which will focus on the Classic Baseball Era -- the period prior to 1980, including Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues stars. Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Dave Parker, Vic Harris, Tommy John, and Luis Tiant are all up for consideration as part of the Classic Baseball Era ballot. I'm not familiar with Donaldson. Boyer was a brief Met and scored his 1,000 run while on the team. He passed way too young at 51. . It's a shame that Allen and, most recently, Tiant passed before they could enjoy such an honor. I can't predict how these committees will vote.

"Waiting for a Pitch" is a good one!

Why do you think the News changed the cover from "Do it" to "Play it?"

Glorious read in the Wall Street Journal! "A Nightmare World Series for the Yankees Bumbles Away in the Bronx" https://www.wsj.com/sports/baseball/world-series-yankees-dodgers-judge-soto-cole-94c67a8d?mod=wknd_pos1https://www.wsj.com/sports/baseball/world-series-yankees-dodgers-judge-soto-cole-94c67a8d?mod=wknd_pos1 Jason Gay brings it! For the New York Yankees, it is already a World Series to forget—and when I say forget, I mean burn and stash the entire event inside a permanently sealed memory cave impenetrable by humans, robots and even the most determined squirrels. ... Falling behind three games to nothing, underperforming stars, sloppy errors, mental blunders, questionable pitching moves, a pair of buffoons trying to wrestle the ball out of an opposing player's glove (more on them in a minute), a horrendous collapse after taking a lead in Game 5, catcher's interference, a balk, watching an old National League nemesis crawl back to celebrate and spill Rob Manfred's finest Champagne on their home diamond… The sole Yankee victory in Game 4 briefly stirred emotions. So did a mortifying episode early in that game, when a pair of Yankee fans held and tried to pry a baseball from Dodger Mookie Betts's glove when Betts leapt skyward over a fence to catch a foul ball. Honestly, I can't figure out what's worse: A grown adult thinking ripping a baseball from an opposing player is an acceptable (or safe) behavior, or the strange 12 hours in which these men were elevated as lovable New York outlaws who may have catalyzed a historic Yankee comeback. Give me a break. Bar them for life. Better yet, give them Jets season tickets. (Could you imagine the reaction of Yankee fans if a pair of Dodgers fans tried to similarly maul a ball away from a Yankee? The city would never stop screaming.) The grim reality is that the Mookie shakedown is probably going to be the most-watched clip from this Series, next to Freeman's Game 1 walk-off Grand Slam. The Yankee highlight reel is very thin.

I think one of the differences with the new regime is that it is willing to move on from players when it stopped working. The old regime, I suspect, would have stuck with the Joey Wendells and Adrian Housers all year. I don't think that's luck, but rather good general managing.

That video of the guy stripping the ball out of Betts' glove is the most Yankees fan thing ever. The entitlement, the cap, the gall -- it's terrible.

I want the Yankees to lose so we can see Yankee tears falling like Tom Verducci's famed “soft rain.”

According to MLB Insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Yankees manager Aaron Boone "seems likely" to be getting a contract extension; Boone is currently managing in the last year of a three-year contract that he signed in 2021, although it contains a club option for 2025 that the Yankees can exercise. This was posted before the series. Getting swept might change some minds. Wouldn't be the first time the MFYs fired a manager after losing a Series.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: So I got in due to a work thing (and actually worked) but suite level highlights. A Q&A with Reggie Jackson. The host notices during the event that Reggie's phone is buzzing -- Willie Randolph is calling. Reggie picks up the phone, puts it on speaker. Willie's asking where Reggie is, and Reggie talks him into the room where Wee Willie walks in to laughter and applause. Pretty sharp comedy chops for a 78-year-old. Also saw Omar, Spike Lee and ... Nick Swisher. It was a big night. 4 train is brutal after the game. 20 minutes just to walk up the stairs That sounds like an amazing experience - except for the train.

National League Town is wonderful! In terms of other Mets podcasts I listen to "Meet at the Apple." It's not polished, but it's fun. The hosts work in the Mets promotions department, and they are fans, but with access to players, coaches, and the manager. It's usually pretty entertaining during my commute. "The Mets Pod" is the official SNY Mets podcast and I find it enjoyable. I love The West Wing, and the "West Wing Weekly" is back and discussing political movies. It's always a good listen. Kind of along those lines, the White House Historical Association has a podcast "The White House 1600 Sessions" that I always enjoy. Lots of history and minutiae. And, the Jay Jay French Connection has the lead guitarist from Twisted Sister talking to lots of people from the music industry. "My Favorite Album" with Jeremy Dylan has Jeremy interviewing people - usually but not always -- musicians about their favorite album and why they like it. It can get a bit obscure, but I like it when they talk about material I'm familiar with.

He and Tom Seaver were a close 1-2 in the 1981 Cy Young voting, both with eight first-place votes. Would have been Seaver's fourth.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is an ultrafiltrate of plasma contained within the ventricles of the brain and the subarachnoid spaces of the cranium and spine.[1] It performs vital functions, including providing nourishment, waste removal, and protection to the brain. That sounds rough. Hoping for a full recovery. Maybe we see him in May or so.

I saw one report speculating Soto could be looking for $600 million to $700 million. And take the report for what it is worth because no one is better at trial balloons than Scott Boras. But say that's true. The Yankees are already paying Cole $324 million with an AAV of $25 million, and Judge $360 million, with an AAV of $40 million, and Stanton has two years left at $36 million each plus Rodon's $27 million. I suppose anything is possible and deals can be structured in any way, as the Dodgers learned with Ohtani. But can the Yankees really take on a $50 million a year contract? Mets have all that money coming off the books and an owner who might be more motivated to spend than Hal. I guess it depends if Soto is chasing the dollars or will take a little less to be a True Yankee.

Lefty Specialist wrote: They needed a Tommy Edman, someone who played way over his head, and they didn't have one in this series. That's just plain ol' luck. Every team has a Tommy Edman. Any major leaguer other than Rey Ordonez or Doug Flynn could get red-hot for a six game stretch and hit out of his mind like that. It could've just the same, been Jose Iglesias (who was doing just that during the season), or Tyrone Taylor. Or any Met. It was just randomness. Do you think it was pre-ordained that Donn Clendenon would hit three HR's in four WS games? And that he would continue to hit three HR's for every four WS games that he'd get to play if he was lucky enough to play more WS games? Of course not. He just happened to get hot, and lucky, during those games. It's something we fans can never get comfortable with. Just dumb luck having such an impact. Look at the injuries. The Mets were super lucky this year to stay relatively healthy. One bad injury in August to say Nimmo or Vientos, and the Mets miss the post-season. On the other hand, if Luke Raley had stayed healthy, maybe we win it all. The bullpen was hit hard for sure. Brooks Raley, Sean Reid-Foley, Nunez, Drew Smith. Shintaro Fujinami got hurt before he even came up!