Marshmallowmilkshake

Good pickup! When I went to the Pirates game on July 5 against the Yankees, I was resigned to seeing the Pirates destroyed. But, Quintana pitched a gem, with seven strikeouts in five innings and allowing one run, out-dueling new Cub Tallion, who gave up five -- including a blast to Vogie. Mr. $360 million ended the game by striking out with two men on base. It was a very good day.

Unexpected All-Star who sputtered after the game for the rest of the season. But liked when he pitched last year! Good for him for getting a big contract.

Giants allegedly offering Judge $360 million. Didn't say number of years, but even 10 puts him into his 40s.

That's a really cool photo on Citi of Light!

I read that Diaz was named to the First Team, All-MLB team, and Lindor and Scherzer were named to the Second-Team, All-MLB team. I'm all in for giving Mets recognition. But I don't think I've ever heard of this before.

Edgy MD wrote: There's certainly nothing combatative about inquiring. The draft is un-American. It isn't about the fairness in distribution of talent, but all about cost control. Young athletes have an ability that's in great demand for a short period of time, and the industry gets together and agrees only one team can recruit that athlete. It's wrong and incredibly ironic, as America projects free commerce through the world, and the world's sports leagues scratch their heads when they hear this nonsense about the Americans distributing talent through a draft. If the league is the employer, then the league is a cartel, and in virtually all other industries in the US, an industry conducting themselves as a cartel subjects themselves to criminal penalties under antitrust laws, or civil penalties when engaging in monopolization or resale price maintenance. Sports leagues, to different extents, do these things as a matter of course on every day that ends in a Y and it's just considered business. We protect baseball from the system we purport to believe in and it's unjust through and through. We accept this model because we see it as the way it has always been and assume it's kind of the same elsewhere. But it isn't and it's not. It hurts young athletes, it hurts baseball, it hurts small towns, it hurts big cities, it hurts the economy, it hurts America, and it hurts other baseball-playing nations. Thank you for explaining! This is interesting. Curious what kind of impact it might have on the minors, especially the low minors, and whether it would force the league to improve conditions and compensation for the players at those levels. Again, didn't mean the hijack, was just curious how you thought it would work.

Edgy, I'm not asking to be combative, just trying to understand. (And I don't mean to hijack -- might be better to split.) You mentioned you don't like the draft, and you have said you don't like trading in the past. Do you advocate for a system where teams build entirely on free agents, from the low minors through the majors? I'm not arguing, just curious how it would work. In a way it's like how the rest of the world works, with employers looking to build a quality staff and employees able to have a greater say in where they work and live. If I'm good at what I do, my services will be in demand and I can have a say in where I work and how I get compensated. People make decisions based on how the view the quality of the employer and the compensation -- and the employers hire those who they think have the skills needed to advance the work. Teams could attract and retain players at all levels based on both the players' desire to be there, and the team's desire to have them. I get how that works in the rest of the world, but I don't know how it works within the structure of a league. I guess the question is whether MLB is the employer, or are the individual teams employers who compete in the same industry. Curious to hear your thinking.

So between Harper and Turner, they have two $300 million+ contracts? Wow.

=Gwreck post_id=113957 time=1670267602 user_id=56] =Marshmallowmilkshake post_id=113938 time=1670264395 user_id=119] How does a vesting option work?

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: This means Ben Verlander too, so it's not all great i'm missing this Taking the piss, he's all over social media etc , a bit annoying Irish, you were missed! Glad you're back. It's been a loooong time since "taking the piss" was used in these parts!!

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: This means Ben Verlander too, so it's not all great i'm missing this Ben is Justin's brother, a former minor-league player who is now a media personality and podcast host. https://abc13.com/ben-verlander-justin-astros-pitcher-family-baseball-career/12391089/https://abc13.com/ben-verlander-justin-astros-pitcher-family-baseball-career/12391089/

How does a vesting option work?

Excellent!

LONE STAR Jake bolts Mets to be only good player on mediocre Texas team

Welcome to Cooperstown, Fred McGriff -- the only player elected by this committee.

Ninth to Remember for sure! That joyous comeback was one of the best games of the year!

If you take him to Austin, he'd be a long way from the ballpark. Take him to Arlington.

The Heyman column reminds me of the kind of stories we'd see in the Wilpon era after a player left. Downplaying his accomplishments, calling him “sullen.”

OK, Jake's gone. The Mets have a gaping hole in the rotation and a pile of cash to spend. What are you doing? Do you go for Verlander one a short-term, high-priced contract? Or do you get two $20 million pitchers?

That All-Star Game performance - 10 pitches and three strikeouts.

A wonderful moment for Plummer!

Carlos Beltran leads the list of newcomers to the Hall of Fame ballot, with lots of other Met connections. Billy Wagner (eighth year) Gary Sheffield (ninth year) Jeff Kent (final year) Bobby Abreu (fourth year) R.A. Dickey (first year) Francisco Rodriguez (first year) Scott Rolen, in his sixth year, has to climb from 63.2 percent to 75. That's a pretty big jump, but the ballot has opened up a little with some big names dropping off last year. I think he, Todd Helton, and Wagner get within striking distance, but still fall short. We'll see if Beltran in penalized for the trash cans. Poll was limited to 25 names, so I took off J.J. Hardy, Bronson Arroyo, and Mike Napoli, thinking they were one-and-done guys.

Starting Marte is great! Also loved 3 For All and Roaring Back.

I thought this headline was a bit over the top: Mets lose first player in free agency — and it exposes big weakness Especially when the actual story says this. The Mets were not expected to retain Rodriguez..... https://nypost.com/2022/11/23/mets-joely-rodriguez-signs-free-agent-deal-with-red-sox/https://nypost.com/2022/11/23/mets-joely-rodriguez-signs-free-agent-deal-with-red-sox/

Tough to find a lot of positivity in this batch. Went for the last three. But it's like reading a Lincoln biography. You know he's gonna get shot in the end.