Bob Alpacadaca

I don't think he's bad to have around as a depth piece. If he's a number five starter and doesn't totally suck, it's worth it.

The All One-and-Done team. By and large, when my good friends in the Baseball Writers' Association of America vote, we're mostly not the knuckleheads you undoubtedly think we are. We get lots and lots and lots of these votes right. No kidding. But we have whiffed on some really good players, who deserved better than to get booted off the ballot after one appearance because they didn't get at least 5 percent of the vote. Here's a partial list of our worst one-and-dones, just from the last decade — and I didn't even include any obvious PED luminaries: 2022 — Mark Teixeira 2019 — Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt 2018 — Johan Santana, Johnny Damon 2017 — Jorge Posada 2016 — Jim Edmonds 2015 — Carlos Delgado 2014 — Kenny Rogers, Luis Gonzalez 2013 — Kenny Lofton, David Wells In our defense, we were dealing with massively overstuffed ballots in many of those years and not enough slots to include everybody. Still, every player on that list except Posada (42.7 WAR) and Delgado (44.4) finished his career with at least 50 wins above replacement (the Baseball Reference version). Edmonds and Lofton were in the 60s. So it's hard to believe that not one of them collected enough votes to get even a second look. He makes an interesting point. In a perfect world, a player being a hall of famer or not could be determined in one year. But for better or worse, that's just not how it works with the Baseball Hall and many players build steadily until they get in, or linger in the 30 or 40 percent range for a decade and finally fall off. I'd be curious how many players are voted in during their last two years of eligibility. Kenny Lofton and Jim Edmonds in particular could have had a slow build.

Here you go. It's a Puma story. https://www.si.com/mlb/mets/news/new-york-mets-buck-showalter-billy-eppler-at-odds-over-daniel-vogelbachs-playing-time https://www.si.com/mlb/mets/news/new-york-mets-buck-showalter-billy-eppler-at-odds-over-daniel-vogelbachs-playing-time

If he was doing that for some kind of competitive advantage, I don't think it worked.

That's a fantastic photo!

These are statistical arguments. Retiring a number is for recognition for things that go beyond statistics. Casey Stengel has the lowest winning percentage -- by far -- of any Mets manager. But his number is retired, and deservedly so. Carter's value goes beyond his statistics.

The Polar Bear will continue to play in Queens for years to come!

I like Buck and think he's done a great job and would love to have him back. I get that Counsell is going to be a free agent. But I don't know if he really wants to leave Milwaukee. Carter would have been a great manager.

DJ Stewart might be worth having around next season!

=nymr83 post_id=136463 time=1693536717 user_id=54] =batmagadanleadoff post_id=136452 time=1693518399 user_id=68] Eight would be the nicest.

Edgy MD wrote: I disagree that the bullpen is a disaster. I don't think it's depleted either. I just think managers in 2023 just over-over-control the usage of their relievers. So a guy who is kept from a game is described as unavailable, as if he's observably spent, when in fact he's just under an explicit constraint. Look at the 2022 bullpen. Thee top three pitchers — https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/diazed04.shtmlDiaz, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ottavad01.shtmlOttavino, and https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lugose01.shtmlLugo — all finished with between 62 and 65 2/3 innings. That seems like a pretty tight distribution — suspiciously so — but maybe it's an accident. But then you look at https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/diazed04.shtmlDiaz, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maytr01.shtmlMay, and https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/familje01.shtmlFamilia in 2021. The Mets had a different manager, but all three finished with 59 1/3 to 62 2/3 innings. Two, in fact, finished with 62 2/3 exactly. Only Miguel Castro reached the magic 63-inning ceiling, but the Mets had neither a long-term contract nor development time invested in him, so he could be dealt with (slightly) more loosely. The announcers are going to tell you that this guy can be relied on to go for multiple days in a row, or that guy is special because he can be used for multiple innings. I'm saying not to believe that too much. Organizations — the Mets organization anyhow — are treating most all of thier relievers by a universal standard. X number of warmups, Y number of appearances, and Z number of innings on a season. Sometimes, I think, good scientific investigation leads to bad science at the application point. These are good points. By depleting the bullpen, I meant that you'd be using them for six innings on those days, leaving fewer available for the next day.

I just don't know how you can keep sending Cookie out there to get crushed and deplete the bullpen that already is a disaster. If the answer is inserting Joey Lucchesi, I'm OK with that, too.

The White Sox fired Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams. If the clubhouse is as bad as depicted, I bet the manager is part of the housecleaning.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I'd wager there's a considerable batch of fans who don't even remember what number Alfonzo wore. I have a really cool reference book called “Mets by the Numbers” that tells me that!

Wright, Kranepool, Carter, Beltran, and a Payson sign similar to the Shea sign. Keep 48 in mothballs, at least for now.

Nice win!

He's got 23 homers and 21 steals. Seven homers in about six weeks is tough, but he's on a tear. Batting between Nimmo and McNeil, he's got some protection. He's getting on base enough to try for the bags if he stays hot. What do you think?

Hartwig seems to be having control problems.

There is no excuse for this behavior. He also got benched earlier in the year for being a bad teammate.

That was one of the better All-Star Games. Some spectacular defensive plays. Close game. Opportunities for heroics in the ninth inning. Limited number of Yankees. Unlikely hero. I don't love the mics on the players, especially the pitchers. But it wasn't that bad. Too much Ortiz, Jeter and ARod screwing around. That was bad. But the game itself rises above the people who try to screw it up. The haters missed a good one.

He got MVP votes in 1959 -- finishing 13th. And he had a good run managing the Giants, with a pennant and an overall winning record.

Given the state of catching, I would not be surprised to see a trade or waiver claim. But if he makes it through and is willing to spend some time in Syracuse, it's not a bad option to have him there should the other two gets injured.

He seems to be one of those guys who is so competitive that he finds the loopholes and looks for any edge. I see the point that "excessive" is subjective, and that Phil Cuzzi's standard might be different than that of other umpires. I also get that if MLB is looking to make a statement, calling foul on someone of Max's stature has more impact than than bouncing a reliever on the AAA shuttle.

Edgy MD wrote: I'm not really sure why this became about Gary Carter, but you don't have to have animus to oppose the retirement of a number. Understood.

Edgy MD wrote: Both I guess. It's become a damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't PR predicament for the Mets, and the typical corporate way teams handle that is to stick with the status quo. But that's wimpy. The bold organization knows there's always a third way. I've never understood the animus toward Carter. Hall of Fame career. Treated people well. Understood the importance of being a role model. His induction into the Mets Hall of Fame is well-deserved. I'd be fine of the Mets wanted to retire his number. Backup catchers and fifth outfielders?