Oregon's Rose Bowl Unis Channel Darth Vader

Oregon's Rose Bowl Unis Channel Darth Vader

MMO Top 20 Prospects – #1 Zack Wheeler

No big surprise here.

A few nice write-ups on Mets pitching prospect Matt Harvey

Nice write-up on Matt Harvey. This part is promising, to say the least:

"...Harvey has a reasonable chance to be evolve into a legit #1. As far as a floor, if he stays healthy and keeps his walk-rate in check I think the Mets are looking at a #3 starter at worst and that’s certainly not too shabby."

Mets Merized Online has a great write-up on him too, when they named him the #3 pitching prospect in the New York Mets organization.

"Meet the Mets, Meet the Mets, Step right up and BUY the Mets!"

The New York Times got its hands on the term sheet being offered to those looking to buy an ownership interest in the New York Mets. Reading this passage about one of the ownership perks proves how pathetic the Wilpons really are:

"Access to Mr. Met, the team mascot, although the degree of access is not entirely spelled out. It definitely means you, as a part-owner, can schmooze with Mr. Met at Citi Field. It’s less clear whether you could get him to come to your child’s birthday party without a fee."

Seriously? A friend of mine from high school got this at his wedding without forking over $20 million for 4% of the team:

Everything 'Clicked' When Andres Torres Confronted ADHD | Baseball Nation

As someone that went through a similar experience myself roughly a decade ago, I'm glad to see Andres Torres raising awareness of ADHD and hopefully helping to remove all of the stigmas associated with it.

Mets Merized Online | I Don’t See Murphy As Part Of The Future Plan

Joe DeCaro of Mets Merized Online has an interesting post about Daniel Murphy's value to the Mets versus his value elsewhere.

There is no question that Murphy is a pure hitter in the Wade Boggs mold. Personally, I think the Mets are holding on to Murphy for now because his trade value is low from the knee injury and from whether or not he can play 2B. However, if either Reese Havens or Jordany Valdespin starts hitting the cover off the ball in Buffalo, you will likely see one of them get a call-up and see Murphy relegated to the bench. You can then start to wonder if he's trade bait from the number of spot starts he gets in David Wright's place at 3B.

Joe mentions Murphy's natural position being 3B. Which leads me to wonder if by July 15th:

- Reese Havens is healthy and playing well at Triple-A, matching or exceeding his average Double-A slash line of .301 AVG/.379 OBP/.505 SLG.
- Daniel Murphy is matching or exceeding his average MLB career slash line of .292/.343/.441.
- David Wright is matching or exceeding his average MLB career slash line of .300/.380/.508.
- The Mets are in last place 20 or more games behind the division leader and 10 or more games behind the 2nd Wild Card team.

If these things are happening in July 2012, would the Mets be better off trading Wright for the prospect haul, thereby moving Murphy to his natural position of 3B and giving 2B to Reese Havens? Something to think about if you're a Met fan looking towards the future.

Is Centerfield Taken? Mets should bid on Norichika Aoki | Double G Sports

This is an interesting idea. The author makes a good point:

"But his posting fee may be low like Nakajima who was won by the Yanks for $2M."

Also, you only have to pay the posting fee if you sign Aoki. If you fail to reach an agreement, you don't pay the posting fee and Aoki returns to his Japanese baseball team. It could be something and not as expensive as people may initially think.

At the very least, if he does come to the Mets, what better place for Norichika Aoki to try to get free meals in New York than the restaurant that shares the same name?

Book says Wilpon asked MLB to doom Einhorn’s Mets deal - NYPOST.com

All the more reason why Fred and Jeff Wilpon must go and Bud Selig must follow them out the door. This is collusion at its worst solely to protect the narrow interests of someone lacking the intelligence needed to own a baseball team by someone lacking the intelligence to run a major sports league.

Improv Everywhere Film (Teaser)

Here is the teaser trailer for the Improv Everywhere documentary film.

Are the Wilpons About to Lose the Mets? | Fangraphs.com

One can hope, right?

MMO Mets Top 20 Prospects – #4 Jenrry Mejia, RHP

The Mets Merized Online Prospect countdown continues with Jenrry Mejia checking in at #4. Which means the potential monkeywrench in the countdown that I wondered about last Thursday won't be happening.

It also means that unless Petey Pete is really high on Jeurys Familia, we'll be reading about Familia at #3 this Thursday and finding out next Monday which of Zack Wheeler or Matt Harvey takes the #2 spot, leaving the top spot for the other guy.

New York Mets 2012 Top 15 Prospects | Bullpen Banter

The guys at Bullpen Banter are working their way through the top 15 prospects of every Major League Baseball team and made their way to the New York Mets today. Here are their top 15 lists:

1 Matt Harvey / Matt Harvey
2 Zack Wheeler / Zack Wheeler
3 Brandon Nimmo / Brandon Nimmo
4 Jenrry Mejia / Jeurys Familia
5 Reese Havens / Jenrry Mejia
6 Cesar Puello / Michael Fulmer
7 Jeurys Familia / Reese Havens
8 Michael Fulmer / Cesar Puello
9 Kirk Nieuwenhuis / Juan Urbina
10 Juan Urbina / Kirk Nieuwenhuis
11 Jordany Valdespin / Domingo Tapia
12 Domingo Tapia / Cory Mazzoni
13 Wilmer Flores / Bradley Marquez
14 Cory Mazzoni / Jordany Valdespin
15 Akeel Morris / Wilmer Flores

While I'm not surprised by Harvey, Wheeler, and Nimmo being the top three, I'm surprised both writers have Havens so high, which I agree with, and Tapia and Mazzoni in the top 15, which I do not agree with.

An interesting list nonetheless and yet another opinion on the Mets future stars. What's more telling is the two top draft picks of 2011 and a 2011 trade acquisition are in the top ten and occupy #'s 2 and 3 on these lists, giving you a good idea of how depleted the system was prior to the arrival of Alderson and Company.

Want to go to the 2012 Democratic National Convention? | Blue Jersey

Blue Jersey has the details if you're interested in being a New Jersey delegate at next year's Democratic National Convention on September 3-7 in Charlotte, NC.

The Strangely Thin Beltran Market | Fangraphs

I find it very interesting that there has been little interest in Carlos Beltran this off-season. Fangraphs lists a number of teams that could be interested, such as St. Louis, Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Seattle. I'm very curious to see where he ends up.

Ice Cube studied architectural drafting?

I couldn't believe it until I heard this line myself: "Before I did rap music, I studied architectural drafting." That is pretty cool.

Baseball Prospectus | Baseball ProGUESTus: Sunset in Flushing

A great analysis on where the Mets stand as an organization right now. This part caught my attention:

"The hitting side of their system is a hodge-podge of filler and risky players with potential. The 2011 class, led by Brandon Nimmo, was very heavy on high-upside, high-school talents, most of whom made only token appearances in rookie ball after signing. It will be years before the Mets can evaluate whether they have any keepers in that lot. They have toolsy hitters Wilmer Flores and Cesar Puello several levels up in A-ball, but neither has converted his tools into skills yet. The most polished position prospects in the system are center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis and second baseman Reese Havens, both of whom missed much of 2011 with injuries. Havens cannot stay healthy, averaging only 63 games played in his three professional seasons, and Nieuwenhuis’s ultimate future may lie in a corner instead of center. Both will get their shot; with Angel Pagan gone to San Francisco and Ruben Tejada moving over to shortstop, center field and second base could be open on the major-league team as early as spring training. But these players don’t have the high ceilings of their pitching counterparts. New York doesn’t have any cornerstone prospects who play the field; the next Jose Reyes or Carlos Beltran isn't waiting in Double-A. Those guys the Mets will have to go out and get."

For what it's worth, my guess is by the end of 2012, Nieuwenhuis is the starting centerfielder with Andres Torres serving as a capable 4th outfielder, Daniel Murphy will be manning 3B for an American League team, and either Reese Havens or Jordany Valdespin will be the starting 2B, depending on Havens' health in 2012. Let's wait and see what happens.

MMO Top 20 Mets Prospects – #5 Brandon Nimmo, OF

The Top 20 Prospect countdown at Mets Merized Online continues today with #5 Brandon Nimmo. I mentioned a few months ago that this kid has the potential and, more importantly, personality to be the Mets' Derek Jeter. Let's hope he stays healthy and lives up to the potential everyone sees in him.

So, as I said in my blog post last week, the top six will end up being Nimmo, the four pitchers, and either Neiuwenhuis or Rodriguez. Since Captain Kirk was #6 and Nimmo was #5, I guess the four pitchers Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, and Jennry Mejia will round out the top four. Not much of a surprise left except for the order in which they'll show up in the list. That is, unless Mejia's major league service disqualifies him, in which case we'll have to see who replaces him on the list.

Love Works Both Ways | Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest

A very rational and objective post by Mike Silva today. He squarely places the Mets failure to re-sign Jose Reyes on ... BOTH SIDES!

"Let’s look at this objectively and understand that Jose Reyes was a franchise player for about 2.5 seasons out of the 9 he spent here. In 2006, half of 2007, and 2008 he was a player you would build around. Prior to ’06 and the last three seasons, he was an incomplete player that was injury prone. This past season was a perfect example as most of his production was stuffed into the first three months of the year. This isn’t Tom Seaver or Darryl Strawberry leaving, this is Edgardo Alfonzo leaving. A very good player that we all loved, but won’t cripple the franchise for a long time. As a matter of fact, I predict the fans won’t think much of Reyes as the new crop of kids starts to make an impact the next couple of years.

I wish I could have asked Jose if he showed the fans love in the second-half of 2007 when he sulked as the Mets collapsed down the stretch. How about those ’07 and ’08 September swoons when you hit .205 and .243 respectively? I am sure that gave the fans a “warm and fuzzy” feeling. Let’s not forget the mental lapses at shortstop that required a veteran second baseman to keep you “focused.” See, unlike the fans blinded by orange and blue, I don’t forget those little things.

Don’t get me wrong, Jose Reyes is very good player. The Mets still should be ashamed they couldn’t match a 6 year/$106 million dollar deal when they play in New York. That’s an indictment on ownership, and in many ways a separate issue; in a vacuum there is plenty of reasons to not like the years and dollars given to Reyes. Outside of the desperate Marlins, no other team felt inclined to make an offer as well. That tells me an awful lot."

A grateful Andres Torres: “I’ll put some part of the Giants in my heart” | Extra Baggs

To get a better idea of what kind of player the Mets are getting back for Angel Pagan, read this blog post about new Met CF Andres Torres. More interesting is the love being showed to Torres by the fans in the Comments section.

At the very least he can keep CF warm until Kirk Nieuwenhuis is ready to make the move from AAA.

ESPNcricinfo: India batsman tops highest 1-day cricket score

The best way to explain this event to baseball fans would be imagine a guy going 6-for-6 with three grand slams and 15 RBI's in ONE baseball game. That's how big a deal this is.

MMO Fan Shot: My Tribute To Jose Reyes

I was planning to write a post about why it feels different for the Mets to lose Jose Reyes to free agency compared to other players but guest blogger Noah Rainwater beat me to it with a phenomenal tribute of his own at Mets Merized Online. It is definitely a must-read for any Met fan trying to make sense of the Reyes situation.

For me personally, I remember Jose Reyes' major league debut against the Texas Rangers. As big a baseball and Met fan as I am, the only other Met whose major league debut I remember watching is Dwight Gooden against the Houston Astros, and I was only 11 years old at the time of Gooden's debut. So it's Jose and that's it. Honestly, I can't even remember the team against whom David Wright made his major league debut.

There was something about Reyes, especially watching him get his first big league hit and scoring from first base on a hit by Roger Cedeno that didn't even reach the warning track in left-centerfield. I remember thinking to myself, 'I've never seen a baseball player run that fast in my entire life.' Watching that cannon of an arm on his first fielding chance also made me downright giddy. Like I said, the guest blog post sums it up very well and is worth reading.

America's Investment Problem.

Great op-ed piece by Fareed Zakaria in today's Washington Post. He pragmatically lays out the issues with the economy today, which are none of the things the Republican Party claim are the problem:

"One theory heard a lot these days is that the economy is burdened by excessive government regulation, interference and taxes. All these pressures on business, especially small business, are keeping the economy down. Cut them, the Republican candidates all say, and the economy will be unleashed. It’s a compelling picture, but the data simply do not support it."

Some of the data he presents in his column:

* A World Economic Forum survey that ranks countries on their overall economic competitiveness puts the United States fifth; the countries ahead of it, including Singapore and Finland, are tiny, with populations around 5 percent that of the United States.

* The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a study last week measuring tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product. The United States came in 27th out of 30 countries.

* The World Bank study finds that the only category in which the United States is not in the top 20 is “paying taxes,” where it ranks a miserable 72.

* Only five years ago, American infrastructure used to be ranked in the top 10 by the World Economic Forum. Now we’re 24th. U.S. air infrastructure has gone from 12th to 31st, roads from eighth to 20th.

* The United States used to have the world’s largest percentage of college graduates. We’re now No. 14, according to the most recent OECD data, and American students routinely rank toward the bottom of the developed world.

* The number of engineering degrees conferred annually decreased more than 11 percent between 1989 and 2000. Even with the increase in college attendance over the past two decades, there were fewer engineering and engineering technologies graduates in 2009 (84,636) than in 1989 (85,002).

So yeah, tax cuts are the problem to fix issues in national infrastructure and education caused by a lack of tax revenue. Let me know when this alien math is supposed to work.

Reyes contract breakdown

From this post on metsblog.com:

"In case you’re interested, according to Newsday, the Marlins will pay Reyes $10 million in 2012, $10 million in 2013, $16 million in 2014, $22 million in 2015, $22 million in 2016, $22 million in 2017 with a $22 million option for 2018 or a $4 million buyout."

This is backloaded like Carlos Delgado's contract in 2005.  Which basically means it's a two-year/$20 million contract for the Marlins, followed by a four-year/$82 million contract for someone else, with a $22 million option in 2018 or a $4 million buyout. This second part is scary in light of this exchange Metsblog founder Matt Cerrone posted:

"Matthew Cerrone: I talked to a player’s agent yesterday who ruined my night by saying, ‘How much do you want to bet me that the Marlins trade Jose Reyes to the Yankees in two years, when the Yankees can buy out Derek Jeter‘s contract?” He wasn’t basing this on any inside information. It was simply an opinion, and clearly designed to get a rise out of me. It worked, because I hadn’t thought about that scenario before. At that point, Reyes would have four years and $75 million left on his deal and Jeter will be 39 and with a $3 million buyout. It’s fairly plausible, which makes it all that much worse."

Even The Believers Stop Believing At Some Point | Mets Merized Online

Great column by Satish Ram over at metsmerizedonline.com.

Metsblog | The Mets are better today than they were yesterday!

This is how moral victories are celebrated. All joking aside, this is a great point:

"The Mets were sixth in the National League in runs scored last season, despite missing Ike Davis, a half season from Daniel Murphy and Carlos Beltran, a poor year from Angel Pagan, and with Jose Reyes on and off the disabled list, and with David Wright and Jason Bay having down years. Yet, they scored more runs than every other team in their division. At the same time, the Mets were sixth in the league with 24 blown saves."

That's where the new bullpen guys and the better defensive centerfielder come into play. Just 10 of those blown saves being converted turns a 77-85 team into a 87-75 team.

Mets sign Frank Francisco to a 2-year, $12 M Deal

Mets sign Frank Francisco to a 2-year, $12 M Deal

Mets trade Pagan to the Giants for Torres & Ramirez

Mets trade Pagan to the Giants for Torres & Ramirez

Mets agree to terms on a one-year deal with Jon Rauch

Mets agree to terms on a one-year deal with Jon Rauch

Study Tallies a District's Return on Investment | Education Week

How much is a good school system worth?

If all goes (incredibly) well…

If all goes (incredibly) well…

MMO Top 20 Mets Prospects – #6 Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF

As I mentioned last week, Mets Merized Online is counting down the top 20 prospects in the New York Mets organization. Today we got prospect #6, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

So now we have to wait until Thursday to see which of Nimmo, Wheeler, Harvey, Familia, and Mejia makes #5 on the list.

How to blog better | The Incidental Economist

Hmm. Stuff to think about.

Choosing Mets Over Reyes | Mets Merized Online

This is a long post but the last paragraph really sums up what I feel:

"When it’s all said and done. I’m not a Wilpon fan, a Sandy fan, a J.P. fan, an Omar fan or a Reyes fan. I’m a Mets fan."

Very well said.

My Mets Journal: Jose Reyes! The one that got away! Another fish st...

My Mets Journal: Jose Reyes! The one that got away! Another fish st...

The curious cases of Sandy Obama and Barack H. Alderson

Two Harvard Law grads are in an unusually similar predicament today. As news broke of Jose Reyes agreeing to a six-year deal to be another athlete that will "take his talents to South Beach", Sandy Alderson tried to send some semblance of calm and, as President Obama often says, be the grown-up in the room. Just like the president, he succeeded privately and failed miserably publicly.

Alderson is being vilified from this friends and enemies today, not dissimilar to the treatment the President gets from the Left and Right. If there is one statement that describes Obama's relationship with these two groups, it would be he's disappointed the Left and distrusted by the Right.

Likewise, the reaction to the Reyes signing has been negative from all but the most diehard supporters (known in politics as "The Base"). Folks that hate the Mets or New York Sports or East Coast Sports are elated at this "failure" because it shows at least one big market team that cannot do whatever it wants. But what about Met fans?  They think Alderson didn't do all he could to keep Jose Reyes in spite of an exclusive negotiating window that didnt give the kind of security people thought it did. Kind of like the lack of a public option in spite of a House majority and filibuster-proof Senate majority in 2009 and 2010.

Like the President, Alderson is stuck trying to placate supporters who know deep down inside that problems cannot be fixed overnight but generally don't have the patience to wait that long in the face of competition that may seem insurmountable today but is likely making decisions at could be foolish down the road. In that vain, which is the lessor of two evils: 2008 Republican Presidential nominee Newt Gingrich or 2017 Miami Marlins leadoff hitter 34-year old/$18 million per year Jose Reyes?  Or a better question would be, is either of these options favorable to the alternatives that Obama and Alderson present to you today?

I'm aware that you can't compare politics to sports (most of the time) so lets focus on Reyes. You can say all you want about Rickey Henderson and Ichiro Suzuki performing as speed players at an older age but does Reyes have their durability, not to mention Ichiro's pure hitting prowess?

Both President Obama and GM Sandy Alderson know that the media will dissect everything superficially but that they are really chess players while everyone around them is telling them they're playing checkers. I don't have a window into what is happening behind-the-scenes but I'm not naive enough to think that nothing constructive is going on out of sight and out of view.

So if President Obama gets to welcome the World Champion Miami Marlins to the White House in his first year after winning re-election, so be it. I'd be willing to trade that if there's a chance the last year of his presidency and the first few years of his successor's presidency that the White House is welcoming the multiple-time World Champion New York Mets. Perhaps Jose Reyes can watch the White House visit on his iPad5 while he's getting his hamstring rehabbed for the n-teenth time in his career.

Why I Won’t Boo Jose Reyes | Mets Merized Online

Very well said.

Sandy will address media at 9 pm ET from Dallas

More bad news, I'm sure.

Marlins offer Reyes six year, $111m contract, Mets out

Uh oh. This can't be good.

In case you were wondering about the Euromess, here's a great map!

A great map in the New York Times Magazine that breaks down the Euromess and how each country is interconnected with every other Euro country.

Balanced Baseball Leagues...what about schedules?

I wrote back in 2009 that a solution to improve Interleague play would be to balance the leagues with 15 teams each. I doubt the powers-that-be at Major League Baseball read my blog post on this but they seem to have done the same thing with the move of the Houston Astros to the American League West in 2013.

One thing I left open in my 2009 post was how the opponents outside of the strength-of-schedule method that I proposed would be selected. My solution: starting with the team with the worst record, select the nearest opponent that is not already scheduled until all of the teams are scheduled. Then, also beginning with the team with the worst record, schedule the three games against the teams with the best record at home, leaving the other three as road games. As the home/road splits get assigned, things start to shake out where everyone gets equitably scheduled.

If this seems a bit random and arbitrary, it's meant to be. Considering that baseball schedules cannot be determined until two years in advance (unlike at the end of the regular season like the NFL), it wouldn't be a huge impediment if, say, Baltimore played Philadelphia more often than other teams because there is not telling where those teams will be two years from now (okay, maybe Baltimore and Philly are bad examples but who would have thought Arizona would go from worst-to-first while Minnesota and San Diego both went first-to-worst in one season?)

I went through this exercise for all of the teams based on the final records of the 2010 and 2011 seasons (because this is how I enjoy spending my free time) and here's a sample of what I came up with:

- The Mets would play six games against the Yankees as a "regional rival". They would also have played, based on the 2010 schedule, Toronto and Seattle at home and Boston and Kansas City on the road. Based on 2011, the schedule in addition to the Yankees would be Houston and Baltimore at home, Toronto and Cleveland on the road.

- Pittsburgh had the worst record in MLB in 2010 and ended up with Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland at home and Baltimore, Kansas City, and Seattle on the road.

- Houston had the worst record in MLB in 2011 and ended up with Arizona, Colorado, and St. Louis at home and Miami, Chicago, and San Diego on the road.

- Philadelphia had the best record in MLB in both years and ended up with (based on 2010) Baltimore, Minnesota, and Toronto at home, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Texas on the road; and (based on 2011) Toronto, Boston, and Baltimore at home, and the Yankees, Detroit, and Texas on the road.

Definitely enough variety there to make the scheduling interesting but also increasing local/regional fan interest by ensuring that teams closest to each other have the best chance to play each other more often.

How to Avoid Food Waste This Holiday Season | Time.com

Great tips to help reduce the 1.3 billion tons of food wasted each year.

New York Mets Top 10 Prospects Lists ('Tis the season for this too.)

As many Met fans measure the length of rope necessary to hang ourselves when Jose Reyes signs with another team, the more optimistic ones like myself look to the future and see whether the stuff growing down on the farm are worthwhile buds or just sprouting weeds. With this in mind, I was very interested in reading Baseball Instinct's recently released list of the top ten prospects: in the New York Mets organization. Baseball Instinct's top ten Mets Prospects are:

1. Matt Harvey - RHP
2. Zack Wheeler - RHP
3. Jennry Mejia - RHP
4. Jeurys Familia - RHP
5. Brandon Nimmo - OF
6. Michael Fulmer - RHP
7. Jordany Valdespin - 2B/SS
8. Reese Havens - 2B
9. Wilmer Flores - SS (for now)
10. Kirk Nieuwenhuis - OF
Bonus - Aderlin Rodriguez - 3B

A few weeks ago, Baseball America released a fairly similar list, with the exception of Cesar Puello making the list instead of Valdespin:

1. Zack Wheeler - RHP
2. Matt Harvey - RHP
3. Brandon Nimmo - OF
4. Jeurys Familia - RHP
5. Cesar Puello - OF
6. Jennry Mejia - RHP
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis - OF
8. Michael Fulmer - RHP
9. Reese Havens - 2B
10. Wilmer Flores - SS (again, for now)

I have to admit though that the countdown that has fascinated me so far is the one over at MetsMerizedOnline.com, where Petey Pete has been counting down the list of Top 20 New York Mets Prospects and released #7 on the list earlier today. (The list of prospects #7 through #20 are listed at the bottom of the link. Petey Pete was kind enough to oblige my request to hyperlink each prospect on the list to his own page in the countdown.)

The interesting part about the list is it's safe to assume the four stud pitchers (Familia, Harvey, Mejia, and Wheeler) and Brandon Nimmo will take five of the remaining six spots. So who gets the last of the six spots and who is left out, Aderlin Rodriguez or Kirk Nieuwenhuis? Or do both of them get dropped in favor of LHP Robert Carson, CF Matt den Decker, or OF Fernando Martinez? (Not likely but possible and yes, F-Mart is still considered a prospect and, in spite of his arthritic knees, is still only 22 years old.)

I know I'm anxious to see who makes #6 on the list on Monday!

For Bobby Valentine, charity can be all-consuming | Boston.com

It's hard not to root for a guy like this. Or someone with enough intelligence to do this:

"[Bobby Valentine] would eventually learn 2,042 kanji characters out of an instructional book, practicing them in the dirt with the toe of his cleats during practice, and by the time he made his tearful goodbye speech to the team’s fans in 2009, he did so in Japanese."