A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers



Looking past the "Contenders" typo, we're heading down to the Ted for what should be an action packed series. I don't expect us to make it out of here in one piece... the young guys don't really understand the significance of playing against the first place Braves. If they didn't know any better, they'd think it was just another series... but it's not. It's a chance for us to see how we stack up to one of the model franchises. Looking forward, we have a long way to go before we even field half the team that Atlanta has.



Let's not kid ourselves here... this kid is probably the best defensive shortstop in baseball... he's got the range to both sides, the arm strength. Simba can do it all my friends. And today he did, he turned double plays out the wazoo... I was afraid we'd never make it past second base.

It would seem like a base hit would get through up the middle and Simmons would make a diving stop or there would be a ball the third baseman would miss and Simmons is right behind him making the Jeter throw. You can't get the ball past him. It's impossible.

Luckily though, Ike Davis and David Wright led the way against Kris Medlen who's having an "off" year compared to his performance down the stretch last season.



Luckily though, we had Matt Harvey on the bump today and it wasn't even a contest. Harvey gave us 7 strong innings and was lights out. He's actually a legit ace. He's young and still developing but the kid is a legit contender for the Cy Young this year.

Watch out world, here comes Matt Harvey...

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

Now remember how I said we optioned Jeremy Hefner? Well we gave Germen a shot at the rotation and he pitched well but I'd prefer to pitch him out of the bullpen in his rookie season. We could've logically called up Zack Wheeler here in the opening days of June but, there's the super 2 we have to worry about and we're trying to cut down on the walks.

So instead, we had to dig deeper into our system and we came away with the perfect #5 option:



"Carl f'n Pavano" This dude doesn't have the same stuff he did with New York or Minnesota but he can still eat innings and that's what we're going to ask from him. We're going to ask Pavano to throw until he can't anymore. We need innings from our guys, they aren't making it through the 5th before we have to go to the pen and those guys are getting worn out.

Pavano has a 68.1% career groundball rate but his Opponent batting average is well above .300 so he's an interesting case. I think that if we can generate more weak contact by throwing pitches lower in the zone than he'll see that batting average drop.



In all seriousness, Pavano isn't going to hold down the rotation forever. He's likely going to stick until Zack Wheeler gets the call within the next 2-3 months. After that point, we'll have to make a decision... I don't know if we'll DFA him, release him or option him... It's all based on his performance here in the next 10 or so starts.

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers



So after our defeat of the Braves, we head back up to the cool confines of Queens to play the Pittsburgh Pirates. They came into the season with a ton of hype but everything has just fallen apart. At this point, they're featuring the leagues' worst record and it doesn't look like things will be changing any time soon.

None of their key guys are injured so I'm not sure how this could've befallen them but regardless, it's a situation that we need to monitor here in the coming months.



I'll be honest, Pittsburgh had our guys numbers for most of the game... However, that's with the obvious exception of David Wright and the low key exception of 2nd baseman Daniel Murphy. This kid is actually a very, very good second baseman. He hits well out of the 2 hole and could be a valuable trade chip in the coming months because of the thin middle infield market.

He doesn't hit for a lot of power but the dude will hit for a ton of average and that's exactly what any team should be looking for in a good #2 hitter.



However, despite Daniel Murphy providing the heroics, it would be Captain Kirk leading the way with a couple of dingers. You know, he's been a wash all season long... a major disappointment. I was expecting a toolsy player to put up decent numbers at the top of the order but he can't do that... He's barely hitting for average and he's playing average defense this season.

Aside from Newhouser, it amazes me that we were able to win this game despite 4 errors... I'm not even sure if we've played any games where there haven't been 0 errors.

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers



I'll be honest... I envy Chicago. They've got some good players on their roster, they've got one of baseball's best farm systems and they've got a stellar front office. Their future looks promising. Ours on the other hand... looks pretty bleak. We don't have any true impact talent outside of Wheeler and d'Arnuad in the farm.

Chicago's model is one that we're taking a very close look at. We're considering theirs with the Braves and Cardinals. However, we're taking a very close look at everything before we develop our own model.



I'll just cut to the chase. We were shut down; absolutely destroyed... Edwin Jackson was just pouring that fastball right over the plate for us and we either, A. Couldn't catch up to it... or B. Would hit a pop fly... He'd throw us absolute ched and we couldn't lay off of it... he made us look absolutely silly... absolutely silly.

Edwin Jackson is good... damn good. But man, he's not this good...



We haven't done any portion of our rebuild project yet. Outside of a couple callups and roster moves to give some non prospects a look, we haven't done anything. In all actuality, that's probably going to change. We'll likely field this team until the end of the Subway Series with New York because it isn't a very good business move to sell your team off at your biggest revenue point of the year.

After that, we'll begin to tear it down and you'll see players like Wheeler and d'Arnaud getting some Major League PT.

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

Now, I mentioned the "Subway Series" last post. I hopefully shouldn't have to elaborate on that series in a whole other post...

Anyway, this is the moment I've been looking forward to this whole season, a chance to get at the Yankees... It's a chance to get at Major League Baseball's official "Bad Guy" in its history. They're like the cool kid in the school you know... Everybody wishes they could be them but they play it off and in fact show off that they can outspend everybody else.



First pitch is at 7:10 and let me say that this is the series of all series this season. Our Ace is going against their ace, our #2 against theirs and so on and so forth. There are going to be some awesome pitching performances this series.

We'll play the first two games up here in Queens and for the next two, we'll catch the Subway up to the Bronx to play at the new Yankee Stadium. I'm not a big fan of the new Yankee Stadium... the Yankee Brass really did a poor job trying to build a pimped out version of the classical Yankee Stadium.

Stayed tuned folks, we got Matt Harvey vs. C.C. Sabathia on tap at 7:10... it's bound to be a good 'un.

[CameRoN0407]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

Wow, that looks like an equal to KHarmo's Cole vs. Zimmermann! Maybe even better! New York aces squaring off, what could be better for the Subway series?

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

Wow, that looks like an equal to KHarmo's Cole vs. Zimmermann! Maybe even better! New York aces squaring off, what could be better for the Subway series?

I've been looking forward to this series for quite some time. It's not too often that your pitchers matchup up like this in a historic series. Despite this being all about the Yankees vs. Mets... it has a symbolic meaning to Matt Harvey's career.

It will probably be his defining moment of the season and probably his career so far. If he can outpitch C.C. then it'll cast him into stardom... if not, Matt Harvey might just be another pitcher until he gets his chance...

A lot is at stake this series.

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

So for Game 1 at 7:10... Yankees' workhorse C.C. Sabathia squares off against the rising star Matt Harvey.



Let me start off by saying this was easily the greatest game I've ever played in my Franchise thus far.

Matt Harvey and C.C. matched each other pitch for pitch their entire game. Before I knew it, we were int he 7th inning and neither pitcher had allowed a hit. I contemplated going to the pen but I decided that this was Matt Harvey's battle and he was going to finish it. Eventually, C.C. cracked first and was lifted in the 9th for Mariano Rivera. Byrdman would draw a walk and then Ike Davis hit a walk off homerun to win the ball game for us.

This game if anything, represents Matt Harvey's final ascension into stardom. He's proved that he isn't just the Mets' best pitcher but probably one of the top young arms in all of baseball. Ladies and Gents, Matt Harvey has arrived.



As for Game 2, maybe Robinson Cano had seen enough... maybe he had his fill... In the 5th inning of the game, he grabbed his bat and walked into the batter's box and Just. Went. OFF. He took an 85 MPH fastball from Marcum on the inner half of the plate and hit that sonuvagun OVER the seats there in RF... OVER the seats in right field. In his next AB, reliever Scott Atchison came on and threw him a slider outside, out of the zone and he hit that sucker into the seats towards the back of stadium there in left field.

Robbie Cano is quickly making a name for himself here in Queens as Public Enemy number 1. I've never seen a player showcase that type of power to all fields... that's just unheard of... Hopefully we've learned our lesson and we don't let 1 player beat us like this again.

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers



Ahh Yankee Stadium... my least favorite ball park. I'll be honest, I loved the old Yankee stadium but when they tried to make the new one a jazzed up version of the old one, they lost all respect. The old Yankee stadium wasn't valued for it's big video boards or whatever... It was valued because of the history that was made there by all the greats... and that Yankee brass ruined that...

On to the game.

Remember how I said Robinson Cano wasn't going to beat us again; that we learned our lesson?



We didn't learn our lesson... in fact Cano went off again. This time though, he hit 3 dingers and drove in all the Yankees' runs. Our Mets team sucks but we aren't that bad that Robinson Cano can just stick it to us by himself... I'm getting impatient. I might just have to turn the tables and bean him a couple times... the backlash will probably be bad but... I'm not going to let one player beat us by himself.



AGAIN, CANO WENT HAM IN THE FINAL GAME OF THE SERIES.... ****! Dillon Gee hit him twice just to send out the message and then in his last 2 ABs, he hits a pair of 4 run shots... What the heck? I would bet money that the Yankees developed some sort of robot that's a baseball machine... As for the evidence, look no further than his initials... RC. That stands for Robinson Cano... or, Remote Controlled. There's something fishy about him and we're gonna get to the bottom of it. The Yanks are messing with the wrong crew my friends.

But uhh... Conspiracy theories aside, we laid the law down on the Yanks today. If it wasn't for Ike "I hit .160 but with 80 homeruns" Davis then I don't know where we'd be. That's all Ike Davis does... he just hits **** over the fences. He doesn't try for this doubles, base hit nonsense.

A split against the Yankees isn't bad but now that the series is over, we're putting this thing in to full throttle rebuild mode.

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers



Mets Notes: Rebuild, Buck, Draft, Rumors

By Steve Adams [August 2, 2013 at 4:55pm CST]

• The general consensus around baseball is that the Mets are ready to start selling and begin their rebuilding project. "They're shopping everybody but (David) Wright and (Matt) Harvey." With Atlanta and Washington practically running away with the division, the time is right for them to begin rebuilding.
• It was announced today via press release that the Mets traded catcher John Buck to the New York Yankees for outfielder Melky Mesa. In corresponding roster moves, the Mets have also announced that Kirk Nieuwenhuis is being optioned to AAA and #3 prospect Travis d'Arnuad is being called up to take Buck's slot on the roster.
• "There are absolutely 0 talented college players in this years draft" Said one Mets executive. The general consensus around the industry is that the Mets want advanced college players to add to their system. However, they may be pressured into going high school heavy this year.
• "The Mets are calling just about every team trying to find a young impact player to pair with David Wright... but guess what? It ain't happening" Said one AL scout.
• The Mets have been linked to Blue Jays outfielder Colby Rasmus and Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay but at this point, it seems unlikely that they're able pry either away from their respective teams.
• Word around the industry says that the Mets are bound to get at least 1 top 100 prospect from a team this season. "They're bound to screw somebody over..." Said an NL executive.

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

You've gotta be kidding me...

Sandy Alderson stood at the team's draft board as he tried to make sense of who the Mets were gonna pick. With the Astros on the clock, time was dwindling.

What is it?

None of the guys we've scouted are available for the draft.

****....

This was an awful draft right from the get go. We'd scouted at least 30 players and we finally get to our selection and there is NOBODY... none of the players we've scouted are in this year's draft aside from two relievers who grade out at a B potential.

We ain't takin' a reliever at 10th overall fellas... I'll tell you that right now. What do we got?

We've still got the best high school arm in the draft on the board. If we pick him, he'll be the first in the draft. He's got Roger Clemens written all over him. Wipe out Split, power fastball. 6'4... This is the guy we need. He's only 18 though...

Damn it... just draft him. We better hope he's and "A potential".

Ha... Haha! Drafting blind through the whole draft we came away with this:

Ray Vazquez-RHP-A
Kiki Dawley-LHP-B
Nick Gooden-3B-C
Jim Houlton-1B-C
Martin Vela-RHP-B
Jack Wagner-LF-A
Morgan Vinson-1B-B

Not bad... not bad... Vazquez has immense potential but he's a huge risk. Word on the block is he had the best personality of the draft and with us sitting on what could be the next Roger Clemens (talent wise) we'll surely have to follow his progress in the pages of this manuscript.

Welcome to the club Vazquez.

[AC]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

Word on the block is he had the best personality of the draft

Then you might want to rethink the Roger Clemens comp

[Deuce2223]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

I met rocks with a better personality then Roger Clemens, well he was with Boston saw him pitch against Seattle in the King Dome when I was like 9 or 10. After the game, my parents took me down to the gate where the players come out so I could try and get autographs. Of course as I was waiting to get my favorite player at the time (Spike Owen)'s autograph on my M's ball, I thought wow, getting Clemens autograph would be pretty cool too. Instead as he walked out he told everyone in line, no autographs unless you paid $20.00.

So after be shot down by Clemens I returned to my post waiting for Spike. After he walked out, I asked him politely Mr Owen, can I have your autograph? He says Nope kid, don't have time and walked right on by.

To this day I think both players suck.. I do however have a ball with Dave Henderson, Ken Phelps, and Lee Guetterman's names on it. To this day those 3 are still 3 of my favorite M's...

[beamerball811]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

I met rocks with a better personality then Roger Clemens, well he was with Boston saw him pitch against Seattle in the King Dome when I was like 9 or 10. After the game, my parents took me down to the gate where the players come out so I could try and get autographs. Of course as I was waiting to get my favorite player at the time (Spike Owen)'s autograph on my M's ball, I thought wow, getting Clemens autograph would be pretty cool too. Instead as he walked out he told everyone in line, no autographs unless you paid $20.00.

So after be shot down by Clemens I returned to my post waiting for Spike. After he walked out, I asked him politely Mr Owen, can I have your autograph? He says Nope kid, don't have time and walked right on by.

To this day I think both players suck.. I do however have a ball with Dave Henderson, Ken Phelps, and Lee Guetterman's names on it. To this day those 3 are still 3 of my favorite M's...

I've had similar encounters with Jim Thome. He was a real jerk to me and use to be my favorite player way back, but then I hated him. That's when I started to idolize Curt Schilling because of his faith and how dominate he was (2000/2001.) Hence, why I'm a Sox fan now. Anyway, it's funny that I know live in Peoria, which is where Thome grew up. There are a lot of quality guys out there though.

[royals19]

Re: A Metropolitan Manuscript- Apples, Queens and Numbers

I met rocks with a better personality then Roger Clemens, well he was with Boston saw him pitch against Seattle in the King Dome when I was like 9 or 10. After the game, my parents took me down to the gate where the players come out so I could try and get autographs. Of course as I was waiting to get my favorite player at the time (Spike Owen)'s autograph on my M's ball, I thought wow, getting Clemens autograph would be pretty cool too. Instead as he walked out he told everyone in line, no autographs unless you paid $20.00.

So after be shot down by Clemens I returned to my post waiting for Spike. After he walked out, I asked him politely Mr Owen, can I have your autograph? He says Nope kid, don't have time and walked right on by.

To this day I think both players suck.. I do however have a ball with Dave Henderson, Ken Phelps, and Lee Guetterman's names on it. To this day those 3 are still 3 of my favorite M's...

Clemens asked for 20 bucks to sign? Maybe he needed cash money to pay McNamee right then.

But in all seriousness, that's sad that ball players don't take time out of their lives to sign for kids. It's gotten better over the years but I don't think they really understand what it's like for a kid to have their hero sign something for them. It means the world.

I've had similar encounters with Jim Thome. He was a real jerk to me and use to be my favorite player way back, but then I hated him. That's when I started to idolize Curt Schilling because of his faith and how dominate he was (2000/2001.) Hence, why I'm a Sox fan now. Anyway, it's funny that I know live in Peoria, which is where Thome grew up. There are a lot of quality guys out there though.

Yeah, a lot of the players used to be real jerks about signing autographs and that kind of stuff but nowadays there are a ton of cool guys out there that understand what it's like to be in that kind of position and now that they'd want a big league guy to sign for them. I also think it helps that the guys are more humble than back in the early 2000s where virtually everyone thought they were hot ****.

******

When I was younger, Carlos Beltran was coming up with the Royals and he was my favorite player. I met him on several different occasions and he was always a really nice guy, he would carry on a conversation with me and ask me how I was doing and it really meant the world to me. When the Royals traded him, I was crushed and I don't think I went to any games the rest of that season or the next.

When Carlos got sent to the All Star game in 2004 when it was at Minute Maid park he sent me a hat commemorating the event and when he was with the Mets, he sent me a copy of their magazine with him on the cover of it.

I thought it was awesome that a star player would take time out of his busy schedule to stay in contact with the little kid from Kansas City... At the 2012 All Star Game, I wrote a letter to him thanking him for everything that he did for me and how he was an inspiration to me.

Even though he still plays for the Cardinals, Carlos is still my favorite player in all of baseball.