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Eric Young

Look, I know it's open question whether he hits enough to warrant a starting spot in the OF.   But I love watching this guy play at volume 11.   Just made a gorgeous diving backhanded grab.   And those tall blue socks... classic.    Hope it works out.

Great Nike Ad from...

Back in the day, starring one of my all-time favorite players.

Just to get back to the Knicks-Nets thing...

It seems Paul Pierce is ready, willing, and able to be a pot stirrer:

"I think the hate [for the Knicks] has grown a little. Everybody knows how much I disliked the Knicks when I was with the Celtics, but I think it's grown to another level," Pierce said on ESPN NewYork 98.7 FM's "The Michael Kay Show" on Thursday. "I think it's time for the Nets to start running this city."

This could get fun.

Harvey's first CG Shutout

Kudos to one of the best young pitchers in baseball. He now has 1 CG in 33 MLB starts. One of Harvey's biggest fans, Dr. K, had 31 starts in his rookie season of 1984. 7 CGs. My how the times have changed.

Nets-Knicks

Being the casual fan/non-fan of the NBA that I am, I bring the same x's & o's knowledge as the average bellied-up-to-the-bar blowhard when it comes to pro hoops. But as a lifelong consumer of backpage NY tabloid reporting, I've got some insight when it comes to Gotham sports rivalries. And I like what's developing here.

Let's face it, Knicks-Nets has had very little juice until the Brooklyn move. Both teams were rarely good at the same time. Enter a Russian billionaire, Jay-Z, and a new arena, and all of sudden, there was a little spark to the rivalry. Then you get the re-awakening of a sense of parochialism from the residents of Kings County, a sense long dormant, almost forgotten. That the most populous borough could compete in the bigs against the corporate suits from Manhattan. The populist vs elitist vibe started to take hold.

But the best news (for those of us who simply enjoy conflict) is how Billy King and his Precious Metals Tsar are now poking sticks in the eyes of the Knicks and their fans. Villan #1 for the Knicks the past few years has been K.G., mister "Honey Nut Cheerios" himself. The Nets acquire him. It's pretty clear they're doing it as much for his bad attitude as the hoops.

Meanwhile, Knicks fans have been calling 660 and lamenting--"Where's the toughness on our team? These guys are soft. We'd better re-sign Kenyon Martin who was the only one fighting for rebounds in the playoffs..." Yes, that's the same K Mart who was signed mid-season on a 10-day contract or something ridiculous like that.

So what do the Nets do? Reach out to K Mart to gauge interest in joining Brooklyn for the 2013/14 season. He's a replaceable part at this stage in his career. You won't convince me this isn't being done just as a shot across Cablevision's bow.

Hey Dolan, Prokhorov doesn't have some cushy utility pseudo-monopoly. He can't maintain his great wealth with the occasional political donation to desperate and shallow city and county officials. This guy's got to deal with the wild west. Government being run by the (former?) KGB, a place where you cross the wrong line and you wind up drinking liquid plutonium for breakfast. This guy's got to keep his friends close and his enemies closer, all while trading in metals with extreme price volatility--a far cry from, "please pay us another $149 for your ongoing service."

Look out Mr. Dolan, the Nets are coming for you.

Harvey as leader

His role on this team is growing quickly.   His leadership as innate as his winning.  From the NY Post:

On the play that ended his bid for a no-hitter in the afternoon, Jason Heyward drizzled a slow roller down the first-base line that seemed to check up like a perfect wedge shot just as Harvey was reaching for the ball. He turned and flipped to first base, which would have been a better idea if there had been an actual Met on first base.

Later, Lucas Duda, the first baseman, would be exonerated by Collins, who said, “He has no idea if the pitcher’s going to be able to get to the ball. He did the right thing.”

Duda wasn’t buying...

At inning’s end, Duda, quite sheepishly, walked over to Harvey.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was all my fault.”

And Harvey, eyes on fire but now lasered on Duda’s, practically deflected the words with his hands. “Don’t even give it a second thought,” he said. “We got out of the inning just fine.”

Later, Duda would say, smiling, shaking his head: “That’s a good guy.”

Such is the respect Harvey already commands with his teammates, the gravitas he already carries, after less than a year on the job. It was useful to see this, to be reminded of just how far Harvey has come and how quickly he’s arrived there, on the day that Wheeler arrived to try to play Koosman to Harvey’s Seaver, Darling to his Gooden, and did so splendidly.

It's Wheeler Day!

Zack turned himself around in AAA, and we're deep enough in the season that the Mets will retain an additional year of owning the rights to Zack, so now he's getting the call to the bigs.  Must watch TV tonight for Mets fans.

Right on the heels of Harvey's masterful afternoon performance, Mets fans get a glimpse of the future today.  Harvey and Wheeler.

Is it too much to think that in 2015 the Mets could have one of the best rotations of the bigs with Harvey, Wheeler, Montero, Gee and Niese? 

Wheeler and Montero will need to live up to the promise, but it's certainly not impossible.

Meanwhile, don't look now, but Jack Leathersich is averaging 2 K's/IP as he mows down hitters in the Eastern League PCL (he's now been promoted to AAA) and racks up the saves.  Snydergaard is lurking as well, about to be promoted to AA.  Getting a bit giddy, now.

Wheeler last night

Kid continues to scuffle.   Last night was ugly:

5 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 7K

Don't know if it's the oblique, the finger blister, or what, but he's got to get himself on track.

BTW, Montero goes tonight for the B Mets.

NFL Draft

Jets say they got 2 of the top 4 on their board when they picked at 9 and 13, so they didn't reach based on position need.  That much is obvious by the fact that they went DT at 13.  I know D.C. felt that Richardson was a reach, but really, if you look at all the mock drafts, there was little consensus about the DT spot.  I saw Floyd as high 4 and as a low as the second round.   That Lorelui kid from Utah, same deal.  Richardson bumped around too.   Bottom line, who knows if he ends up being the best DT in the draft, but he's clearly got the size and motor to be a 1st round pick, and he went mid first round. 

My only strong opinion on the draft involves the QB spot.   The Jets need a QB, but there are no sure things at the QB spot in this draft.  I will be very disappointed if the Jets blow their 2nd round pick on a QB, regardless of who is on the board.  The only reason to pick a QB is if there is value there.   Nassib or Glennon in the 3rd round (at the earliest), maybe Dysert in the 4th or later.

I really hope we avoid Geno no matter what.  Listen, he's got great athleticism and get the ball downfield.    He was playing in a wide open offense where, on just about every play, he had wide receivers that were, well, wide open.  Hasn't shown the ability to hit spots.  Hasn't shown consistent mechanics.  Hasn't shown the discipline to address these issues when they persisted for weeks and months at a stretch.

He's got a high top end, for sure, but I don't think he'll ever get there.  Nassib is likely to be a competent pro, but might not have the arm to be excellent.  Glennon has the height, the arm, the mechanics, the accuracy.   But he's a stationary target and might not be a great leader.  Still, he's the one I'd like to see the Jets grab if they go QB.  Which hopefully will be in round 4 (if at all), but I could live w/ Rd 3 if they go that route.

Let's face it, if the Jets draft a QB, playing him this year would be a mistake, what with the gaping holes in the O line and no weapons around him.  There's no reason not to wait till next year, when we'll have another high draft pick and something there isn't this year--QBs with a high probability of success at the next level (here's looking at you, Teddy Bridgewater).

UPDATE:  Ugh

Mets pitching prospects: studs edition

So there are 3 guys left in the farms (now that Harvey's spread his wings and taken flight) that are considered to be front line starting prospects in the majors: Zack Wheeler, Noah Snydergaard, and Rafael Montero.

If two of the three pan out to be great major leaguers, the Mets have playoffs in their future.   I know that may be oversimplifying the complex job of building a major league franchise, but in my mind, if you can wheel out three dominant pitchers in your rotation, and salvage near-.500 baseball with the 4 & 5 guys, you're going to win 90+ games and make the playoffs.   If those front three are good enough, you can win championships even with a mediocre lineup, especially if chemistry is good.  See the '69 Mets.  Or the Giants of the past few years.  The Braves decade+ run in the NL East.  Or the DBacks with Schilling and the Unit.

The good news:  Montero is stepping up.   They keep bumping him up in the farms, and instead of an adjustment period, he seems to pick his game up each time he gets promoted.  Now in AA to start the year, he's putting up gaudy #s in Binghamton.  MetsBlog has it covered here.  Spoiler alert: the comparison is to a young Pedro Martinez. And btw, when I say dominating, try this K/BB ratio on for size-- 27:1.

The lukewarm news:  Snydergaard and Wheeler are both considered big-time prospects, but are both struggling to adjust, with both starting the year in the highest level they've yet competed (Wheeler in AAA and Snydergaard in high-A).   Snydergaard is probably two years away if all goes perfectly, so Wheeler is of more immediate interest to me.   Kiernan of the NYP summarized his opening here:

Wheeler has made four starts at Triple-A Las Vegas this year and, granted he is coming off a strained oblique during spring training and a blister on his middle finger that hampered him his first two starts, but the numbers are not pretty. Over 18 1/3 innings Wheeler has surrendered 12 walks and 20 hits, which gives him a 1.745 WHIP, an 0-1 record and a 4.91 ERA.

He's got to show the organization he's ready to kick it up a notch.

Edit: SI's Rising Apple blog says don't worry about Wheeler. The kid will be fine.

Am I the only one

that thinks getting the 13 overall for Revis, a player who is a giant question mark coming off of ACL surgery, was getting a lot for him?  

Cannizzaro trashed the trade today, saying Jets got fleeced.  Francesa was ripping the Jets too, though it's hard to imagine a circumstance where he wouldn't.

Don't get me wrong, Revis has been an untradeable type talent the first 6 years of his career.  But we're not trading the last 6 years, we're trading the next 6.  How does he project forward?   If IBN is right, and the guy's lost not one, but three or four steps, how precipitously would his trade value drop when it's clear he's merely a good CB?

I can live with the fact that the Jets are moving on.  There's another Pro-Bowl CB on the roster still, and Kyle Wilson has made great progress.   Revis has managed to be a distraction as well, with 3 holdouts in 6 years.   I'm not going to say he's a "me first" guy, but he sure didn't provide the type of leadership that kept the other guys in line as the team was coming apart at the seams the last couple of years.

Worst case, Revis is the Revis of old, and the Bucs will have gotten the better of the deal.  But that doesn't mean the Jets would've won anything of significance with him.  Too many holes to fill

Best case, Revis has fallen off, and we just fleeced the Bucs out of a top-13 pick, which could easily be a 10 year starter, if not Pro Bowl or All Pro type player.  Now let's see what Idzik can do.

"You took your first pinch like a man and you learned the two greatest things in life." Young Henry: "What?" Jimmy: "Look at me. Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut."

Click here to go see a real gangsta.

HARVEY & RANGERS ARE BFFS

Written by Kevin D. on Friday, April 12 2013 11:00.

Anthony Reiber at Newsdayreports on the relationship between Rangers players and Mets pitching phenom Matt Harvey...

"The Connecticut native and new Manhattan resident is keeping an eye on the NHL's Eastern Conference, where his beloved Rangers are fighting for playoff spots with the Islanders and other teams.

Harvey is friendly with many Rangers, including fellow New Englander Brian Boyle and star goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Harvey has gone out for meals with the hockey players and they follow what he is doing for the Mets -- which is pitching very, very well in his first two starts (2-0, 0.64 ERA)."

Here's Harvey on the Rangers...

"I grew up a Rangers fan," Harvey said. "I've always been really into hockey. It was a lot of fun. Those guys more than welcomed me. Hopefully, when we get back, I'll be able to check out a game or two. Hopefully, they'll make a run and try and sneak into the playoffs."

The new Big East

So y'all know I think the breakup in the Big East went about as well as it could have for the basketball schools.  Wins include:

1. Getting to retain the Big East brand (colossal failure of leadership by the American whatever-they're-now-called in selling the Big East name AT ANY PRICE),

2. Keeping the basketball-rich traditions of schools like Nova, GTown, Marquette, now in a league focused on roundball, and

3. Getting to a smaller # of schools to allow for a double-round-robin format.

Two nit-picks though, which have been bothering me.

Point #1.

They should have kept the league to 9.  With 10 teams, there will be 18 league games.  That's  a lot, and will prevent teams from scheduling stronger non-conf schedules, perhaps needing to pass on some early season tournaments.  A high non-conf SOS helps big time on Selection Sunday, so it's a consequential decision.  If the league decides to shorten the conference schedule to 14 games, and play an unbalanced schedule, I will officially drop flaming bags of dog feces on their face.

Point #2.

If the league was intent on going to 10, adding Creighton was a myopic decision.  They've been a bit stronger in hoops than some other candidates over the past few years.  But they have no-long term structural advantages over those other schools.  In fact, they have a major structural detraction.

Simply put, they are FAR EFFING AWAY.   Keep in mind, this doesn't just affect basketball.  Providence will have to send their field hockey team 1400 miles to Omaha, which is about 600 miles further than Xavier, one of the new "Western" (i.e., far away) teams.

They also don't fit the "brand" of the new Big East as a "big city, Rust Belt + Northeast" conference.   The Great Plains is just a different region and culture.

Then there's the question of "Big" in Big East, as in "big time," and "big money".  The TV market in Omaha doesn't have as many eyeballs as some of the bigger cities they passed over (see here with respect to the other cities I mention below).   This short-sighted decision will impact future TV contracts.  And the financial viability (I'll use endowment size as a proxy) and alumni donor base of Creighton ($375M endowment - 7,700 undergrads) are reasonable, but not a clincher--especially when compared to my option #1.

So assuming St. John's and Nova simply blackballed other NYC and Philly schools (esp. St. Joe's and LaSalle), who could the conference have gone after?  My list would've looked like this:

1. St. Louis, $852M, 14K undergrads. Catholic school, same distance as DePaul and Marquette from NE schools, which means it's at least not further.  Largest school of my alternatives, with the biggest city (i.e. TV market), and richest endowment.  From a regional perspective, St. Looey is traditionally the end of the East and the beginning of the Plains, hence it's "Gateway to the West" moniker.  A natural boundary city that would have made sense for the Western edge of the Big East conference.  Think of the Cards, Pirates and Cubs in the old NL East, and the Big East would've looked exactly like the old NL East from the Senior Circuit's 2-division days (especially since the Braves were in the West back then).

2. Duquesne (Pittsburgh), $171M, 10K undergrads.  Another Catholic school, this one is just about dead-center of the new conference's footprint.  It's also about the same size as Creighton, though the school is not as well established financially.  However, Pittsburgh is undergoing an economic renaissance that will allow it's donor base to growth in wealth over time, and should give their athletic programs the ability to keep facilities and recruiting on par with the big boys (esp. if they got an infusion of Big East TV $).  It's also got a big city rust belt feel that fits the conference's brand.  Pitt, for instance, always seemed like a great fit, culturally.

3. Dayton, $415M, 8K undergrads.  Comfortably within the new conference's geographical footprint (even ex Creighton), this Catholic school is similar in many ways to Creighton, except for not being so damn far.  Dayton gets some play in the Cincinnati market as well from a TV perspective.

Whatevs.  The ship sailed.  Someone in the Big East's HQ probably has a sister-in-law working for the AD at Creigthon or something.   Regardless,  the conference is about 90% of the way to a great product, as long as they don't mess up the scheduling.

Opening Day and Game #2

What a fun start to the year.  Duda, Ike, Cowgill, Buck all going deep.  6 crooked numbers posted in the first couple of games.  Harvey looking ridiculously dominant, Niese looking good, and Collins having everyone playing hard.

Don't know if this team will ultimately be better than last year's edition (though with a full year of Harvey and likely a half year of Wheeler I'd have to think there's a chance), but it's amazing what a difference Collins has made for me.  I look forward to watching these guys now.

Godspeed, 2013 Mets!

Jets Offseason

Before we turn the page to baseball for good, I wanted to bullet a point a few of my previous observations:

1) Rex needed to go before the 2012-13 season. He clearly needs to go now. Woody's on crack in keeping him, and he'll obviously be here until the '13-14 season.

2) Coming into last year, I said it was a "last chance" for Sanchez. He sucked. The guy's not going to be the man, and I pray the Jets bring in some real competition via the draft (they're too cash strapped to bring in pro-ready competition).

 3) O line needs major rehaul, and the "stars" of the line are not as good as we think. Brick and Mangold are above average at their positions, but not even close to All-Pros. Faneca and Woody made them look better than they were as pups. A lot of upgrades needed, with little or no cash to be found. Ducasse pick killed us. Losing Turner and Woody hurt a lot.

4) Skill positions other than QB are bad, but fixing them is not top priority--OL and QB are. Good RBs are frequently found with middle-round draft picks (Leon Washington, Leon Johnson, Adrian Murrell all 4th and 5th round guys for Jets; Rudi Johnson (4th), Frank Gore (4th), Edgerin James (4th), Brian Westbrook (3rd), Mike Anderson (6th) from around the league). Not a position to waste $ or high draft picks on. WR is a position that simply won't get fixed for a while. It takes 3 years for even high-talent draft picks to pan out, usually. No money for vet stars.

5) The organization is a mess. As long as there are no clear lines of accountability, things will continue to suck. Drafting and signing by committee does not work. The GM needs to have clear authority over the Coach in player-personnel and evaluation decisions. Coach over the players for disciplinary and playing time issues. Oh yeah, and the owner needs to be evaluating the operation as a whole, not undercutting the GM by getting into personnel decisions.  None of the above is true right now.

We must sign him immediately!!!

Some dude put together an awesome propaganda piece in defense of Kyle Lohse's amazing skills--the numbers are hysterical and the tone of the post is perfect. The single funniest part, however, is in the comments section when a guy mentions that it looks like Lohse is going to get injured running the bases. The comment on that guy's comment had me roaring... Check it out here: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/kyle-lohse-propaganda/