I don't know, just seems like a good title to start with. Well actually it is just how I feel at the moment for some reason. Where to begin is just one of those things also. I guess the first thing is to tell y'all about some minor stuff in the International market.
The big splash, well that is how it was billed. The signing of Pedro Cueto by the Browns. Like, um, wow, to me it wasn't even a good ripple to be noteworthy. Not many seemed interested in the kid and only $7.5M signing bonus to boot. So what that he is the fastest thing on two feet, from the looks of things he has to get on base first. Might have a good eye and contact but he just isn't overpowering at the plate. His fielding isn't going to get him very far either at 2B, very good range but he keeps tying his shoelaces to the webbing of his glove. Maybe that was a joke his teammates pulled on him. Very bad joke as he landed on the DL. Maybe we need forensic evidence as to his real age, they can tell ya know.
J.P. Nieves was singed by the Red Sox for $13.8 M. A middle reliever with some very good abilities and could be a future star. Linda Loo said in a text that he probably isn't 18, more like 23. She hasn't been able to walk or talk for three days since the interview that didn't get aired.
(Insert five minutes worth of commercials so everyone can go to the bathroom and get munchies.) Now for the Rant part.
Have you ever wondered about college sports and where the NCAA gets off? It's all about money of course, plain and simple. Think of it this way, a big Div I school, the average ticket price to a football game is $50. The stadium seats 100,000 that is an easy $5M. Lets say everyone spends $10 on food (and that is low probably with the prices they charge), that is another $1M. Souvenirs also, another 20 maybe, another $2M. Parking, can't let that slide and shuttle service in most instances. Big game, nationally televised...umm..how much is that worth (LSU-Alabama)? Another $5M maybe, more in all probability. Somebody is making some big bucks for a season. Amateur athletes on a scholarship, seems like they are being paid to play to me and for cheap. Seems to me, one game can cover the expenses for an entire season and the scholarship for four years. Why not protect it to squeeze every last cent.
Oh well, enough with the stupid rant.
The Mets are actually having a good year. Well, that depends on who you ask. If you ask me it is another lousy season. Yeah, we will probably do better than last year, that was the goal. If you look at the numbers right now, they tell a different tale. 4th in the NL in pitching, 5th overall. 5th in the NL in fielding, 8th overall. The unfortunate part, we are almost dead last in hitting. Why? I haven't a clue. Yes our splits against right-handed pitchers aren't sublimely great but is that actually the problem? We have power and can't hit home runs, hell, we can't even hit doubles. We have speed and can't steal bases. We are having trouble getting seeing-eye hits even, go figure. All we had to do in Philly was hit the ball in the air to center field, for the most part we couldn't hit the ball in the air. Matter of fact we can't hit the ball in the air against FB pitchers, figure that one out.
I went looking at the stats and found a couple things that shouldn't be if you ask me. George Atkins for instance has a 77 GB/FB rating. He has given up a team leading 15 home runs in the pitching department. Okay, why do his stats indicate that he is a fly ball pitcher? All of my staff is pretty good in the GB arena. R.J. Bellhorn is about the lowest with a 62 GB/FB rating and is relatively on target if you ask me. He is good at getting inning ending DPs. Anibal Bennett on the other hand was listed as a pure FB pitcher even with a 60 rating. Of course with him you could make the case that he was always wild high. I dumped him back to AAA because he kept walking batters.
Leo Rodney is having trouble getting the ball in the air. You could make several cases for him though. One he is not ready for ML pitching, but he has to learn sometime. I am not sure he would have gotten much better left down in the minors. He was kind of a special case in my books. I didn't need another LF and he isn't a very good one at that and doubt he ever will. So why not bring the big bat up and play 1B. Just needs time to adjust I think. Hey, he replaced Pedro Johnson and anything is better than him in the hitting department, just ask the Republicans.
I waived Dale Stevenson to bring up Guy Oquist. Not the greatest hitter but another decent defensive SS was needed. The Dodgers were the recipient of the waiver case, insurance just in case as he went to AAA.
Poor Sun Hasegawa was dumped back to AAA and he was pretty pissed about that. The reason was to make room for Jesus Lee, whom I piked up off waivers. I was hoping he would be a masher at the plate, well that didn't turn out all that well. Then again maybe I was asking too much. Substandard PC which really didn't hurt that much on the bottom line for a change. What has gotten him in the dog house is his arm or lack thereof. You will find him on the waiver wire after the deadline.
The big stretch is coming in the schedule. Salem, Houston, Milwaukee and Florida just to name a few. I didn't do well the last time, will it be any better? I hope so, if I want to contend. Philly can still fall as their schedule isn't much better. I was hoping to gain ground but ended up losing. Such is life in this game as it can be rather contentious.
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