Yep. This is what we've been reduced to discussing.

Bill:
So is Theo looking prescient for not signing Pedro now that it appears Petey is wearing out just when the Mets need him going into the playoffs?

 

---

Mike:
Well, any fleeting sense of vindication is erased once one recalls that Theo also signed Batting Practice Beckett. How's that working out as Pedro replacement?

 

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Bill:
Fucking Beckett. I'm feeling like going all King Henry on his ass. "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?"

 

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Mike:
Why can't Beckett be more like David Beckham, you know?

 

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Bill:
You mean with a bendy pitch or something?

 

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Mike:
No, I mean with a hottorific wife. I mean if Beckham totally muffs up on the pitch, at least the fans can be distracted by the exploits of Posh.

 

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Bill:
You might be on to something. All this talk of VORP and OBP blah blah blah, but what the Sox really seem to be lacking are more spanktastic hot wives.

 

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Mike:
Once again, Manny seems to be pulling his weight at least.

 

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Bill:
Yeah, and then some. Heh.

 

---

Comments

[louclinton]

11-0 loss to the Jayz at home. Enough said.

In Re Lost:

3 words

Fucking clip show.

lc

[Bob]

Did you notice that on Manny's wife's My Space page, Johnny Damon is one of her "friends"? (I asked to be added, natch.) Funny part is, he calls himself "Nitro."

[Kaz]

Went to the game last night.

Left the game last night.

I didn't see the Red Sox while I was there, did they happen to show up after I left?

No. No, it doesn't appear to be the case.

Oh well, next tickets are for Sunday.

5 months until Pitchers and Catchers!

[Ryan with a capital "R"]

So, do we flog Theo and make him wear a hair shirt for getting Becket? Will Yankee fans make an annual pilgrimage to the site? Will some annoying writer from the New Yorker churn out a bunch of short stories about their travels through the wilds of non-Fairfield County Connecticut?

[jim]

Where's the excitement about the race for third place? There's still some drama left in this season!

[Dave S.]

HB...it's off topic a bit, or at best tangential...but one of my favorite devices that you use is the characters' implied understanding and full recognition of the meaning and substance behind the hotlinks in what the others are saying. Add it to the list of super powers I wish I too possessed.

The good about Beckett is that he won't be this bad next year. Most of his peripherals are pretty okay...and he's actually been durable for once in his career...until you look at his HR totals, which are just hugely out of whack, and by his own standards at that. Career up to this year: 0.81 HR/9...this year, 1.58 HR/9. Yikes!
He'll never be vintage Pedro, but he ought to be more in the 4-ish ERA line moving forward, giving up less that. Regression to the mean, baby! I think.

[h.b.]

one of my favorite devices that you use is the characters' implied understanding and full recognition of the meaning and substance behind the hotlinks in what the others are saying

Thanks for noticing! Yesterday's strip was a perfect example of that particular sleight of hand when the two characters were referring to the the javelin pierced woman.

It's absolutely unrealistic, but it's one of those improvisations I had to turn to make the whole link-within-conversation thing work.

I think the idea for this grew out the watching Beevis and Butthead when they'd offer their running commentary on MTV videos and also Mystery Science Theatre.

[Rob in CT]

Which Beckett has the higher VORP, Josh or Thomas?

[Rob in CT]

//There is a benefit to the Sox standings slide: cheap tickets.

Headed to the Green Monster tonight on $60 standing-room tickets picked up off StubHub.//

Got what you paid for, huh Dunster? Still, on top of the Monster. That's gotta be pretty cool. Hope you had a decent time all the same.

[jim]

$60 for standing room - a bargin! Wow, that organization really knows how give you your money's worth.

[Billy Mahty]

Remember that "can't wait for every fifth game" feeling?

BTW, what ever happened to Clement? Is he still on the roster?

[h.b.]

Like so many relationships, it was great in the beginning, then soured... :)

[Kaz]

Latest news on Clement came out yesterday...it looks like his shoulder muscles exploded. Exploratory arthroscopic surgery found at least 3 issues that were all corrected. The doc said recovery is good though and likened the surgery/problems to Drew Brees (who now throws for the 3-0 N.O. Saints).

I'm hoping all that grimace was him not having a clue that he was throwing his arm apart and he comes back next season with a spring training that proves why we picked him up back when he was throwing CG-SOs for the Cubbies.

[jim]

I actually think that Clement and Beckett will battling for the Cy Young next year. Call it - "dueling aces"

Actually, throw Pavano in that satirical race too.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Here's hoping that the last 2 years of petey's contract work out as well for the mets as the last 2 years of mo's contract.

BTW - pesky's pole? I think i remember that the original name was pesky pole (no "S") AH, hell, i'm so bitter right now, it doesn't take much to fire me up.

[harwich rich]

Don't be bitter Ogie,it's time for some "old time hockey". Get to putting on the foil :)

[Rob in CT]

Great - 13 lousy posts today, including three from Jim, who according to Dlisted.com has an extraordinarily small penis.

Hell, not even Posh can get things going. Slow day today, Hart. Did you ever get the chance to view your recording of "Heroes"?

[IkeG]

OK, slow news day, but this is weird:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2606072

[Dave S.]

Hey, who you callin' lousy!? You wanna piece o me!!?

Nah...you're right, Rob. Wuh wuuuuh.

The thing about the Pedro contract, at least for the Mets, is that it went a hell of lot further than just getting Pedro. Beltran, Delgado and Wagner all came on board following Pedro's signing [Delgado came the long way, later via trade, but was clearly motivated because of the Met's "committment" to winning, as demonstrated by their signing of Pedro]. They definitely got the inside track on a lot of guys that they wouldn't have had otherwise. He was worth more to the Mets than he would have been for the Red Sox, for that alone. I wonder if the reverse is at all true for the Red Sox...that his departure signalled a lack of loyalty on the part of the Sox FO? Did it undermine players' confidence or interest in the team?

[paddy24]

My #1 wish for 2007: can we please allow our top pitcher to take a shot at 20-8, 2.80 E.R.A., 225 innings? Papelbon has thrown 68 innings. It's a waste of precious resources. Billy Beane has already demonstrated that closers are interchangeable. They basically all save about 78 to 87 percent of their opportunities. And quite frankly, Papelbon blew some big games this year (no, I'm not criticizing). The point is, they all blow some saves. Rivera allowed Sandy Alomar's HR, threw the ball away vs. the Dbacks, and allowed the BoSox to rally in 2004. And any reliever can have a good run, ie. Foulke in 2004. If the Sox aren't careful, Papelbon could become a head case if he gets off to a poor start next year. With his talent, 20 wins and 225 innings per year is very possible. Let's pick up a proven reliever, and let Papelbon be our ace next year.

[paddy24]

... that is unless Kaz objects.

[Jason O.]

You know which Beckett's VORP was huge?
Dr. Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap...

What a great show...top 5 all time sci fi series.

Dr. Beckett, there's always a 0.00000456% chance that your next leap will be back in to your own body...in the meantime, there's a shitload of injustice to redress and timelines to correct...

[Dave S.]

Paddy-

I'm pretty sure that it's already decided that Papelbon will start next year. I think he, Theo and Francona had a meeting on it, and all are in agreement that he'll have a go as a starter.

I'd actually suggest that, despite many of the problems they had this year, the Red Sox already have the live arms they need to assemble a good bullpen next year. There are very few consistent, proven relievers out there...they have a lot of year to year variation, and often end up being overpaid for average performance (see: Kyle Farnsworth)

[Kaz]

Whoa, paddy, you managed to say something intelligent for once!

A rotation with Schilling, Beckett, Papelbon, Wakefield, Clement/Snyder/Lester(?)/Tavarez(?!) doesn't look half bad for next year.

It would mean getting one of the interchangeable pitchers you talk about in order to close though. Our bullpen looks pretty bush league right now (and I'm not just punning on the tomato plant out there).

[Jason O.]

How do the tomatoes look?

[jim]

Yeah, that rotation looks fantastic next year! Almost as good as the infield. And the OF. And the bench. And the front office.

A team to be feared, indeed.

[dunster]

Well, 11-0 was not the score that I was hoping for. The best part of the game was batting practice. You get a whole new perspective on Manny when you're on the Green Monster and he just BLASTS them out over your head.

A few photos:
http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/shared/6541/xs6l8upbrn547az

[Bob]

Awesome photos, Dunster! Cool that Flutie was up there. Man, he looks like he takes his BP seriously.

[jim]

From a current Baseball Musings entry entitled "Kicking the Beckett":

Beckett and Lowell combined to collect 28 win shares, 12 for Josh, 16 for Mike. Given Lowell's 9 last season, that was a big improvement. But Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez combined for 33 win shares; twenty-three by the shortstop and 10 by the pitcher in half a season. To put it simply, the Beckett trade was not a cost effective deal."

Uh, you think?

[IkeG]

dunster, cool stuff. Despite the outcome of the game I am envious.

Dave, interesting thought about Pedro. I don't think that Pedro leaving looked as bad from a player perspective as Damon leaving. With Pedro, there was:
1) Omar Minaya obviously going hard at it trying to get him, willing to overpay if needed
2) Pedro himself seeming to waver, not really making it clear that he wanted to stay in Boston (he SAID he wanted to stay, but he sent other signals previously discussed at this site that suggested otherwise)

It was fairly obvious that Damon would have stayed if more $$$ were thrown his way. Whether letting him go for an extra $12 mil a year was good business or not (doesn't look like it was), I imagine it's hard to get players to rally around you when you let a popular player go, no matter what.

[jim]

"I imagine it's hard to get players to rally around you when you let a popular player go, no matter what."

Brilliant!

Maybe THAT'S why the team quit on this year!

Watch when it happens with the Pats too.

[Jason O.]

Yo, jim:

I appreciate your take no prisoners attitude, you were likely one of those guys who liked to "finish" i.e., when you were blocking someone, you weren't done until you put them on their back.

But remember what Publilius Syrus wrote in the original "sentences":

He conquers twice who in the hour of conquest, conquers himself.

[Jason O.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publilius_Syrus

[IkeG]

You must be taking study hall in the computer lab today, jimster.

For some reason I can't explain you remind me of this guy from college, who upon overhearing a group of us talking about getting a keg that weekend, said "I'll buy the keg if you let me hang out with you".

Maybe THAT's why I gave up hope for the guy!

[jim]

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all off-season.

BTW: Toronto is crushing Detroit. Once the Yanks clinch homefield, I'm looking forward to the AAA team.

[Dave S.]

Jim- Your gloating is probably better suited for, you know, a Yankee blog.

[jim]

Nah, they're talking about silly stuff like the 24th and 25th men on the playoff roster.

[Kaz]

I thought we were doing fine by simply not validating jim by not acknowledging his comments today. Let's get a fresh start tomorrow and try that again. Remember, don't feed the troll and pretty soon you won't keep stepping in its droppings.

[jim]

And the Jays win!

[Rob in CT]

Dunster - GREAT photos from the Monster! And a bonus Doug Flutie sighting to boot!

First views from the Monstah I've seen. Very nice! Certainly one of Il Duce's better "revenue enhancement" ideas. Thanks a lot for sharing.
___________

Hmm, any chance we can add an "IGNORE" button here like the Yahoo! financial message boards have? I know who I'm putting on ignore first...
___________

Dave - Cracking me up over here. Pleus interesting thoughts on Pedro's intangible value. I know I read that he worked persuasively to bring in some of the Dominican stars. Still all in all, as much as I love and admire Petey and appreciate the genius of 1999 et al, I think the right decision was made. Can't say that for all the decisions they reached. (God, I still miss Cabrera...)