Stuff

Adam Rubin - Phillies dipping 13 games under .500 is 2nd-worst in MLB history year after 100+ wins. '86 Cards were 14 under after 101 Ws in '85.

New power poll: 1. NYY, 2. Texas, 3. Angels, 4. Washington, 5. Pirates, 6. White Sox. 7. Reds. 8. Atlanta. 9. SF. 10. Mets.

THT Forecasts WAR Watch -  McCutchen 4.8 Votto 4.3 Verlander 4.2 Wright 4.0 Dickey 4.0 Cueto 3.9 Bourn 3.8 Hamilton 3.7 Cain 3.7 Cano 3.6

Adam Rubin - Jon Rauch had a rough beginning to the All-Star break. The reliever revealed via Twitter he was involved in an automobile accident after Sunday's game. He tweeted: got sideswiped on the way home.....awesome. guy tried to merge into my jeep. Jeep 1 - Benz S-class 0. took 2.5 hrs for police to show up. Entire side of the benz destroyed by the 37" tires and Ace Eng. sliders. Couple dents in the rear door from his mirror. The Jeep is a tank. no injuries. glancing blow to both cars. He's lucky i didn't drive over the top of his hood!! to be honest, felt like i hit a pothole. heard the accident more than i felt it.

The Top-Ten Worst Players in Baseball History  = Doug Flynn IF (.238/.266/.294 avg. WAR -9.67, in 4085 PA): - In 11 seasons, mainly with the Mets and Expos, Flynn hit seven home runs, stole 20 bases, and was caught stealing 20 times. The utility infielder put up an OPS+ and wRC+ of 58 and 51, respectively in his career. In 333 PA, Flynn was worth -2.3 avg. WAR, in 1977. His career fWAR (-6.6) and rWAR (-8.5) are awful, but FRAA measures his glove as being worth 39.3 runs below average, in his career, leading to an outrageously bad -13.9 career WARP. - http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/7/9/3139176/worst-players-in-baseball-history Glenn DuPaul

Petey Pete - With the deadline for signing this year’s draft picks drawing steadily closer, the question is do the Mets have any money left to sign a few more of their draft picks from the 2012 MLB Draft? And even if they do have some money, which one’s are the players they should target? With their first round sandwich pick that they used to select catcher Kevin Plawecki, and their extra second-round pick, the Mets had 42 total choices in the 2012 draft. Of those, only 21 have signed contracts to play for the Mets so far. The good news is they have signed 15 of their first 16 picks, including their top three choices. Actually, of their first 22 selections, they have signed 18 of them. But with the deadline for signing unsigned draft picks coming this Friday, July 13th at 5:00 pm EST, which remaining players if any, are the Mets going to sign? http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/07/will-mets-sign-any-more-picks-as-deadline-looms.html

Michael Baron: Disrupting the rhythm of the pitching staff is a very valid concern. From what I’ve seen and heard, Mike Nickeas is a well liked and highly respected member of this roster. In addition, as I said yesterday, I think chemistry has been a critical component for this team, and the pitching staff in particular. In addition, as much as they might need a right-handed bat and as poor as the production has been at the catcher position this season, their bullpen needs to be the priority right now. In regards to Reynolds, he has been a very solid component out of the Rockies bullpen over the last three seasons, although the home run seems to be a troubling point for him. That could be a product of pitching in Coors Field – of the seven home runs he’s allowed this season, four have come at home. He doesn’t handle left-handed hitters well statistically – they’re hitting .288 against him this season – but he’s been used almost as frequently against righties, and so I wonder if a role exclusively against lefties might enhance his abilities to handle them better. http://www.metsblog.com/2012/07/09/mets-seek-right-handed-hitting-catcher-relief-help/

Adam Rubin - Phillies dipping 13 games under .500 is 2nd-worst in MLB history year after 100+ wins. '86 Cards were 14 under after 101 Ws in '85.

New power poll: 1. NYY, 2. Texas, 3. Angels, 4. Washington, 5. Pirates, 6. White Sox. 7. Reds. 8. Atlanta. 9. SF. 10. Mets.

THT Forecasts WAR Watch -  McCutchen 4.8 Votto 4.3 Verlander 4.2 Wright 4.0 Dickey 4.0 Cueto 3.9 Bourn 3.8 Hamilton 3.7 Cain 3.7 Cano 3.6

Adam Rubin - Jon Rauch had a rough beginning to the All-Star break. The reliever revealed via Twitter he was involved in an automobile accident after Sunday's game. He tweeted: got sideswiped on the way home.....awesome. guy tried to merge into my jeep. Jeep 1 - Benz S-class 0. took 2.5 hrs for police to show up. Entire side of the benz destroyed by the 37" tires and Ace Eng. sliders. Couple dents in the rear door from his mirror. The Jeep is a tank. no injuries. glancing blow to both cars. He's lucky i didn't drive over the top of his hood!! to be honest, felt like i hit a pothole. heard the accident more than i felt it.

The Top-Ten Worst Players in Baseball History  = Doug Flynn IF (.238/.266/.294 avg. WAR -9.67, in 4085 PA): - In 11 seasons, mainly with the Mets and Expos, Flynn hit seven home runs, stole 20 bases, and was caught stealing 20 times. The utility infielder put up an OPS+ and wRC+ of 58 and 51, respectively in his career. In 333 PA, Flynn was worth -2.3 avg. WAR, in 1977. His career fWAR (-6.6) and rWAR (-8.5) are awful, but FRAA measures his glove as being worth 39.3 runs below average, in his career, leading to an outrageously bad -13.9 career WARP. - http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/7/9/3139176/worst-players-in-baseball-history Glenn DuPaul

Petey Pete - With the deadline for signing this year’s draft picks drawing steadily closer, the question is do the Mets have any money left to sign a few more of their draft picks from the 2012 MLB Draft? And even if they do have some money, which one’s are the players they should target? With their first round sandwich pick that they used to select catcher Kevin Plawecki, and their extra second-round pick, the Mets had 42 total choices in the 2012 draft. Of those, only 21 have signed contracts to play for the Mets so far. The good news is they have signed 15 of their first 16 picks, including their top three choices. Actually, of their first 22 selections, they have signed 18 of them. But with the deadline for signing unsigned draft picks coming this Friday, July 13th at 5:00 pm EST, which remaining players if any, are the Mets going to sign? http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/07/will-mets-sign-any-more-picks-as-deadline-looms.html

Michael Baron: Disrupting the rhythm of the pitching staff is a very valid concern. From what I’ve seen and heard, Mike Nickeas is a well liked and highly respected member of this roster. In addition, as I said yesterday, I think chemistry has been a critical component for this team, and the pitching staff in particular. In addition, as much as they might need a right-handed bat and as poor as the production has been at the catcher position this season, their bullpen needs to be the priority right now. In regards to Reynolds, he has been a very solid component out of the Rockies bullpen over the last three seasons, although the home run seems to be a troubling point for him. That could be a product of pitching in Coors Field – of the seven home runs he’s allowed this season, four have come at home. He doesn’t handle left-handed hitters well statistically – they’re hitting .288 against him this season – but he’s been used almost as frequently against righties, and so I wonder if a role exclusively against lefties might enhance his abilities to handle them better. http://www.metsblog.com/2012/07/09/mets-seek-right-handed-hitting-catcher-relief-help/