That online poker player you’re competing with that you just assumed was a beautiful member of the opposite sex might just be a robot. The good news is, the “robots masquerading as humans” aren’t great at poker and more than 90 percent of them are losing money. So bleed that robot dry. Also, to think we once feared a robot uprising. We should have figured robots would be basement-dwelling online poker nerds like the rest of us. Via Rob V.
This question came via text message from my man Ripps, and it was only once my wife and I spent several minutes debating it that I realized I should extend it to you.
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Joel Sherman put together a list of some facts about Mariano Rivera. They are predictably awesome.
I do something like this every year, and at some point it became less about trying to predict what players would fill certain spots on the Mets and more about certain hangups I have about odds.
(I present the odds here in the frequently used format — [Chance of an event not happening]:[Chance of an event happening]. In other words, the chance of rolling a three on a six-sided die is here noted 5:1. There are five outcomes on the die that are not three, and one three.)
For the purposes of this discussion, I am assuming that Francisco Rodriguez, Bobby Parnell and D.J. Carrasco are locks for the Mets’ bullpen. I know there has been talk that the Mets would give Carrasco a shot to start, but with Chris Young and Chris Capuano healthy, I figure Carrasco’s bound for a relief role. For that matter, I did not include Capuano as a candidate for the bullpen.
Figuring the Mets will carry seven relievers, that leaves four open spots. By my count, there are 12 guys still in camp in competition: Manny Acosta, Pedro Beato, Taylor Buchholz, Pat Misch, Oliver Perez, Boof Bonser, Blaine Boyer, Tim Byrdak, Ryota Igarashi, Jason Isringhausen, Mike O’Connor and Taylor Tankersley.
Check this out: If Terry Collins went full chaos-theory and decided to fill the remaining bullpen slots by picking four names out of a hat, each guy would have a 1 in 3 shot of making it, or 2:1 odds.
And yet somewhere this offseason, someone will inevitably take a similar approach to roster speculation but give 2:1 odds to only the most likely candidate. Find that man and place a bet with him. Bet lots of money on that most likely candidate making the team, and ask the blogger or reporter to make good on his odds by doubling your money when that guy does make the team.
Actually, don’t do that. It’s a jerky thing to do. My point is only that if the odds look a little strange here, it’s because there are so many open spots and the Mets will inevitably fill them.
OK, back to that: Other factors in the Mets’ decision include that Manny Acosta and Pat Misch are out of options, Pedro Beato is a Rule 5 pick and Boof Bonser has an opt-out clause in his contract that lets him walk if he doesn’t make the Major League roster, though he’s no lock to leave.
So without further ado, here we go:
Taylor Buchholz (1:5): Buchholz, now 21 months removed from Tommy John surgery, appears healthy and has been effective in his Grapefruit League outings so far. Since he got a Major League contract, I considered placing him among the “locks” that wouldn’t be listed here, but having 12 guys for four slots made the math on that hat point way easier.
Tim Byrdak (1:2): Thus far, good news for Mets bullpen candidates with my initials. The Mets will definitely need a lefty and Byrdak is one. The veteran has been an effective if unspectacular lefty specialist for four seasons. He’s 37, but he’ll probably only be asked to face one batter at a time.
Jason Isringhausen (5:7): OMG LOL! Next the Mets are going to sign Craig Swan, Sidd Finch and Jay Hook amirite? After inspiring a full day’s worth of tired Twitter humor, Isringhausen has drawn nothing but oohs and ahhs in camp. He is 38 and has a variety of injuries in his history that could act up at any time, but it sure sounds like he’s going to be on the team if he’s healthy on Opening Day.
Pedro Beato (1:1): A Queens native with an impressive fastball, Beato likely has a leg up on his competitors because cutting him would mean sending him back to the Orioles and, at 24, he can boast more upside than Pat Misch or Manny Acosta.
Manny Acosta (7:5): You know, I’m not sure I realized how good Acosta was in his 39 2/3-inning stint with the Mets last year. He walked too many guys, but he struck out more than a batter an inning and posted a 134 ERA+. He was also pretty decent in Triple-A. You have to figure someone will scoop him up if he is put on waivers.
Pat Misch (2:1): Misch could wind up victim of a numbers crunch, unfortunate since he’s been nothing but decent in every role the Mets have asked him to fill in the past two seasons. The lefty control artist isn’t going to blow the ball by anybody, but his versatility and relative health could help him crack the roster if Collins decides he needs a spot-starter type. Might not be a bad idea if Young and Capuano are in the back of the rotation.
Mike O’Connor (5:1): I’m really rooting for O’Connor to make the team, though he seems like something of a longshot. He’s the only player in camp who looks like he should be playing stickball with me and my friends instead of Major League Baseball with Jose Reyes. He has a cool delivery and it seems like it can get lefties out.
Blaine Boyer (7:1): The red-headed Boyer throws pretty hard and Collins has raved about his fastball. But Collins raves about lots of stuff, and Boyer allows too many baserunners. He has been decent in 4 1/3 Grapefruit League innings and hasn’t been downright terrible across his career, but he’s probably not a Plan A guy. Figure he goes to Buffalo and gets the call when one of the Major Leaguers gets lit up or shut down.
Taylor Tankersley (7:1): I may be reading this one all wrong, but the way I see it, Tankersley has only thrown 29 2/3 Major League innings since 2007 and few of them have been great. He’s still pretty young and pitched decently in Triple-A last year, plus by all accounts he’s a great guy who wants to start a band with our promos department, it just seems like it’ll be hard for him to beat out fellow lefties Byrdak and Misch and, to a lesser extent, O’Connor for a roster spot.
Boof Bonser (11:1): I’m not even certain Bonser belongs on this list because he has mostly been a starter in his career. His name is Boof Bonser, which is awesome, and he was the third guy traded with Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan for A.J. Pierzynski. Maybe he makes the Mets as a long guy or if a starter gets hurt, but my bet is he declines his opt-out clause and joins the Mets’ Triple-A rotation. The Buffalo Bisons’ Boof Bonser? It’s too good to pass up. Boofalo!
Ryota Igarashi (11:1): Near the end of my stay in Port St. Lucie, Terry Collins said he hasn’t seen the same splitter from Igarashi in the United States that he did in Japan and wondered if it had something to do with the slightly larger ball. That seemed worth following up on, but I didn’t see Igarashi and his interpreter before I left. Still throws gas, so there’s some chance he figures something out and helps the Mets before his contract is up.
Oliver Perez (23:1).
The field (23:1): This is for all the guys on loan from Tabasco of the Mexican League and the Les Walronds and Dale Thayers of the world. Sometimes some guy shows up, turns heads, and gets a locker at Citi Field.
Please read Roth’s write-up of the NFL labor negotiations.
Eric Simon at Amazin’ Avenue pokes holes in a report I missed entirely that apparently blew up the Internet yesterday. It’s a good write-up of some silly muckracking. Here’s the thing though: Given the nature of Santana’s injury and surgery, it is entirely possible he doesn’t pitch this year.
The other thing is that the original story presents more evidence that there are nebulous, anonymous executives walking around Mets camp willing to say whatever journalists need for their stories. Is this something Sandy Alderson put in place? Are anonymous sources the new market efficiency?
58% of TedQuarters readers found the Cole of Duty photo suitably embarrassing, so the Embarrassing photos of Cole Hamels archive has been updated.
A record 11 Big East teams were chosen to compete in the 68-team tournament, including regular-season winner Pittsburgh as the No. 1 seed in the Southeast.
UConn, which completed an unprecedented run through the Big East tournament Saturday by winning its fifth game in five days, gained the conference’s automatic bid.
Ten teams were chosen among the 37 at-large selections: Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Louisville, Syracuse, St. John’s, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova.
The previous record was eight, set by the Big East in 2008.
There’s probably going to be a lot of college hoops talk everywhere in the next week, and I suppose the Big East earning 11 bids provides as good a segue as I’m going to find to explain my rooting and bracket-completing interests every March.
First off: I pick Georgetown to win in every bracket I fill out every year (at least now that they reliably make the Tournament; no thanks to you, Craig Esherick). I know that this is not necessarily the smart way to bet, . But I also know that your method, whatever it is, is also not necessarily the smart way to bet, and mine offers me the slim chance of ultimate awesomeness in reward. I don’t want to ever even imagine a situation in which Georgetown reaches the finals but I stand to win money if they lose.
And none of this “one bracket with my team, one ‘real’ bracket,” nonsense either. That’s for sissies. This is the only time all year I go all in for my alma mater. I will mention the $50 I will inevitably lose when next someone calls asking for an alumni donation.
The second most important thing is that Syracuse loses. I’m not dumb enough to pick them to lose that early in the tournament because Jim Boeheim and his stupid face are too good for that, but I’ll write them off somewhere around the Sweet 16. Again, don’t want to invite a scenario wherein I stand to benefit from the Orange winning.
After that, I root for Big East supremacy above all. I won’t bet this way, but I’m pulling for an Elite 8 with seven Big East squads. (There is no Big East team in one half of the West regional.)
So we’ll say, I don’t know, Georgetown over UConn in the finals? Book it.
I have friends in the promos department:
For what it’s worth, Gil, the fellow with the dog there, is SNY’s one-man IT army and, in truth, a good guy who’s very good at his job. But I have been tweaking him on Twitter for months trying to convince him to find room in the IT budget to get me a company iPad for… I don’t know. If I had one, I’d know all the important work-related things I could be doing on it.
Also, the way Mets fans Blame Beltran for everything that goes wrong, SNY employees — by which I mean me, primarily — blame Gil. As far as I’m concerned, basically everything that plugs in around here is his responsibility, so if my cable box is wonky or the little red voicemail indicator on my phone isn’t working or light bulbs burn out, that’s because of something Gil did. So obviously my troubling lack of an iPad2 falls directly on his shoulders.
Busy weekend; no time for nonsense.
The sandwich: Romeo from Alidoro, 105 Sullivan St. in Manhattan.
The construction: A loaf of unseeded Italian bread, scooped out, with sliced smoked chicken breast, Bel Paese cheese, arugula, hot pepper spread and oil and balsamic vinegar.
Important background information: I have been recommended Alidoro many times over by sandwich enthusiasts I trust, and I chose the Romeo because it is the Alidoro sandwich included in the Grub Street Top 101 list. Now for an important revelation: When magazines review and photograph sandwiches, they b.s. you a little. That stunningly beautiful picture of the Romeo you see on the Grub Street sandwich list? Yeah, that’s just not really what this sandwich looks like.
I guess that should come as no surprise. No one goes to McDonald’s and expects the burgers there to look like they do in the commercials either. And it’s not like the real-life Romeo came out looking terribly unappetizing or anything.
I just thought this was a good time to mention that here at TedQuarters, the sandwiches are photographed and reviewed as they’re served. I don’t tell anyone I’m planning on blogging about the sandwiches. It’s sort of like the Phantom Gourmet, except if by some chance someone recognized me I’d think it was totally sweet and probably give them a totally biased review.
Also, for what it’s worth: There’s a lot of pomp and circumstance at Alidoro for a tiny sandwich shop. The guy at the counter was nice to me, but there were all sorts of signs everywhere about how you should and shouldn’t order and stuff like that. A little too Philadelphian for my tastes. And I’ve stood behind the counter and I recognize that it can get frustrating, but I do think there’s something to be said for treating the customer like a customer, plus I’m pretty confident in my ability to clearly communicate what I want on my sandwich.
What it actually looks like:
How it tastes: Like three things: Excellent Italian bread, balsamic vinegar, and hot pepper spread.
Make no mistake: All those things are delicious. But there are other delicious ingredients on this sandwich that I was hoping would assert themselves a little more. I could taste the smoked, thin-sliced chicken only when I pulled individual pieces of it off the back of the sandwich. When I did, it was good — reasonably moist for sliced chicken with only a subtle smoky flavor. But on the sandwich, it was lost. All it did was thicken it up and add meatiness.
Same goes for the Bel Paese cheese. It was tough for me to order a sandwich at an Italian place that didn’t come with fresh or smoked mozzarella, but I thought Bel Paese was an innovative choice for a sandwich cheese so I stuck with it. If I scooped a little out of the sandwich with my finger to sample, I enjoyed a creamy, buttery cheese — almost like Italian cream cheese, I guess. And though perhaps with great focus its texture could be imagined on the sandwich, its flavor disappeared into the abyss.
There is arugula on there, too.
As for the parts you could taste: Fantastic. The bread was incredibly fresh, and because it was scooped out it wasn’t overwhelmingly bready or anything. Flaky on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. Balsamic vinegar is one of my favorite dressings for Italian sandwiches, though it needs to be applied with a very light hand — there’s a ton of flavor in each drop. And the red-pepper spread, though perhaps not as smooth-looking as depicted in New York magazine, had a real nice kick to it.
I would venture to guess, in fact, that you could take any number of meats and cheeses, put them on the bread from Alidoro, add the oil and balsamic vinegar and red pepper spread and get a pretty good sandwich.
That’s why I was a little disappointed. There was so much potential here, but nothing special that made this combination the one. On a truly transcendent sandwich, there is harmony among the ingredients. On this one, a couple of show-off kids in the choir were singing way too loud and it threw off the whole balance.
What it’s worth: Not an inexpensive sandwich. I believe it cost $11, plus two subway rides for me. A lot of food though.
How it rates: 86 out of 100.
Tedquarters 