Tuesday Applesauce

Arizona Fall League

Peoria Javelinas 4, Peoria Saguaros 2

• Daniel Murphy went 0-for-4 and is a total bum.
• Shawn Bowman went 1-for-4 with a double.
• Josh Thole, my non-Murphy mancrush this fall, went 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, a run and an RBI.
• Eddie Kunz pitched a scoreless ninth, which was a lot better than the other day when he allowed eight runs on seven hits and a walk in a third of an inning. The only out was recorded on a bunt, and the (third of an) inning featured six singles, a double, a wild pitch and a throwing error by Kunz.

Over the weekend, Joel Sherman suggested the Mets could trade Luis Castillo and his awful contract to the Royals for Jose Guillen and his awful contract. That'd probably be a net win for the Mets, as Guillen might provide some use off the bench and is only under contract for two more seasons (as opposed to three for Castillo), even though the total money owed is about the same.

Tom Tango asks "How much is chemistry worth?":

Here's what you do. Find 10 games from now for the next 12 months that you think has momentum or chemistry written all over it. Bet on the game. Then, come back here, on Oct 18, 2009, and tell me how much money you made. And I don’t want to hear only from the winners.

Paul DePodesta writes candidly about why the Padres think they might need to trade Jake Peavy this offseason:

In short, we are charged with fielding the best possible team in both the short and long terms. Believe me, we wish we could put together a dynamic team comprised of players who would remain as Padres for the duration of their careers. On a personal level, we don't enjoy trading players. I don't know any executive who does. However, that just isn't the reality of today's game. Because of that fact, the best organizations out there can't really believe in the concept of "untouchable", because one can lose great opportunities with such blinders.

Speaking of Peavy, Mike Newman takes a look at the potential haul for the Padres' ace in a new piece at MetsGeek. He even wonders what the Mets might have to give up in such a deal (hint: it's a lot).

Fire Joe Morgan takes Jerry Manuel to task for some crazy things he said, most notably, "You don't see a lot of guys that have statistical numbers play well in these championship series."

Did you read Moneyball? Did you like it? Do you want to see a movie about it?

SABR is working on the Holy Grail of minor league stat databases, and their progress is in public beta. The database is searchable by player, team, league and year. The "name" search field actually expects LastName, Firstname, so don't go searching for "Lenny Dykstra"; use "Dykstra, Lenny" instead.

Aforementioned mancrush Josh Thole is a guest blogger on the Mets AFL blog, normally helmed by Eddie Kunz.

And finally, the Mets have signed a multiyear deal to keep their games on WFAN. The deal includes other Mets-centric content as well as weekly guest spots for players. No word on whether Mike Francesa will be given more control over the team's baseball operations department.