YA GOTTA BELIEVE….THIS:

Our manager has reduced the best leadoff hitter in the game to the worst #3 hitter in the game.

Our #1 pitching prospect has been relegated to #1 in mop up duty.

Our best clutch hitter bats 8^th, and leads the team in home runs.

Our cleanup hitter has one home run all season & our “All Star” 3^rd baseman has one home run at home. Yet a guy I never heard of hit his first two career home runs in one game…in that same home park.

Our closer, like all the ones before him, can’t close. It should be more like Pray-Rod.

Our All Star Centerfielder had surgery in January for an injury that started 7 months prior.

And the worst thing of all that ya gotta believe? David Wright is now just an average baseball player who is a strike out machine and who never comes through in the clutch anymore. His inexplicable demise, for me, is the most disheartening realization of all. David Wright, Oh, David Wright, for wherefore art thou David Wright?

Please Don't Be Creative

I love when baseball teams use unique phrases to describe their approach to things as a way to dance around the issue. Case in point, according the New York Post the Mets are going to be "creative" in their approach in finding a new closer for next season.

Hmmm. Why creative? Why not be sensible? Or logical? Or determined? Why creative?

Creative is a code word for "we're not ready to commit to spending a boat load of money on K-Rod." Which is really unfortunate. The last thing we want the Mets to be is creative. Let's use some logic and get some solid players to fill our holes. The Mets were creative when they traded for Luis Castillo. You could argue the Mets were creative when they signed Moises Alou to yet another year even though the man hadn't played a full season in what feels like a decade.

Do we really want Brian Fuentes to be our closer? Does anyone seriously think Brian Fuentes is truly an improvement? Well, I guess anything is an improvement over our current bullpen situation, but it's not like Brian Fuentes is a lights out solid option.

Whether you want K-Rod (like I do) or not, I think we can both agree that we don't want the Mets to be creative in fixing their bullpen problems. Let's use some scientific method in our approach and get reliable arms who have a proven track record of getting the job done.

You want to be creative? Go be an art director.

Don't Lose Sight of the Problem

Yes, the Mets offense is less than clutch. Yes, the Mets have had their share of starting pitching issues. However, let's not lose sight of the real problem: the bullpen.

You can pick 1 of 29 games this year that the bullpen blew and say "If we just won that one game, things would have been different." And you know what? You'd be right.

The Mets inability to score runs this past week will take center stage on talk radio and TV, but the point is that the Mets bullpen blew 29 saves this year. That's right 29. All it would have taken is for two of those opportunities not to have been blown and you're talking about an entirely different season.

Schoeneweiss? Gone. Feliciano? Hasta la vista. Heilman? Adios. Sanchez? What time's your flight? Ayala? Nice to know ya.

I keep Parnell, Stokes and even Smith because they're young guys who have a chance to improve. Then I go out and rebuild that bullpen.

The real key is getting a closer this offseason. I pronounce Monday, September 29th the official Go Get K-Rod day. If the Mets don't get K-Rod, Omar Minaya's contract should be ripped up. Anyone who says the Mets should not pay K-Rod whatever he wants deserves to be taken out back and beaten. Why?

Look at what Santana did this weekend, forget that, what he did all season. He's a gamer and he's worth the money. K-Rod has 60+ saves this year. That's right. 60+ saves. You want to tell me that's not what the Mets need? You crazy.

So ignore the talk about the Mets needed to shake up the "core players." Turn a deaf ear to talk of trading Beltran or getting rid of Reyes. Those are the idiots talking. It's bullpen, bullpen, bullpen.

Bring me K-Rod.