Stupidest Statement of the Year

Newsday is reporting that the Mets will not go after K-Rod (a.k.a. Francisco Rodriguez) in the offseason, but instead look at more "creative ways" to fill their need for a closer.

Sure. Why would you want to sign the most reliable bullpen arm in all of baseball? Who wants a guy that can save 40+ games a year? Why would you want to lock up a young, powerful pitcher to help bolster the worst bullpen on the face of the earth?

This is idiotic and whoever was Ken Davidoff's source from within the Mets organizations should be fired. Immediately. Pack up your things and go find Willie Randolph.

If the Mets organization thinks they have a better option for a closer than K-Rod, the Mets need a psychologist on staff.

Desi Relaford for Closer

The people of Mets Lifer nominate Desi Relaford as the new closer for the New York Mets. No not the guy married to Lucille Ball. The dude who used to play second base. Wore his cap real low.

Desi Relaford pitched for the Mets in one game back in 2001 and was clocked at over 90 mph. Relaford has a lifetime era of 4.18 which is better than what the current Mets relievers are doing this year. Heilman, Figeuroa, Sanchez, Muniz, and Pedro all have a worse ERA just to name a few.

I wanted to get Todd Zeile, but he's too busy making movies. So it looks like Desi Relaford is our only hope. I can see it now. He enters the game up 4-2 and gives up a 3 run home run to lose the game. Oh wait, that's Luis Ayala.

Implode

Kids are back in school. Weather is getting a little less humid. It must be time to implode.

Luis Ayala ruined a beautiful afternoon by giving up a 3 run home run in the top of the 9th inning to ultimately give the Braves a win and deal the Mets a crushing loss as the Phillies came back to win their game.

I'm sure we'll hear talk tomorrow about how the Mets batters didn't add on additional runs and that's why they lost, but I say that's a bunch of bologna. Sure additional runs would be nice, but when you have a 4-2 lead in the top of the 9th inning against a weak hitting team you should be able to close it out.

But this is the curse of the Mets BLOWpen. Or should I say curse the Mets BLOWpen? Either way it's another disaster that will leave the lingering feeling of the 2007 collapse on the shoulders of every Mets player, manager and fan for another week.

There are no guarantees with this team. No lead is too great. No team is too horrible. The Mets bullpen will find a way to implode. There are now 14 games left and only a one game lead.

Buckle your seat belts. This is guaranteed to be a bumpy ride.

Nothing is Ever Easy With This Team

Those were the prophetic and applicable words used by Keith Hernandez last night in the 10th inning, and boy are they ever true.

After coming back to take the lead in the top of the 10th, Luis Ayala looked like he was in cruise control getting the first two Brewers out in the bottom of the 10th. Then some guy that looked like Kevin James and Chris Farley's love child stepped up to the plate and things began to fall apart. Ayala definitely looked like his groin was bothering him, and I was certain that this would go as another blown save for this dismal bullpen.

But then everything worked out. Ayala got out of it. Mets win.

Amazingly the bullpen has not given up a run in its last 13 innings of work. That's unheard of for this team. Nelson Figueroa came in yet again looking good while he bailed out the young Jon Niese who struggled in his first big league outing.

The Mets couldn't get a hit after the 5th inning, but it took the young rookie, Daniel Murphy, to bail the Mets out with a leadoff hit in the 10th. Then because the Mets can't score runs late in the game it required an error on a sac bunt to get Murphy to 3rd and then of all the people to get a sac fly to drive in the winning run it was Endy Chavez.

You can't make this stuff up. Meanwhile the Mets are 5-2 on this road trip and have an opportunity to sweep a series away from home with Oliver Perez on the mound tonight. A win today would be huge with an off day tomorrow and the Phillies coming to Queens on Friday.

But as we know, nothing is ever easy with this team so be prepared for anything.

One Game Away from the AntiDepressants

Just one Phillies win is all it will take for Mets Lifers to be one game away from the antidepressants. It doesn't matter that the Mets have won 10 of their last 13 games. It doesn't matter that Reyes and Wright are potential MVP candidates. And it doesn't matter that Luis Ayala is slowly turning into an adequate replacement for Billy Wagner.

Why? Because we're the Mets.

This is what we do. We make things exciting when they don't have to be. We sweep our archnemesis the Braves, but lose 2 out of 3 to the last place Astros. We blow leads of 7 games with 17 to play. It's what we do.

So the joy and excitement of last week may quickly turn to despair and anxiety in the matter of 48 hours. If the Phillies win tonight, we'll be one game away from reaching for the Prozac, Zoloft or your drug of choice.

Tell me you didn't see this coming?

The Mets' Killer D's

David, Delgado and defense. Those are the Mets' Killer D's and they were the key to not just last night's victory, but our potential pennant run.

David Wright and Carlos Delgado have decided to carry this team offensively, and I am happy to see them do it. Wright homered for the second straight game, while Delgado was a component of basically every run scoring opportunity the Mets had.

Delgado came through late in the game for the second time this series with a clutch hit in the 9th inning to drive home David Wright. Now while Delgado's hit was pretty clutch, even though I'm not sure what happened to the left fielder on the play, the bigger clutch play was Wright's double just two batters earlier. Wright with a 3-2 count drove the ball into the opposite field gap for a double and basically set the tone for the Mets in the bottom of the 9th. Then Delgado went the opposite way to drive Wright in for the win.

That's the key folks. When Wright and Delgado are going to the opposite field, you know they are in the zone at the plate.

Let's not overlook the Mets defense as well. We got some help from the umpire in the top of the 9th, but throughout the game the Mets D looked fantastic. From Wright bare-handing dribblers, to Castro turning two, to Reyes & Reyes, the Mets defense is a marquee aspect of this club.

Pedro Martinez had a decent performance, but got himself into trouble in the 6th inning. I think Pedro should not be allowed to pitch more than 5 innings. Anything after the 5th is just bonus, but has the potential to turn ugly. The best pitching performance of the night came from Luis Ayala who is proving himself to be the MVP of the bullpen. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop, but until it does Ayala is my go to guy in the bullpen.

If you woke up this morning and felt something different in the air, you'd be correct. It's pennant fever folks, and it's contagious. Bring on the Astros!