The Hunt for K-Rod

Bring me K-Rod to appease my anger. Bring me K-Rod and make me forget Scott Blowenweiss. Bring me K-Rod or I will have to suffer through yet another year of the BLOWpen.

According to ESPN radio, the Mets are arming themselves for negotiation battle for Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels. The soon to be 27-year old, all-time saves record holder is looking for a potential 5-year deal worth $15 million per year.

The Mets of course are saying they're not willing to meet those demands, but I guess that's the dance they have to play to get things started.

While getting K-Rod is not the only answer to the Mets problem, it does solve the most glaring, gaping hole in the Mets dugout. With 29 blown saves, the Mets only needed to cut that number to 27 or 28 to make the playoffs. I think K-Rod saved 29 games in April last year.

With Wagner pretty much done and Luis Ayala not looking like a solid answer, the Mets are in desperate need of a reliable closer. And the great thing about K-Rod is he's a young guy with a solid arm who appears not to have any issues with closing out games in clutch situations.

If the Mets get K-Rod, I'd be a happy man and I could then focus my anger on Luis Castillo.

The Phillies As Characters from Rocky

Our friends over at Bugs and Cranks have outdone themselves this time. In honor of the Phillies making the World Series, Rays writer, Dave, put together his list of Phillies that best fit various characters from the Rocky movies. Pat Burrell as Thunderlips is my personal favorite, although Cole Hamels as Mrs. Drago is pretty hilarious.

And I never realized just how much Shane Victorino and Rocky (from Rocky & Bullwinkle) look alike. It's actually quite creepy.

Head over to Bugs and Cranks to check out the full list or just click here.

Happy Birthday, Keith Hernandez

Today marks Keith Hernandez's 55th birthday. Hernandez was the reason I wanted to play first base in little league and I told my parents I needed flip down glasses and a first baseman's glove just like Keith's.

After leaving the Mets, his appearance on Seinfeld made him more of a national pop icon than his Just for Men commercials, but I think it's safe to say that every Mets Lifer is pleased to have Keith in the broadcast booth and be involved in the Mets organization.

Happy Birthday Keith. Here's to hoping the Mets can pick up a player/leader like you in this offseason.

Did You Ever Think You'd Cheer for the Devil Rays?

They'll always be Devil Rays to me.

But no, I never thought I'd be seriously cheering for them. But I am now. The Rays finished off the Red Sox last night and are headed to their first every World Series appearance.

These are trying times for Mets Lifers. The stock market is plummeting, the housing crisis is everywhere, and the Phillies are on the verge of becoming world champions. Which is scarier? They're all so close in my mind.

I need Scott Kazmir, Evan Longoria and Cliff Floyd to put up some huge numbers against the Fightin' Phils. Can you imagine starting the 2009 season with the Phillies as defending champs? I shudder at the thought.

So break out your Rays t-shirts (do they even have such a thing?) and tune in to FOX on Wednesday night if only to pray that you can catch a glimpse of Shane Victorino striking out. This World Series is more important than I thought. It's coming together to fight for what is good in this world and to prevent evil from being victorious.

Go Rays!

Waiting for Mike Scioscia

Every Mets Lifer who can remember the 1988 NLCS cringes when they hear the name Mike Scioscia. His home run off the untouchable Doc Gooden sent the 1988 Mets into a tailspin and ultimately was the turning point for the Mets fortunes for years to come.

Now it's almost 20 years later, and I'm waiting for another Mike Scioscia moment. This time for the Phillies.

The fighting Phils are headed to the World Series. As much as I dislike them (especially Shane Victorino), they deserve to be there. They've played well and always seem to win when they need to.

But that said, I still would love to see them make it all the way to the World Series only to have their title hopes crushed by a modern day Mike Scioscia. Call it bitterness. Call it hate. Call it whatever you want. I gotta root for something.

What to do with Daniel Murphy?

Oh, Danny Boy. Daniel Murphy was one of the few bright spots for the Mets this past season. The kid plays hard-nosed baseball, shows patience at the plate and proved himself to be a serious student of the game. I think every Mets fan would agree that we are anxious to see what this kid can bring to the table in future years.

Or should we?

Murphy's stock is pretty high right now. Teams have seen what he can do and any rookie that can come into the league and bat over .300 for more than a month has to peak some interest from competing scouts. Do we sell high or wait for the stock to continue to go up?

That's a tough question.

The other side to the equation is that if the Mets keep Murphy where are they going to play him for the long term? He is a natural infielder and has played both third and second base. The Mets obviously have a need for a reliable second baseman so why wouldn't you play him there? But of course the Mets are interested in Orlando Hudson and if you get a veteran like that what do you do with Murphy?

You could continue to play him in left field, but I don't think anyone believes that Murphy will be a career corner outfielder. Also you may have heard of this kid called Fernando Martinez who is just waiting to take his spot in left field every day for the Mets for the next decade.

Some say that Murphy's future is at first base. I don't see it, but I could be talked into it. Do you trade Martinez as a blue chipper for some reliable pitching? Can Murphy get you a couple of young arms? Do you let Murphy platoon with Delgado next season when Murphy isn't playing left field?

There are so many different scenarios, but I think the best one is to let the kid play second base. Orlando Hudson is intriguing, but I have an odd feeling that he's got Luis Castillo potential. Think of an infield with Wright, Reyes and Murphy and you have a young core of players for the next 7 years that can start everyday and have the potential to hit .300 one through three in the batting order.

I think Murphy will turn out to be a poor man's John Olerud or Paul Moliter. I'd like to see the Mets hold onto him, but I was crazy about Carlos Gomez last year and got over that real quick when the name Santana came into play. If Murphy and a few prospects can get you a guy like Peavy or Oswalt, you may have to let him go.

Isn't a Baseball Season 162 Games?

If you've ever played basketball or if you are a basketball fan you know how a game can come down to the final shot. You make it you win. You miss it you lose. But the thing is every coach, player and true fan knows that you didn't lose the game because of that final shot. You lost the game because you shot 60% from the free throw line, or you had 10 turnovers, or you were down 15 in the first half and lucky enough to still be in it come the 4th quarter.

Sure you had a shot to win it, but it's the sum total of your efforts in the entire game that causes you to win or lose. Somehow, this concept is getting lost on Mets fans.

I've heard dozens of Mets fan talk to me about this year's debacle. The majority are demanding a major overhaul of the team and that drastic changes need to be made. Some are blaming Omar. Some are blaming the bullpen. Some are blaming the lack of clutch hitting. But the focus is all on the last week of the season.

I hate to break this to you, but baseball is a 162 game season. Sure there's a ton of focus on games down the stretch, but honestly a win in April is worth just as much as a win September. There's too much focus on the final week of the season. It was a horrible week and the Mets played poorly, but what if that week was in May? Would we still be talking about it?

If the Mets swapped the last week of the season for a week in June do you know what would have happened? The Mets would have still missed the playoffs. An extra win in July, August, April, May or whenever would have gotten the Mets in the playoffs so don't focus on the last week of the season.

You have to look at the issues effecting the team for the entire course of the season. Issue numero uno is the bullpen. I think we all know that. Issue number two is second base. The revolving door at second base and the proof that Luis Castillo does not have knees is a big problem. Issue number three, left field. Alou killed us. Angel Pagan was one of those unforeseeable successes that quickly got dashed by an improbable injury. Murphy and Evans performed admirably, but are we ready to put them in as every day players?

Beltran, Wright, Delgado & Reyes had fantastic years at the plate. I fully expect Delgado to decline this next year because he's getting older, but there isn't a dire need to revamp this entire squad. I can live with it if you don't sign Delgado and go get a really good, young first baseman, but it's not a necessity.

People talk about the leadership of Cliff Floyd and how the Mets are missing that type of presence. How many years did we win with Cliff Floyd? And the year we made it to the playoffs with Floyd he didn't even play half the games because he was injured. So don't talk to me about how invaluable Cliff Floyd was. The Rays are doing great, but don't try and sell me the fact that it's because of Cliff Floyd's clubhouse presence that they were able to turn the corner. Please, spare me.

Could the Mets use a solid, scrappy veteran? Absolutely. Do they need to overhaul the entire team to do so? Absolutely not.

It's a 162 game season folks. The Mets were under .500 when Willie was fired. If they played 2 games above .500 during that stretch we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

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