We all agree that the Mets bullpen has to be demolished and built back up. So before I detonate the TNT and blast it away to oblivion, the following relievers please step forward:

Pedro Feliciano

Brandon Knight

Joe Smith

Please leave to blasting area and enjoy your winter, See you in St. Lonesome in February.

The rest of you. SYA-FUCKING-NARA

Okay, now who do I want Omar to go after? I’m a Brian Fuentes fan and I wouldn’t mind signing him to close but he would be a fall back candidate and we all know Fuentes and K-Rod (his stock is dropping like he was listed on the Dow Jones) will not sign a dotted line until they meet with the Mets. Fuentes had a fine season and would come much cheaper than K-Rod. Fuentes had a WHIP of 1.10 (K-Rod 1.28) and his BB/K were 22/82 in 62 2/3 IP (K-Rod 34/74 BB/K in 68 IP) Fuentes has command of a fastball and slider that would look awfully good in the Mets pen.

The other free agent I’d go after is a no brainer Juan Cruz. Cruz size wise reminds me of former Mets reliever Tom “The Blade” Hall but pitching wise Cruz has exactly what is missing in the Mets pen that has been manned by to slop tossers, a flamethrower.

Another pitcher who would look handsome in Mets Blue and Orange is D-Backs reliever Chad Qualls. Qualls has fabulous size at 6’5 220 lbs and he’s a workhorse. Last year he appeared in 77 games and pitched 73 2/3 innings. His BB/K was a sterling 18/71 with a WHIP of 1.07. Qualls avoided arbitration last year by signing a 1yr/$1.3 mil deal and he could more than that triple that this year. With the D-Backs counting pennies and the Skill Sets shitting $100 bills I’m sure Omar could work his magic in a deal for the much needed Qualls.

Now my SLEEPER pick for this off season would take a deal to get and it might be a bit costly but I would almost (ALMOST) invoke a moratorium of my attacks on the Skill Sets if Omar could acquire Matt Capps from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Capps had 21 saves for the lowly Bucos and in 53 2/3 IP his BB/K mark is 5/39 That’s right FIVE walks in just under 54 IP add to that a WHIP of 0.97 and that Capps is 25 years old and raw boned I would do whatever is necessary to bag Capps. I’d go as far as to find a way to add LHP John Grabow in the deal I’d seriously look at putting F-Mart, Nick Evans and Luis Castillo with a book of blank checks in his pocket from the Skill Sets account   which the Pirates could use to pay Gimp every two weeks You could sweet talk the Bucs into adding a another prospect, you know be creative I’m sure Omar and Neal Huntington can work something out.

I’m happy with the re-sign of Fernando Tatis and I’m sure we could all live with a  Murphy/Tatis LF platoon. The bench needs strengthen and versaliliaty so Omar needs to land either Willie Bloomquist (my choice) Jerry Hairston Jr. or Felipe Lopez to the every man on the bench.

Yes I want a new number catcher and you all know of my crush on Pierzynski but I’ll say this as well; as great as he was in the second half last year I will be disappointed if Carlos Delgado is the opening day first baseman. He proved us all wrong last year but he needs to go. It’s not personnel it’s business. As great as Delgado was I still look at him as a “Me” guy and not a “We” guy and if D-Wright is going to become the leader if this franchise and its face then 2009 is the place to start. It seems that Delgado is the voice in that clubhouse, a clubhouse that gagged two years in a row so if Omar, Tony B, J-Man and Jeffey want to get peoples attention then they need to ship Delgado out pronto.

I’m speechless. Really what can you say about when your team wins and you still feel like it was a loss.  Eight pitchers to win a nine inning game? That’s almost impossible. And why is Al Reyes warming up in the bullpen and you don’t use him? In fact what is the deal-ieo with  “I can call you Jose or Argenis and Jose and Argenis when you call me you can call me Al” Reyes? Why hasn’t he seen the light of day as this Lehman Brothers Bullpen continues to flounder?

As bad as last night was what made it worse is Brandon Knight could only go 5 innings. No fault of Knight’s even though he was not very effective, he hasn’t pitched in a while and he left the game with his team up by 6 runs so Knight more than did his job but as we know unless the starter goes a minimum of 7 innings the Mets are fucked.

I think it’s safe to say, that Aaron Heilman will not throw another pitch in a meaningful game this year for the Mets. In fact the next pitch he throws in a big league game should be in another uniform. Time to cut Heilman loose. Yeah I know, brilliant deduction Sherlock. I don’t know what else to say really, watching Mets game is not a pleasure anymore. Your team is up 6 runs to a rag tag fourth division team as a fan you should be thinking magic numbers and post season instead of pacing the floor and sticking your head in a puke bucket.

Just when you thought all is lost we get this video via the Daily News of a guy so drunk at last weekend’s double header that he doesn’t feel or hear the fans around him stacking empty beer cups on his head. As I watched this over 9 min video besides wondering if the guy was dead because how could you not feel the beer cups or hear the fans screaming, I thought where were the Shea Gestapo? Here is a guy getting abused by fans in the stands and none of the SkillSets Storm Troopers intervene? But when I try to walk from the SUBWAY sandwich stand in LF through the Field Level concourse to get to the RF ramp, I’m not allowed as the Jeffy’s Thugs tell you only Field Level ticket holders can go through that concourse. If you argue, these belligerent assholes give you a hard time. I know they are only taking their orders from Skill Set High Command but their attitude still sucks. Fucking Rent a Cops.

When Willie Randolph was let go a lot of venom was spewed in the direction of Tony Bernazard, Omar Minaya’ First Lieutenant and the Mets Director of Player Development .Bernazard was portrayed as a meddler and was no fan of Randolph and was one of the voices in Omar’s head to can Willie. I bring this up today because as I was reading John Harpers pieces in the Daily News today , he mentions how it was Bernazard who pushed for the promotion of Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans and Argenis Reyes all three have made big contributions to the resurgence of the Mets season. Bernazard also looks to have made the big decision to give Jon Niese a start last night which from listening to J-Man was not his first choice to start last night. I’d love to know how hard J-Man pushed to have either Brain Stokes or Nelly Figs get the start last night. From the parting words of Willie Randolph it is hinted that Bernazard and Manuel have a very good relationship and difference of opinion is good as who wants “yes” men around them al the time. So I’m sure J-Man made his case but in the end Tony B had a stronger case. Taken on face value, J-Man was most likely right about going with either Figs or Stokes or even returning Olympian Brandon Knight, not because of the green gills of Neise but with Santana and OP sandwiched around Neise that’s three lefties in a row which you want to avoid at any cost but especially with a team like the Brewski’s who pound left handed pitching. Remember back a few months ago the Mets moved John Maine up in the rotation to go between Santana and OP as J-Man wanted to avoid the three lefties rotation. But back to TB, I never thought of him as a villain that the media made him out to be now I don’t know the guy but I have to give him props for running a better minor league system than we all thought the Mets had.. All the so called expert publications told us Mets fans that the organization was lacking in Major League ready and lucky for the team they were wrong. 

So now Petey is working out to get his arm loose as that was the reason for him not feeling “comfortable” in his last start in Miami.  You all know I’m a Petey fan boy but he is becoming like an old car that burns oil and keeps breaking down. As much affection as I have for the Great Petey no matter how the season turns out it’s time to let Petey ride off into the sunset, as there is no reason to bring him back next season. Too much maintenance.

John Maine just walked again

This could be a classic Mex game as Gary Cohen has hinted that they may take phone calls. Mex is now reminiscing about his days on Cardinal teams that were out of the race early like these Nats and how you become a selfish player at that point just looking to pad your numbers

Maine threw a pitch right at LMillz it should be something to watch as maybe there will be some payback against the Nats for their bush league behavior from the last time the teams met. Remember, Elijah Dukes and L Millz doing the Little League chanting in the dugout? Last year as well the Nats felt like they helped drive the Mets in their downward slide last September so look out.

Question? If Derek Jeter is supposed to be this great team leader and CAPTAIN of all CAPTAINS then when will he put his foot in Robinson Cano’s ass? Jose Reyes was carved up in this town for shit that wasn’t even close to what this lazy bastard Cano has done the last week or so and even Joey G, who’s slip as a manager is really showing this year, hasn’t punished him either and Pack A Day Hank has thrown in the towel. This is high comedy kids. I mean the least Jeter should do is make Cano wax his Ford Escape. An another thing while I’m on a Bronx Bastards rant, all the so called experts wrote and spoke about how the Highlanders had this abundance of youg players ready to hit the big league scene to keep the Highlanders on top for years to come. What a bunch of bullshit. First off they have no clue on how to cultivate pitching and second they have absolutely no depth in their organization. The Mets have dipped into the bush leagues to pull up gems like Daniel Murphy, Argenis Reyes, Robinson Cancel and the revived Fernando Tatits. When a starting pitcher was needed they called up Brandon Knight and Brian Stokes not world class arms but two guys who would be a big part of the Highlander staff if they played in the Bronx. All we can hope is we have a repeat of the mid 60’s to the mid 70’s when the Highlanders sucked and sucked hard.

Oh Danny Boy you are magnificent. 

I love how Mex thinks this one is in the bag what a kiss of death he is

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh vacation time, it’s wonderful. Before I leave for Cape Cod and a trip to Boston and Fenway Park I will be in attendance at Shea for tonight’s game as the turnaround season rolls on. No post tomorrow as it’s a long travel day but I hope to post Monday my “Fitty’ Birthday” by the way , so before I get some last minute stuff done and head to Shea a few thoughts:

Two of the biggest players of this turnaround have been Carlos Delgado and Mike Pelfrey and not surprisingly both players have been helped by the change in manager and pitching coach. Delgado seemed to hate being at the ball park when Willie Randolph was in charge as it seems Randolph’s reign in the clubhouse was a tension convention but for some reason the main streamers give us just bits and pieces of  life in Mets clubhouse under Willie. I guess theiy will let us know when their books come out. Rick Peterson told Mike Pelfrey to never throw a curveball again. Dean of School Dan Werthen worked with Pelfery on his breaking ball to go with his 90+ heater to make him a complete pitcher. No bracelets, no gem stones just good common sense.

I can’t figure out Dirty Duaner. He gets ahead of batters and can’t finish them off. Is it bad luck or poor performance?

Brandon Knight, the definition of a journeyman, makes his Mets debut tonight as a stand in for Petey. Knight has had a great year in NOLA and was ready to join Davey Johnson and Team USA in Beijing but on the insistence of Dan Werthen he was summoned for this spot start.

Looks like the Highlanders stole Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from the Bucs but I’m not worried about that as with all the rumors and names out there the guy I hope we land is Casey Blake. Blake has descent power and can player OF, 3B, and 1st  his one draw back is striking out a lot but we can live with that as Blake is the righty bat the Mets need.

Manny isn’t happy in Boston. The Red Sox front office, owners, players and fans are not happy with Manny.  I think you know where I’m going here, If I’m Omar I have to make a call in fact if Omar wants to give me Theo Epstein’s number and I’ll meet him for lunch when I get  into town.