Friday Morning Grab Bag

Little of this, little of that for you as we close an exciting week of offseason baseball. Let's get to it.

1. Get ready for two years of "What a Putz!" headlines

Oh, those New York tabloid scribes know how to come up with a clever backpage headline, don't they? I'm not sure what the headlines will be when J.J. Putz has good outings ("Putz 'em away", perhaps?), but the bad ones will certainly capitalize on putz's negative connotations.

I'll be honest: I'm not sure I've ever seen J.J. Putz pitch. Those who have seem to have only sparkling things to say about our new 8th inning guy. They say he's a strikeout machine, they say he might be the best closer on the Mets. As for me, I'm trying really hard to ignore the injuries in 2008, but I'm psyched nonetheless.

It's funny the way Mets bullpens have worked. Every time the Mets have a great bullpen it seems they're successful. Whether it's Turk and Cookie or Duaner and Billy, strong bullpens go hand-in-hand with success.

No matter how many times we learn the lesson though, it seems we need a reminder every few seasons. That's the thing about a good bullpen; when it's going good, it's the easiest thing in the world to take for granted. I mean, most nights they're asked to get 6-9 outs, no big deal, right?

It's only when you have seasons like 2008, or 2005 before it, that you realize how treacherous 6-9 outs can be.

The Mets' bullpen woes in 2005, highlighted by the likes of Manny Aybar and Braden Looper, led to a massive offseason restructuring that helped catapult the Mets to the top of the NL East.

In the years since, the Mets' bullpen has gone from great to nightmarish, nausea-inducing even. It seems the Mets are doing everything they can to right the wrong; it's a welcome step.

In exchange, the Mets are parting ways with a bunch of prospects none of us ever really cared about, and three familiar faces: Endy Chavez, Aaron Heilman, and Joe Smith.

It's easy to feel sentimental about losing Endy. He'll forever be loved in this town for his miraculous catch in Game 7 of the NLCS. Easily the best catch I've ever seen live, and it seems certain that'll be as true 60 years from now as it is today.

It's fashionable to be happy to see Heilman go, nevermind that he was excellent in 2006 and more good than bad in 2007. But it was time to part ways. He wants to be a starter, he was lousy in 2008, the fans had turned on him. It was time for a change.

(Incidentally, everyone who's convinced that Aaron Heilman is going to be a disaster as a starting pitcher should take a look at the numbers Braden "Shitty as a Mets Reliever in 2005" Looper put up as a starter for the Cardinals the last two years. Dominant? No. Serviceable? Yes.)

As for Joe Smith, it's disappointing to see him sent packing. It's amazing, Joe Smith was the first really solid middle reliever I can remember the Mets ever developing (I realize Heath Bell is nasty now, but he never did it with the Mets).

Either way, Smith was always going to be a nice secondary piece in a bullpen. Putz, from all accounts, is a fearless standout. That being the case, you can't let Joe get in the way.

2. Brian Cashman: Not fucking around

The way things are shaping up, the Yankees of 2009 look poised to pose their greatest challenge yet to the 8-year Y2K Curse.

C.C. Sabathia's onboard, and the Yankees appear intent on blowing all bidders out of the water on A.J. Burnett, and possibly Derek Lowe too.

What Cashman doesn't realize is that he's only feeding the fabled Curse with his offseason spending spree. Indeed, the Curse presupposes that championships cannot be bought. If paying Sabathia $61mm more than anyone else was offering isn't buying a player, I don't know what is.

You can't fault Cashman for doing what he's doing. After all, the Yankees have >$80mm coming off the books this offseason. They've always had cash to burn, but in a year like this they're playing with house money.

So you can't fault the man. But lo, this strategy has failed before, and it will fail again. There are greater powers out there than the almighty dollar.

And you know, the Red Sox and Rays are still pretty good, too.

3. Cole Hamels: Depressingly accurate

It's easy to take great offense at what Cole Hamels said, about the Mets being choke artists. God knows the local papers and talk radio hosts are going to run with the story as far as they can.

But if you listened to what he said, it was all pretty fair. He conceded the Mets were great in 2006 when they "smoked" the rest of the league. He even went so far as to say he thought the Mets would go to the World Series that year, a sentiment a lot of us probably shared.

But when it comes to 2007 and 2008, yes, he thought the Mets were choke artists. If you don't agree with him, why not? What part of blowing a 7-game lead with 17 to play isn't the essence of choke artistry? What part of blowing a 3.5-game lead with 17 to play isn't the exact same thing?

This is New York. People are going to say how dare he. People are going to lambaste him. People are going to demand the Mets use it as motivation.

People, all he did was call a spade a spade.

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And that about does it, folks. Hate Cole Hamels? Have clever ideas for Putz-related headlines? Think the Yankees are for real? Take it to the comment board.

Happy weekend, everybody.

- A.F.O.M.G.