After a long day at work on Tuesday, I come home only to hear that closer Francisco Rodriguez has been traded away to the Milwaukee Brewers. My initial thoughts consisted of "Why would we do that? We're still in the Wild Card hunt." and "Uh-oh, here comes the fire sale." But after a few days of thinking about the deal, it actually makes sense. Here's why.

Reyes has become invaluable to this team in what could possibly be an MVP type season. Hitting .354 with 30 stolen bases, 15 triples, an on base percentage of just under .400 (.398) [that's a good thing], and slugging a shade under .530 (.529) Reyes will likely land a big contract somewhere including with the Mets now that there is no worry of K-Rod reaching his mark.

With the contracts of Rodriguez, Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran all coming off the books, the organization can make a legitimate offer to Reyes.

But, the risk with that comes with this trade is that the bullpen becomes unsettled with no roles set for players like Bobby Parnell, Pedro Beato, Ryota Igarashi, and Jason Isringhausen. This could mean that the team falls out of contention and the fire sale begins. This is something that no fan ever wants to see. If that happens then the already slim turnout at Citi Field will become an empty cavern.

The K-Rod trade makes sense, but it will not be worth it if there is no payoff.

Another week, another wrap up, and another round of question marks regarding the 2008 New York Mets. After getting our hopes up with an impressive series against the Phillies, the Mets took another giant step backwards with a horrendous series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Mets opened up the last season at Shea Stadium in true New York Mets fashion on Tuesday, as the bullpen blew a great game for Oliver Perez. Perez threw another 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the home team, but in the end it was the classic Mets bullpen giving us another classic result. Scott Schoeneweis was the main culprit along with support from his always reliable cast of Jorge Sosa (who I guess doesn't need days off anymore), and Aaron Heilman. The Mets bounced back nicely on Wednesday though, as Mike Pelfrey helped stop a three game skid in pitching five strong innings. Pelfrey and stopper...hmmmmm. Just when things were looking good Heilman (who not surprisingly is my Dave Mlicki Award Winner of the week), nearly blows a great outing by John Maine. Well he blew Maine's chances at a win, but at the same time he was bailed out by this weeks Ed Kranepool Award winner, Angel Pagan. I love this kid. He is starting to reach levels that only the Teenage Hitting Machine has seen when it comes to young New York Mets outfielders. In case any of you Mets fans have been living under a rock this past week, Pagan is now batting .385 with 10 RBI for the season. Moises who???? Mr. Pagan delivered a game winning RBI on Thursday giving us the first series of the year against the hated Phillies. Things were just starting to look somewhat good...

And then Milwaukee rolled into town on Friday night. At first this series was shaping up to look great. The Mets as team, for the first time since the Marlins series looked great collectively. Heilman was awesome out of the pen, as were his teammates Joe Smith and Billy Wagner (and his awesome wad of dip). Nelson Figueroa gave us a ton of hope in his assignment to replace Pedro Martinez. Figueroa gave up a mere two hits and struck out six, while giving up two earned in six innings of work as the Mets looked pretty impressive at Shea on a rainy Friday night. Then Saturday hit and the wheels started to fall off. Someone needs to take David Wright onto the field before games and just have him work on throwing the ball to first. I applaud Carlos Delgado for mastering the sweep tag manauever that has become all too common in Mets games this season. The good news about Wright is that he is hitting the ball well. The bad news is, no one seems to be able to hit the ball well in clutch situations; including D-Dubs. For instance, Sunday's game. The Mets tallied 14 hits and seven runs in this game...and lost. They also grounded into five consecutive inning ending double plays. The bullpen also had a rough go at it, capping off a shaky two days of pitching that included Johan Santana giving up three home runs in his losing effort on Saturday.

Speaking of Santana. Get off his back. Does anyone really think he is going to go 65-0. Let him get his bad starts out of the way now, because they are going to happen every now and again. Point is the man gives us a chance to win day in and day out. End of story.

So my weekly progress report on the Metropolitans is an overall C+. The only reason we get the plus is because of the fact that we beat the Phillies in a series and ended that horrific losing streak against them. The bullpen was horrible this week minus Friday nights game. The starting pitching was awesome against Philadelphia, and then not so good against Milwaukee. The good thing about that is the guys who pitched poorly (Santana and Perez's Sunday start) are the guys who we most expect to bounce back in a big way in their next starts. Pelfrey and Figueroa having great outings was an awesome sign this week. The line up is still hit or miss. There are days when all hits seems to go our way, and then there are days when I feel we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a beach ball. I don't know if it's the HGH wearing off, but Delgado needs to wake up. Wright and Carlos Beltran are putting up soid numbers, but they need to hit more in the clutch; especially with Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo both nursing injuries. I don't know what Ryan Church and Pagan have been eating, but they both need to keep at it. They are both picking up a lot of slack that is being missed by Reyes and Delgado right now.

Looking ahead to this week, the Mets have what should be a gimme series against the Washington Nationals to close out their homestand. The Nationals win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday marked their first win in nine games. This is the type of series where the Mets need to work out any last kinks, because a series with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park awaits this weekend (which I look forward to seeing a lot Mets fans there, I will be looking to go to the game on Saturday if I don't acquire tickets to Game Five of the Devils/Rangers series).

All games of the Washington series will be broadcast on SNY and start at 7:10 PM. For the Phillies series, Friday's game will be on CW11 and will start at 7:05 PM. Saturday's game will air on FOX and start at 3:55 PM. Sunday's game is the ESPN Game of the Week, and will start 8:05 PM. For those of you in the Washington area you can catch the games on MASN, and for those of you in the Philly market (this guy) Friday's game can be viewed on CSN.

Looking forward to another week of Mets baseball...and playoff hockey LET'S GO DEVILS!!!!!
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The Mets will call up Brian Lawrence to start Thursday against the Brewers.

Jorge Sosa was used in relief last night and is expected to remain in the pen for a little while. Lawrence, who had the worst velocity of any right-handed starter in the majors before hurting his shoulder, struggles to break 80 mph now. He's a weak bet to help the Mets. Read More...

JEFF CONINE

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Mets and the Cubs are interested in the Reds' Jeff Conine, a professional pinch-hitter who can play both first base and the corner outfield spots.

Jeff Conine has a .368 average (7-for-19) as a pinch-hitter in Cincinnati and is hitting .303 since the All-Star break. The Cubs reportedly could get Conine for a mid-level prospect and he could back up Derrek Lee and spell Cliff Floyd in right at times. Since he makes only $2 million, whoever acquires Conine would only have to pay him about $600,000.

ERIC GAGNE

THe Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal is reporting that the Brewers have joined the Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox in bidding for Texas closer Eric Gagne. Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin would only say "no comment" Monday night when asked specifically about his interest in Gagne.

Gagne has a no-trade clause, which should work in favor of the Mets and other contending teams. However, Texas seems to be asking more than any of the potential suitors are willing to give up, and Gagne is reluctant to go anywhere that he won't remain a closer.

SAMMY SOSA

The New York Mets have spoken with the Texas Rangers about Sammy Sosa, who could platoon in right field with Shawn Green. But the Newark Star-Ledger reports that the Mets are wary of bringing him in because of the controversy that surrounds him. Read More...