General managers often have to make tough decisions regarding who stays and who goes. In baseball, the Trade Deadline is like a holiday for the national sportstime. Fans of teams can dream of acquiring a player that could be the difference between making the playoffs and a long offseason. More over, some moves are made with the intention of making the World Series.

Whether you’re buying or selling, there’s always players to be had in late July. As we’ve seen with the Mets, who have decided to not trade All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes in the hopes of re-signing him, they needed to slash payroll by getting rid of players that likely weren’t returning anyway. Such was the case when GM Sandy Alderson parted with closer Francisco Rodriguez earlier this month, sending him to Milwaukee for two future players they’ll choose from a list come September.

While curiosity awaits as to who they’ll get back from the Brew Crew, Alderson did as expected today by trading All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran to the Giants in exchange for pitching prospect Zach Wheeler. Even if his team under some splendid managing from Terry Collins continues to hang around seven and a half behind wildcard frontrunner Atlanta, Alderson did right by his club maximizing a return nobody could’ve envisioned at the beginning of the season.

After missing so many games the past two years due to bad knees, Beltran was finally healthy enough to play everyday. A huge question entering 2011, all the 34-year old vet did was make the transition to right field and pace the Amazin’s in home runs (15), an NL-leading 30 doubles and RBI’s (66) while being selected to the All-Star Game ironically in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Written off by many Met fans who still blame him for the ’06 NLCS when he took called strike three leaving the bases loaded against St. Louis, Beltran worked hard to come back and that he did, putting together his best season since ’08 at Shea when he hit .284 with 27 dingers, 112 RBI’s and 25 steals in 161 games.

With his contract running out, Alderson had no choice, landing one of baseball’s top 50 prospects in 21 year-old righthander Wheeler, who the Giants hesitated to give up before agreeing in principle to a trade that will bolster their chances of repeating- adding a big bat to a weak offense that largely relies on a staff anchored by two-time Cy winner Tim Lincecum along with All-Stars Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong plus young hurler Madison Bumgarner. With not much consistent production outside of third baseman Pablo Sandoval, it made perfect sense for GM Brian Sabean to pull the trigger. Beltran immediately helps a lineup known for stranding runners, driving my Dad and other diehard Giant fans crazy.

Beltran didn’t quite deliver a third World Series to the Mets after signing a seven-year, $119 million contract, coming over from Houston off an amazing October. However, it’s easy to forget that he had three Amazin’ years, including a 41 homer ’06 campaign that tied the franchise record set by Todd Hundley. From ’06-08, he slugged 101 long balls while knocking in at least 112 with 66 stolen bases  in 74 attempts. Loose Translation: Beltran did it all even if they fell short to the hated Phillies in ’07 and ’08. That stolen base percentage is pretty special. You just don’t see that.

To hear ex-teammate David Wright tell it of that wild October night when Beltran was frozen by a 3-2 Adam Wainwright curve breaking Amazin’ hearts, it wasn’t fair to blame the All-Star center fielder for such an excruciating NLCS defeat.

“Carlos Beltran did not lose us that series,” the sizzling third baseman said before continuing his tear since returning from the DL with a three-run home run part of an 8-2 Met win in Cincinnati. “Carlos Beltran, if anything, kept us in that series longer than maybe we should have been.”

That’s the measure of a team leader who gets it. The ultimate team sport is a lot more than one player, where almost anyone can factor in. Especially in the senior circuit if it goes extras with skippers often going through the entire bench before even having to use pitchers to pinch-hit or even pinch-run. Sometimes, it’s easy to pin it on one guy when they’re getting paid the most. Ultimately, Beltran struck out. However, the Mets had plenty of chances to finish off the Cards earlier in that series and didn’t. Now, he moves on to a new phase, trying to win his first championship with the Giants, who become his fourth team. Before Queens celebrates, it won’t be easy to replace that kind of production. Is former Cyclone Lucas Duda up to the challenge? He hit a homer in tonight’s win, which at least is a good start.

As for Zach Wheeler, here’s a young arm that the Mets hope will be a big part of a future that includes 10-game sophomore Jonathon Niese, surprising rookie Dylan Gee and perhaps Dr. Jekyll and Hyde, Mike Pelfrey if Met brass decides to keep him. Ace Johan Santana will start his rehab assignment and hopefully return next month. If anyone can make it back, the crafty southpaw can.

This year, Wheeler is 7-5 with a 3.99 ERA in Hi-A while fanning 98 and walking 47 over 88 innings. MLB considers him the 33rd best prospect, which has to excite Met fans. A quality return for a veteran outfielder they didn’t even know would give them what he did. To get such a return is tremendous for Alderson and Co.

Overall, it looks like a great deal for both sides. For the Giants, it’s more of a rental in hopes of winning a second straight Series while the Mets look towards the future.

A Welcome Back to a place where fun can be had. Whether it’s old or new, we’re going to try to  make it different than other blogs. Congrats to Roberto Alomar,Bert Blyleven and Pat Gillick on making Cooperstown. Well deserved for the trio even if Mike Francesa believes Blyleven was more of a compiler. I can see rewarding longevity. The Hall Of Fame isn’t exactly easy to figure out in any sport. There will always be omissions and curious inclusions.

We’ve had an eventful summer thus far with our women falling just short against a determined underdog. Kudos to Japan for showing true heart in upsetting three favorites in a row in one of the more improbable runs to the Women’s World Cup. If Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan and favorite playmaker Megan Rapinoe got this country excited about soccer, then what of heroic performances from Homare Sawa and Ayumi Kaihori, who combined to stun the USA in a compelling final full of twists and turns? Sometimes, you get beat. Japan did it in miraculous fashion tying it late in regulation and then forcing it to kicks thanks to a remarkable deflection from Sawa. Credit a nation for coming together in the face of real adversity with what’s going on at home. Prayers go out to Japan after the latest natural disaster. They deserved something good, which wasn’t lost on our American women who were good sports. That should count for something too in today’s me-first world. They gave us a fun ride starting with Wambach’s own miraculous late heroics versus Brazil before Solo did the rest in kicks. Thank you for making this a better summer.

Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran deserve all the accolades for the years they’ve had. Who knows what’ll happen with Reyes past this weekend’s trade deadline but the electrifying All-Star shortstop finally showed what he can do when healthy. Whether he’s worth a long-term investment between 6-7 years remains to be seen. Beltran is a better story due to what he came back from. It’s not easy to make it back from chronic knees. To achieve All-Star status and lead the Mets in homers and RBI’s when many expected little and wanted to run him out of town, is a credit to his dedication. Assuming he moves on this week, enjoy his last game.

Congrats to Derek Jeter for reaching 3,000 career hits the only way he could. By doing the unthinkable with a home run putting an exclamation on a five hit day with our favorite Yankee also in the middle of delivering in the clutch for a win, which is what he’s always been about. Still, he probably should’ve let Christian Lopez have the ball even if the diehard Jetorian gave it to him. Francesa might be wrong about a lot of things but he’s dead on about all the money Jeter, Steiner Sports and the Yankees are making off that big hit. Sure. Tix the rest of the year, including playoffs are nice. But he could’ve kept the ball and paid off college tuition. No easy task today.

So, the NFL is Back! Hip hip hooray unless you’re a Big Blue supporter, who can’t wait to see what the Giants drop in our Christmas stocking for their latest collapse. Get the coal ready!

We could be looking at no NBA for a while. That one looks a long way off. Will it reach a boiling point? Are they really going to emulate the NHL lockout or will something change by say January ’12 like it did in ’99 during what turned out to be a wild ride for Knick fans. And of course Dolan is still asking Knicks subscribers to pay up for a season that has no chance of starting. What a jacka$$!

We’ll have a lot more in store. So tune in!

On Day Three of what’s been called Opening Weekend by MLB.com, the Yankees look to go 2-0 with a battle between former ’03 Marlins A.J. Burnett and Brad Penny going off soon on Fox. Meanwhile, the Mets look to bounce back from a 6-2 Opening Day defeat to their Kryptonite the Marlins, who got a John Buck grand salami off losing Met Mike Pelfrey.

The Amazin’s hope to swing the lumber better than getting no-hit for six innings by Josh Johnson before familiar vet Willie Harris came to the rescue. They can at least take solace in Carlos Beltran doubling home their first run. On the mound will be second year southpaw Jonathon Niese taking on Ricky Nolasco.

Before we get to some baseball picks, already Kyle Drabek has had a great major league debut, going seven strong permitting only a run and a hit while walking three and fanning seven Twinkies to push the Blue Jays to 2-0. They are The Program’s own Chris Wassel’s surprise team. If you want to hear some fun back and forth stuff on the baseball, plus New York Ranger suicide watch, be sure to check out last night’s No Goal Sports Show courtesy of The Program. It was Wassel and host Brian Sanborn along with yours truly and Dan “The Man” Wheeler making our quirky predictions. Be sure to check out the replay! We’ll be on every Friday at 11 ET/8 PT. Catch us over at Blog Talk. Next week, an NFL Draft Preview featuring the one and only Rob “Kraze” Davis with perhaps an actual Jeff Bashlor sighting and possibly John “JPG” Giagniorio.

As for my baseball prognosis, I tried to be fair and objective. Ironically, we didn’t get to World Series picks. But I think I’ll get to that good stuff along with awards and where your team(s) will finish in 2011. Just remember. These aren’t etched in stone. So, don’t jump off the Verrazano just yet unless you’re a Mets fan.

AL East

1.Yankees

*2.Red Sox

3.Devil Rays

4.Blue Jays

5.Orioles

AL Central

1.Twins

2.White Sox

3.Tigers

4.Royals

5.Indians

AL West

1.Athletics

2.Rangers

3.Angels

4.Mariners

NL East

1.Braves

*2.Phillies

3.Marlins

4.Mets

5.Nationals

NL Central

1.Reds

2.Brewers

3.Cardinals

4.Cubs

5.Pirates

6.Astros

NL West

1.Rockies

2.Giants

3.Padres

4.Dodgers

5.Diamondbacks

*wildcard

AWARDS

AL ROY-Kyle Drabek, Blue Jays

NL ROY-Brandon Belt, Giants

AL Cy Young-Jon Lester, Red Sox

NL Cy Young-Yovani Gallardo, Brewers

AL MVP-Robinson Cano, Yankees

NL MVP-Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies

Why the Yankees over Red Sox: Both possess superb lineups but each have questions surrounding their rotations. Boston packs a nice 1-2 punch of Lester and Clay Buckholz but after that it gets shaky with Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Dice K with the latter trio headed in the opposite direction. Unless that changes, the Sox could get into a lot of slugfests, taxing pen arms Daniel Bard, Bobby Jenks and fading closer Jonathan Papelbon. The Yanks have their own questions in A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia. Not exactly positive when Hughes averaged 89.1 on his heater in a 10-7 loss to the Tigers Sunday. However, the Bronx Bombers are better equipped in the pen with Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson, Boone Logan, new setup Rafael Soriano and Hall Of Fame bound Mariano Rivera. Even if they get nothing from burnt out Pedro Feliciano who Brian Cashman blamed the Mets for him signing (simply amazing), they should be very strong from the seventh on with Soriano also able to spell Mo in save situations.

If the Rays get any hitting from Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, they could spoil it with arguably the deepest rotation in the Junior Circuit, featuring Cy candidate David Price, James Shields, Wade Davis, Jeff Niemann and rookie Jeremy Hellickson. They need a monster year from Evan Longoria, who already is banged up, and B.J. Upton to fulfill potential.

Keep an eye on the White Sox, who with the addition of slugger Adam Dunn, could lead the majors in homers- boasting Paul Konerko, Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez. Vet southpaw Mark Buehrle heads a rotation that features Edwin Jackson, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and former Met farmhand Phil Humber. They subtracted closer Jenks but Matt Thornton’s capable of filling the void while having solid setups Jesse Crain (Twins), Chris Sale and Tony Pena. They’ll push the Twins for the AL Central.

In the Senior Circuit, the Phils have the best rotation- featuring NL Cy Young Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton. The loss of Jayson Werth and no Chase Utley until probably the second half will impact the lineup. Closer Brad Lidge is on the DL, meaning Jose Contreras is finishing games with Ryan Madson setting up. Hardly reassuring. If the offense struggles, it wouldn’t be shocking if they get off slowly before the Dream Rotation carries them to a trademark strong second half with Utley back along with Lidge and rookie outfielder Domonic Brown. That means they could battle the Braves for the NL East with both the Marlins and Mets competitive.

The NL Central should be the Reds to lose with competition coming from the Brewers once Zach Greinke gets healthy. Don’t count out the Cards despite no Adam Wainwright. Albert Pujols will have a monster year playing for a new contract and the rotation’s still solid featuring Cris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse and rookie Kyle McLellan. Just what is Jake Westbrook doing in it?

Finally! Well, at least that’s what Amazin’ fans are saying today. Following another disappointing season, the Mets sacked GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel today- confirming what had been the obvious.

So, the Wilpons finally shake things up and start fresh. Something their suffering fanbase have been dying for for quite some time.  Since Carlos Beltran took a called third strike against Cards’ hero Adam Wainwright leaving the bases loaded in the NLCS Game Seven, it’s all been downhill for a franchise that remains stuick on two championships (1969, 1986). What had looked so promising with that ’06 team fell apart in epic fashion.

Nobody could’ve predicted the ’07 and ’08 collapses, tormenting fans even more. Nor could anyone have foresaw all the injuries to key stars Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, K-Rod and Johan Santana the past two years, which killed any realistic chance of October baseball at their new ballpark, Citi Field.

Who also knew that David Wright would only hit five homers in his first season in the state of the art setting? Sometimes, you just can’t tell. Or that prize free agent Jason Bay would struggle even worse before being KO’d by a concussion. To quote a Guns N’ Roses song My Michelle, “Well, well, well, you never can tell.”

Such is how things went for the team in Queens, who were once front and center on SI with their mix master Minaya, leading credence to the SI jinx. When he changed managers two years ago in one of the worst PR moves ever, sacking Willie Randolph in the middle of the night on the West Coast, it was a black eye for the franchise. But they  responded under Manuel only to break hearts in September. Something that became a theme.

The hard truth is they were up against a better team in the Phillies, who were mentally tougher. This isn’t a knock on the Met core as much as it is giving props to Charlie Manuel’s bunch, who ran away with another division crown after acquiring Roy Oswalt from Houston. With a terrific trio of expected Cy winner Roy Halladay, Oswalt and resurgent ’09 World Series MVP Cole Hamels, the Phils are the favorites to win the pennant and could very well capture a second World Series in three years. Especially given the AL uncertainty.

None of this helps the Mets or their fans, who will once again have nothing to cheer for this Fall unless you consider hoping the Reds can upset Philly while the Giants beat Atlanta are going to make up for the failure of management. The Yankees are also playing Minnesota, having limped in.

What’s most important for the Mets is to address the problems by hiring the right GM, who will be given full autonomy to bring in a new skipper. Is John Hart on the shortlist? Will a new executive really promote from within with former ’86 hero Wally Backman, who managed Low-A Brooklyn to the Penn League finals before falling? It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. Yes, Backman is their guy but is it smart to move the fiery manager all the way up to the bigs? Our suggestion would be to give the former second baseman more time perhaps at a higher level.

Bobby Valentine would love the job but is he the right fit? His personality is fun but also can rub people the wrong way.  Joe Torre expressed interest but do they really want to bring in a man synonymous with four world titles in five years with the Bronx Bombers? It wouldn’t appease a fanbase who has to be tired of recycling names. Art Howe anyone?

The Mets need a GM and manager who’ll be on the same page- able to get the most out of a promising crop that includes first base slugger Ike Davis, catcher Josh Thole, second baseman Ruben Tejada, right fielder Lucas Duda along with pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese and Dillon Gee. Assuming Reyes and Wright are back and Bay comes back healthy along with team MVP Angel Pagan, whoever takes over isn’t getting a bad hand as long as Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez are gone.

There’s also the matter of Beltran, who finished strong before his knee acted up again. Do they retain an aging center fielder who remains a question mark in center due to his knees? Beltran turns 34 next April 24 and will be in the final year of his contract. Is there any market for the former All-Star? That’ll probably be the toughest decision the new GM will have to make.

They also don’t know when Santana will return. If he makes it back before July, that would be positive. The Mets might want to take a look at Jenrry Mejia and should definitely bring back cult hero R.A. Dickey. The staff will be young. So, acquiring another vet is a must. Something Minaya failed at.

If the Amazin’s want to get back in the ballgame, they’re going to have to roll the dice. Especially competing against the Phillies and Braves. They can’t afford to be wrong. It sets up an interesting offseason.

Carlos Beltran is only part of the solution if the Mets are to see October.

The second half of the baseball season got underway Thursday. For the Mets, it didn’t go well. Facing two-time Cy Young Tim Lincecum, their bats failed- getting shutout 2-zip. The loss tied them with the Giants, who also share an identical 48-41 record with three big games left.

Complemented with Atlanta edging Milwaukee 2-1, the Amazin’s fell five back. Even more daunting is that with wild card leader Colorado red hot entering a three-game series against NL Central leader Cincinnati, it doesn’t get any easier for New York to make October. Especially with the Dodgers, Cards and Phils all in the mix. You could argue that it would just be easier to win their division. It’s hard to see the Braves running away with it even after their pickup of shortstop Alex Gonzalez. You have to figure both the Mets and Phillies will hang around making for a photo finish.

For Jerry Manuel’s club to do its part, they must get Jose Reyes back and see quick results from Carlos Beltran, who went 1-for-4 in his return. It would also help if Jason Bay earned his hefty paycheck every once in a blue moon. They’re not paying him to imitate David Wright’s 2009. Six home runs and a paltry 44 RBI’s just won’t cut it. It’s about time he gave Wright and rookie first baseman Ike Davis some support. They could also use some of that early magic from Rod Barajas’ bat.

On the pitching front, they need Mike Pelfrey to return to form. Hopefully, the time off allowed him to recoup. For much of the first half, he was their best pitcher. If they’re to seriously challenge, Pelf must follow a rejuvenated Johan Santana and Rookie Of The Year candidate Jonathon Niese with the kinda yeoman work we saw the first three months. Speaking of the crafty southpaw, he goes in Game 2 against vet Barry Zito. Lately, he’s been money. They need him to silence the fire alarm. The Mets can’t ask for much better out of vet knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who yet again gave a quality outing tossing seven innings of one-run ball to lower his ERA to 2.62.

Of course, if Omar Minaya was able to acquire one more big arm (Oswalt, Lilly, Wolf, Myers) and add a setup man, they’d take their best shot. We’ve heard plenty about how they should consider their future. Uh. How many World Series have they won?!?!?!?!?! Beltran has one more year left. Santana ain’t getting any younger. And K-Rod has already been shaky.

How many chances do you get to win? After what’s happened the past three years, ain’t it about time Fred Wilpon made a statement? Save all the talk about how they got no money. What’s their payroll again? It’s not like they sold off players.

The Met slogan is “Believe In 2010.” What better way to do that than to go all out.

Jose Reyes has finally returned to lead the Mets.

-Can the Mets keep it up? Their 5-1 homestand taking two of three from the Yanks and sweeping the Phils without allowing a run was a statement. Incredibly inspiring baseball from Jerry Manuel’s club led finally by the resurgent Jose Reyes, who is back to being himself in the leadoff spot. He tormented the Mets’ biggest rival by going 8-for-13 with three extra base hits including his first home run, five RBI’s, two stolen bases and five runs scored. That’s the Reyes that’s the team’s MVP. Jason Bay continued to produce following the two-homer game off C.C. Sabathia with three more RBI’s. Angel Pagan is the club’s most improved player, getting five hits and swiping three bases in the series.

As for the staff, what a job by every Met pitcher blanking arguably the best offense for all 27 innings. Miraculous stuff from Hisanori Takahashi, vet knuckler R.A. Dickey and potential All-Star Mike Pelfrey, who bested Cole Hamels yesterday by going seven strong for win No.7. The pen continues to get the job done. At 25-23 following a dreadful road trip, the Amazin’s are in third a half game behind Atlanta and two out. The NL East should be tight all year. Especially with the improved Nats hanging around along with the Marlins. If Carlos Beltran returns healthy, they could give the Mets a leg up on the wild card competition. The Phils couldn’t play any worse but are still the team to beat.

-Meanwhile, across town the Yanks get Curtis Granderson back in center batting second against the Indians in the Bronx tonight. An early two-run Nick Swisher homer has given Phil Hughes a lead. He’s already struckout five in looking to rebound from back-to-back disappointing efforts. The guys in Pinstripes haven’t played well lately. Even if they took two of three from favorite whipping boy Minnesota, Javier Vazquez again got lit up in a blowout loss yesterday. Joe Girardi’s guys really haven’t been the same since a hot start, leaving too many runners on and not getting consistent relief. Even Sabathia has struggled. With Boston finally red hot having swept a two-game set in Tampa, the defending champs need to get revved up. A Memorial Weekend series against lowly Cleveland could be just what the doctor ordered.

-Randy Winn has been so bad that he might want to consider changing his name to Randy Loss. At least it would better explain how Brian Cashman signed him. Not much better on Nick “DL” Johnson. Kevin Russo stays.

-Best move of the offseason is Rod Barajas, whose 10 homers pace the Amazin’s with his 27 RBI’s second to David Wright. Vet backup Henry Blanco has also been instrumental helping improve the pitching staff. Though we’re not sure anyone can aid Olli Perez and John Maine.

-Like most, I thought Big Papi was done. Good news if you own his rookie cards.

-Considering the continued trips to the DL for Jorge Posada, what if the Bronx Bombers didn’t have Francisco Cervelli as insurance? From the time I covered him out here on the ’06 Penn-League champion Staten Island Baby Bombers, Cervelli’s been a winner. The guy always worked hard and did it with a smile. Nice to see him getting rewarded.

-All things considered, the Yanks actually miss Phil Coke. Wasn’t Ian Kennedy in that trade too? He’s not faring too badly out in The Desert.

-I voted for him because I thought he’d make a good President. Not because I wanted to know what Mr. Obama thought about LeBron going to Chicago. How about focusing on your job which just got a lot harder due to this BP oil spill in Louisiana.

-Didn’t catch it but kudos to Ron Artest on saving Kobe Bryant’s Lakers on what sounded like a very unpredictable conclusion breaking Sun hearts. The kid I saw when he starred for LaSalle Academy could always ball. It’s just a matter of staying focused on the court.

-Love to see the Suns force a seventh in Hollywood and somehow get it done just for my close buddy P. He deserves it.

-I don’t feel sorry for Coach Calhoun or UConn. Unfortunately, they probably won’t get severely punished or miss any postseason play. Nice job NCAA!

-When I wrote that column begging for change at St. John’s, they must’ve heard me. But you know, the way those guys played down the stretch for Norm Roberts, you could tell how much they enjoyed playing for him. Such a heartbreaking ending for a nice guy who at least brought back respect to the program. Now, we’ll see if Steve Lavin can take that next giant step forward with a senior core featuring D.J. Kennedy, Malik Boothe, Sean Evans, Paris Horne, Justin Burrell and Dwight Hardy.

-As an avid hockey fan who did a preview on our Battle Of New York blog, has the Stanley Cup begun yet? More proof that Gary Bettman’s still working for David Stern.

-Should be interesting to see what the Celtics come up with in what amounts to a must win versus the Magic. If they lose, just imagine how Boston will feel after witnessing the wrong kind of history made by their Bruins in that same building. They should’ve put it away already.

-And finally, a salute to The Richburg family who buried their son Thursday. Lyndzay was a wonderful human being who touched everyone he was around making us smile and laugh. We’ll forever miss him but his spirit shines down brightly in our hearts.

Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn and Jake Taylor are warming up for a new season.

As the exciting, action packed Vancouver 2010 Winter Games draw to a close with Team USA (that’s right!!!!!) battling Canada for Olympic Gold in men’s hockey later today, believe it or not baseball’s around the corner.

February’s gotta be the fastest month ever. Especially with President’s Week and you know. The whole leap year thing. Normally, I don’t mind it but this winter’s been one of the craziest with plenty of white stuff here in Shaolin and all over NYC, the Garden State, CT and the East coast. Just wild. We got hit pretty bad the other night with another foot-plus flying down in the morning hours. Should’ve seen how it looked outside my window. As Crazy Eddie might chime:

“Insane!”

March can’t get here soon enough and is tomorrow! Spring Training will be in full bloom as prognosticators get ready for another season. Can the Yankees do it again minus World Series MVP Godzilla and Johnny Damon? Will Curtis Granderson light it up in center field and Nick Johnson make fans forget Hideki Matsui? Can Jason Bay carry the Mets until Carlos Beltran gets back? Is Jose Reyes batting third a novel concept or just more proof that Jerry Manuel has lost it? What about Oliver Perez, John Maine and Mike Pelfrey? Bounce back or Amazin’ attack? Can Javier Vazquez II work in the Bronx? Will Da Melkman be missed? What of Joba and Phil Hughes?

All are great questions for locals. Getting more to the point, baseball’s already started up in the land of BK. Park Slope to be exact where coach Walter Paller’s Berkeley Carroll Lions take aim at defending their title. Last year was a coming out party for one of the best baseball programs this city has to offer.

The BC Lions dethroned heavy favorite Poly Prep in a classic, hanging on for dear life thanks to a great diving catch by right fielder Theo Guest (Dayton University) and superb closing from Phil Seay (Denison College), who look to help their new schools this Spring as will former ace James McDonagh (Trinity College). Senior backstop Walker Harrison returns looking to lead Paller’s club to the promised land again along with slugger Rob Paller. He’ll be joined by plenty of hoop ‘mates such as Sean Cunningham, Nate Barr, Jesse Chalfin, Joey Martinez, Mike Andria and Adam Kochman.

With the crack of the bat and pounding of the mitt coming before you know it, one of our favorites from Major League to get warmed up and melt away all the snow. Paging Willie Mays Hayes, Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, Jake Taylor, Roger Dorn and Pedro Cerrano!

It’s deja boo all over again. How does one explain it? Two straight Septembers on the final day against the same opponent at home, the Mets season ended in awful fashion at the hands of the division rival Marlins.

Imagine making more baseball history but only the wrong kind becoming the first ever team to lead their division by at least three and a half games with the same 17 games left only to miss two straight postseasons. How could it happen all over again? Sure. The way it did was very different than last year’s season finale in which the Marlins pummeled Tom Glavine into oblivion routing them 8-1 in a game which was over before you were in your seat.

This time, they got five shutout innings from future free agent Oliver Perez matching zeros with Florida southpaw Scott Olsen. Trouble was this was the same opposing starter they’d banged around in three previous outings to the tune of over a 7.00 ERA. Suddenly, the Mets couldn’t hit him which meant the longer the game remained scoreless, the worse feeling you got. Why couldn’t they use the momentum from one of the greatest games pitched by a Met and jump all over him?

Only this team could not take anything into another do or die situation off a brilliant performance from Johan Santana, who dominated the Marlins on three days rest much the way John Maine flirted with the franchise’s first no-hitter on another Saturday a year ago. Instead, the final regular season game at Shea Stadium soon teased a packed house into Believing’ like the team mantra that it would be different when Carlos Beltran answered Florida’s pair of runs with a two-run home run in the sixth to tie it.

But they were in store for an even more heartbreaking conclusion because thanks to the rain, the Brewers and Cubs were playing at the same time with Chicago holding a 1-0 lead until a seventh inning bases loaded Craig Counsell walk forced in the tying run. Suddenly, you had two teams both tied late with no clue whether one would take the wild card or both would wind up in a one-game playoff which would’ve taken place later today at Shea. Any Met fan after Friday night would’ve signed for that.

However, it just wasn’t meant to be as two eighth innings couldn’t have played out any more different cause while Florida pinch hitter Wes Helms greeted Scott Schoeneweis’ first and only pitch with a leadoff homer and Dan Uggla followed suit taking Luis Ayala deep for a 4-2 lead, there was Milwaukee left field slugger Ryan Braun taking Bob Howry’s first pitch out to left for a go-ahead two-run blast providing ace C.C. Sabathia with a 3-1 lead. Plenty for the rental who like Santana pitched on short rest a third straight time finishing the game for his NL best seventh complete game in 17 starts.

Ironically, Braun’s 37th came about two minutes later fully aware they got help from a Marlin team which once again got the last laugh celebrating for the final time on the Mets’ home field.

Somewhere, Willie Randolph had to be smiling. Though replacement Jerry Manuel certainly did a respectable job turning around a flawed team which somehow wasn’t fixed by Omar Minaya, who’s about to be renewed for the same four years he gave to Luis Castillo, who lost his spot at second to fourth string journeyman Ramon Martinez this weekend.

If you want to blame the Mets pigpen for this, it would be very easy to but what about the offense? Where was it? They did nothing in the series opener following one of the most improbable two out rallies before beating the Cubs. And in a game which Santana had to be near perfect in, New York managed just two runs on six hits stranding 10 while striking out 10 times against opposing starter Ricky Nolasco- one more than their Cy caliber stud had.

You still would’ve believed they could muster more than they came up with on the final Sunday of the season. They would be inspired after such a magnificent performance. Not exactly. If not for Beltran’s 27th, they get blanked on just three more hits with everything on the line.

Sure. They didn’t go quietly putting the tying runners on base before veteran Arthur Rhodes got Carlos Delgado to line out to deep left to end the eighth.

Of course, David Wright made yet another useless weakly popping to second starting off the ninth to boos. Endy Chavez, who made a great diving catch in the seventh robbing Jorge Cantu of a go-ahead double couldn’t come through at the plate bouncing back to ex-Met Matt Lindstrom for the second out. Too bad they didn’t keep him dealing him away for virtually nothing three years ago.

At least one of the few character guys Damion Easley came up and worked a walk to send the tying run Ryan Church to the plate allowing everyone in the place to stand praying for one more Miracle of ’69. He gave a Lindstrom offering a ride to deep right center but it unfortunately didn’t have enough distance allowing Florida’s Cameron Maybin to get to the edge of the track and squeeze the final out of the Mets season breaking more hearts on a day they closed Shea for good.

Somehow after another bitter conclusion, they pulled off a very nice ceremony honoring heroes of the past which ranged from Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Cleo Jones, Tommy Agee, Mike Piazza, John Franco, Al Leiter, Robin Ventura to ’86 members Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Bob Ojeda, Gary Carter, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Howard Johnson, Len Dykstra, Wally Backman and the man who closed out the Astros and Red Sox Jesse Orosco, who fans must’ve wished they still had.

What remains are lingering questions as to how the Mets couldn’t deliver one big hit with runners in scoring position going 0-for-11 the entire series. Can anyone explain what happened to leading RBI man Wright who tied one of the all-time great Mets Piazza for a share of the franchise RBI record (124)? Why does the third baseman who’s one of two cornerstones along with Jose Reyes always seem to falter in the clutch? Speaking of the speedy Met shortstop who leads off, he had only a couple of hits in the series and another disappointing final month hitting .243 despite playing much better under Manuel.

Something’s missing which is pretty apparent to everyone except for Minaya and club owner Jeff Wilpon, who seems to believe this team “overachieved” as opposed to last year’s epic collapse.

Wrong. Injuries are part of sports and while they did lose closer Billy Wagner, Maine the final month, Church an extended period due to the team’s mishandling of his second concussion and Pedro Martinez a couple of months, they still had a healthy Santana, Perez and emerging Mike Pelfrey in their rotation along with their top five run producers.

The Yankees had their share of injuries too and didn’t make any excuses for missing their first October in 14 seasons knowing full well they underachieved which wasn’t acceptable.

You try to win with the hand you’re dealt and the fact is that these Mets led the Phillies again with 17 to play but faltered down the stretch due to poor performances against the Braves and Nationals before the final week turned into an emotional rollercoaster alternating wins and losses. Unfortunately, they began Monday with a defeat and were due for a loss yesterday.

When you go out and steal an ace like Santana, there are no more excuses. It shouldn’t have happened again.

Instead, the Mets saw their shadow with the groundhog apparently closing Shea for good.

They’re not even my baseball team. It’s always been known that I root for the other New York team known as the Yankees, who this time weren’t good enough to make October. They just never got untracked and by the time they played their best ball, it was way too late to help the cause.

Sure. It’s nice that they’re still playing hard since they closed Yankee Stadium having taken nine of 10 after last night’s 19-8 drubbing of the archrival Red Sox in Fenway helped insure Tampa Bay’s first ever AL East Division Title. How cool is that? I sure hope the Rays do well in their first ever postseason as Joe Maddon’s gritty ballclub deserves all the kudos they get! More than you can say for Joe Girardi’s first season as Yankee skipper and his rocky relationship with the press which he caused by purposely lying about some of his players’ health status.

While the circus will be officially letting out of the Bronx Zoo Monday after a great 13-year ride, that other New York team is driving their fans nuts wondering if they’ll somehow make the playoffs or if it will be another September to forget. The last three days still can’t be explained unless you’re a Met fan.

I’ve never really cared one way or another since I was a little kid rooting for the 1986 Amazin’ Mets take this city on a wild ride nobody will ever forget. If you were around, you know where you were the day Bill Buckner let Mookie Wilson’s little trickler as legendary announcer Vince Scully called it get through his legs into right field allowing a disbelieving Ray Knight to score the winning run in one of the greatest two out rallies in World Series history. I can still see the WS MVP’s hands on his helmet. It’s just one of those defining moments which stands out along with all the unbelievable two strike two out base hits Davey Johnson’s destined ballclub strung together to shock the Red Sox and NBC.

Twenty two years later, here is another resilient exciting gritty bunch facing possible elimination from postseason contention today with their bread and butter ace Johan Santana taking the ball on three days rest against a Marlins team who openly has stated they want to end their season just like last year. The question is will the heavy rain forecast for today’s game at Shea delay making baseball’s most schizo fanbase wait even longer?

In such a topsy turvy roller coaster ride of emotions since the personable Jerry Manuel took over for Willie Randolph in June, why not? What’s another 24 hours for these Met fans who are living and dying with every pitch? The dying of course should be underlined considering the kind of stinging losses their team has inflicted making something which seemed so promising a week prior look so dire because now the Mets need help from Lou Piniella’s Cubs, who are getting ready for October resting guys in Milwaukee this weekend.

Not only must Santana deliver another big performance on short rest for just the second time in his career but his team will be curiously watching the scoreboard hoping for Cubbies to cross home plate against Ben Sheets, who’s taking the ball despite questions about his arm in hopes of getting the Brewers to their first serious baseball in 26 years.

The Mets need a win and a Brewer loss to at least have destiny in their own hands for Sunday’s final scheduled regular season games. Somehow, they want to come out with two wins and hope Milwaukee splits so there’s at least a one-game playoff to be played in Queens due to New York winning the coin flip.

Cause at the moment, the NL East looks lost as the Phillies have played tremendous down the stretch winning 11 of 14 thanks in large part to NL MVP candidate Ryan Howard, who slugged a three-run homer and had an RBI double knocking in half in their 8-4 win over the majors worst team the Nationals. The same one which took the first two drawing a split of four against those Mets last week when things looked much more hopeful. Then, the division was realistic. Now, they’re two behind with two to play and the Phillies’ Magic No. is down to one. So, one win or a Met defeat will seal a second consecutive NL East to Charlie Manuel’s bunch.

How did the Amazin’s get into this pickle? Well, losing two to Washington and two of three to the hated Braves in Atlanta wasn’t exactly the recipe. It still pales in comparison to what’s taken place this week. Even if you were the most optimistic Met fan, you didn’t want to see the Cubs at Shea for four because that’s how good they really are. Piniella sat out star players in every game and still came away with a split.

Santana of course won his game tossing a career high 125 pitches in eight frames fanning 10 Tuesday to even up the series. Everyone knows what happened the next night where this team suffered their most excruciating loss of the year blowing so many golden opportunities to win the game in one of those final at bats. If only David Wright didn’t chase ball four with bright eyed rookie Daniel Murphy 90 feet away with nobody out. If only the bad Oliver Perez didn’t show up spoiling Carlos Delgado’s grand slam for what should’ve been a win. If. A word which might be repeated often by a frustrated fanbase dying to see their team come through erasing last year’s bitter memories.

Such a defeat had fans exasperated fearing the worst even leaving NY SportsDay colleague Joe McDonald to declare the Met season finished.

But with this team, you knew better. Under Manuel, despite not having any pen to speak of with no Billy Wagner, this team has always responded well to adversity. They showed plenty of heart Thursday never giving up coming back from three down against the Cubs with the kinda improbable two out eighth inning rally which made even this guy think maybe they’re destined for special things. How could one not when Carlos Beltran beat out an infield hit and then Ryan Church followed with another hit to keep it going?

Then, it was little used reserve second baseman Ramon Martinez who is of no relation to Pedro’s older brother and former Dodger delivering the big hit getting his desperate team a run closer. By now as I was driving home from a meaningless Lightning-Rangers exhibition game, I knew third string catcher Robinson Cancel would somehow come through because if Martinez, who entered with one hit the entire year could get a hit, so too would another journeyman delivering a tying single but not without dramatics. Church was a dead duck but even without sliding, he somehow eluded the tag touching home plate to miraculously tie the game 6-6.

Howie Rose’s excitement on WFAN was at a decibel level. You could feel the little kid in him coming out. Why not? This Met team has been fun to watch even for opposing fans. In the ninth, it didn’t matter that Murphy missed a sign bunting foul for strike three with Jose Reyes on first. The lightning rod of the Met offense swiped second a batter later and would come around to score three batters later when Carlos Beltran walked off after Piniella intentionally walked Delgado putting two runners on. It didn’t matter if Wright again came up small striking out because Beltran was the hero allowing his team to celebrate along with the 20,000 loyal fans who remained despite lots of wind swept rain.

There were the Mets saving their season because the Brewers a few minutes later responded with Ryan Braun’s first career grand slam in the 10th sweeping the Pirates to keep pace. You had to feel good though because they were still tied for the wild card and only a game behind the Phils, who dropped two of three to Atlanta.

Then came last night where the Marlins immediately scored a pair of runs off Mike Pelfrey beating him for the fourth time this season by a count of 6-1. The troubling aspect was it looked too easy despite all the runners the Mets left on base the first few innings against rookie Chris Volstad. They just couldn’t muster up enough energy to carry the momentum from such a magical come from behind win.

Why not? Because this is who these Mets are this season. The weirdest team in baseball. Where one day they look like a serious contender who just won’t die. And then the next, they invent tough ways to lose or lay a proverbial egg like last night putting their season on the brink with the Brewers winning a fifth straight 5-1 over the Cubs and the Phils taking care of business.

So, do they have another miracle in them? It’s not entirely up to them but you can bet they’ll try their best to take Met fans home.

Hopefully not for good.

-The Met bats finally awakened tonight in the nation’s cap slugging four home runs including a pair from Carlos Beltran with his solo shot late proving large because no lead is ever safe with that pigpen. A game they led 8-2 suddenly became 8-5 on an Elijah Dukes two-run shot in the Nats’ seventh. Beltran responded with his 26th restoring order. He quietly has put together a good final two months and is up to 106 RBI’s.

Still, any Amazin fan knew the game wasn’t over when the ninth rolled around. Who exactly can Jerry Manuel trust to finish games at this point? The luster has come off waiver pickup Luis Ayala. So, he trotted out Joe Smith, who proceeded to put the first two on thanks to a David Wright error and a walk. Then after Pedro Feliciano got two straight, he allowed a two-run single to Wil Nieves making things a little too close for comfort forcing Manuel to opt for the team’s eighth pitcher of the night Ayala. The ex-Nat got the job done striking out pinch hitter Roger Bernadina with an outside 2-2 heater to pickup his eighth save and temporarily allow their fans to breathe a sigh of relief.

-While the pesky Nats were chipping away at their lead making things tough, the Phillies scored four in the first and went on to a 6-1 win in Atlanta for a sixth consecutive win remaining half a game up for the division.

-Don’t look now but the Marlins apparently forgot that they’re supposed to be out of it. Instead, they used three homers including a pair from star shortstop Hanley Ramirez and a Jorge Cantu grand slam to rout the fading Astros 14-2 remaining five out of the WC and now a game behind the Astros who haven’t won since Hurricane Ike going 0-4 when it looked like they had all sorts of momentum. As for Florida, they’ll just have to keep winning and hope for help until that final three-game series of the season at Shea.

-The Brewers are on the verge of closing out the Cubs leading 6-1 in the ninth. Prince Fielder had a bases clearing first inning double and teammates J.J. Hardy and Corey Hart knocked in the other half in the seventh to give them some breathing room in a game Ben Sheets lasted just two innings due to right shoulder tightness. Can you say buyer beware this winter? Assuming Salomon Torres gets the final two outs, it would snap their losing skid at five and keep them half a game behind the Mets.

Update: Torres gets the final out keeping Milwaukee a half game out of the WC.

-The Diamondbacks are aiming for their third in a row hoping to gain a game on the Dodgers, who lost in Pittsburgh by a football score of 15-8. They lead the Giants 6-3 in support of 20-game winner Brandon Webb, who helped his own cause with a two-run double in a five-run second to get himself off the hook. Justin Upton also went yard. If they win, they’d be within three and a half of first.

-How resilient are the Rays anyway? They get smoked the first game of a crucial three-game home set against the Red Sox but then hold Boston to a run last night pushing across the winner on a walkoff and then follow it up with a convincing 10-3 win highlighted by three homers including three hits and a homer from utility man Willy Aybar, who seems to have found a home following stints with the Dodgers and Braves. Did we mention he’s only 25? So much for teams preaching patience. The Rays are now two up on Boston for the AL East. What a great story.

-Some more history was made in the Bronx when Alex Rodriguez followed a Johnny Damon three-run shot with an opposite solo blast of his own in a four-run eighth becoming the first player in MLB history to hit at least 35 home runs, drive in 100 and score 100 in 12 seasons surpassing Babe Ruth. In fact, he also broke Sammy Sosa’s (1995-2004) record of at least 35 dingers by making it 11 in a row (1998-2008). Congrats to a great player on this accomplishment.

As for the game, the Yanks played spoiler beating the first place White Sox 5-1. Phil Hughes finally returned to the mound for the first time in almost five months working the first four frames permitting one earned on four hits while walking a pair and fanning four on 89 pitches (57 strikes). Not bad but four innings? How overcautious can this organization get? Remember when Hughes and Ian Kennedy were locks for the rotation? Now look what’s happened. Kennedy’s disappeared to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton probably exiled and they don’t even have enough confidence to let their prize pitching prospect go at least five. Would you trust this braintrust with your top pitching prospects?!?!?!?!?!

-How is it that the Mets who were supposed to have exactly zero top pitchers in their farm can let 21 year-old Jonathon Niese go eight innings in his second start without giving up as much as a run while striking out seven? Did we mention he was a 2005 seventh round pick? Not a first round “can’t miss.”

-Phil Coke has pitched well for the Bronx Bombers since coming up tossing 10 scoreless in middle relief including two tonight. Is it cause they didn’t rush the once rumored pitcher in the Xavier Nady deal allowing him to develop at the age of 26?

-I like Brett Favre but how many times do we have to hear him defend that god awful conservative play calling against the Pats from near the goal line with three straight runs? How do you think this Jets team will fare against an angry San Diego bunch out West on Monday Night? They’re nine point underdogs. Think Darren Sproles’ eyes are lighting up?

-It sure didn’t take long for the Vikings to pull the plug on this Tarvaris Jackson experiment after falling to 0-2 making Week 3 at home versus 2-0 Carolina critical. But I was under the assumption anyone could QB Minnesota with Adrian Peterson doing the running and lead them to the NFC Title Game. Would you trust Gus Frerotte to run your ship? I can already hear the Viking ship sinking. Why didn’t they give Chad Pennington a call? Ya know. They’re QB situation is so dire that they ought to consider giving Randall Cunningham a call.

-The Chiefs are going with somebody by the name of Tyler Thigpen at Atlanta. Gee wiz. This team just might be even worse than co-host Jeff Bashlor thinks. Paging Steve DeBerg. Paging Joe Montana. Paging Steve Bono. Is anyone home? Ya know what’s sad is they can’t even blame this one on Herm “Play To Win Da Game” Edwards. Who would’ve ever thought staying with the Jets would be such a better option?

-Hockey training camps have begun! I just wanted you and especially diehard puck fan John “JPG” Giagnorio to know.

-If hockey had any common sense, they’d go global like soccer and tennis. Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Why on God’s earth would you who loves the sport say this?’ Because like the other two sports, it’s more popular all over the world. How many diehard hockey fans are there really in The States? Soccer is more popular in Europe. So too is tennis which explains why three of the four grand slams are played in Australia, Paris and London.

Hockey is a sport only real fans love. And while there are enough to support teams here and especially north of the border, just think how ga ga fans in Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia would go if they suddenly had teams competing for the Stanley Cup. It already travels all over the world due to the global impact. Perhaps it’s time for the league to really consider expanding and having a World Conference or Division. Why shouldn’t players such as Jaromir Jagr of OMSK be able to still compete for Lord Stanley? It also would eliminate the Alexander Radulov hearing. Just the NHL being lame.

It might sound crazy but I’d seriously explore it. Let all the European teams play each other with the winner advancing. And ditto for North America. The definition of a Stanley Cup with the best in the world competing.

-Tune into my Hard Hits show tonight. It’s sure to be unscripted and totally out there.

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