So it's not just the Mets who have perfected the art of blowing big leads late in September. The Tigers did them one big one better by proceeding to blow a 3-game cushion with just 4 games to play, and then going on to lose the play-in game on Tuesday against Minnesota, despite all the thrills and chills that game provided for fans across the country. The Mets, meanwhile, padded their stats by getting to 70 wins after sweeping the mail-it-in Astros at CitiField over the final weekend, and pushing themselves just over .500 (41-40) at home in their initial season at their new park. I'm not exactly sure what it means, but when your pitching staff has 2 complete-game shutouts for the season - and they belong to Pat Misch and Nelson Figueroa - it does tell you an awful lot about what an awful year it was and what a long, strange trip it's been.

Changes already? Well, not exactly of the earth-shaking variety on Monday. First base coach Luis Alicea - never close to manager Jerry Manuel - was really the only casualty. Bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr. will be re-assigned to another position within the organization if he chooses to stay - he may look to land a coaching job elsewhere, staying in uniform for what will be his 50th season in baseball. Pitching coach Dan Warthen - despite the 616 walks issued by the Mets staff - will return. His close and solid relationship with ace Johan Santana certainly helped. Howard Johnson returns as well as hitting coach, helped by the fact that the Mets led the National League and were 4th in the majors with a .270 team batting average. The Mets were also 2nd in the league and 6th in the majors with a .278 batting average with RISP. And although David Wright made headlines with his strikeout total (140), as a team the Mets struck out the fewest times (928) in all of baseball. Randy Niemann is back as bullpen coach, and Sandy Alomar Jr. and Razor Shines both return in yet to be determined roles - just keep Razor blade away from that 3rd base coaching box.

The manager and General Manager Omar Minaya will be back too - albeit with a short leash and with much to prove - not an ideal situation. But it really depends on this team pitching better, playing much cleaner defense (12th in the N.L. - only 9 teams with more errors in the majors), making CitiField a much bigger advantage for themselves, and, of course, the changes to the roster that the organization vows they are committed to in the off-season. Otherwise, a slow start in 2010 will subject this team to what Willie Randolph had to endure during the first half of 2008. And that's not a good situation either.

A couple of notes on guys. I haven't been the biggest Angel Pagan fan during his Met tenure, but give him credit. A lot of it. He stayed healthy - a big past knock on him - played hard all the time, and really put up some solid numbers. He finished the season on a 4-4 note on Sunday to wind up at .306. Pagan had 6 HR and 32 RBI, along with 22 doubles, 11 triples and 14 stolen bases. That's making the most of an opportunity extended to him. Kudos. And I don't know which Jeff Francoeur will materialize for the Mets in 2010 - but I sure like having him around. He plays the game hard, he wants to play everyday, he plays hurt (witness the numbers put up with a ripped-up thumb), and Carlos Beltran loves playing beside him. And he immediately changed the clubhouse culture the moment he walked in. If you project Francoeur's Mets numbers out to a full season, they read like this - .311 BA - 43 doubles - 22 HR - and 89 RBI. I don't know if that's possible, but I'll take my chances with his power, defense and personality. Like it.

Did I miss something, or was Fredi Gonzalez' job in jeopardy. The same Fredi Gonzalez who has led the Marlins to 71 then 84 then 87 wins the last three seasons - with zero payroll? Did I miss something? Just asking. And rooting for Jim Tracy. He'll be the Manager of the Year hands down, and I hope he gets to the big stage with his Rockies. Don't think he will - but pulling nonetheless. Next up - how to fix the Mets for 2010. Stay tuned.

C U soon
Eddie C.