A Return

It's been 48 days since I last spoke to you. Since that fateful day, there have been many tears shed, many culprits named, many pitchers who weren't devastated.

But there have been no Mets wins.

Sure, we saw some life out of favorite whipping boy Kaz Matsui – who has been offered a three-year deal by the Chicago Cubs – during the playoffs, en route to a surprising show from the Colorado Rockies.

But it was all about the Red Sox: forget the Phillies, the Yankees, all the teams about whom, as Mets fans, we once cared.

The season is long since over, and the offseason is kicking into gear. Sure, we won't have hours and hours to agonize about the fate of Alex Rodriguez – and whether David Wright will move to second base, first base or left field, and we most likely won't spend our time thinking about what will happen should the Mets sign A-Rod and send Jose Reyes to Minnesota for Johan Santana.

We won't be thinking about obtaining hot trade commodities like Jake Peavy, who unanimously won a Cy Young Award earlier this week, Santana, or Miguel Cabrera, who, along with his apathy and exponentially growing waistline, is allegedly up for grabs.

Jorge Posada is gone, having returned to the Yanks for top dollar, and the fate of Tom Glavine as a New York Met – who was referenced, not by name, but by a wretched image, in my last post – seems to be resolved. The Mets don't really have any tremendous needs.

Right field is open, perhaps for Carlos Gomez, or Lastings Milledge, and for second base the Mets seem to be torn between David Eckstein and incumbent Luis Castillo – a combined 19 big-league seasons and 54 home runs.

Hope springs eternal in Flushing, and there are some things to be excited about: David Wright won a Gold Glove, Pedro Martinez was sterling after coming back, and even Mike Pelfrey started to emerge anew as a potential member of the starting rotation. John Maine threw a near no-no to keep the season alive. What great news!

We've heard the bad – save for that Brian Bannister, acquired for Ambiorix Burgos, who makes Armando Benitez look like is Armando Benitez, came in third in the voting for AL Rookie of the Year as the ace of the KC Royals. Good thing we had such a surplus of young and capable starting pitching, like Brian Lawrence.

And we were perplexed this week to learn of the strange saga of Yorvit Torrealba.

You may ask "Why?" or "Who?" or "Are there any peanuts in it?"

We heard three years, $14 million. Then it was gone. His shoulder they suggest, but we can't tell for sure.

Is Ramon Castro the future? Not unless the future includes half of its days lost to injury, solely for being out of shape.

Now would be a nice time to have Jesus Flores, who will backstop Manny Acta's Washington Nationals to glory in the near future, while the Mets twiddle their thumbs trying to avoid calling Jason Phillips' agent.

They can't. The catching situation is bad: maybe the Mets will go after Jason Kendall, whose 63 OPS+ would really buoy the team, or maybe they should sign Michael Barrett in hopes of nabbing a true clubhouse leader.

Did you know Kris Benson is a free agent? Sign me up. When Carlos Silva (CARLOS SILVA?!) is slated to earn nearly $40 million in a contract, doesn't the prospect of Kris playing for damn near free sound appealing to you? That's a return – unlike mine – that we can all feel happy about.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving.