A Mets executive called yesterday a "great day for Mets fans," which it certainly appeared to be. Francisco Rodriguez was in the house, and the grins of Mets personnel seemed to stretch from Long Island City - where K-Rod's "Welcome to New York" news conference and Mets holiday party were held - to the unfinished Citi Field.
The new ballpark wasn't ready to host the annual holiday party, so the team brought 100 New York City kids, 6-7 "Santa Claus" Mike Pelfrey and "elf" John Maine to the Citi Building. They also brought the optimism that came with the signing of K-Rod and the trade for former All-Star closer J.J. Putz. But along with the optimism came a cold splash of reality from Omar Minaya, who said the Mets are still not as good as the Phillies.
"We're not better than them, right now," the general manager said. "They're world champions. The only way you can be better than them is you've got to beat them. You don't win championships on paper.
"Do I think we have improved our club? Yes. But the bottom line is the Phillies have won the World Series, they've won the division twice, they have a good team and the experience of being in the playoffs and winning the World Series. That's huge. So we have a lot of work to do."
Tops on Minaya's to-do list is securing one, maybe two, starting pitchers. The Mets had a scout watch Daniel Cabrera in the Dominican winter league Tuesday; the inconsistent righthander was non-tendered by the Orioles.
Minaya is still engaged with Scott Boras about Oliver Perez, but as for a timetable, he said: "The one driving this is going to be the agent and Oliver." The Mets are also looking at Boras client Derek Lowe, plus fallback options Randy Wolf, Jon Garland and Tim Redding, among others.
So the first inning is still up in the air, but the Mets are set in the ninth. Rodriguez, who set a record with 62 saves for the Angels last season, said he is sticking with his recent declaration that the Mets are "the team to beat" in the NL East.
"I don't want people to take it the wrong way, I don't want people on the other team to get offended," he said. "It's just how I feel. Hopefully, this doesn't cause controversy."
Oh, K-Rod, you really don't understand New York yet. Or Philadelphia, for that matter. "Team to beat" proclamations have been causing controversy between the Phillies and Mets since Jimmy Rollins started the first brush fire in spring training 2007.
Phillies ace Cole Hamels raised the ante last week when he called the Mets "choke artists" on WFAN. It took some prodding from the hosts, but Hamels said it, which Minaya didn't think was proper.
"I just don't dabble in those areas," he said. "I'm very respectful of other clubs ... I hope our players continue to show class on not commenting on other clubs."
Said Pelfrey: "I couldn't care less about what Cole Hamels said. The only thing that really matters come September is who's going to win the division."
Rodriguez and Putz will help with that, although it remains to be seen how Putz will react to being a setup man when closers make the really big bucks.
Manager Jerry Manuel thinks the Mets will get their money's worth. As he helped Rodriguez on with his No. 75 jersey, Manuel quipped: "Seventy-five - that's the number of saves he's going to have."
Citi Field's first games
The Mets announced they will open Citi Field with exhibition games against the Red Sox April 3 and 4, the same days the Yankees will open the new Yankee Stadium with exhibitions against the Cubs.
Staff writer Katie Strang contributed to this story.
