A New York state of mind

It comes down to reality-and it's fine with me cause I've let it slide,
Don't care if its Chinatown or Riverside,
I don't have any reasons, I've left them all behind-
I'm in a New York state of mind.

Amazin' Avenue has -- not surprisingly -- a view from the Met blogosphere on the trade that allowed the New York Mets to pick up JJ Putz ('00).

Assuming good health, the Mets' acquisition of J.J. Putz (pŏŏts) gives them the best tandem relief corps in baseball, and in the last three days Omar Minaya has moved mountains (where mountains = piles of cash and prospects) to address the team's most conspicuous shortcoming from the past two seasons.

There will be plenty of debate over who won this deal or, specifically, if the Mets did well for themselves here. What is clear is that the Mets improved themselves for 2009 -- considerably so, one could argue -- and that they have turned a glaring weakness into an obvious strength in a very short period of time.

JJ was an All-Star closer in 2007. Francisco Rodriguez, who received that mountain of cash as a free-agent signee, set the saves record in 2008. Two big time closers are not a problem:

Having two legitimate closers in the bullpen is a luxury, but it shouldn't be considered overkill for a couple of important reasons.

1. You want your best reliever to pitch in the highest leverage situations, but since quite often those innings are not the ninth inning, and since closers are almost exclusively used to pitch the ninth inning, the vast majority of those pre-ninth inning high leverage spots are handled by your team's sub-optimal relievers (see: Duaner Sanchez). Putz gives the Mets an eighth inning guy who is every bit as good (if not better) than their ninth inning guy, and they are in a fairly unique position to have a dominant pitcher handle those pre-ninth high leverage spots.

2. For most teams, if their closer goes down with an injury or some other nondescript pitching malady that renders him incapable of contributing meaningfully, they're largely fooked (see: Billy Wagner circa 2007-2008). If something happens to Francisco Rodriguez (injury, Martian abduction, etc.), the Mets no longer have to rely on Sanchez or Pedro Feliciano, or retreads like Luis Ayala. This is a good thing.

Looks like I'll be following the Mets a lot closer than I usually do in 2009. I just hope that the New York Post doesn't try to have too much fun with their back page headlines at JJ's expense should he prove human and blow a save or two.