The 2008 baseball season is finally over. The Philadelphia Phillies are the world champions. The wackos on the radio will soon begin to spew the garbage. Craig Carton already started this morning on WFAN radio. He was ranting that the Mets should sign Manny Ramirez, Orlando Hudson, and Derek Lowe.

Did Craig not recognize that the Phillies strength was their bullpen? They won with a closer, Brad Lidge, that did not blow a save the entire season? They had strong setup men who were able to protect leads, getting the game to Lidge. Yet, in his wish list for the Mets, he never mentions any solution for the bullpen. I promise this is the last time I will write this. The Mets must improve their bullpen and find a closer. That’s it. Any other moves they make will be gravy. If the Mets bullpen was able to save games instead of blowing so many, the talk of guts and having a Shane Victorino type of player would never have been uttered. If the Mets had a bullpen rivaling the Phillies, they would have won the division. What needs to be fixed is what caused them not to win, not bringing in more high priced aging free agents.

The good news is that with Omar Minaya’s contract extension, he will not feel it necessary to make rash decisions and blowup a team that simply needs some tweaking. Not that rebuilding the bullpen is an easy task but spending absurd amounts of money on Manny Ramirez is not the approach the Mets should take. The Phillies won the World Series last night and interestingly enough, they did so without Manny Ramirez.

The Mets do not need Manny, they need bullpen help, perhaps a corner outfielder, and depending on what happens with Oliver Perez, possibly a starting pitcher. Fifteen days from now, eligible players will be able to file for free agency. The general managers meeting will start next week and I’m sure the trade rumors will begin. The hot stove league is about to start.

Major League Baseball ended last night but the baseball season never ends. As I mentioned above, the hot stove will warm up. Plus, the Arizona Fall League, the Hawaiian Winter Baseball League, and the Caribbean Leagues are in full swing (the Puerto Rico League starts up next week). The AFL and HWBL will end before Thanksgiving but the Caribbean leagues will play through the end of December. They will have their league playoffs in January followed by the Caribbean World Series at the beginning of February. Pitchers and catchers will report in the middle of February then in March, the second World Baseball Classic will begin.

Following the WBC, spring training continues and will be extended one week. The 2009 season will start on April 6th for the Mets at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati followed by the Citi Field opener on April 13th. It will be here before you know it.