Posted by Bill Baer on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 1:16 pm

For all the yapping the New York Mets do, you’d think they’d have something — anything — to show for it. You would be wrong, of course, but that doesn’t stop them. After collapsing in September in each of the past two seasons, newcomer Francisco Rodriguez has followed in the path of Carlos Beltran and declared the Mets “the team to beat.”

“Whatever happened is in the past. You have to move forward,” he said. “Whatever they did last year, they already got paid. Whatever they did, I have all the respect in the world. They worked hard and they deserve it. This is a different year and different ballclubs now. I don’t want to make any controversy, but with me and (J.J.) Putz and the additions i the bullpen, I feel like now we are the team to beat.“

You read that right. Apparently, the September choke artists are, somehow, better by default than the World Series champions according to K-Rod. PECOTA agrees with him, but then again, PECOTA agreed with Beltran last year, too.

“We are the team to beat” is hardly an original claim. Jimmy Rollins popularized it during the 2007 season by uttering those six words during spring training, then going out and winning the National League Most Valuable Player award (deserved or not) and leading his team to its first playoff berth since 1993.

During spring training prior to the ‘08 regular season, Carlos Beltran targeted Rollins and said that the Mets were the favorite:

“We’ve got what it takes. We have good chemistry as a team. [Johan Santana] fits great because he’s a great guy. He’s one of the best pitchers in the game. Who doesn’t want to have him on any ballclub? Without him last year we did good, until the end of the season. So this year, to Jimmy Rollins, we are the team to beat.”

Unfortunately for the Mets and their fans, they “did good, until the end of the season” once again. They were up 3.5 games on the Phillies on September 10 and proceeded to lose 10 of their last 17 games while the Phillies won 13 of their last 16. The Phillies finished three games up on the Mets in the division and went on to make mincemeat out of the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division and Championship Series, then had little trouble dealing with the AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays, winning the World Series in five games.

As for the Mets having “good chemistry as a team,” their manager was fired following a win against a team that went on to win 100 games. Billy Wagner, then their closer, took the last two months off and had Tommy John surgery after the season. In fact, Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez are the only relievers who threw 50+ innings for the Mets last season and are back for the ‘09 season. Great chemistry, huh?

And let’s not forget that the Mets choked in the 2006 NLCS, too. That was supposed to be the Mets’ year! In Game 7 of the ‘06 NLCS, a 1-1 tie was brought into the top of the ninth inning. Aaron Heilman was left in to face the Cards’ 5-6-7 hitters. After striking out Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen worked nine pitches out of Heilman, finally hitting a single to left field, bringing up catcher Yadier Molina.

Ask any Mets fan what happened next and you’ll get a PTSD-esque response. First pitch to Molina (he of 10 career home runs prior to the season) … if it’s fair, it’s gone … I don’t see the foul pole. And so went the Mets’ World Series hopes down the drain.

Why does K-Rod feel it prudent to open his mouth with such a virulent recent history behind his team? Why does he think that his team of chokers is better than the team whose hands were around the Mets’ neck the last two seasons; the team that just won the World Series?

We may never know. But we do know that the phrase is now played out, like Stuart Scott’s “cool as the other side of the pillow” on SportsCenter. We know it’s unlikely to inspire a team that has heard it all before and has done nothing to back up any of the yapping they’ve done.

Sure, it’s more fuel for the fire of the rivalry, but how good is the rivalry, really? If the Mets were contestants on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? they would be this contestant. They are the Wilton Guerrero to the Phillies’ Vladimir. In the words of the Bloodhound Gang, they are the Baldwin brothers — not the good one, but the others.

To all the young baseball players out there, I have advice: do first, then talk. That never fails. Otherwise, people are just going to give you this reaction: