There’s no excuse for a team with their kind of payroll having to cross its fingers and pray that Moises Alou somehow survives a season uninjured. They can throw the big bucks around, but these days you need more than expensive hired guns to win at the highest levels.

I thought Mike Pelfrey and John Maine were front of the rotation starters? Isnt that what the posts that were started every other week here told me?

I don’t think you can really call this season a choke job, considering the team fought back to having a lead in the first place, and did so without a single trustworthy arm in the pen.

Things that I would like to see from the Mets:

1) Give Heilman a shot in the rotation. Up until this season, I’d been saying that he was far too crucial to the bullpen to move him to the rotation, even if there is a solid starter in him. Considering how awful he was in the pen this year, especially in crucial situations, and the fact that the Mets have a couple of open rotation spots and John Maine coming back from injury, I would like to see Heilman and Niese battle it out for a rotation spot. I hear lots of talk about Heilman being traded in the offseason to a team that is willing to give him a shot as a starter, but his value is currently about as low as it’s going to go, and the Mets might as well give him a shot. Having been a good soldier in the pen the last couple years while Willie Scott Proctored his arm, I think he deserves a shot.

2) Give Parnell a shot in the pen. He’s got swing and miss stuff and gets grounders. I don’t think he’ll cut it as a starter, but in limited action he could be pretty solid.

3) Obviously, trade Castillo if at all possible. That said, I’m not sure that Orlando Hudson is the answer. He’s a great defender, but I’m really unsure how his bat will play at Shea, considering his road production has been very mediocre since he went to Arizona and found his bat. I’d prefer Grudz or Loretta in some combination with Easley, if possible. I’m pretty sure that any deal for Orlando Hudson is going to end up overpaying him for his Arizona production, though he’ll still be a better all around player than Castillo, and better fit the Mets needs. Another option would be Rafael Furcal, if he’s willing to move to second; he’d form a pretty scary top of the order in combination with Reyes, but Mets fans have been saying that for years.

4) Castillo really needs to go if the Mets decide to go with Dan Murphy and Nick Evans in left. Castillo’s sole utility to the team is his ability to hit for a bit of average, get on base, and the occasional steal. Murphy provides all these things with a bit of added pop, while taking up Castillo’s two spot in the lineup. With Murphy in the lineup, Castillo is relegated to batting eighth, where he’s really good at turning over the lineup but really awful at driving in runs. I realize that’s not the job of the 8 hitter, but he does come up with guys on base, and Castillo was about as unreliable as the pitcher in terms of getting runs in, considering his penchant for hitting the ball on the ground. Basically, Murphy’s presence makes Castillo expendable.

5) Bring Tatis back. He has the pedigree of a veteran player who has had everything fall apart, the fallen star, which is a good influence to have around on a team with some young stars. He provides insurance at the infield and outfield corners, and while I doubt he’ll put up an .850 OPS again, I think he can probably put up .780 with decent power and patience, pretty solid for a versatile fill-in.

6) Say no to K-Rod. With the years and money he’s looking for, they ought to look elsewhere for a closer. I realize that Fuentes is the only other halfway legitimate option and there’s going to be immense pressure on management to improve the bullpen after the crew that was around this year, K-Rod is going to be way overpaid, has a ton of mileage on his arm, and could cripple a bullpen with his salary if he gets hurt halfway through the deal.

7) Try to sign a semi-reliable setup guy such as Affeldt. I just looked through the list of potential closers, and he’s the only one who fits into that category that I can see.

I doubt most of this will happen, but these are the realistic things that I would like to see.