As I said yesterday, a team is only as strong as its bullpen. The Mets have exceeded most expectations save one: The bullpen remains a concern. It is the Mets’ weakest link.

Frank Francisco blew his second save in three games, meaning in a perfect world they would have swept the Marlins this weekend and gone 6-0 on their road trip.. However, baseball, as we know, is an imperfect sport and the Mets certainly are an imperfect team.

In the long term Francisco will remain the closer simply because of that ridiculous two-year, $12-million contract. If a player’s own team has no interest in him, then why do the Mets give multi-year deals? Wasn’t anything learned from the Omar Minaya era?

Manager Terry Collins needs to address this sooner than later, because nothing can kill the good vibrations the Mets have emitted this spring than a leaky bullpen. Jon Rauch? Tim Brydak? Back to Bobby Parnell? Perhaps a committee?

Collins knows his personnel better than anybody, but clearly everybody can tell right now Francisco is not the answer.

“He’s the boss,” Francisco told reporters. “He can do whatever he wants. I’m here to help the team; I guess I’m not doing that. Whatever decision he makes, it’s fine with me. But I’m here to fight. Whenever I can, I’m going to try to do my best out there every time I go out.”

So far, Francisco’s best is an 8.56 ERA, with 20 hits and seven walks in 13 2/3 innings. Those numbers are positively Oliver Perez-like.

Thoughts from Joe D. – Ohhh… So Francisco was tipping his pitches… And all this time I thought he was just a terrible closer. My bad…

I never liked this deal from the word go. Saw it purely as a cover from losing Reyes and very ill conceived. I’m also tired of the defense that it was better than K-Rod for $17 million. K-Rod was never an option and was traded seven months before we even signed Francisco. One has nothing to do with the other. This was a terrible signing for a reliever who has never had success as closer where ever he’s played. A $12 million dollar deal for Francisco was simply a terrible allocation of our very limited funds this past offseason.

By the way, I’m still laid up in a hospital bed at the VA Hospital. I hope they’ll let me go home soon, this place has got me stir crazy.