In a reversal that may be stunning to some but certainly not to Mets fans, the Philadelphia Phillies have pulled back on their earlier assertions when players such as Brett Myers and Jimmy Rollins said that the the Phillies were the team to beat.

This morning, Randy Miller of phillyBlurbs.com had several interesting quotes regarding this new found revelation for several of the Phillies’ players.

The Phillies now admit Jimmy Rollins was wrong. Just like in 2006, the reigning NL East champion New York Mets still are the team to beat.

“Yep,” third baseman Wes Helms said. “They’re ahead of us. We haven’t played to expectations, and they have. The Mets are the team to beat in the division.”

“When you’re up by that much, you definitely have to call them the team to beat,” infielder Abraham Nunez said. “If we’re going have a shot [at catching the Mets], it’s going to be by beating them. If this is our shot, we gotta capitalize.

“I didn’t think their pitching was going to hold up, but I guess they’re proving everybody wrong,” Nunez said.

Both Jimmy Rollins and Brett Myers could not be reached for comment as they the Phillies had not yet identified which rocks they were hiding under…

I hope reading this brings a smile to your faces Mets fans… or at least a little snicker… or a smirk…

OK I get the point! I will ease up on the Yankees and Phillies hating for a little while. But don’t even try and stop me from hating on the Braves!