I was reading a newspaper article today that alerted me to a fact I should've known; the fact that this is the last year of Armando Benitez's contract. And while the Mets will have several decisions to make on free agents at the end of the season, the Benitez decision is one I think I can weigh in on without waiting to see how he performs this year. The Mets need to let him go.

Yes, he is probably the best reliever on the staff at the moment. And no, there isn't an obvious replacement on the team currently. Nor are the Mets the kind of team that needs to worry excessively about making the most of every dollar. But still, there's no reason to pay a guy six million dollars to pitch 75 innings. Benitez had a fine year last year, improving his walk and home run rates, as well as his ERA, and basically maintaining his strikeout rate, but he did all these things in the less-than-crucial role of closer for a last place team. In recent years he's proven less than reliable, to put it kindly, in the important games in September and October. If the Mets fancy themselves cotenders, and they seem to, they really should be wary of putting the ball in his hands in pressure situations. And if they look real hard, they just might be able to find someone else in their system capable of recording three outs with a three run lead.  ¶ joe | 2:00 AM |