Stupid Met Trick?

Or, stupid metric?

Johan Santana says he's the best pitcher in the NL East.

Now, as a Phillies' fan I hardly can take a holier-than-thou attitude, given the bulletin board material Jimmy Rollins created over the past couple of years. Rollins' team, though, backed it up.

Needless to say, there are a few hurlers in other NL East cities who will beg to differ and who probably will stay mute on the topic.

But what is it with the Mets? They somehow cannot get out of their own way. Santana might be the closest thing the Mets have to a team leader, and while I can appreciate self-confidence, the smart thing to do would have been to have created a non-story, something along the lines of: "Well, it's an interesting question. There are many good starters in the NL East, and we play the games to determine which team is the best." Or something like that.

Of course, "it ain't braggin' if you can back it up," but rest assured that this headline will be posted on some bulletin board somewhere.

And, last time I checked, it might be nice to have the best pitcher, but it's even better if your team makes the playoffs (which the Giants didn't do) or advances to the league championship series (which the Cardinals didn't do).