Pat Burrell turned down $22 million over two years from Philadelphia and CC Sabathia is about to turn down over $100 million from Milwaukee.

All signs are pointing toward the Yankees getting Sabathia. They don’t appear to have a ceiling. The same can’t be said about the Mets. They’ll have money coming off the books with Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez and Moises Alou going, but they’ll be giving raises to David Wright and Jose Reyes.

Their payroll last year was $143 million, and I don’t see it going much higher.

We can discuss all of that tonight.

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“It will be absolute bedlam. It will be one of the craziest places on Earth. It’s kind of scary to imagine.’’ – Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard on anticipating the crowd reaction if Philadelphia wraps up the World Series tonight at home.

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Toronto’s Joe Carter homers off of Philadelphia’s Mitch Williams with two on in the bottom of the 9th to give the Blue Jays an 8-6 victory in Game 6 and the 1993 World Series title.

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Every World Series has its storyline, but when was the last time we had a really compelling Classic? Probably Angels-Giants in 2002. Yankees and D-Backs in 2001, for sure.

This one has that capability as it pits two gritty teams, clubs with resiliency to match their talent. Tampa Bay has that karma thing going for it, but let’s not overlook the Phillies, no matter how much you hate them.

They also can make a destiny argument.

Both teams can mash, but the Phillies have Ryan Howard, capable of controlling a Series. The Rays have a young, talented staff, but Philadelphia probably has the best pitcher in Cole Hamels and the dominant closer in Brad Lidge.

I believe the Rays shook the jitters when they blew Game 5 at Boston and hung on to win. They won’t be rattled. I think they’ll prevail in seven.

And if they don’t? Well, I’m happy if it goes seven.

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I like David Wright, I really do. And, it has nothing to do with him being a good ballplayer. He’s one of the stand-up Mets, a player the writers can always go to when things aren’t going good to get a pulse on things.

Other players hide. Others give nothing answers.

Wright always gives the writers something to work with. Last night, however, I think he whiffed in his comments.

He said: “This is what makes it fun…This is what you work hard for. This is what you prepare for…This is a bump in the road. It doesn’t matter what Philadelphia does. It only matters what the guys in this clubhouse do and we plan on getting the job done. Like I said, we’re gonna see what we’re made of. This is a little bump in the road, and I’m excited moving forward because I think we’ve got a room full of guys who will not allow us to fail.”

A couple of things. First, it does matter what Philadelphia does, and second, that’s more than just a bump in the road. They were knocked out of first place last night and there’s no guarantee they’ll get back there.

He was right about one thing: We will find out what they are made of.

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Jerry Manuel has been saying his faith in Pedro Martinez is in his experience, and that his “stuff,” is as good as it is going to get. That’s around 88, not a lot to be encouraged about.

In his last three starts Martinez has worked 15 innings, and given up 13 runs on 21 hits. Two of those starts have been Met losses to Philadelphia.

Overall, Martinez has given up 10 homers in his last eight starts. That’s not just rust.

Martinez hasn’t been giving the Mets innings, either. You can look for the Mets to go heavy into bullpen tonight, which, of course, is not comforting.

 

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In a stunning move, the Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ned Yost this afternoon following the team being swept over the weekend in Philadelphia.

Third base coach Dale Sveum, a former Yankee, will become interim manager for the remainder of the season.

“This was a very difficult move to make, and we appreciate all of the work that Ned has done to develop this team into a contender,” general manager Doug Melvin said. “In the end, this was a collaborative decision made to put our club in the best position for the final two weeks of the season.”

The Brewers are tied with Philly for the wild-card despite losing 11 of 14 games in September, including seven of their last eight.

I can’t remember the last time a manager was fired this late in the season despite being so close.

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The Mets lost a coin flip today against Philadelphia. If the teams haven’t both clinched at least the wild card and tied for first at the end of 162 games, the one-game tiebreaker will be in Philly. If they’ve both clinched a playoff spot, the Mets would win the NL East because they took the season series.

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Jerry Manuel had his choice of either Johan Santana or Pedro Martinez to open tonight’s series against Atlanta. It was a no-brainer.

He’s the guy if you want to open a series,” Manuel said. “If you had a choice, you would choose, at this point in their careers, Johan.”

In a six-game winless stretch from June 6-July 4, the Mets gave Santana 11 runs. And, with the bullpen coughing up the lead in six of his games, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that with a little support he could be going after his 20th win tonight. His 2.70 ERA, not 13-7 record is indicative of how well he’s pitched.

Santana prevented the Mets from being swept by Philadelphia last Sunday, easily his most important victory of the season. That game is why they got him.

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NOTE: This is a column I wrote for NYSD last night. I will post them here from time to time for your viewing pleasure. – Joe

FLUSHING, NY – Mike Schmidt might have charged the Phillies up with a note saying they are better than the Mets. And in the first two games of the series, he seemed to be right, as Philadelphia handled New York in their last series at Shea. Yet, there were no notes from Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, or even Curt Schilling, because aces know aces. With Johan Santana on the mound, it was advantage Mets and the lefthander didn’t disappoint. Playing the role of stopper, Santana gave the Mets 7.1 innings of 2 run ball. He pitched out of a jam in the first and gave up the requisite home run to Ryan Howard, but he gave his team a chance to win, on a night they desperately needed one.

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