Perhaps returning Cole Hamels’ intial volley in the ongoing Phillies-Mets war of words, newly signed New York closer Francisco Rodriguez said Saturday that now the Mets are clearly the team to beat in the National League East.

“Of course, we’re going to try to win the division. Of course, we’re going to be the front-runner. Of course, we’re going to be the team to beat.”

K-Rod’s comments were made just four days after signing a three-year, $37 million contract. The new Mets’ closer was fully confident that his team would reign supreme despite two straight late season collapses with a Phillies team that just won the World Series in their way.

“I don’t want there to be a controversy or the other ball clubs in that division to take it personally or take it in a bad way,” he said.

No, K-Rod, there’s no controversy. The Mets are unequivocally NOT the frontrunner; not the team to beat. Yes, they have improved their bullpen by adding Rodriguez and former Mariners’ closer J.J. Putz as his set-up man, while moving on Aaron Heilman and Joe Smith, two of their bullpen’s worst players last year.

But the Mets still have a shaky rotation, with the obvious exception of Johan Santana. John Maine continues to be the most highly coveted young starting pitcher in the organization, but he has been too inconsistent to be relied upon to win every fifth day, as has veteran Oliver Perez. Pedro Martinez is probably not going to return, but even if he did, it is always a crap shoot whether he can pitch a full season. The rest of the guys who could possibly fill out the rest of their rotation are far from a sure bet.

The Mets’ starting lineup is much the same as it was last year, a leaderless group of miscreants. First class guys like thirdbaseman David Wright are few and far between, whereas jokers like Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo dominate the dugout, which is a big reason why this team falls apart when the pressure is on (two seasons in a row). The Mets have suffered the single biggest collapse in baseball history two years ago, and responded the next year by blowing a September lead again. They lack leadership, class, and humility.

The Phillies, on the other hand, do not have a single me-first player. They are the consimate team-first group. Charlie Manuel guides this team with a gentle, but firm hand, ensuring that nobody gets bigger than the team. Despite what anyone says about Rodriguez, I’ll take Brad Lidge over K-Rod any day. Yes, Rodriguez set the single season saves record, but a lot of that has to do with the amount of close games the Los Angeles Angels had last year. He still blew seven saves last year. Lidge didn’t blow a single save last season, including several opportunities in the playoffs. Rodriguez’s velocity is down, his cutter has lost some of its luster, and the last time a guy saved that many games in a season he was never the same again. Lidge, on the other hand, has arguably the best slider in the game and a devastating fastball. He has clearly recovered from the 2005 homerun pitch to Albert Pujols and is back to his 2004-2005 self. He has the highest K/9 ratio in history at 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings. His ERA last year was a paltry 1.95, with most of that coming after he threw over 100 pitches warming up during last season’s All Star Game.

Lidge heads up the best bullpen in the National League last year, with every quality reliever returning for the 2009 season. The Phillies have added Chan Ho Park, a veteran long reliever with years of experience as a premier starter in the MLB. Ryan Madson appears to have finally found a role he can be comfortable with as one of the best set up men in the second half of the majors last season. Madson was 4-2 with a 3.05 ERA in 76 appearances last season. The Mets’ setup man, J.J. Putz, was 6-5 with a 3.88 ERA and eight blown saves in 47 games last serason with the Seattle Mariners.

As I mentioned earlier, the only Mets’ starter I would feel comfortable with is Santana. Maine has the stuff to be a very good pitcher in the majors, but has yet to find his consistency and therefore cannot be entirely relied upon as a big time pitcher. Perez is as up and down as you can get and Mike Pelfrey had his first full season just last year.

The Phillies boast a rotation of Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton. There is a possibility that they pursue a fifth option through free agency (Derek Lowe or Ben Sheets), or possibly through a trade (Jake Peavy), but in all likelihood they will promote from within. Kyle Kendrick and J.A. Happ are two young players who have already had some success as starters in Philly, although they could both probably use some more time in the minors to further develop. The Phillies’ top pitching prospect, Carlos Carrassco, could also compete for the fifth spot in the rotation, but will most likely spend another year in the minors. Even if they do not acquire another starting pitcher, having a quality young talent like Kendrick or Happ as your fifth starter is certainly not the end of the world. And remember, Kendrick was a starter for most of the season last year, on a team that won the National League East division.

The Phillies’ starting lineup is also superior, boasting guys two former NL MVPs in Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, as well as two of the top 20 RBI guys in the majors the past three years  in newly acquired leftfielder Raul Ibanez (3rd) and Chase Utley (20th). Howard leads the majors in RBIs the past three years. In addition to the heavy hitters are guys like speedy Shane Victorino, right fielder Jason Werth, and Pedro Feliz. Carlos Ruiz is one of the best defensive catchers in the league, and has shown that he can be a serious offensive threat, like he was in last year’s playoffs. The Phillies’ bench is a force to be reckoned with as well, as Gregg Dobbs broke the single season pinch hit record last year. Geoff Jenkins, despite having a down year last year, has the talent to be as good as any other starting outfielder in the majors, and is one of the all time best hitters in Brewers’ history. Matt Stairs can hit a homerun at a moment’s notice and backup catcher Chris Coste has a knack for coming up big in tight spots.

The Mets’ are chock full of big heads like Reyes, Castillo, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and even Damion Easley. The composition of this team allows for late season collapses like they have suffered the past two seasons because they lack the cohesive, team-first mentality that is required of winning ballclubs.

So clearly, as I have just outlined, the Mets are not the team to beat, and are in fact, quite inferior to the Phillies. But go ahead Mets’ fans, fill your heads with all the delusions you like. We’ll answer this question next September.