Billy Wagner is back again with the Mets but hopefully only long enough to make a deal to get him out of my sight for good. I’m especially hoping that Omar manages to swap him to the Yankees or Phillies, both of which need a lefty in the pen and deserve the kind of rotten fate a jerk like Wagner seems to bring along with his fiery fastball.

Activating Wagner meant the Mets today released Livan Hernandez, who certainly seemed to have lost a grip on things lately but still seems a curious choice for unemployment with Tim Redding getting another astonishing stay of execution.

Has any Met free agent pitcher in their history performed as badly as Redding this year and gotten so little credit for it? It’s taken season-ending injuries to three different starting pitchers to save him thus far, and he’s still not been reinserted to the rotation. (Turns out, he has: He’s going to take Livan’s start on Saturday).

Anyway, so long No. 61. I thought you were OK. Hello, Billy. Don’t unpack too much.