How clueless is Steve Phillips? You know how they say that, when you're playing poker, if you can't spot the sucker at the table in 15 minutes, you're the sucker? Steve Phillips has been going to the winter meetings for years now and he still hasn't spotted the sucker. The Mets, in letting Edgardo Alfonzo walk, cited budgetary constraints - after spending some $32 million on Tom Glavine. I fault Fred Wilpon here - by telling Phillips he had one year to turn things around, Wilpon has forced Phillips to give in to his worst instincts and play for the shortest of short terms, with a roster chock full of players in decline. Maybe letting Alfonzo go will turn out for the best - while he's the Mets' second-best player behind Piazza and allegedly only 29 years old, Alfonzo's back problems are a legitimate concern. Still, he's a far better gamble than Glavine.