(My Sportsbook) - The time finally came on Thursday for the Mets to move on and for general manager Steve Phillips to do the same. Phillips was relieved of his duties after six years of highs and mostly lows in the New York front office.

A former Mets player, Phillips, took over the GM position in 1997 and celebrated his most prized season in 2000, when the Mets battled the Yankees in the Subway Series. Although Phillips and the team failed to win a championship that season, the future looked bright, especially after some of the big name offseason moves that were made following the campaign.

Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Roger Cedeno, and Jeromy Burnitz were all added to bring veteran leadership and All-Star caliber play to the field, but all four failed in their attempts to win the Big Apple over.

"A big payroll doesn't ensure that you're going to win," Mets' owner Fred Wilpon said. "We've learned that painfully."

The failings of Phillips' key acquisitions and two straight losing seasons, with a third in the works, made it a foregone conclusion that his tenure had run its course.

"I wouldn't say he was surprised," Wilpon said Thursday. "It wasn't a long conversation."

The second-highest payroll in the majors shouldn't be just 28-35 this season, but the Mets are and Wilpon decided that Phillips was one of the main reasons for the lack of consistency in the organization.

"I thought it was appropriate," Wilpon said about the decision to fire Phillips. "We have a lot of things that are going to occur from now to the trading deadline and through the end of the season in trying to turn this around. I though that Jim ought to have the ability to try to do that as the interim GM."

Jim Duquette has been named the interim GM for the remainder of the season. Duquette is the cousin of former Boston GM Dan Duquette and will be a strong candidate for the full-time position after the season ends, as this will be his audition for the end of the year decision.

"When I envisioned getting the role as the GM, this wasn't really the way that I envisioned it," Duquette said. "It's a mixed feeling for me right now. It's unsettling, not overly gratifying."

Duquette will have a chance to put his own stamp on this team very quickly, as moves are talked about everyday in the New York media, with names Benitez, Alomar, and Cedeno always in the mix. The one move that may be most influential to the team's future success was one of Phillips' last in office, promoting budding superstar Jose Reyes.

Reyes is one of the most talked about prospects in major league baseball this season and Phillips finally called for his promotion after starting shortstop Rey Sanchez landed on the DL this past Tuesday. The fan fare surrounding Reyes came to a head on June 10, as he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in his first major league contest.

The future is bright for Reyes and the team that covets his potential so much, as Wilpon and company realized that in order to progress into the seasons ahead they first needed to expunge their past, namely Phillips.

WHO'S HOT

Outfielder Cliff Floyd has been red hot in his last six games, batting .400 with three homers, seven RBI, and a .950 slugging percentage.

Vance Wilson has done a solid job replacing Mike Piazza at the catcher position, going 4-for-13 in his last four games with two homers and eight RBI.

WHO'S NOT

Burnitz heated up late in May after coming off the DL, but has recently cooled down and is batting just .136 with zero round trippers in his last six games.

Steve Trachsel has failed to make it past the fourth inning in his last two starts and has allowed 13 earned runs in just 7 1/3 combined innings of work during those outings.

COMING UP

The Mets will open up a three-game set with the defending World Champion Angels Friday. New York will take a break from interleague play on Monday when it takes on the Florida Marlins in a four-game series at Pro Player Stadium.