MET NOTES

When asked about the American League champion Tigers, the Cardinals’ opponent in the World Series, Willie Randolph’s praise highlighted Detroit’s manager, its bullpen and several of its players and pitchers.

“I’ve seen them play a little bit,” Randolph said before the Cardinals beat the Mets 3-1 in Game 7 of the NLCS last night. “I don’t really know a whole lot about their club.

“They play very much like [manager] Jimmy [Leyland]. They play with the fire and passion that Jimmy brings to the table.

“They obviously have some great arms, great young arms that they feed off of, picking up Pudge [Rodriguez] and I thought Sean Casey was a big pickup for them. They have some solid players, also. They are very balanced in a lot of ways.

“The bullpen is solid. They throw everything at you and with a lot of flair. So I’m looking forward to hopefully getting a chance to see them up close and in person, up close and personal.”

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Cliff Floyd confirmed he will undergo surgery sometime next week sincethe Mets aren’t playing in the World Series, due to his battle with an ailing left Achilles tendon.

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Third base coach Manny Acta said he will be interviewing in Texas this morning for the manager’s job.

Bench coach Jerry Manuel said he’s not interviewing anywhere today.

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For Game 1 of the World Series tomorrow night in Detroit, Bob Seger – who is from Michigan – is singing “Amer ica the Beautiful.”

Additional reporting by Michael Morrissey