Unfortunately, this year has changed. Joe has to work, and Travis has family responsibilities, so our yearly tradition has been broken. So what am I to do? Certainly not go to work; I haven’t worked during a home opener in thirteen years, and I’m certainly not going to start now. No, I’m still going to take the day off, but instead of spending it with close friends, I’m going to spend it with the entire internet. Besides, who cares if I’m spending the nicest day of the year to date in my dark basement watching TV and writing about it o the internet? I have three TVs down here, each of them tuned into a different game. It’s the one day of the year Mets fans have even a twinge of optimism, so let’s do this thing.

Keep checking back throughout the day for updates from the Mets game, the Yankees game, and whatever else I can find on MLB.tv worth watching. I mean, who knows how long I will want to keep blogging, so take advantage while you can. We start at 1 and go all day.

Final Update at 4:16

Let’s hope for a 1-2-3 ninth. This has been a long game.

Scott Rice is in to pitch. Making his MLB debut after 14 years in the minors. Good on him.

Nick Hundley strikes out for the first out recorded by Rice in the major leagues.

Rice then strikes out Maybin for the second out.

Will Venable grounds out to Murphy, and the ballgame is over/put it in the books/whatever your favorite game ending Mets broadcaster catchphrase. Mets win 11-2, Scott Rice finally pitches in the majors, good times all around.

Thanks fro joining me for the live blog. I don’t know if we will have a ton of these this year, but expect more stuff up on the site over the course of the season. I’m feeling motivated.

Updated at 4:06

Thatcher throws one pitch and induces a groundout from John Buck. Time for the ninth.

Updated at 4:05

Mark Kotsay stays in the game in left field. Insert Jamie Kotsay reference here.

Marlon Byrd grounds out for the first out.

Gary Cohen gets fooled by a strike call by Tim McClelland once again as Nieuwenhuis strikes out.

That will be all for Dale Thayer as the Padres are bringing in Joe Thatcher, I guess to get some work since Thatcher is a lefty and the next batter, John Buck, is a righty, and not one you would think warrants bringing in a specialist.

Updated at 3:59

Collin Cowgill moves from center field to left, Kirk Nieuwenhuis stays in the game and takes over center field for the Mets, and now pitching is Scott Atchison.

Alonso grounds out to Daniel Murphy for the first out.

Mark Kotsay dribbles it back to the mound. Atchison almost overthrows Davis but gets the second out.

And Jedd Gyorko grounds out to Tejada for the third out. Three groundouts end things pretty quickly.

Updated at 3:54

Dale Thayer, with an awesome beard instead of an awesome mustache, now takes the mound for the Padres. He had a pretty decent year last year. Not like the Mets couldhave used a good reliever last year or anything…

Wright draws a walk to keep the inning going.

I love hearing Keith Hernandez talk about his last season in Cleveland. Apparently, he will be going on the trip to Cleveland this year. Gary jokingly asks Mex if they will be throwing a parade for him, to which Keith jokes, “Yeah, I’m going to be wearing body armor.”

Ike Davis will be wearing the golden sombrero today, striking out for the fourth time. The Chris Wilcox Curse strikes again; yesterday, I post he will be the team’s second best player, so of course he’s the only player who has yet to reach base today. Mets up 11-2, Red Sox up 5-2, and Cubs up 3-0.

Updated at 3:44

We have a final in Washington: 2-0 Nationals. Good for them. Replacing them on the left TV is CUbs/Pirates, with the Cubs holding a 2-0 lead on AJ Burnett and the Pirates.

Hey, Brad Brach will be the second ever player from my alma mater, Monmouth University, to pitch in the majors. It seems appropriate that he pitches against the Mets as three former friends who went to Monmouth are not getting together for the first time in fourteen years.

And Brach is off to a nice start, striking out Marlon Byrd for the first out. Brach looks to be pretty good.

Duda draws his second walk of the day, as he’s having a slightly better game here today than Ike Davis with the two walks.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis will pinch run for Davis, which is a definite upgrade on the basepaths and in the field.

Apparently, Brandon Lyon and John Buck have been good friends since they were seven years old. Pretty cool that they not only both made it to the majors, but that Buck has had the chance to catch Lyon, both in New York and in Toronto.

Buck hits a bullet into left field for a single. Third time he has been on base so far. He keeps this up, and Travis d’Arnaud will never get called up. (he won’t keep this up).

My man! Ruben Tejada takes it the other way for a shallow single into right field. No runners score but the bases are loaded in a pinch hit situation.

Jordany Valdespin is the pinch hitter. Valdespin (of course) swings at the first pitch and Nieuwenhuis is forced out at home for the second out. Not quite Philly all over again.

Collin Cowgill may or may not have just hit a grand slam. It is, grand slam called by the umpire. Could have been called either way, but grand slam is the correct call. Nice hitting by Cowgill. Expect somebody to use the “More Cowgill” headline tomorrow.

Murphy follows up with a single and that will be all out of Brad Brach. After looking good striking out Byrd, he looked pretty much like you’d expect a pitcher who went to Monmouth might pitch.

Updated at 3:26

After a first-pitch single by Denorfia, Brandon Lyon gets Cabrera to ground out to end the inning. Still 7-2 Mets.

Updated at 3:24

The results of the Verizon Text Poll: 49% of Mets fans say the infield will be their strength, 43% of Mets fans say the starting rotation will be their strength, 5% of Mets fans are outright trolls and voted for the outfield to be the team’s strength, and 3% of Mets fans are straight up dumb and voted for the bullpen. The real answer, of course, is the broadcast booth.

David Wright makes another nie defensive play, charging a pinch hitter Jesus Guzman grounder to throw him out for the first out.

Amarista flies out to Cowgill for the second out as Niese goes over 100 pitches.

And apparently that will be it, as Terry Collins and Dan Warthen apparently agreed to keep Niese in until he got to 100 pitches. Back in a moment with a new pitcher.

Updated at 3:18

Anthony Bass enters his third inning of work. You don’t see that too often in the big leagues anymore.

Murphy hits the ball up the middle, but Amarista makes a nice play to throw out Murphy for the first out.

Apparently Jon Niese was not happy that he was informed he would be removed after the sixth inning. I don’t expect anything less out of Niese, but he looked like he was laboring a little bit in the sixth inning and I think it’s the right call. We will see if he gets his way.

Wright pops up to Amarista for the second out.

Davis strikes out for the third time today. Not a great game for him.

Looks like Niese is coming out to pitch the seventh. We will see how short of a hook they give him here.

Updated at 3:11

Yonder Alonso greets Jon Niese by blasting a hanging curveball over the right field fence for a solo home run. 7-2 Mets.

Quentin grounds out to Wright for the first out.

Gyorko doubles down the left field line, just out of David Wright’s reach. Niese might be getting a bit tired, as the bullpen gets up and running.

Hundley strikes out on three pitches for the second out.

Today’s Verizon Text Poll: What do you think the Mets strength will be this season: A. Starters B. Relievers C. Outfield D. Infield. I vote C, because I’m a troll. Keith suggests bench should be an option, which makes Ron Darling laugh as he astutely points out, “If the bench is your strength, you have to get them in the starting lineup!” Gary rightfully suggests the booth be an option, and that honestly might be the strength of the 2013 Mets.

Maybin hits a comebacker toNiese, which is easily handled for the third out. 7-2 Mets.

Updated at 3:00

John Buck flies out to right-center for the first out. First time Buck has been retired today.

Tejada grounds out to first base for the second out.

Strange to see ESPN Radio NY as a sponsor for the Mets’ TV broadcast, considering their long-standing history with WFAN. I wonder if that might be something to keep an eye on, not knowing when the Mets’ radio deal expires with the Fan.

Niese is raking today! Singles up the middle to keep the inning going.

Cowgill strikes out to end the inning. First quiet inning for the Mets since the first.

Updated at 2:54

Alexi Amarista, who came into the game during a double switch last inning for Cody Ransom (Jedd Gyorko moved to third in the switch, so I guess it was a triple switch) grounds out for the first out. It was a close play, Amarista ran pretty fast.

Somewhere, Joe A. Dig is angry right now. Kevin Burkhardt is interviewing Doc Gooden. Gooden says he couldn’t sleep the night before his opening day start in 1985. Wonder if it was butterflies, or something else that keeps you up all night?

Denorfia its the ball hard, and David Wright makes a nice play to stop the grounder and throw out Denorfia for the second out. Nice defense by David.

Cabrera grounds out to Murphy to end the inning. Niese has retired seven in a row.

Updated at 2:47

Daniel Murphy means business, even on his birthday. He greets Anthony “Don’t Call Me Michael” Bass with a first pitch single to drive home Niese to make it 5-1 Mets. Cowgill holds at third.

The ball gets away from Nick Hundley to allow Murphy to take second base.

Wright grounds to third, but hard enough to drive in Cowgill for the Mets’ sixth run. The Mets now have a six way tie for the team RBI lead between Ruben Tejada, Jon Niese, Marlon Byrd, John Buck, and Daniel Murphy.

Davis strikes out, as he seems to be the one Met who doesn’t have anything going today so far.

Byrd grounds it into left field for a single that scores Daniel Murphy and breaks the six way tie for the RBI lead. 7-1 Mets.

Duda pops out to Gyorko to end the fourth. Worth pointing out: the Nationals/Marlins game, which is still 20, is in the bottom of the seventh, despite starting at the same time as the Mets/Padres game.

Updated at 2:35

Volquez walks Niese on four pitches. He does not look well right now. I can’t see him pitching into the fifth inning.

Keith blames Gary and Ron for a poor road trip last year that sent the Mets into a bit of a tailspin. When Gary (rightfully) points out that the team did not exactly turn things around, Keith backtracks and says that they handled things well. I can’t do these ridiculous exchanges justice.

Cowgill doubles it into the gap sending Niese to third. I knew Cowgill should have been the opening day starter in center!

We’re getting a double switch now, as Edinson Volquez doesn’t even finish the fourth. Not a good outing.

Updated at 2:30

An image from the basement here today:

Nick Hundley flies out to right field to kick off the fourth.

The view from the three TVs in my basement.

Nick Hundley flies out to right field to kick off the fourth.

While Emmy Rossum, who sang the national anthem today, is talking about enjoying watching the players’ butts, Maybin dribbles it to the catcher for the second out.

“As an offensive unit, you always want to give your pitchers a little bit of a bulge…it always makes them loosen up a little bit better.” The Mets announcers can’t help but start laughing at Keith immediately after he talks about Niese’s bulge.

Niese goes to a full count with Ransom but gets him to strike out for the 1-2-3 fourth. Still 4-1 Mets, 2-0 Nats, and 4-0 Sox.

Updated at 2:23

Murphy hits the ball hard but right at Gyorko for the first out.

Wright goes the other way for his first hit of the season.

GKR are going on about the way Edinson Volquez wears his hat. It’s an odd conversation, but then again, I can’t bring myself to care about such things.

Wright steals second again on two strikes, with no throw. I guess Wright wants to make a run at Jose Reyes’ stolen base mark.

Davis chops it up the middle. Gyorko is able to throw out Davis but Wright moves to third.

Marlon Byrd drives the ball to the gap to single and scores David Wright. 3-1 Mets. Good job by Quentin getting to the ball quickly to hold Byrd to a single.

Duda draws a walk. Good pitch recognition. See, I’m trying to be more positive about Duda.

Buck ropes a single that scores Byrd from second. 4-1 Mets.

Tejada strikes out to end the inning, but the Mets get two more runs back. So far, today has been full of nothing but good vibes. Let’s hope that continues.

Updated at 2:03

Volquez grounds out to Murphy for the first out.

During a plug for Bob’s Discount Furniture, Gary Cohen admits that he used to take his kids to Bob’s to eat their free popcorn and candy while looking at furniture. Keith jokingly accuses him of stealing, which is a pretty good point. Guess there were some lean years in the Cohen household while he was over at WFAN?

Niese walks Denorfia, who reaches base for the second time.

Niese then hits Cabrera, which puts two men on for the middle of the order for the Padres. Let’s hope for the best here.

Lucas Duda shows off some nice glove work for possibly the first time ever, running a long way to track down a fly ball by Alonso for the second out.

Carlos Quentin pokes a little single up the middle just past Tejada’s glove to drive in the first Padres run of the game. 2-1 Mets.

Niese avoids too much damage by striking out Gyorko to end the inning 2-1 Mets, 2-0 Nats, 4-0 Sox.

Updated at 1:53

Byrd works a full count but grounds out to start the second inning.

We get our first “rib eyed steaks” mention from Keith Hernandez, talking of Duda’s 13 spring training RBIs. He goes vegan in his first at-bat of the season, though, striking out.

John Buck draws a walk. Still no hits for the Mets, but they are getting batters on base, at least.

My man! Ruben Tejada drives a triple into the corner to score the Mets’ first run of the season. 1-0 Mets. Tejada for MVP.

Jon Niese pokes a single into left to score Tejada. 2-0 Mets. Ruben Tejada and Jon Niese have more RBIs than David Wright for at least a few minutes this season.

Cowgill strikes out and the ining is over. 2-0 Mets, 1-0 Nats, 4-0 Red Sox as CC Sabathia is not pitching well.

Updated at 1:39

Hundley lines out to Murphy to start off the 2nd.

Maybin grounds out to Wright.

Gary Cohen seems to enjoy picking on home plate umpire Tim McClelland and his delayed strike call. As if on cue, Niese throws a nasty curve that could have been called either a strike or a ball, Cohen calls it a ball based on McClelland’s not saying anything, and then a split second later, McClelland calls strike three. It’s one of those exchanges that works much better watching live, trust me. Red Sox and Nats up 1-0, Mets and Padres still tied at 0.

Updated at 1:32

Your Mets’ opening day lineup:

1. Collin Cowgill
2. Daniel Murphy
3. David Wright
4. Ike Davis
5. Marlon Byrd
6. Lucas Duda
7. John Buck
8. Ruben Tejada
9. Jonathon Niese

Cowgill pops up to Gyorko for the first out. Gyorko almost Castillos it, but holds on.

Murphy flies out to Quentin for the second out.

Wright grounds it to Cody Ransom, who can’t handle the grounder and Wright reaches on an E5. The Mets will not be perfect game’d on Opening Day.

Wright steals second base with no throw after Nick Hundley drops the pitch. Nice jump by Wright.

It’s for naught, though, as Davis strikes out to end the inning. Still 0-0 in the Mets game and the Yankees/Red Sox game, but the Nationals somehow scored a run in their game to go up 1-0.

Updated at 1:21

Your opening day lineup for the San Diego Padres:

1. Chris Denorfia
2. Evereth Cabrera
3. Yoder Alonso
4. Carlos Quentin
5. Jedd Gyorko
6. Nick Hundley
7. Cameron Maybin
8. Cody Ransom
9. Edinson Volquez

The Mets game appears to e starting a bit later than Marlins/Nats and Red Sox/Yankees, the first three games of the afternoon.

Jonathon Niese will not be pitching a no-hitter on Opening Day, giving up a base hit to Denorfia on the first pitch of the season.

Cabrera sacrifices Denorfia to second base.

Alonso grounds it back to Niese for the second out, and Quentin draws a 2 out walk.

Gyorko grounds out to Wright in his first Major League at-bat and the first inning is over without incident. We have 3 0-0 scores after the visitor’s first.

Apparently the SNY production crew is still in spring training mode as we briefly hear Gary and Keith talking with the mics hot. Nothing too crazy is said, sadly.

Updated at 12:58 PM

One of my favorite traditions of Opening Day is the introduction of every Met, and monitoring the crowd reaction to each player, to see how Mets fans feel about their team this year. Let’s see what Mets fans think about this year’s team:

• Clubhouse Staff: Ray Ramirez is booed a little bit, nobody else gets much of a reaction. Jim Malone kind of looks like Goldberg.
• Coaching Staff: Tom Goodwin gets a nice hand, Tim Teufel is beloved, Bob Geren and Dave Hudgens seem to get the same reaction, nobody knows the bullpen catchers or coach. Goodwin gets the best reaction
• Jordany Valdespin: Nice reaction, probably for the Phillies homer.
• Justin Turner: A “I recognize that random bench guy” reaction
• Kirk Nieuwenhuis: Good reaction
• Anthony Recker: Nobody knows who he is
• Mike Baxter: Huge reaction, I assume for saving Johan’s no hitter
• Jeurys Familia: No reaction
• LaTroy Hawkins: A “hey, I recognize that veteran” reaction
• Matt Harvey: Best reaction so far
• Brandon Lyon: Polite applause
• Dillon Gee: Nice reaction
• Bobby Parnell: A “hey, he was the best reliever from last year” reaction
• Greg Burke: No reaction
• Scott Atchison: No reaction
• Jeremy “Hef” Hefner: Nice reaction
• Scott Rice: A small spattering seems to know of his story and he gets a decent reaction
• Josh Edgin: A “hey, I remember he was in the bullpen last year” reaction
• Terry Collins: Warm reception for the manager
• Collin Cowgill: A “first guy introduced” reaction
• Daniel Murphy: Good reaction. Mets fans love Murph.
• David Wright: Best reaction so far, and I assume the best, period.
• Ike Davis: Strong reaction for the man.
• Marlon Byrd: No reaction. Not a good sign.
• Lucas Duda: I don’t know if they’re booing or chanting “DUUUUUUUDE.” I will be polite and say it was the latter.
• John Buck: A “this guy is our catcher? What happened to d’Arnaud?” reaction.
• Ruben Tejada: Not much of a reaction.
• Jonathon Niese: A “this guy is the Opening Day starter? reaction

Nobody booed this year, except for possibly Duda. It’s strange, more players seemed to get booed back when there were expectations on this team, but with nobody expecting anything anymore, nobody seems to care.

For this year’s BlueandOrange.net preview, we’re going to count down the players 1 to 25, just to get a feel for what we’re dealing with this season. This won’t include players on the disabled list, so Johan Santana won’t be included (spoiler alert: Santana won’t throw a single pitch all season). It also won’t include players likely to make an impact in the second half, like Travis d’Arnaud and Zack Wheeler. This is the opening day roster, 1 through 25, with #1 a guy who will be around for the next eight seasons, and #25 a guy who you probably won’t even remember was on the team come May. Let’s see what we got here.

1. David Wright

Wright is unquestionably the best player on the team, to where the only way you could argue he isn’t is if you are making a really dumb troll argument. I am not sure if we will be saying the same thing in eight years when we are entering the last year of that contract, but hey, at least he’s not going away like Reyes and Dickey. Hopefully before the end of that contract, the Mets can get David back into the playoffs.

2. Ike Davis

Blaming Valley Fever and lingering effects from the ankle injury for Davis’ poor first two months of 2012 seems perfectly reasonable to me. By all rights, he should be the second best player on this team, and I’m hoping for a breakout year out of him. At the same time, I would not be surprised if by the end of the season, he wound up lower on the list, and perhaps much lower.

3. Jonathon Niese

4. Matt Harvey

I am listing Niese ahead of Harvey for the best pitcher on the team because Niese has had a few seasons now to show what he is. He’s a guy who will strike out about seven batters per nine innings, will walk about three batters per nine, and will give up a home run every nine innings. He’s pretty remarkably consistent, actually. Last year’s breakout came because he posted his first BABIP under .300 in the major leagues. That’s really all you can hope for out of the guy. He’s not an ace, but he carries the most certainty the rotation will have this year, and there is something to be said for that.

Harvey has a much higher ceiling than Niese, but also has a much lower floor, since he is less of a known quality in the big leagues. It seems unlikely that he will be quite as good as he displayed in his 59 inning debut last season, but I still expect he will outpace the rest of the starting staff. I could easily see Harvey jumping up to the #2 position by year end, but I will be conservative and rank him lower for now. I am hoping for the best, but with young pitchers, you never know.

5. Ruben Tejada

I have a soft spot for Ruben Tejada. His will probably be the next Mets jersey I purchase, even though buying the jersey of an unheralded shortstop who could be dealt at any time is probably a foolish decision. But I can’t help it. He’s not really good at anything; he is an average defensive player, he has no pop at all, he can draw a walk or two (though his walks were down last year). At the same time, the replacement level expectation at shortstop is so low, even being average or a hair below average, at Tejada’s salary level, makes him a semi-valuable asset. How’s that for a slogan: “The 2013 Mets: Our Fifth Best Player is a Semi-Valuable Asset!”

6. Daniel Murphy

Murph is pretty similar to Tejada, actually. He is below average with the glove, but a little bit more pop with the bat thanks to some doubles power. He too is a semi-valuable asset if only because he plays second base, a position with only a slightly higher replacement level expectation than shortstop. I can’t imagine he will be the second baseman on the next good Mets team, but as a stopgap to play the position for now, Murphy is adequate.

7. Dillon Gee

Gee was actually enjoying a pretty nice season until he got hurt last year, in a “mid-rotation starter making the league minimum” way. I would probably rank him ahead of Tejada and Murphy if there were not concerns about how Gee will bounce back after shoulder artery surgery, plus if there weren’t all sorts of questions with young starters in general.

8. Mike Baxter

Baxter…you are my little gentleman. I’ll take you to London foggy town because you’re my little gentleman.

Sorry…I can’t talk about Mike Baxter without referencing Anchorman. Anyway, Baxter might be the best returning outfielder from last year’s carbon monoxide leak of an outfield, which is not saying much. He has a good eye at the plate and showed some good pop with the bat, and while I believe in the eye more than I believe in the bat, I think he has a chance at being a solid platoon guy. Unfortunately, the Mets will be starting Lucas Duda against left-handed pitching to start the season, but I suspect he will eventually start to take at-bats away from Duda before the season is over.

9. Jeremy Hefner

If you squint hard enough, Jeremy Hefner (do his teammates call him Hef?) was actually kind of decent last year. He struck out about six per nine, and walked under two per nine, but a high BABIP results in an ERA that looks perhaps a bit worse than he actually pitched. I don’t know if there is anything in Hefner’s past that indicates he can continue to demonstrate that type of control, but if he can, he should be a pretty decent fourth or fifth starter this season. And yes, the Mets’ fourth or fifth starter is probably the ninth best player on the team. This is not going to be a good year for the Mets.

10. Bobby Parnell

Parnell was the team’s best relief pitcher last year, which is not really much of a compliment, but it makes sense that he will get the first chance to close. I suspect if he struggles early, that Terry Collins will have a quick hook and either go with Brandon Lyon as the temporary closer until Frank Francisco comes back, or go with a bullpen by committee with Parnell, Lyon, and LaTroy Hawkins all getting save opportunities. Either way, I am not expecting the bullpen to be a strength for this team, but then again, when was the last time it was?

11. Kirk Nieuwenhuis

Possibly the Mets’ second best outfielder, and much like Mike Baxter, he will be coming off the bench. I’m not sure why he’s sitting in favor of Colin Cowgill, unless Terry Collins is worried about the lineup being too left-handed, but I don’t see why they can’t platoon Nieuwenhuis and Cowgill in center. Nieuwenhuis seems like he is too young to be sitting every day, only to be used in the late innings of close games as a defensive sub.

12. Jordanny Valdespin

He has shown some good pop and decent speed. The speed has yet to translate into being good defensively, but Valdespin has shown some real skills that could one day translate into being a good ballplayer. At the very least, I think he could wind up being a good pinch hitter on the next good Mets team. And yes, I am ranking all three reserve outfielders ahead of the starters, which shows what I think of the Mets’ choices to start the season.

13. Marlon Byrd

This feels high for the Byrdman, but he is only two seasons removed from a 1.8 WAR and two seasons removed from a 4.1 WAR. On the other hand, he is one season removed from a -1 WAR and is 35 years old. So who knows? He could work out, but he probably won’t. Byrd heads the list of “Oh man, remember when the Mets started THAT GUY on Opening Day?” players, where Mets fans rattle off lousy players that have started for the team on Opening Day because things have gone terribly, terribly wrong. He is in good company with the likes of Mike Jacobs, Garry Matthews Jr., Karim Garcia, and Brad Eamus.

14. John Buck

Buck will be a fine backup for Travis d’Arnaud once he is called up to the majors in May. As a starter…eh, there are bigger problems on this team, and they are all in the outfield.

15. Collin Cowgill

I sort of get why Cowgill is getting the full-time job over Kirk Nieuwenhuis in center field, because Cowgill has shown good patience and decent power in the minors, and Nieuwenhuis had a terrible spring. But Cowgill’s minor league success has yet to translate into anything in the majors, and he has shown a pretty big platoon split in a limited time in the majors. Strangely, Nieuwenhuis will serve as Cowgill’s defensive caddy in center even though, in a tiny sample for each, Cowgill has been the slightly better defensive player.

16. Scott Atchison

Color me intrigued by Atchison. I’m not sure why the Red Sox let him get away unless it was due to injury concerns, as he pitched quite well last year. Even after he came off the disabled list, he made five scoreless outings in a couple of meaningless games for the Sox. I’m not sure what it says when a non-tendered pitcher from the Red Sox is the Mets’ second best reliever, but I actually am quite optimistic about Atchison, as long as he stays healthy.

17. Brandon Lyon

Lyon is somehow the Mets’ third-best reliever. I think Lyon is the team’s best bet to get dumped at the trade deadline this year, although the Mets’ bullpen looks bad enough on paper to where they may not be able to deal him.

18. Justin Turner

Turner inexplicably made the team over Omar Quintanilla. Not that Quintanilla is any great shakes, but he can play shortstop capably, which is one more skill than Turner has. Turner is not a good hitter and is not a good fielder. He has a reputation as being a good pinch hitter, but only hit .250/.327/.313/.650 in that role last year. Honestly, I am not sure what Turner brings to the table, other than the fact that his teammates apparently love the guy.

19. Lucas Duda

Can somebody explain to me why Lucas Duda is starting and Kirk Nieuwenhuis is not? Duda has one real skill, which is patience; he can draw a walk or two. He can hit the ball a long way from time to time, but not often enough to where you could call power an actual skill he possesses. And Duda might actually be a worse defensive outfielder than Adam Dunn. This is a big year for Duda, where if he doesn’t show he can hit, he will be riding buses in the International League for the rest of his playing career. I hope he finally put together a good season, but needless to say, I’m skeptical.

20. Jeurys Familia

Let’s start the reliever run, shall we? I am ranking Familia ahead of the rest mostly out of hope, in that he is young and has been a fairly regarded prospect for a number of years. Unfortunately, he walked a lot of players last year in both the minors and the majors, and if he is ever going to amount to anything in the major leagues, he has to show better control.

21. Josh Edgin

Like Familia, I am ranking Edgin higher than the other guys mostly because he’s young and has some promise, whereas the other options lack those things. Edgin’s ceiling is lower than Familia’s, in that Familia could wind up a good power closer at some point, whereas Edgin’s ceiling is that of a left-handed specialist, but there are worse ways to earn a living playing baseball.

22. LaTroy Hawkins

Hawkins was not very good for the Angels last year but has carved out a nice living being an average-ish reliever for a number of years, so it would not surprise me to see him revert to form. I could also see him getting released in June and never pitching in the majors again.

23. Greg Burke

Burke last pitched in the majors in 2009, and walked way too many guys to be any good. His command was a bit better last year, but that could have been a one year blip. I can’t imagine a scenario where Burke stays with the major league team all season long.

24. Scott Rice

It’s a nice story that Rice made the major league team for the first time in 14 attempts, but he seems like a sure bet to be this year’s random reliever who made the major league roster who nobody remembers was on the team come September. Call him this year’s Blaine Boyer or Matt Wise, or Carlos Muniz if you prefer. Greg Burke has a very good chance of stealing this title for him, though, since at least Scott Rice will be remembered as “That guy who made his first major league team after 14 years,” whereas Burke may only be remembered as “That guy who wasn’t very good.”

25. Anthony Recker

Recker is the backup catcher until Travis d’Arnaud is promoted. You will have no recollection that he ever existed after the month of May.

And, because 2,400 words is not enough, a special bonus player:

NR: Shaun Marcum

Allegedly, Marcum’s injury that will put him on the disabled list to start the season is not serious and he will make his scheduled start on April 7^th. Given Marcum’s injury history and the Mets’ own history dealing with injuries, I am extremely skeptical that he will actually make that start. If he does make that start, and if he does pitch an entire season for the Mets, rank him 5^th, behind Niese and Matt Harvey, but ahead of everybody else. When he has pitched the past three years, he has certainly been quite god, the problem is, he is coming off an injury serious enough that he had no other options but to sign with the Mets. That would not appear to bode well for his future.

Actually, I’m not sure that’s fair. It’s hard to call Johan Santana’s time with the Mets disappointing because he did give Mets fans two indelible highlights. There was his season-saving, complete game shutout of the then-Florida Marlins 2-0 in Game 161 of 2008. Nine innings, nine strikeouts, only three hits and three walks allowed, and complete domination from start to finish, on three days’ rest with a knee that would require surgery. Sadly, as amazing as it sounds, that start will go down as the next to last September game Santana will pitch in his Mets career.

And of course, there was the no-hitter. Sadly, I wasn’t watching the game live. I was at an awful wrestling show in Rahway, New Jersey, a wrestling show I had regretted attending even before my friend texted me to let me know Santana was taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning. My friend Grim and I then huddled around my phone, following the MLB At Bat app as it ever so slowly updating us as to what was going on in the game. When Santana recorded the final out, I stood up and yelled out a cheer…as Big Van Vader was stalling outside the ring in his match with 2 Cold Scorpio. I got some looks.

Unfortunately, that’s all Mets fans really have for Johan Santana, a few isolated moments. He only pitched one complete season for us out of six, and that was his first season. He finished third in the Cy Young voting that year, perhaps robbed of an award he would not have deserved by a bullpen that blew seven leads for him. That was the season capped off by Game 161, which feels so long ago by now. It doesn’t help that the Mets promptly lost Game 162, overshadowing Santana’s gutsy pitching performance, and really putting a damper on a fine season by Santana.

After that game, things went downhill quickly for Santana. He threw 166 innings in 2009, before bone chips in his pitching elbow ended his season. He threw 199 innings before anterior capsule surgery ended his 2010 season, and his 2011 season as well.

He returned in 2012, and for a few months, if you squinted hard enough and pretended, it was like Johan was back again. He didn’t throw as hard, but he was as smart and tenacious as ever. Everything culminated with the no-hitter on June 1, but after that, things took a steep trip downward. Santana had an 8.27 ERA in his last ten starts, allowing 45 hits and 18 walks in 49 innings, and amazingly, 13 of those 45 hits were home runs. Santana was always a flyball pitcher, but this was extreme, even for him. Something wasn’t right. I don’t know if something happened in the no-hitter, but considering his latest injury is another tear of his anterior capsule, I think it was something that was bound to happen at some point regardless.

This leaves me with mixed thoughts. The good memories include a sublime 2008 season, a dominant performance to stay the Mets’ execution one day, and the first no-hitter in team history, along with approximately 74 other starts, most of them good, some of them great. The bad include two whole missed seasons, three other seasons cut short due to injury, a few poor starts after the no-hitter, and $137.5 million of mostly dead money over the course of six years.

I’m not going to go so far as to say the $137.5 million was worth spending. That money failed to help the Mets move any closer towards a World Series championship, or even a playoff spot. Not all of that is Santana’s fault, of course, but for a team whose owners quickly learned they were a lot poorer than they realized, to have that much dead money on the team’s ledger undoubtedly hurts quite a bit.

But if you asked me am I glad Johan Santana was a Met? That answer is an unequivocal yes. Santana starts were always an event. Every Santana start brought the promise of the team’s first no-hitter, until he delivered on that promise last June 1. He was a great pitcher through and through, one who made the team more fun to follow when he was healthy than it was when he was hurt. He didn’t quite achieve the brilliance in New York that he had in Minnesota, and he didn’t push this team over the hump towards a world championship like Mets fans were hoping on February 2, 2008, but it was still a treat to witness his greatness while we had the chance.

Also, in case I didn’t make this clear earlier…HE THREW THE FIRST NO HITTER IN METS HISTORY. No matter what, his legacy as a New York Met is secure, even if things didn’t go according to plan.

Manuel responded on television, saying,  “We allowed the fewest baserunners and then threw out the most base runners. So there you go, Ozzie. But what you got to do Ozzie, you got to teach me how to tweet so I can get back to you. You don’t have to put me on blast.’’

David Lennon, Newsday

Leave it to Jerry Manuel to pull this website out of retirement.

Let’s start with the obvious: if the New York Mets had allowed the fewest baserunners in baseball AND threw out the most base runners, I don’t think Jerry Manuel would currently be an analyst for MLB Network. It’s also safe to assume that Sandy Alderson would still be working in the MLB front offices, the Mets would be the defending World Series champions, and would be generating so much money, Fred Wilpon wouldn’t have to explore selling the team because he’d be making a mint off of ticket sales and merchandise right now. Right off the bat, this one doesn’t come close to passing the smell test.

And of course, Jerry Manuel is wrong. The Mets did not, in fact, allow the fewest baserunners in baseball last year, or any year in which he was the manager. Take a look at the tables below. First, we’ll start with the 2008 Mets.

 This was the only Mets team that benefitted from a fully-healthy Johan Santana, and decent years out of Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez (and about 2/3 of a good season from John Maine) and still finished 21st in baserunners allowed thanks to an epic shithole of a bullpen. Of course, Jerry doesn’t deserve full blame for this one, as Willie Randolph managed for the first two months of the season before being fired at 7 AM Greenwich Mean Time. Then again (spoiler alert) this is the highest Mets pitchers will rank in baserunners allowed, so maybe Jerry will want to take full credit.

For all the talk of Citi Field being a pitcher’s park, it sure didn’t help the Mets finish very high in baserunners allowed – only 25th in 2009.

And last year, where the Mets “rebounded” to finish 22nd, the year Manuel claims they were first in the league. Here are the overall totals for the three seasons:

So if by “allowed the fewest baserunners,” Jerry meant “13th in the National League and 22nd in baseball,” then yes, Jerry was correct, the Mets allowed the fewest baserunners.

But then I got to doing some thinking. Maybe Jerry just got his numbers mixed up:

A fine 2008 season from Mets hitters. They were 6th in times on base in 2008. No snarky comment from me about that. Sadly, it will not last.

The Mets go from having the sixth-most runners on base in 2008 to having the 12th-fewest runners on base in 2009. This is not what you would call a positive trend.

Thanks to on-base sinkholes like Jeff Francoeur and Rod Barajas, the Mets had the sixth-fewest baserunners in the majors last season, and the third-fewest in the National League. Sounds like Jerry had his numbers mixed up.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse. Jerry Manuel is gone, Omar Minaya is gone, the Mets have a new, smarter front office that doesn’t believe in giving away outs, or in giving the other team more opportunities to score. We are now in a time of healing, of moving forward, of looking towards a brighter day in the future (though some of that optimism may be tempered a bit by ownership uncertainty).

But when I see Jerry Manuel making comments like this on MLB Network, it brings me right back to these past two awful years. It brings me right back to Manuel throwing everybody in the organization under the bus and taking little to no blame for the problems with the team. It brings me back to Jerry’s passive-aggressive communication style that players clearly never liked. It just fills me with such negative thoughts during a time where optimism and positivity should reign, and reminds me why I should never watch MLB Network.

So, moral of the story: Don’t watch the MLB Network studio show unless you wish to become dumber.

As for the future of this website: it’s no secret that we haven’t exactly been banging out the content lately. The last thing I wrote was a troll post regarding Chris Carter being non-tendered by the Mets, and before that, I had started an objective takedown of the Omar Minaya years before losing interest, because I simply did not care to relive all of that nonsense.

After that, I just haven’t had anything interesting to say about Sandy Alderson. Obviously, I’m happy he is the GM, and that Omar Minaya is not. But I’m not sure I have a fresh take on things that hasn’t been said elsewhere, and this offseason’s transactions didn’t exactly provide bloggers with a ton to write about. As far as the Wilpon’s financial woes, I don’t claim to be any sort of financial expert or lawyer so I couldn’t even begin to offer a clear opinion what’s going on with that whole situation.

I do have an idea for a piece on Alderson that I will try to write next week, as it would be the first thing written about Sandy since he was hired and it seems long overdue to get something up about him. I want to get more items up here, but at this point, I don’t have the time or the inspiration for daily posts. I will continue to write things on a “when I get around to it” basis, and would like to “get around” to more things more frequently than “once every six months.” Hopefully, actual baseball will give me more writing inspiration. 

Failing that, I could always just watch MLB Network and wait for Jerry Manuel to say something dumb. We’ll see what happens, but don’t remove this site from your bookmarks/RSS reader just yet.

We’ll deal with what this means for the 2011 Mets tomorrow.  I know a lot of you love the guy, so this thread is for you to say goodbye.

OUTFIELD AT THE END OF 2004:

Mike Cameron, Victor Diaz, Cliff Floyd, Richard Hidalgo, Eric Valent, Gerald Williams

Bold indicates starter

OFFSEASON CHANGES:

-Signed Carlos Beltran to a seven-year, $119 million contract.
-Allowed Richard Hidalgo to sign with the Texas Rangers as a free agent.

OUTFIELD AT THE START OF 2005:

Carlos Beltran, Mike Cameron, Victor Diaz, Cliff Floyd, Eric Valent

Bold indicates starter

OUTFIELD AT THE END OF 2005:

Carlos Beltran, Mike Cameron, Victor Diaz, Cliff Floyd, Gerald Williams

Bold indicates starter

ALSO MAKING APPEARANCES:

Marlon Anderson, Miguel Cairo, Chris Woodward

METS OUTFIELD WAR*:

Cliff Floyd:         3.9
Carlos Beltran:      2.2
Mike Cameron:        2.1
Victor Diaz:         0.4
Gerald Williams:     0.1
Eric Valent:        -0.6
TOTAL OUTFIELD WAR:  8.1

*Does not include infielders who played some OF, like Marlon Anderson.  He will be included with the infielder WAR.

There was only one real change in the outfield from 2004, but it was a big one, and that was the signing of Carlos Beltran.  He didn’t pay immediate dividends for the club, as he struggled for whatever reason in his first year with the team.  From what I remember, he seemed to be dealing with nagging injuries all season and right when he really started to get going, he had that ugly collision in right field with Mike Cameron.  Still, he would prove to be among the team’s best players in franchise history following this disappointing 2005 season.  Critics of the Jason Bay signing, take note.

It’s worth pointing out that the Beltran signing was at least somewhat questionable, not because of Beltran’s talents, but because the Mets already had a pretty good center fielder in Mike Cameron.  No question, Beltran was the better player, but part of what made Cameron so good was that his bat played better in center than it did in an outfield corner.  In addition, Cameron had not played much as a corner outfielder, and he struggled in right field, posting a 2.5 UZR/150 on the season, which isn’t bad, but is half of his career 5.3 UZR/150 in center field. 

You can already see Willie Randolph’s theory regarding reserve bench players, which is “If you are a bench player who doesn’t play catcher, you can play the outfield.”  Woodward, Anderson, and Cairo started a total of 25 games in the outfield, and we would continue to see other players who were primarily infielders play the outfield under Willie, usually with poor results.  Granted, the team was short-handed after the Beltran/Cameron collision, which actually helped give Gerald Williams a few starts as the Mets’ center fielder, but none of those guys were players whom you’d ever want logging significant time in the outfield.

Overall, this was a good outfield, but carried almost exclusively by the starters, none of whom were entirely healthy this season.  The primary reserves were replacement level glop in Eric Valent, Victor Diaz, and Gerald Williams, a real problem considering Cliff Floyd’s injury history.  Floyd mitigated that somewhat by having his healthiest (and best) season as a Met, but Cameron only played in 73 games.  Most of these guys were holdovers from the previous season, but it’s not like any of the reserves had a long history of production, either.  Diaz and Valent were somewhat justifiable, as they were both young and had good reputations from the minor leagues, but neither guy worked out.  It’s sad that Gerald Williams actually saw action for a major league team with playoff aspirations in 2005, but it would become typical of the Minaya regime to rely on retreads like Williams when the team failed to remain healthy.

Seriously, not to piss on their graves or anything, but Minaya and Manuel very clearly needed to go.  I’ll talk more about Omar as the weeks progress as I continue to look at the Minaya Years, but it was clearly beyond his capabilities to build a successful baseball team on a consistent basis.  He simply was not the right man for this job, and was a perfect example of the Peter Principle at work.

Jerry Manuel…I think this blog has made its feelings clear on Jerry Manuel, but yesterday’s game really demonstrated why he’s not a very good manager.  Taking David Wright and Jose Reyes out of the game in the top of the 9th inning of a tie game, so they can get a standing ovation as they walked off the field, really showed a lack of priorities.  The game went an additional five innings before it ended, and perhaps if the Mets had their best hitters still in the game, it would not have lasted as long.

Really, I can think of no better way for the 2010 season, for the Jerry Manuel era, and for the Omar Minaya regime, to all come to simultaneous conclusion than by Oliver Perez giving up a HBP and three consecutive walks to give the Nationals the victory.  I think that pretty much sums it up.

The Minaya Years series will continue tomorrow, and as news breaks regarding potential successors, we will discuss it here at Blue and Orange.

BULLPEN AT THE END OF 2004:

Braden Looper, Mike Stanton, Ricky Bottalico, John Franco, Heath Bell, Tyler Yates, Bartolome Fortunato, Pedro Feliciano, Vic Darensbourg

OFFSEASON CHANGES:

-Traded Mike Stanton to the New York Yankees for Felix Heredia.
-Allowed John Franco to sign with the Houston Astros as a free agent.
-Allowed Ricky Botallico to sign with the Milwaukee Brewers as a free

agent.
-Allowed Vic Darensbourg to sign with the Detroit Tigers as a free

agent.
-Sold Pedro Feliciano’s contract to the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
-Re-signed Mike DeJean to a one-year contract.
-Signed Dae-Sung Koo to a one-year contract.
-Signed Roberto Hernandez to a minor league contract.

BULLPEN AT THE START OF 2005:

Braden Looper, Roberto Hernandez, Dae-Sung Koo, Manny Aybar, Mike Matthews, Felix Heredia, Mike DeJean

BULLPEN AT THE END OF 2005:

Braden Looper, Roberto Hernandez, Dae-Sung Koo, Aaron Heilman, Heath Bell, Juan Padilla, Shingo Takatsu, Kaz Ishii, Tim Hamulack

ALSO MAKING RELIEF APPEARANCES:

Danny Graves, Royce Ring, Jose Santiago

Mets Reliever WAR:

Aaron Heilman:      1.6
Roberto Hernandez:  0.9
Heath Bell:         0.7
Juan Padilla:       0.5
Manny Aybar:        0.1
Dae-Sung Koo:       0.1
Victor Zambrano:    0.1
Felix Heredia:      0.0
Kaz Ishii:          0.0
Mike Matthews:      0.0
Royce Ring:         0.0
Jose Santiago:      0.0
Shingo Takatsu:    -0.2
Mike DeJean:       -0.3
Tim Hamulack:      -0.3
Danny Graves:      -0.4
Braden Looper:     -0.6
TOTAL WAR:          2.2

This is the first of what would become a series of bad Mets bullpens assembled by Omar Minaya.  This one isn’t entirely on him; he inherited Braden Looper from Jim Duquette, and Looper was by far the worst of these pitchers.  It’s amazing to me that Willie didn’t pull him from the closer job until August, which just goes to show how far a pitcher can go with a “Proven Closer(TM)” label.  Even more amazing is that the St. Louis Cardinals somehow identified Looper as a pitcher who would be useful as a starter after pitching this poorly as a reliever, and that he actually turned out to be a decent innings-eater for the Cardinals for a few years.

Here’s something I’m wondering; why didn’t the Mets see Aaron Heilman as a potential closer for 2006?  He pitched really well in relief, and had a strong strikeout rate, which is usually what teams look for in a dominant late inning guy.  I know that they hadn’t completely given up on him as a starter yet, as he competed with Brian Bannister for the 5th starter job in spring training , but it seems that they could have saved themselves $10 million a year by promoting Heilman to the job and better used that money elsewhere.  Heilman may not have even been a good choice for the job, but he could have probably done a passable imitation of a closer for a year or two until Heath Bell was ready to take over as closer. 

Speaking of Bell, he was a pitcher whose results never quite matched his peripherals in New York, and I’m not entirely sure why.  It is a common misconception by Mets fans that Bell stunk while he was here and only turned into a good pitcher in San Diego, but he always posted strong strikeout totals and low walk totals even as a Met.  He got victimized by the longball in 2006, and it could be that Willie Randolph’s refusal to give him a regular role hurt his flow, but he always showed strong potential while he was here.  It’s sad that he never quite realized that potential as a Met, especially considering that the team has spent over $80 million on closers since 2006.

Overall, this bullpen looks very thrown together.  The only guaranteed bullpen spots going into spring training belonged to Looper, Mike DeJean, and the immortal Dae-Sung Koo.  That left four spots up for grabs, with the competition consisting of a few in-house Mets candidates (Heath Bell, Royce Ring) and a collection of players signed to minor league deals (Roberto Hernandez, Juan Padilla, Mike Matthews).  They did get good years out of Hernandez and Padilla, but most of the other guys they brought in did not work out, which led to them bringing in failures like Shingo Takatsu and Danny Graves, who were even worse.  Even DeJean was released in June, and he was making guaranteed money. 

This haphazard way of assembling a bullpen, by concentrating on spending top dollar on closers and hoping the rest falls into place, would become a hallmark of the Minaya Years, which I will talk more about in the weeks to come.

Next: The 2005 Mets Outfield

ROTATION AT THE END OF 2004:

Tom Glavine, Al Leiter, Kris Benson, Steve Trachsel, Aaron Heilman

OFFSEASON CHANGES:

-Declined Al Leiter’s option for 2005 and allowed Leiter to sign with Florida Marlins as a free agent.
-Re-signed Kris Benson to 3-year, $22.5 million contract.
-Signed Pedro Martinez to 4-year, $53 million contract.
-Traded Jason Phillips to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Kaz Ishii in Spring Training.

ROTATION AT THE START OF 2005:

Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Kaz Ishii, Victor Zambrano, Aaron Heilman

ROTATION AT THE END OF 2005:

Tom Glavine, Victor Zambrano, Kris Benson, Jae Seo, Steve Trachsel

Mets Starter WAR:

Pedro Martinez:   5.9
Tom Glavine:      3.7
Jae Seo:          2.2
Kris Benson:      1.7
Victor Zambrano:  1.6
Aaron Heilman:    0.6
Steve Trachsel:   0.1
Kaz Ishii:       -0.2
Total WAR:       15.6

NOTES:

-Kaz Ishii placed on the DL on April 22nd.  Replaced in the rotation by Jae Seo.
-Kris Benson returns from the disabled list on May 5.  Jae Seo sent back to Norfolk.
-Kaz Ishii returns from disabled list on May 16th.  Aaron Heilman sent to the bullpen.
-Kaz Ishii sent to Norfolk on August 5th.  Replaced in the rotation by Jae Seo.
-Steve Trachsel returns from the disabled list on August 22nd.  Victor Zambrano sent to the bullpen.
-Pedro Martinez shut down with two weeks to go in the season.  Replaced in the rotation by Victor Zambrano.

As far as starting rotations go, it doesn’t get more simple than this.  The Mets only used eight starting pitchers in 2005, which is low considering they would use no fewer than eleven starters in any other season under Minaya.  The starting rotation at the end of the season was roughly the same as it was at the beginning of spring training, except swap Jae Seo out for Pedro Martinez (who missed his final two starts, though I can’t remember why, I’d assume it was due to some sort of nagging injury).  Spoiler alert: that will not happen again under Minaya’s watch.

Perhaps the  simplicity that the 2005 Mets provided Minaya was a reason that his future  rotations seemed so ill-prepared.  This team only suffered a few minor injuries.  Kris Benson missed the first month with a pec injury and Kaz Isii missed a month with a pulled muscle, but those both happened early in the season.  After Ishii came off of the DL, the team did not suffer another injury setback until the end of the season (assumine that Martinez did miss those starts due to injury), a ridiculous run of good health, especially considering the past injury issues suffered by Martinez, Benson, and Zambrano.  Quite fortunate, as I don’t even know who would have made spot starts for the team had they needed a ninth or tenth starter.

The only major injury of this season took place in spring training.  Steve Trachsel went into camp projected to be the fifth starter, but suffered a herniated disk in spring training and missed most of the season.  Three days after Trachsel’s surgery was announced, the team traded Jason Phillips to the Dodgers for Ishii, as they lacked confidence in either Aaron Heilman or Jae Seo as regular starting pitchers.

Acquiring Ishii probably wasn’t a completely terrible idea, even if he hadn’t pitched particularly well in three seasons for the Dodgers.  All it cost them was Phillips, who never again matched his 2003 numbers and had no real place on the 2005 Mets after they signed Ramon Castro.  Yet in the end, the trade was a failure, and Ishii was back in Japan the next season.

The 2005 season stands out in another way, besides the rotation’s relative health; it was the only season without a full-fledged starting rotation battle.  The Mets went into spring training with five set starters, acquired another one when Trachsel went down, and it was only after Benson got hurt that they went to a battle between Heilman and Seo for the fifth starter job.  Heilman edged out Seo for the spot, yet both would both get turns in the rotation.  Heilman pitched 42 innings as a starter before being banished to the bullpen for the rest of his career.  Seo would receive two shots at starting, both times at the expense of Ishii, first due to injury and the second due to ineffectiveness.

Overall, this would have to go down as a pretty successful year for Mets starting pitching.  Pedro Martinez was awesome, Tom Glavine had his best season as a Met, Jae Seo was pretty good in his limited big league action, and Benson and Zambrano both ate some innings, if nothing else.  Ishii was the only starter that was actively bad, but at least the team had the good sense to replace him with Seo when it became obvious that he stunk.  Add good performances, good health, and a little bit of good luck, and you have a pretty good starting rotation.  Sadly, future Mets teams would never quite match the 2005 staff in any of those categories, as we will soon see.

Chris Carter is going to play in left field. It’s always tough to get him in there with Dickey on the mound because of the fly balls.

R.A. Dickey came into Sunday’s start with a 54.1% ground ball rate.

BONUS MANUEL

Luis Hernandez pinch hit for Ruben Tejada in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game. Hernandez is 26 with an MiLB triple-slash of .255/.302/.311.  Middle infield prospect Tejada owns a .273/.343/.353 line, despite being criminally young for every level he’s played.