When thought of in terms of the roster, it makes sense. He can play both infield and outfield corner positions. In an emergency, he can play second base (7 games in 2009) and even shortstop (2 games). Importantly, he knows what the Mets’ situation is. The club wants and needs Daniel Murphy to succeed at first base.

Murphy represents the only young everyday player that they are currently trying to develop at the major league level. He seems to be entering the season a stronger and better athlete. Murphy’s 38 doubles last season display significant potential for power and run production.

Any negatives impressions from last season hold less weight as Murphy never had a consistent place in the batting order. Intrestingly, he proved to be a pretty good RBI guy by hitting .345 with runners in scoring position with 2 out. Jerry Manuel’s recent comparison of Murphy to Mark DeRosa are thoughtful, and I think that he did that to motivate him. I doubt that Murphy wants to be considered as a utility player. I see him as a more durable Dave Magadan and with more power.

* I hate wasting Santana’s starts – especially those when he leaves with a lead.

* Sean Green seems to need to put an excessive amount of spin on the ball making him more of a slinger than pitcher. It’s almost as if he’s a knuckelball pitcher. Hitting Mark DeRosa with that first pitch was evidence. He badly needs some intervention by a sinker ball friendly pitching coach.

* I still do not like the manner the Mets – or any one else for that matter configures their roster. Because of the injury to Castillo, they ran out of players – save catcher Brian Schneider. There was really only one threat on the bench at any point in Fernando Tatis.

* Jose Reyes is to see the doctor again for his hamstring tendon problem and Adam Rubin understandably speculates that he might be done for the season. His injury reminds of Vince Colemen’s season long injury hamstring injury in 1991. Coleman developed a nasty ball of scar tissue in the lower third that just would go away until after an off-season’s rest. People would ask the doctor’s about surgery and they reply, “on what?’ as there wasn’t really a surgical technique that can be performed.

As it’s Reyes’ hamstring tendon – that which attaches the belly of the muscle to bone, there may be something to look at doing. Whether or not its a repair, I have no idea. As they’ve had repeated MRIs, the films they are getting are non-conclusive and why they just havent been considering some sort of corrective technique all along.

4:04: Jayson Stark says that Halladay may be going to the Angels in a package that includes Joe Saunders.

4:00 Fox Sports reports the Marlins acquired Nick Johnson from the Nats.

3:56: LaRoche went for Casey Kotchman. Why Boston wants Kotchman is beyond me. I can see the Braves wanting LaRoche’s power over Kotchman.

3:41: MLBTV reports that Scott Rolen has been traded to the Reds. Their commentators are somewhat puzzled as well. They think its because Walt Jockety knows him well from his days with the Cardinals.

3:32: Victor Martinez is now with the Boston Red Sox. Jon Heyman confimrs on MLBTV. Buchholz and Bard are not in the deal

3:30: Rockies get Joe Beimel from Nats H/T MLBTradeRumors

3:27: Yankees get 3B Jerry Hairston from Reds….so the Reds are trying to move players. According to ESPN

3:24: LaRoche to Braves. H/T Metsblog

319: Marlins end attempts to acquire Nick Johnson and Heath Bell.

310: Tim Kirkjian says he’s somewhat surprised that the Yankees haven’t been active and they both say that its surprising that someone just didn’t go get Roy Halladay. For some clubs it would make the World Series a sure thing.

305: Why haven’t we heard anything about the Reds in awhile? They talked about getting Scott Rolen, but that never made any sense. I thought they’d be sellers….Bronson Arroyo for instance.

304: Maybe its LaRoche to the Braves instead.

3oo: One hour to go. Im watching MLB TV and they report that Ken Rosenthal says that the Padres and Dodgers are talking about Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell going to the Dodgers in a package including James Loney.

Lets hope Jonathan Niese pitches well enough to stay in the rotation and that the remarkable Ken Takahashi continues to make his strong contribution to the bullpen, as it will be good to have another lefty in the pen.

The line-up and depth are beginning to be a strength as players whom come off the bench are seen as regulars by the other club. Usually two of the quartet of Daniel Murphy, Fernando Tatis, Gary Sheffield and Ryan begin the game on the bench. As they are considered to be 3 thru 6 hitters in an everyday lineup and not just pinch hitters opposing managers have less favorable matchups against their bullpen.

I look forward to more games like today’s where the club uses needs to use two pitchers, instead of its customary 3 or 4 out of the pen on games they win.

Brian Stokes has only allowed one unearned run in 11 outings this season. Along with Takahashi, the duo allows the struggling Sean Green and, when he returns, Oliver Perez to get it together.

News this morning that the Mets were intrigued with signing Sheffield is welcome news. The Mets have long had an interest in Sheffield since he used to visit his uncle, Dwight Gooden, in the Mets clubhouse. Joe McIlvaine had seen Sheffield play as a youngster and knew that he was exteremely talented.

But Sheffield has not produced at previous career levels either during the past two seasons or during the spring. He’s been used primarily as a DH, playing only 18 games in the OF.

At any rate, the Mets are likely to be looking hard at this and Sheffield is equally as likely to be interested in playing for the Mets.
For a club who already looked pretty good on paper, the addition of a slugger of Sheffield’s status immediately improves the club. He creates competition for playing time and comes at a discount. Sheffield has some options and will probably looking for some garuntees for a future contract.

The Mets would have to cut loose someone to get him. Is this a good idea? The name being thrown out there is Marlon Anderson’s. Anderson also plays the infield and provides depth and 2B. Sheffield actually is better compared to Fernando Tatis, whom had a far better spring and 2008 season than Sheffield.

It will be interesting to see what they do.

There’s some hidden good news in that its clear that the Mets will start the season with more depth in AAA than previous years. Its been a problem in previous seasons. Only the surprise emergences of Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans and Brian Stokes last season provided spark. This year’s AAA roster will have players who are major league ready and had good springs.

Manuel still has some tough choices. First in Nick Evans. He’s ceratainly earned a spot. But do they keep him for the number of at bats thats limited by Fernando Tatis? The smart play might be to option Evans and keep Bobby Kielty who’s much better suited for a bench role, and also has had a very good spring. Kielty is a switch hitter to. I predict that Evans will go north – a bit as a reward – until Livan Hernandez is needed to start a game. Unless a middle infielder or catcher is injured, Evans will be the first player recalled.

The Mets will probably have a short leash on both Tatis and Ryan Church. If either gets off to a slow start, they won’t hesitate to go to Kielty and or Evans.

Brian Stokes and Bobby Parnell will likely round out the bullpen and leave just one lefty-Pedro Felicaino. With JJ Putz and Francisco Rodriguez getting the last two innings, its understandable why the Mets feel they can get by with just one. Parnell did not allow a hit to a left-handed batter this spring. Stokes good finish to 2008 was backed up this spring. He can start or relieve.

Still, with all the talk of additions the Mets did not make, this club goes north with more depth – both of the major league roster and at AAA – than at any time of the Omar Minaya regime.

Its important to remember that the club that leaves Florida in April is gfar different from the one which plays in September. But the Mets roster is void of right-handed pop. The veteran Kielty can provide that. With the club likely to carry 12 to 13 pitchers again, it leaves fewer players to come off the bench. Kielty is likely to make the club along with a left-handed hitting OF, one catcher, and Alex Cora.

This assumes that the Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy enters the season as the left field platoon. The Mets need Kielty and Tatis to have good springs to solve balance problems. One lefty-hitting OF out of the group of Angel Pagan, Cory Sullivan and Jeremy Reed will battle for one roster spot.

The best hitters coming off the bench late in the game will come from the following list that’s not already in the game: Tatis, Kielty, Murphy and a lefty-hitting OF. Only in the chance the Mets opt to go with 11 or 12 pitchers will the bench change. All in all, this is not a bad roster to start the season.

Manny Ramirez hit .396 with 17 homers and 53 RBI in 53 games as a Dodger while lifting L.A. into the postseason in ’08. There’s no way Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis can provide comparable production. Still, with the Mets looking to maintain a $147 million payroll, Citi Field will open with a platoon of Murphy and Tatis in left field and not Ramirez. Murphy, who has remarkable plate discipline for a young player, hit .313 in 131 at-bats, and no longer qualifies as a rookie.

Tatis, the NL Comeback Player of the Year, who didn’t even play baseball in 2004 and ’05, hit .297 with 11 homers and 47 RBI in 273 at-bats. He separated his right shoulder diving for a ball in Washington on Sept. 16 and missed the rest of the season. Tatis opted for rehab rather than surgery and ultimately played in 38 games in the Dominican Winter League.

Right field remains a modest question mark as well. While Ryan Church appears to have post-concussion syndrome behind him, he did hit just .219 over his final 33 games, albeit after returning from a seven-week absence. However, before suffering his second concussion in Atlanta on May 20, Church was arguably the team’s MVP.

The most likely of the three to produce the kind of numbers a team would need in the outfield is the youngest of the three. Daniel Murphy’s gap power and clutch hitting gave the only boost the club received in the second half. The Mets need Murphy to win this job outright at some point in the season and return Tatis to the bench. Tatis was one of baseball’s feel good stories yet its unlikely he can reproduce the same numbers. The Mets will be weak a void of any power. If Tatis is in the line-up, no real threat from the right side will be on the bench if Nick Evans does not make the club. We can only hope that Church post concussion syndrome is behind him, but I have my doubts. A failure of Church to regain his early 2008 form will be detrimental to the Mets season. By all reports Citi Field has a large outfield and none of these three – save perhaps Curch has the kind of range needed.

Rubin then covers the issue of second base:

It’s no secret the Mets would have traded Luis Castillo and signed Orlando Hudson had Castillo not still been owed $18 million over the next three seasons.

So how long will Manuel’s patience with Castillo last if he underperforms? Remember, the manager started journeyman Ramon Martinez over Castillo at the end of the season. Manuel also rode Argenis Reyes through an 0-for-25 skid at one point as well, all to keep Castillo on the bench. The first signal of Castillo’s commitment level will be determined by his shape when he arrives in Port St. Lucie. Randolph was disappointed by Castillo’s weight when he reported last spring, although Castillo was coming off surgeries to clean out both knees.

If Castillo falters, newcomer Alex Cora could chip away at his playing time. This much is certain: Mets officials won’t hesitate to part with Castillo next winter, when the amount he’s owed is down to $12 million. But it appears Castillo has gotten the message as the Mets say he has been working out at the team’s Dominican Republic complex.

Castillo has not played well as a Met and his long-term signing by Minaya is one of a handfull of disasterous contracts he’s given to aging Latin stars. Minaya may be self conscience of this perception and may explain his hesitancy to bring in a Manny Ramirez or Pudge Rodriguez.

At any rate, the Mets need a comeback year from Castillo. And they need him to be able to bat second behind Jose Reyes. If the current personnel reamains the same – and the Mets 2B has to bat 8th instead of the catcher – one third of the line-up are outs. And with a weak bench, this does not bode well at all for a team that expects to compete for a division.

This makes Carlos Delgado a major key to success. Delgado clearly thrived under Jerry Manuel. And as Rubin says, Delgado hit .313 with 24 homeruns and had 70 RBI over his final 300 ABs. If the Mets can get these numbers over a season – and Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran stay healthy and have what can fairly be considered an average career seasons – it might be enough if the starters can get the game to JJ Putz and Francisco Rodriguez.