25-man roster set

Joe Smith, Brady Clark, Mike Pelfrey and Raul Casanova all made the roster.

Orlando Hernandez, Duaner Sanchez and Ramon Castro are heading to the DL.

Here's the press release. I pretty much got everything I wish for.

And here is tomorrow's opening day lineup:

Jose Reyes SS
Luis Castillo 2B
David Wright 3B
Carlos Beltran CF
Carlos Delgado 1B
Angel Pagan LF
Ryan Church RF
Brian Schneider C
Johan Santana P

Pretty interesting where Pagan is batting tomorrow. They're breaking up the lefty / lefty against Marlins starter Mark Hendrickson.

18 hours. Only 18 more hours.

Early indications

Today is the Mets final day to finalize their roster before they open the season against the Florida Marlins on Monday afternoon. It seems they are willing to wait right up until the 3 p.m. deadline to make their decisions.

Adam Rubin relays some things he's heard about the final spots that are still up for grabs:

Mets officials appeared to be leaning toward placing Orlando Hernandez on the DL to start the season, paving the way for Mike Pelfrey to make at least two starts

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Joe Smith also looked close to claiming the final spot in the bullpen, a vacancy created with Duaner Sanchez not yet ready for regular-season action.

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Fernando Tatis also seemed to hold a lead over Brady Clark for the final bench spot, but a team insider insisted Tatis — who had a .212 Grapefruit League average — was not a foregone conclusion to be on the roster.

Just to reiterate, I'm supporting Pelfrey (or even Nelson Figueroa), Smith and Clark for the final spots.

If the Mets take Pelfrey, he won't be able to work on his mechanics as much, as he will have to win the game he is in. If he waits and stays in minor league camp, the results don't matter, so he can stay in a game even if he's given up a few runs just to work on his pitches. What do the Mets have to lose if they pitch Figueroa? Nothing. Why not give him a shot?

Smith, who struggled mightily early in spring, has come on strong these last few weeks. Yesterday was a great game for him, when he came in with the bases loaded, and got Alexi Ramirez to strike out on three pitches. Inherited runners was a huge problem for Smith last year and if he can remedy that, it would be a huge accomplishment.

Again, I don't get why Tatis is so wonderful. Sure, he can play pretty much any position besides center field if need be, but he doesn't play any of them especially well. We already have two guys in Marlon Anderson and Damion Easley who can play the entire infield and two guys in Endy Chavez and Angel Pagan who can play the entire outfield. So why do we need a guy who can do all of those, but none well? Clark will be much more lasting and consistent, I feel, and that's why I want him to make the team.

It's a travel day for me, back down to New Jersey for a bit and then back to Quinnipiac tonight. I'll be back with a recap of the day and the finalized roster moves tonight. Enjoy your last day before the season begins!

Photo of the Day: Church

Ryan Church has a ball tip off his glove, and seemingly into the stands for what would have been a 3-run home run. Luckily, the man knocked the ball back in play and the umpires botched the call.

Church has been getting hot at the plate over the last few weeks. He's my pick for breakout player of the year on this team.
(AP Photo/Bill Waugh)

Game Recap: Mets 3 -- White Sox 2

Playing in the second-annual Civil Rights Game, the Mets beat the White Sox by a score of 3-2, rounding out their spring season. The Mets went 20-11 in spring training.

John Maine made the start for the Mets, pitching four innings, allowing only three hits, while striking out five. Maine struck out two in the first inning alone. He only needed 56 pitches, 39 went for strikes.

He looked great today. Easily the best #4 in the league. Would you pitch him ahead of Oliver Perez??

Pedro Feliciano and Aaron Heilman each logged an inning of work, allowing three hits between them. They both struck out two batters. Scott Schoeneweis gave up the runs for the Mets, pitching 2-3 of an inning, walking three and giving up one hit as two runs scored.

Schoeneweis has looked a lot better this spring, and if he is used in the correct situation, I think he's going to have a much better year.

Joe Smith relieved Schoeneweis in the seventh with the bases loaded and got Alexi Ramirez to strike out swinging. Billy Wagner came on to close out the game, getting the side in order. Wagner tallied one strikeout.

I think Smith is going get the call for the last bullpen spot, especially with this last outing.

Carlos Beltran drove a 2-run home run over the left field wall in the fourth inning off of White Sox starter Jose Contreras for the Mets first runs. Carlos Delgado picked up a double, going 1-3. Ryan Church went 2-3, scoring once.

Beltran looks excellent this spring. Those newly cleaned out knees are going to help out a lot. Church is getting hot. I like it.

Game Ball: Maine and Beltran.

Shea will not go boom

According to Richard Sandomir, from the New York Times, neither Shea Stadium or Yankee Stadium will be imploded.

Each stadium will be taken apart by hand, piece by piece.

From Sandomir:

The wreckers will arrive at Shea Stadium soon after the Mets’ final home game in late September or sometime in October. In February or March, Yankee Stadium’s dismantling will begin. The old ballparks will be taken apart piece by piece over two to three months with hydraulic jackhammers, blowtorches and grapplers.

The concrete will be chopped up, pushed toward the middle of the fields and removed by trucks. The steel girders will be cut out, cut up and carted away for salvage.

Shea will then be reclaimed as part of the parking lot, and Yankee Stadium as three baseball fields surrounded by 12,000 trees.

The article also points out that pieces of the stadium, such as the seats, bricks, and signs, will be sold, most likely for a very high price.

Also at the New York Times, Ben Shpigel has a great article about Shea.

From Shpigel:

By any objective standard, Shea is bleak and outdated. It has not aged, shall we say, gracefully, its imperfections and architectural shortcomings growing more prominent over the years, particularly as glorious baseball-only parks have sprouted around the country. Those flaws are now magnified by Citi Field, the Mets' new home in 2009, whose beatific presence beyond Shea’s right-center-field fence prompted Ron Darling, the SportsNet New York analyst and former Met, to make this comparison: “It’s like driving a VW bus with a Maserati in the lot.”

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“It’s dilapidated and obsolete, sure, but I could say the same thing about the apartment where I grew up, in Bayside, Queens,” said Howie Rose, the Mets’ play-by-play broadcaster on WFAN. “That apartment was home. My memories there are happy, warm and indelible, just like they are from Shea. To me, Shea is home.”

That article brought a little tear to my eye. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

Lineup vs. the White Sox

The Mets are in Memphis, taking on the Chicago White Sox for the Second Annual Civil Rights Game, a 5 p.m. start. This is the last exhibition game before the Mets open up in Miami on Monday afternoon.

Lineup:
SS Jose Reyes
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
1B Carlos Delgado
RF Ryan Church
LF Angel Pagan
C Brian Schneider
DH Brady Clark

SP John Maine

There you have it ladies and gentlemen, as this will most likely be the opening day lineup for the 2008 Mets.

I think if Clark can get a few key hits here today, he might make that jump to the 25 man roster. That might just be me hoping for Fernando Tatis to not make the team.

Raining in Memphis

The Mets will face the Chicago White Sox in the Civil Rights Game in Memphis at 5 p.m.

Unfortunately, the weather does not look like it wants to cooperate, as it is pouring in Memphis right now. John Maine is slated to take the mound for the Mets today.

Hopefully, they can get this game in, but if it's a sloppy field, I don't see how the teams would want to play in this final exhibition game before the season and risk someone getting hurt.

A song tribute to Ruben Gotay

Someone going by the name "The Gato" posted this in the comments for Gotay claimed by Braves, sung to the tune of Don McLean's hit "American Pie."

A long, long time ago…
I can still remember How Ho-Jo used to make me smile.
And I knew if he had his chance
Jose Reyes could make those people dance
And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while.
But march made me shiver With every trade Omar deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;Gotay couldn't take one more step.
I can't remember if I cried
When I heard about the waiver wire,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the Ruben Gotay died.

Hilarious. Becoming a Brave is equal to passing on for Mets fans. The phrase "You're dead to me," comes to mind.

I have never heard of such a public outcry over losing a backup infielder. He was obviously a fan favorite and it stings that much more that he went to a hated rival in the Mets division.

Updated: Why are the Mets in the Civil Rights Game?

The Mets have the honor of playing the Chicago White Sox in the 2008 Civil Rights Game on March 29th.

My question is simple. Why the Mets?

"The intent of the game is to embrace baseball's history of African-American players, as well as to generate interest for future black players," says its Wikipedia page. On MLB.com, the game is said to represent "a symbolic eternal torch commemorating the struggle for racial harmony near where the most painful obstacle had been thrown in its path."

So, in a nutshell, it's supposed to showcase and embrace the African-American community in baseball and attempt to raise awareness supporting baseball in those communities.

So who was the genius who chose the Mets?

On the 40-man roster, the Mets only have two African-American players. On the coaching staff, they also have two men from African-American descent. Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson on the field, Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel on the coaching staff.

In the 2006 Racial and Gender Report Card for Major League Baseball (PDF), it is noted that "A total of 40.5 percent of the players were Latino." For the Mets, it's a little more than that. On the 40-man roster, 19 players are from Latino descent.

The report also states that the drop in African-Americans in the sport since 1996 from 17 percent to 8 percent, as the percentage of Hispanic players increased during that period, from 20 percent to 29 percent.

African-American players make up 5 percent of the Mets roster. Latino players make up 47.5 percent.

If the Civil Rights Game is supposed to raise awareness for the African-American community, choosing the Mets probably wasn't the best move, as almost half of the team is Latino.

The only possible reason the Mets are in this game, that I can figure shows up later in the MLB article. It goes on to quote Omay Minaya as saying "Since the days of Jackie Robinson, baseball has been at the forefront of social change in this country, and this game is just another example that our sport understands the significance of paying the proper respect to such an important part of American history." Again, the Mets are tied to Jackie Robinson, not that it's a bad thing, but it just makes little sense to me.

So for a team that is comprised of nearly 50 percent of players from Latino descent while they are only 5 percent African-American, they were chosen to participate in a game promoting African-Americans in baseball.

That just doesn't make sense to me.

Postscript:
After seeing some of the reaction to this, I would like to talk about some things.

I'm not saying the Mets shouldn't be in this game and I'm also not saying that the civil rights movement didn't affect the Latino community. The way I read the articles about the game, it was primarily, if not exclusively, celebrating African-American and their perseverance and their effect on the game. It was also supposed to serve as a way to gain interest in baseball in the African-American community. For these reasons, I spoke primarily of that community and their role on this Mets team.

Randolph being the first African-American manager in New York is big, I understand that. He's a pretty good manager and I can live with all his different tendencies. No dissing on Randolph was meant by this post. Same goes for Manuel.

Also, I'm sure if I traced my roots back to Sicily and Italy, I'd be black too. The same could be said for more people than most people think.

Any way I look at it, I'm still glad the Mets are in this game, and it should be a nice experience for all involved.

Photo of the Day: El Duque

Orlando Hernandez seemingly locked up the fifth starter spot today with a five-inning, one run performance.

El Duque returned to his familiar high leg kick after spending most of spring working with a new delivery. As long as he can stay healthy and effective, I'll take it.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)