2009 Mets Opening Day roster [Official]

Here's the New York Mets 25-man roster heading into Opening Day.

• Brian Schneider, #23
• Ramon Castro, #11
  
• Carlos Delgado, #21
  
• Luis Castillo, #1
  
• Alex Cora, #3
  
• David Wright, #5
  
• Jose Reyes, #7
  
• Daniel Murphy, #28
  
• Fernando Tatis, #17
  
• Carlos Beltran, #15
  
• Ryan Church, #19
  
• Jeremy Reed, #18
  
• Marlon Anderson, #9
  
• Nick Evans*, #6
  

• Johan Santana, #57
  
• Mike Pelfrey, #34
  
• Oliver Perez, #46
  
• John Maine, #33
  
• Livan Hernandez*, #61
  
• Francisco Rodriguez, #75
  
• J.J. Putz, #22
  
• Sean Green, #48
  
• Darren O'Day, #36
  
• Bobby Parnell, #39
  
• Brian Stokes, #43
  
• Pedro Feliciano, #25
  

*Evans will be sent down when Livan Hernandez is activated for his first start.

Guerilla advertising

I have to give major props to Terence Kearns for having the guts to pull out a camera in a bathroom and snap this picture you see here on the right.

While at Citi Field, I decided to do a little guerilla advertising and leave my business cards in some prime places around the park. The best place I found was the top of the urinal.

Hope it worked. Anyone find this blog from those cards?

And well done, Terence. A man with a camera in the bathroom is a very bold move.

Things I found at Citi Field: Part 7 -- The skyline

The next in a series of photos and findings from Citi Field...

Out in the center field concourse is a collection of food stands. This is where Shake Shack and Blue Smoke are located. Above those concession stands is a memory from Shea Stadium: The New York City skyline, complete with red, white and blue ribbon over the World Trade Center towers.In front of me in this photo is Shake Shack and Blue Smoke. Directly behind me is what looks like will be a bar. To the left, behind me, is the taco stand. To my right, the kiddie field, dunk tank and Carvel.

Here is an up-close shot of the Mets logo, which is currently serving as my computer background image...
This is one of my favorite parts about the park.

Mets release three

Tony Armas Jr., Junior Spivey and Jose "The Stache" Valentin have all been released by the Mets.

Stache will be missed the most. He still wants to play, but it won't be long until Valentin is coaching a team at some level.

Things I found at Citi Field: Part 6 -- The outside

The next is a series of photos and findings from Citi Field...

The first thing you see when you pull up to the new stadium is, obviously, the outside. The light red brick and dark metal play nicely to invoke the feeling that this is not a new stadium, but one that is still beautiful after many years.

Here is the Citi Field sign that hangs between the left field entrance and the rotunda...And the one above the rotunda...

I entered the stadium through the left field entrance. If you do go in that way, this is what you are greeted with...Here is Johan Santana, up close...It's a very cool portrait, picking out different players from the Mets history. A nice upgrade from the hanging posters they had in Shea Stadium.

Game Recap: Mets 2 -- Orioles 1

A much, much better performance from Oliver Perez.

On The Mound
Perez made the start tonight for the Mets, his second since returning to the Mets after the World Baseball Classic. He turned out a much better performance than his first time around.

6 2-3 innings for Perez, who only allowed four hits and one walk. He struck out three. The sole run came from a Adam Jones solo home run that was hit very, very hard.

Extremely pleased by this start from Ollie. You can't ask for much more than this, especially from Perez who had been struggling lately.

J.J. Putz relieved Perez, pitching 1 1-3 innings. He allowed one hit. Bobby Parnell closed out the game, walking one and striking out one. He earned the save.

Both looked awesome. The bullpen will be much improved.

At The Plate
Mets tallied six hits, four for extra base hits.

Daniel Murphy went 2-4, hitting a solo home run, the first of the spring, for the Mets first run. He just missed out on a second home run with his double, as the ball was just two feet shy of clearing the fence.

Batting second, where he likely will hit most of the season, Murphy looked more than comfortable at the plate.

Fernando Tatis scored the winning run in the bottom of the 8th innings all on his own. He drove a pitch from Jim Johnson into the gap between center and left field. Motoring around the bases, he slid into third base as the ball skipped past thirdbaseman Scott Moore.

The ball skipped into the dugout, allowing Tatis to move up one base, to home and to score.

Well done, Fernando. Well done.

On Deck
The Mets will play the Florida Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium tomorrow night. The game will not be on TV.

Mets sign lefty reliever; Ohman signs with LA

The Mets have signed Ken Takahashi, a 39-year-old left handed reliever most recently with Toronto. Here are Takahashi stats from Japan.

Not the lefty I wanted, but better than nothing.

Meanwhile, Will Ohman signed a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Mets couldn't offer a minor league deal? I don't get that.

Live Blog: BAL @ NYM

The Baltimore Orioles will come to Tradition Field to take on the New York Mets. We'll be chatting all night, so come join the fun.

Livan officially No. 5; How the lineup will look

Two announcements regarding the Mets in '09 spilled from the mouth of Jerry Manuel today.

The big, but totally un-shocking, news out of Port St. Lucie today: Livan Hernandez is the Mets No. 5 starter.

Surprise, surprise.

More importantly, the lineup will likely look like this for most days, even against left-handed starters...

1. Jose Reyes
2. Daniel Murphy
3. David Wright
4. Carlos Delgado
5. Carlos Beltran
   
6. Ryan Church
7. Brian Schneider
8. Luis Castillo
9. Pitcher

According to Adam Rubin, Manuel likes this lineup because he wants speed (Castillo) in front of the pitcher for possible sacrifice bunts and likes the way Beltran hits right-handed. Murphy will bat second when he plays.

This goes back to a conversation Joe Janish and I had yesterday where we discussed the lineup possibilities. I had Wright batting either third or fifth, but Janish maintained you want your best hitter getting an AB in the first inning. Seems he will get his wish.

I like it. I posted a lineup before with Wright and Beltran switched. I think they're both great hitters and the team won't suffer if they were switched or not. It's probably better to get Wright an AB ASAP. So I can definetely live with this.

Things I found at Citi Field: Part 5 -- The apples

The next in a series of photos and findings from Citi Field...

The home run apple, probably the most debated topic about moving to a new stadium. I found them both, and they are both much, much larger than I imagined.

The old...And the new...
Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it in action. There was a home run hit, but they did not raise the apple in celebration.