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Well, they stumped me. I think that I know the team pretty well but when I saw today's pitchers, one name stood out: Roydrick Merritt. http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/2009/01/12/40-roy-roydrick-merritt/ I don't know who he is. Is anybody familiar with his work?

Jeter is with Wright, who played a meaningless game after hurting his toe on the day after he drove in the winning runs, but Jeter is the beacon. Pathetic.

There was a good article on O'Day in yesterday's [u:29eb9e379d]Times[/u:29eb9e379d]: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/sports/baseball/19mets.html?ref=baseball Smart guy.

Alex Cora played. Carlos and Carlos will be back in the lineup on Sunday.

The above picture, Alex kissing his one true love, should become the definitive A-Rod picture.

Edgy, you've raised the bar for posting lineups. I won't be able to cut and paste from Rubin's blog any longer. Nicely done.

Edgy, your points are valid. Even the quotes from Olney should that there are writers who support the WBC. My opinion is that it's better for the Mets, as a whole, if their players are wearing blue & orange, rather than other colors.

From Buster Olney, today: 1. Matt Lindstrom has a strained rotator cuff, as Clark Spencer writes. This is already being viewed by some talent evaluators as a classic WBC injury, because Lindstrom was pitching at a heightened intensity level for which his body may not have been prepared, in mid-March. Whether or not that's fair criticism is another question, entirely. It is bad news for the Marlins no matter how you slice it, says the Florida GM. Chipper Jones has some harsh words about the WBC, as David O'Brien writes. Bud Selig says the WBC is globalizing the sport, as Sean McAdam writes. The Mets are unhappy with how a couple of their pitchers have been handled in the WBC. Injuries happen in the WBC and everybody should just get used to that, writes Ken Davidoff. ------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/03/16/braves_chipper_jones.html

I read today that the Mets are upset about Ollie because there was no way that he would have thrown 85 pitches at this point of the ST season. There is also no way that F-Rod would be used for 4 outs (esp. twice in a row). Sure, crap happens (e.g. Tom Martin), but the WBC takes players away from the norms of ST and puts them in a highly-competitive situation when they are not physically ready. Hold the darn thing in November and I'll be yelling "USA! USA!", but for now, I want our guys home.

D-Wright gets knocked in the head, Ollie throws 85 pitches and F-Rod gets 4 out saves twice in three days. (Other teams, esp. Florida, have their own WBC-related problems.) I'm so sick of this tournament and want our guys "home." I want the USA to win tonight because Puerto Rico has five Mets and the USA has just two (Wright, Putz) so a USA win brings Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Alex Cora, Pedro Feliciano and Nelson Figueroa back to the (comparative) safety of Mets camp.

"Why did I sign with the Nationals?" Tavarez said told a group of reporters. "When you go to a club at 4 in the morning, and you're just waiting, waiting, a 600-pounder looks like J. Lo. And to me this is Jennifer Lopez right here. It's 4 in the morning. Too much to drink. So, Nationals: Jennifer Lopez to me."

There's still plenty of time to sort this out: the Mets have 18 practice games left. This ST season is so long that it should have an all-star break.

Maine got his last 9 hitters so maybe he figured something out. Connor Robertson has pitched well, though he has no chance of making the team.

4 runs in the bottom of the first off Maine. Is it still too early to worry?

Nicely put FK: wouldn't the mere aura of Derek Jeter, and all that Jeter-ness, have overcome any void left by the absence of a manager that the players barely know?

Now that Manny Ramirez has signed a contract, Jon Heyman can stop being a pipeline for stories that help Scott Boras' client and return to being a prick. Tonight, he goes after Davey Johnson for skipping Friday's Team USA practice and almost missing tonight's game for his stepson's wedding: "U.S. manager Davey Johnson rushed back from his stepson's wedding across the state in St. Petersburg in time to catch Peavy's act, and the rest of his lame team's performance. It was Johnson who urged the group several days ago to commit fully to the team, and not treat it like an exhibition. You have to wonder whether any of that message was lost in translation when John[son] missed Friday's practice presumably for the rehearsal dinner, and was slated to be replaced on Saturday by coach Barry Larkin, the former great Reds player. Johnson was said to have "hustled'' back to the WBC, but his surprising early appearance didn't exactly inspire anyone." http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_heyman/03/14/usa.routed.by.puerto.rico/index.html

Just got a tweet from the Post's Mets guy: Redding has been shut down PORT ST. LUCIE -- The Mets have shut down fifth-starter candidate Tim Redding for what could be a significant amount of time due to what GM Omar Minaya described this morning as weakness in Redding's right shoulder.

Adam Rubin has projected the Opening Day roster. He thinks that Livan will be called up when needed which creates an opening on the bench. I put Keilty in the Evans spot from the start and either O'Day or Cherry instead of Parnell as the Mets keep one of the Rule V guys. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starters: Brian Schneider, c Carlos Delgado, 1b Luis Castillo, 2b David Wright, 3b Jose Reyes, ss Daniel Murphy, lf Carlos Beltran, cf Ryan Church, rf Rotation: Johan Santana, lhp Mike Pelfrey, rhp Oliver Perez, lhp John Maine, rhp Bench: Ramon Castro, c Alex Cora, if Fernando Tatis, if/of Marlon Anderson, of Jeremy Reed, of Nick Evans, 1b/of Bullpen: Francisco Rodriguez, rhp J.J. Putz, rhp Sean Green, rhp Pedro Feliciano, lhp Brian Stokes, rhp Bobby Parnell, rhp Tim Redding, rhp Note: Livan Hernandez is the fifth starter, but because he's on a minor-league contract, the team will be able to wait to purchase his contract until Game 5 or 6, when they want to first use him. That would allow Evans to be on the bench as a righty bat for the first week. Why Evans and not Bobby Kielty? Evans can be optioned to the minors and is already on the 40-man roster; Kielty would need to clear waivers once being added to the 40-man roster.

With leaders like C. Jones and D. Jeter, how can Team USA lose? http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090310&content_id=3959616&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Well, Jose will be back in PSL in a few days.

Top of the 9th--Evans doubles, Murphy singles him home to tie it.

Maine's gonna go off again after the game--he just gave up a 3 run HR. It's 5-0.

Farewell Duaner. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2009/03/breaking-news-sanchez-released.html

I'm sorry to see this from Duaner, not just from a Mets perspective but personally--he was nice to me and the other Fantasy Campers. The reality is that The Mets will save a million dollars if they release him and have two Rule V guys they have to keep in the majors or return.

If Jeter was as great as MFY fans and the media says he is, then he should play BOTH SS and 3B until Rodriguez gets back.