If i were Willie Randolph and/or Omar Minaya... (March Edition)

...this is what my 25 man roster would look like out of Spring Training:

Starting Pitchers:

1. Johan Santana (lefty)
2. Pedro Martinez (righty)
3. John Maine (righty)
4. Oliver Perez (lefty)
5. Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez (righty)

Bullpen:

6. Matt Wise (righty with a killer change-up)
7. Steve Register (righty who led all the minor leagues in saves last year)
8. Scott Schoenweiss (lefty innings eater/sometimes lefty specialist)
9. Pedro Feliciano (lefty specialist who can get righties out too)
10. Duaner Sanchez (righty set-up man with outstanding movement on his pitches, likely 8th inning guy)
11. Aaron Heilman (righty set-up man whose change-up neutralizes left-handed hitting, likely 7th inning guy)
12. Billy Wagner (lefty closer)

Starting Position Players:

13. Carlos Delgado (lefty, First Base)
14. Luis Castillo (switch hitter, Second Base)
15. David Wright (righty, Third Base)
16. Jose Reyes (switch hitter, Short Stop)
17. Angel Pagan (switch hitter, Left Field)
18. Carlos Beltran (switch hitter, Center Field)
19. Ryan Church (lefty, Right Field)
20. Brian Schneider (lefty, Catcher)

Bench:

21. Marlon Anderson (Lefty utility player)
22. Ramon Castro (Righty catcher)
23. Damien Easley (Righty utility player)
24. Endy Chavez (Lefty outfielder)
25. Jose Valentin (Switch-hitting but really a lefty utility player)

So as you can see, i would not start El Duque off in the bullpen (as many have suggested to make room for Mike Pefrey as the #5 starter), even though i am relatively ambivalent on this. If he is healthy enough to start the season off the DL, let Pelfrey start the year off in AAA, and he'll still get 20 starts this year with injuries and whatnot. If not, i think Pelfrey is the pitcher of the future for the Mets, and he'd be ready to start this year on the big club if not for Duque and his contract. I don't currently have a space for Jorge Sosa in my bullpen (i'd rather take Nelson Figueroa if a spot opens up, or even Ricardo Rincon), and i'm not sure if he's out of options or not, but regardless i may try and trade him for a Marcus Thames or a Tony Clark - a solid, right-handed backup first baseman who would, sadly, take Valentin's spot off the bench. I love the 'Stache, but his time may have come. In fact, pair him up with Sosa to sweeten the pot a little - he could certainly be an effective left-handed bat off the bench of many teams - the Mets just have a glut of younger, more versatile lefties (including 'may make the opening day roster if Valentin isn't ready' Ruben Gotay). But hey, this is all speculation, and if a backup 1B can't be acquired via trade, we may be in for another 'Stache-tastic year in Queens.

I like Register's stuff out of the 'pen, and he was a Rule V draft choice, which means if the Mets don't keep him on the roster all year, he can be offered back to the Rockies for $50,000, which they would most likely take. So, i advocate a spot for him the bullpen - plus, he puts the bullpen at a nice 4-3 righties to lefties balance.

The bench i'm pretty o.k. with - but i'm glad that Anderson Hernandez, Ben Johnson and Fernando Martinez are waiting in the wings when injury inevitably befalls one of our starters and a bench spot opens up. The aforementioned Gotay is out of options, so if he doesn't make the opening day roster, he may be gone by Opening Day, which upsets me because i like Ruben and think that his versatility as a switch-hitting infielder would be useful. It's really a coin-toss between he and Valentin for the final roster spot, and i'll be upset either way, unfortunately.

Angel Pagan will most likely make the team because of Alou's hernia surgery - plus, this guy earned in during Spring Training - he hustles out of the box and has been a hitting machine. However, i'm pretty sure he still has options, and may wind up at AAA for at least part of this season.

There are no easy decisions here, and i don't envy Minaya and Randolph right now. However, i think that their plan of "veterans, veterans, veterans" is a poor one, and would like to see the Pelfreys, Pagans and Gotays get their shot to make the club, but who knows. I think once a month i'll be doing a "If i were Willie Randolph and/or Omar Minaya" column, so you non-baseball fans, get ready...