Mets Try to Put Final Pieces of Puzzle Together

The Mets finished last year on a very sour note.  They know it, and so does everyone else. 

However, it's a new year, and the some of the final spots in the bullpen are up for grabs, along with the last spot on the bench.  Most of the roster will remain the same, with a few newcomers sprinkled in.  Make no mistake about it, the expectations are high, and anything less than a World Series Championship would be a disappointment.

Here's how I project the final roster to shake out before they head north (Actually, the first series is in Miami against the Marlins, so technically they'd be going south).

 Starters:

C    Brian Schneider

1B  Carlos Delgado

2B  Luis Castillo

3B  David Wright

SS  Jose Reyes

LF   Moises Alou

CF  Carlos Beltran

RF  Ryan Church

Bench:

UT  Damion Easley

C    Ramon Castro

UT  Marlon Anderson

UT  Jose Valentin

OF  Endy Chavez

Starting Rotation

1.  Johan Santana

2.  Pedro Martinez

3.  John Maine

4.  Oliver Perez

5.  Orlando Hernandez

Bullpen

Closer—Billy Wagner

Set-up—Duaner Sanchez

Set-up—Aaron Heilman

Middle—Pedro Feliciano

Middle—Scott Schoenweis

Middle—Matt Wise

Middle—Jorge Sosa 

I believe Jose Valentin beats out Ruben Gotay because he has more versatility, having played the outfield and able to play all the infield positions.  Matt Wise wins the final bullpen spot because he signed a major league contract for about a million bucks.  

All of this is assuming Sanchez is healthy though, and considering he considers himself to be in the "best shape of his life", I'd say this is the 25 man roster.  The only thing that is not totally apparent from my above projection is that Ramon Castro is going to get a lot more playing time, particularly starts, than in the last two years.  Look for him to start about 70 or so games, trying to minimize Brian Schneider's lack of hitting prowess.