nysports

Here is my projections for the New York Mets 2009 Roster with Lineup and Pitching Rotation included:

Starting Pitchers (5)

1 - Johan Santana
2 - Mike Pelfrey
3 - John Maine
4 - Unsigned Free Agent (Garland, Perez or Sheets)
5 - Freddy Garcia

Bullpen (7)

Closer - Francisco Rodriguez
Setup - JJ Putz
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Tim Redding
Sean Green
Casey Fossum

Catchers (2)

Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro

Infielders (6)

Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
Jose Reyes
David Wright
Alex Cora
Marlon Anderson

Outfielders (5)

Ryan Church
Carlos Beltran
Fernando Tatis
Jeremy Reed
Daniel Murphy

Side Notes:   Cory Sullivan could replace either Daniel Murphy or Jeremy Reed, as they are basically all the same player.  Angel Pagan deserves mention for a spot as well.

Jonathan Niese could compete for the 5th spot in the rotation, along with Freddy Garcia and Tim Redding.  If Garcia or Niese win the spot, Redding is in the bullpen.  However, if Redding wins the spot, look for either Conor Robertson, Eddie Kunz, Bobby Parnell or Brian Stokes to compete for the remaining bullpen spot. 

 It’s also worth noting that Casey Fossum’s spot in the pen is not locked, and could be replaced by any of the players above.

The starting lineup on opening day should look like this:

1 - Reyes - SS
2 - Castillo - 2B
3 - Wright - 3B
4 - Beltran - CF
5 - Delgado - 1B
6 - Church - RF
7 - Tatis - LF
8 - Schneider - C

Church and Tatis could be interchangable between the 6th and 7th spots in the batting order.  Tatis should see a lot more playing time than we realize as other than Wright, he is the only other true Right Handed Bat in the lineup.

Man, the Mets really could use Manny.