In the Mets’ spring training contest against the Nationals on Saturday afternoon, Chris Capuano threw 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball. His outing included 6 ground ball outs, 3 flyouts, and 5 strikeouts; he allowed only 3 hits and walked none. We don’t put too much emphasis on the numbers in the spring, but the bottom line is that he had good command of his pitches, changed speeds well, and overall looked like he could pitch in a regular MLB game and do well.

On the other hand, there was

It’s been almost three weeks since we mentioned Bernie Madoff here — that’s a 2011 record!

But in case you missed it, you ought to be aware that Irving Picard has amended his lawsuit against Sterling Equities, Fred Wilpon, and Saul Katz — he is now seeking over one billion dollars from them on behalf of the victims of Madoff’s ponzi scheme.

With the release of Luis Castillo, Mets first-base coach Mookie Wilson will reclaim uniform #1.

Regardless of what number was on his back, he was always #1 in the hearts of Mets fans.

Looking forward to seeing “The Mook” in his old number again.

The Onion has good news to report about Carlos Beltran:

In addition to the release of Luis Castillo yesterday, the Mets also assigned Dillon Gee, Boof Bonser, Ryota Igarashi, Taylor Tankersley, Raul Chavez, Dusty Ryan, Russ Adams, and Jason Pridie to minor-league camp.

No surprise about

There are several reasons Luis Castillo was released by the Mets:

In case you are just crawling out from under your rock, Luis Castillo was released by the Mets on Friday afternoon. Soon after, Mets fans were dancing in the streets.

What I don’t get is why Castillo hung around this long. Further, why he was asked to report to Port St. Lucie in the first place, taking reps and at-bats from Brad Emaus, Dan Murphy, and Justin Turner. Further,why was Castillo the one dismissed from auditions first?

Here’s my point: if Castillo was