With Opening Day only four days away, the Mets’ 25-man roster is set. Few, if any, surprises dot the list, though at least one individual may have been slighted.

Here are your 2009 New York Mets:

Pitching Staff

Rotation:
Johan Santana
Mike Pelfrey
Oliver Perez
John Maine
* Livan Hernandez

Bullpen:

Francisco Rodriguez
Joseph Jason Putz
Sean Green
Pedro Feliciano
Bobby Parnell
Brian Stokes
Darren O’Day

Catchers

Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro

Infield

1B Carlos Delgado
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
SS Jose Reyes
UTL Alex Cora

Outfield

Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Danny Murphy
Jeremy Reed
Fernando Tatis (UTL)
Marlon Anderson (1B / 2B)
* Nick Evans (1B)

(* – Livan Hernandez will join the roster on April 11th, presumably to replace Nick Evans)

Comments

There wasn’t any competition for the starting lineup positions, and four of the five rotation spots were earmarked, so much of the above is unsurprising. Livan Hernandez took hold of the fifth starter’s spot in the first week of spring training and never let go.

So the real mystery — if there was any — came in regard to the bullpen and the bench. Darren O’Day was a Rule 5 pick, and pitched well enough to earn a spot. I think he’ll be a sleeper coming out of the ‘pen. Brian Stokes was fairly effective in the spring, and was helped by the fact that most of the ST invites brought in to compete for bullpen spots were underwhelming at best. Stokes also is out of options, and likely would have been plucked by another team if waived. Similarly, Sean Green pitched well in March and was more or less a lock, as was Pedro Feliciano and the two closers. The only surprise is Bobby Parnell, who impressed by touching 97 MPH on the radar gun and posting a 2.19 ERA. I’m a little skeptical on carrying Parnell, due to the 9 walks he gave up in only 12 innings, and the long fly balls that resulted when his fastball veered chest high over the middle of the plate. Personally, I would’ve preferred to see Nelson Figueroa on the staff as a long man, especially after his excellent performance in the WBC. Apparently, facing some of the best hitters in the world in a playoff-like competition does not weigh as heavily as pitching against AA hitters in a spring training atmosphere. Go figure.

As for the bench, we knew that Alex Cora’s $2M contract guaranteed a spot, and Ramon Castro was similarly set. Marlon Anderson was also retained for financial reasons, though also out of respect, I surmise, because he didn’t hit very well. I’m OK with that, as I’m a huge fan of Marlon and believe he is a good clubhouse presence. But if he needs to hit to stick around — this situation is eerily similar to that of Julio Franco in 2007.

Tatis was a no-brainer for the bench after Dan Murphy was named the starting leftfielder. He’s an ideal guy to have around for his versatility and occasional pop. Reed was the best of the dozen or so light-hitting, defensive-minded, Endy Chavez replacements. I like Reed quite a bit and wonder why he’s not the one starting in LF, after hitting a blistering .418 with a .500 OBP in the spring. Talk all you want about Danny Murphy, but from what I saw, Jeremy Reed was the most impressive all-around outfield candidate in camp.

The Cuts

The demotion of Figueroa — and subsequent longer looks at schlubs such as Fernando Nieve and Elmer Dessens — was deplorable. What more did Figgy have to do this spring? If it weren’t such a wide open competition, it would be somewhat understandable. In 7 2/3 high-pressure innings, Figueroa gave up zero runs, struck out 6, and posted a 0.68 WHIP. The Mets are in need of a flexible guy in the bullpen — one who can handle both long and short duties — and Figgy fits the bill. Strange.

Tony Armas, Jr. was cut after pitching one scoreless inning. I thought for sure he would be assigned to AAA Buffalo; perhaps he eventually will.

Jose Valentin was also released, which was sad. If not for the guaranteed contract given to Cora, he might have had a chance. Like Armas, he may eventually be assigned to a minor league club — my guess is that the team will discuss with him a player-coach position in Buffalo, or a straight coaching job at a lower level.

Similarly, Andy Green was demoted quickly, despite invigorating an otherwise boring spring with heightened enthusiasm and hitting like crazy. He reminded me of Joe McEwing, during Superjoe’s heyday.

Freddy Garcia wasn’t in shape, and pitched poorly, but I believe and hope he builds himself up in the minors, as I have a funny feeling he’ll be needed at some point.

What happened to Eddie Kunz? Not a peep about him all spring.

Final Thoughts

No huge surprises, as the Mets’ roster was fairly set due to financial commitments. There is a concern that Pedro Feliciano is the only lefty coming out of the bullpen, but the LOOGYs brought in ranged from awful to ordinary, and it doesn’t make sense to carry a lefty for the sake of carrying a lefty.

On paper, the roster looks fairly solid up and down. Let the games begin.

The New York Mets refused to send me to Port St. Lucie this spring, and I’m still waiting for that big windfall of money that was supposed to come with the big change in our country’s leadership, so as a result game analysis is limited to televised contests.

The Mets won the game 9-zip for their second February win in as many tries, but we’re really not counting wins and losses in the spring — they mean very little. Instead, we’ll pick and choose bits and pieces of the game that are worth analyzing.

Oliver Perez

I’m LOVING Ollie’s mechanics. For the first time in a long time, Oliver Perez’s pitching motion is more front and back as opposed to side to side. In other words, he is (sort of) following a straight line toward home plate. This is a much more efficient motion — not according to me, but to Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

If you notice, Oliver Perez is now starting his windup by lifting his right foot straight back behind the rubber. It seems like a small maneuver, but it gets the back and forth thing initiated. Compare this to his windup of 2008, when he often started by moving his right foot toward third base. This first move got him going in a side-to-side motion, which eventually caused his front shoulder to fly open and his release point to be all over the place. Keep an eye on that right foot — it is the key to Ollie’s success.

Luis Castillo

He looked pretty good — physically he was in shape, he was running well, and he looked fairly confident at the plate. This idea of him batting leadoff, I’m sure, is simply Jerry Manuel’s way of boosting his confidence while also getting him as many game at-bats as possible to get going. When the real games begin, Castillo will hopefully find himself in his much more suited spot of #2.

Dillon Gee

This kid is highly hyped by team officials and is beloved by Brooklyn Cyclones fans, and he’s someone I would have liked to have seen live, from behind the plate. From the awful centerfield camera angle, there wasn’t much to see, though he looks to have solid mechanics and some downward movement on a below-average fastball (87-88 MPH). He only threw one inning, so it was hard to make a judgment one way or another. Hopefully we’ll see more of him.

Nelson Figueroa

Two hitless innings. His command looked a little off, but he battled. It’s going to be very difficult for Nelson to win a job with big names such as Livan Hernandez and Freddy Garcia in camp, and Tim Redding operating with a guaranteed contract. However, I’m rooting hard for him and hoping he can sneak his way onto the 25-man roster.

Andy Green

I think Andy Green came to bat sixteen times in this game. I like him as a ballplayer, but not sure why he’s in camp. There’s no room for him as long as Alex Cora and Fernando Tatis are around, though I suppose he has value as a backup if Cora gets injured.

Baserunning

The Mets, as a team, were especially aggressive and heady on the basepaths. Carlos Delgado took a rare extra base on a ball in the dirt, and Danny Murphy swiped third base by way of delayed steal. If slowpokes like Delgado and Murphy are going to be this aggressive during the year, it’s going to be an exciting season.

Hitting

Nearly all the Mets hitters showed good patience and strike zone judgment, and seemed focused on hitting the ball to the opposite field. Good things to see.

Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran appeared to be in a competition for the cleanup spot, with Reyes swatting two homers including a grand slam, and Beltran smashing a dinger of his own far into the palm trees beyond the left field fence.