The Mets have announced their line-up for their first game of the 2011 season against the Flordia Marlins tomorrow:

1. Jose Reyes – SS
2. Willie Harris – LF
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Carlos Beltran – RF
5. Angel Pagan – CF
6. Ike Davis – 1B
7. Brad Emaus – 2B
8. Josh Thole – C
9. Mike Pelfrey – P

I had a few ideas of what the Opening Day line-up might look like, but none of them looked like this. I guess Terry Collins' thinking here is that Pagan has more extra base power than Harris, so he wants to put him in the middle of the order to drive more runs in. Not too sure if a agree with it, but I still like this line-up. 

The Mets team is going to be able to go up against any other team in the league and give them a hard time. The Mets by no means have a bad baseball team. They just have a lot of question marks. If everyone can stay healthy and they put up the number we're use to seeing, than this could be a playoff team. I just don't know if that is going to happen though. 

So I did my first projection of what the Mets 25-man roster might look like about a month before Spring Training. Now that Spring Training has been underway for about a week, it's time to update what the roster for the Mets on Opening Day might look like.

Starting Line-Up:

1. Jose Reyes (S) – SS
2. Angel Pagan (S) – CF
3. David Wright (R) – 3B
4. Carlos Beltran (S) – RF
5. Ike Davis (L) – 1B
6. Jason Bay (R) – LF
7. Daniel Murphy (L) – 2B
8. Josh Thole (L) – C

Bench:

• Mike Nickeas (R) – C (just for the first eight games, then Ronny Paulino's suspension will be over and he will be added to the roster)
• Brad Emaus (R) – IF
• Nick Evans (R)  – 1B/OF
• Willie Harris (L) – OF
• Scott Hairston (R) – OF

Starting Rotation:

1. Mike Pelfrey (R)
2. R.A. Dickey (KB)
3. Jon Niese (L)
4. Chris Young (R)
5. Chris Capuano (L)

Rotation:

• Francisco Rodriguez (R) – CL
• Bobby Parnell (R) – SU
• Taylor Buchholz (R) – SU
• D.J. Carrasco (R) – RH
• Tim Byrdak (L) – LH
• Pedro Beato (R) – RH
• Pat Misch (L) – LR

Jason Isringhausen has a shot to make this team over Beato, but the Mets need to see more from him before they make a decision on whether he will be on the roster or not.

The NL East is one of the most talented divisions in baseball. So now it's time to look at who the best players at each position are, and what the 25-man roster of NL East would look like:

Rotation:

1. Roy Halladay – PHI
2. Cliff Lee – PHI
3. Josh Johnson – FLA
4. Tim Hudson – ATL
5. Cole Hamels – PHI

Johan Santana and Stephen Strasburg would both be on this list when healthy.

Line-up:

1. CF: Shane Victorino – PHI
2. RF: Jason Heyward – ATL
3. SS: Hanley Ramirez – FLA
4. 1B: Ryan Howard – PHI
5. 3B: David Wright – NYM
6. 2B: Chase Utley – PHI
7. C: Brian McCann – ATL
8. LF: Jason Bay – NYM

Bench:

IF: Jose Reyes – NYM
IF: Ryan Zimmerman – WAS
OF: Carlos Beltran – NYM
OF: Jayson Werth – WAS
C: Carlos Ruiz – PHI

Bullpen:

CL: Francisco Rodriguez – NYM
SU: Brad Lidge – PHI
SU: Leo Nunez – FLA
RH: Craig Kimbrel – ATL
RH: Peter Moylan – ATL
LH: Jonny Venters – ATL
LR: Ryan Madson – PHI

So what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with any of the choices? Let us know in the comment section.

Andy Martino reports that Carlos Beltran's agent Scott Boras believes that his client is an outfielder, not a DH.

“Carlos Beltran is a great athlete, and I find it hard to believe that there would be three outfielders on a major league team that would match Carlos on a level to suggest he would be DH. The idea of him being an everyday player (in the outfield) is what we have in mind.” – Scott Boras

Beltran will be a free agent at the end of the year and could potentially go to the American League (where he could be a DH) if the Mets and the rest of the National League pass on him.

I don't say this much but I… agree with Scott Boras. Beltran is an outfielder. Not only that, he is STILL one of the best all around outfielders in baseball.

If Beltran is healthy and performing at the level he should be, he is easily top five outfielders in the game. Because of his knee injury he will be starting the season in right field but I wouldn't be shock if hes able to be center field next season. I wouldn't even be surprised if he played some this year. 

With Spring Training 2011 underway and the potential roster starting to take form, I thought it would be nice to take a look back at the guys who were which the team last season, and won't be here this year. 

Two guys who we are use to seeing every year down in PSL, Pedro Feliciano and John Maine, are no longer here. Feliciano signed a two-year deal with the New York Yankees, and Maine agreed to a minor-league contract with the Colorado Rockies. Maine spent the last five seasons in a Mets uniform, while Feliciano has never worn a different jersey other than the Mets (not counting WBC) during his major league career that started back in 2002. I have fond memories of the both of them and wish them luck in the upcoming season. 

There are others who will not be joining the Mets in 2011; Hisanori Takahashi (Angels), Sean Green (Brewers), Raul Valdes (Cardinals), Rod Barajas (Dodgers), Henry Blanco (Diamondbacks), Mike Hessman (Orix Buffaloes, Japan), Fernando Tatis (free agent), Fernando Nieve (Pirates) Chris Carter (Rays), Jeff Francoeur (Royals) and Alex Cora (Nationals). I know I'm probably forgetting a few others, but these are all the players I can't of right now. 

For me, and probably most other Mets fan, we will miss Feliciano the most out of these guys. He played here for eight seasons and was one of the best non-closer relief pitchers in Mets history. 

I feel bad for Maine because of all the injuries he had to deal with and I always liked the guy. He was always very hard on himself (almost to a depressing point), and he was always looking for ways to improve. 

Hisanori Takahashi had a very good season with the Mets and they just didn't have the money or the ability to make a better deal than the Angels did. 

Raul Valdes was always an interesting story. A guy who was barely invited to Spring Training, has a wacky delivery to the plate, and his stuff doesn't look that great. However, he was able to get hitter out and he came in and had some really nice performances for the Mets in 2010. Now he is with the Cardinals and has a chance to be a starter after Adam Wainwright went down, but as Ken Rosenthal reports a scout says he has "no out pitch, no separator." I could have told you that, and that statement would have been true last year as well. But he still got people out somehow. 

I also feel bad for Mike Hessman. The guy is a major league hitter, there is no doubt. He just doesn't have a position to play. If he was given a chance in the American League I think he would make a good DH, but apparently no one was willing to take that risk. I feel like he just got frustrated being keep in the minors all these years and just went to Japan to escape it. 

Henry Blanco was another guy who did well in his role with the Mets. He was a good back-up catcher and did what the team asked him to do. I could have seen the Mets brining him back for the 2011 season, but Ronnie Paulino, was the better choice, even if he is missing the start of the season. 

I wasn't happy with the contract that the Mets gave to Fernando Tatis for the 2010 season. Yes, he did good things for the team in 2008 and 2009, but he didn't deserve a $1.7M contract. Injuries forced him to missed most of the 2010 season, but even when he did play it wasn't pretty (.185 AVG, .254 OBP). I feel the same way about him and Maine; thanks for everything, but it's time to move on. 

Jeff Francoeur, Alex Cora, Rod Barajas and Fernando Nieve were all guys who played for the Mets in 2010 but were either traded or released during the year.

The guy who was most hard to let go, for me, was Cora. Sure he didn't play everyday and was the best player out there, but he was a leader in the clubhouse (or so we're told) and gave everything he got when he play (often playing injured).

Francoeur was a fan favorite and has all the tools to be a very solid major league player. He just didn't fit into the Mets plans, and Angel Pagan was the clear better option in right field when Carlos Beltran came back. He was traded to the Rangers were he got a chance to play in the World Series, which was great for him. In the offseason he signed a one-year deal worth $2.5M with the Royals.

Barajas was another guy who did well but he didn't fit into the Mets plans in 2011. With Josh Thole ready to take over the starting role, Barajas was just blocking him from getting some much needed playing time. He was traded to the Dodgers and was re-signed to a one-year deal in the offseason.

Nieve had some good appearances in 2009 for the Mets but 2010 just wasn't the same. He was DFA'd but the Mets in July and finished the year in AAA. He signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in the offseason and is fighting for a spot on the roster in spring Training now. 

Chris Carter signing with the Tampa Bay Rays might haven't been a big deal for most Mets fans, but he's a guy I think this team will most a lot. For me, this guy IS a baseball player. Now obviously, all these guys are baseball players, but what I mean by that is he is the type of player who lives and breathes for baseball. Everything he does is baseball. He goes out there and plays every second like it might be his last. And when he is playing in a game, he is working on becoming a better player. The nickname "The Animal" couldn't be better for him. I have a theory about baseball players. There are some guys who are just born to play baseball. They have the talent and it just comes to them. Then there are other guys who aren't born to play, but work their ass of to become baseball players. It seems to me these guys are Daniel Murphy, David Eckstein, Cora and Carter. I feel like if Carter had been on this team and had a chance to play in Spring Training he would have found a way to make the team and would have had a positive impact on the 2011 season. 

So who are you going to miss the most? I'm not going to put Feliciano in the poll because I feel like that's the obvious choice. Also, I might be missing a few guys, so I'll put an "other" option and in the comment section you can write about that player.