LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY...

Opening Day, April 3, is now less than two weeks away. Still lots of question marks - either Pedro Martinez* or Tom Glavine could make that Opening Day start, with a decision not likely for another week and a half. Former shortstop Anderson Hernandez might be the starting second baseman, but who knows with that position. And there's an interesting battle brewing at the bottom of the rotation. Both Brian Bannister and Aaron Heilman have been lights out this spring. Bannister says he came into spring training expecting to be in the minors, and is just happy to be able to show what he's got. Heilman is fighting to get back in the rotation, after being absolutely awesome out of the bullpen last year. Heilman will be the fifth starter - I'm sure of that. But Bannister will be right behind him. This is good news and bad news. It's good, because all of a sudden, the Mets have a little more depth in the pitching staff than we all thought when Jae Seo and Kris Benson were traded. It's bad because we might not see Bannister until someone gets hurt this year, and with Martinez*, Glavine, Trachsel, and Zambrano, I'm going to bet that one of those guys spends some time on the DL.

NEW LOOK: I forgot to mention this the other day, but as part of the new look of johnnymets.blogspot.com, there will be a METS-FAN-O-METER. The METS-FAN-O-METER will appear in the top right corner of your page, under the "About Me" part, and will chronicle how Mets fans feel about the team on a daily basis (and by Mets fans, I mean, me). For now, there's the picture of Glavine and Benson, on a trial run, and because they look so much alike.

PROMISES, PROMISES: Yesterday I said I'd be posting my picks for the year. That will come later this week. I also promised a couple of pictures in earlier postings...here they are:

From a week or so ago, the ESPN The Magazine with "Franchise Player" David Wright on the cover. But also promised, in that same writing (the blog, not the magazine) a look at the world's newest Mets fan - due September 30th: