New year and still no sign of what digits our newly arriving Mets will alight in.

A few years back you could at least count on the annual Mets Caravan providing revealing if ultimately inaccurate glimpses of the team wearing their unis for the first time. Perhaps the crumbling economy will again make this a necessary rite of winter but we could be looking at Spring Training before we know what we’ll be getting. The “official” Mets roster at mlb.com doesn’t even list an assignment for JJ Putz.

Of course, it’s also January already and a lack of clearly identifying players goes well beyond the jersey stage for the Mets. As I’ve said before, I’d sure prefer they’d make a deal with Oliver Perez over Derek Lowe. Not that the latter is so bad and the former so great, but that devil-you-know thing. I also wonder what it says about Lowe that neither Los Angeles nor Boston are in on this bidding. At any rate the Mets do seem to be reassuringly cognizant of their penchant to give away too many years per contract, so I guess we gotta be patient.

Also allegedly coming in February: MBTN.net’s 10th Anniversary Spectacular. In the meantime, do your duty as an American and vote for my friend and neighbor, MetsGrrrl, in this contest.