With Cliff Floyd's departure to Chicago, it may be interesting to see whether Willie Randolph alights in the now-vacant No. 30 or stays with the 12 he's worn as a Met player and manager (in his playing days, 30 belonged to Mel Stottlemeyer; Willie was 30 with the MF Yankees most of his career).

Alert MBTN reader Richard informs us that Mets.com is offering the Jose Valentin jersey in No. 22 -- the switch from 18 we expected following the Moises Alou signing earlier this off-season.

Hello to new arrivals and/or spring auditionees Scott Schoeneweis, Aaron Sele, Jorge Sosa and David Newhan.

While Schoeneweis falls one letter short of the all-time Met record for characters on a name plate (ISRINGHAUSEN, with 12 still leads the pack), if his form holds true the veteran loogy would become the first player in Met history to wear No. 60. We're kind of shocked to see him get a three-year contract.

The well traveled Sele, who signed a minor-league deal, has worn 30, 34, and last year with Los Angeles, 41. Sosa, who was pretty good for the Braves in '05 and horrendous with them last year, is yet another former No. 34. We last saw the 34 jersey on Mike Pelfrey, who just might make the starting rotation.

Newhan, often described as a Joe McEwing type,  wore No. 11 with the Orioles, as McEwing had in his last years as a Met. Eleven currently belongs to reserve catcher Ramon Castro, who was re-signed recently along with Endy Chavez 10; Duaner Sanchez 50; and, to another minor-league deal, the immortal Mike DiFelice.

For the second winter in a row, the Mets traded a soft-tossing starter who wore No. 40 for a hard-throwing young reliever who wears No. 50. While last year it was Jae Seo to Los Angeles for Duaner Sanchez, this time it's Brian Bannister  to Kansas City in exchange for Ambiorix Burgos. (Yes, we know Seo's turn in No. 40 was a few changes ago, but we couldn't resist all the spooky parallels). We'll wish good luck to Bannister, who showed a lot of heart in an unexpected rookie campaign with the Mets, and hope that Burgos can cut down on those home runs allowed and wild pitches.

The Winter Meetings also brought word that ex-Met Howard Johnson would serve as the first-base coach next season, with Sandy Alomar crossing the diamond to third base to take the place of the departed Manny Acta. We'll be watching to see which jersey Hojo turns up in, noting that his former No. 20 belongs today to outfielder Shawn Green.

More NUmbers Confirmed: Thanks again to Gordon, who mailed along a scan of a scorecard from the opening series of the 1977 season including the listing of Ray Sadecki wearing No. 33. While this number wasn't especially difficult to remember (that Sadecki wore 33 is in fact about the only thing we can recall of the guy) finding independent confirmation was a bit ornery and so we're thankful to have it. 

Fewer than 10 mysteries remain on our list of unconfirmed numbers -- if you come across old scorecards, dated photos, videos, etc. you think might be of use, please send it in!

Thanks to eBay fiends Gordon, Pete and Jason who all shot us a copy of a Cubs scorecard up for bid on E-bay from the final series of the 1973 season, confirming long-held suspicions that Bob L. Miller wore No. 30 in his second go-round with the Mets. Miller was an original 1962 Met and the team's first wearer of the No. 24 jersey but was cashiered after a 1-12 season for what one writer cracked was "half an infield" -- Tim Harkness and Larry Burright -- only to go on to a pretty fair career as a reliever for eight more teams and 11 more years before returning to the Mets in a waiver deal for the final two weeks of the 1973 season. By then, his No. 24 belonged to Willie Mays. 

As the Winter Meetings begin and the possibility of seing the Mets' first-ever No. 75 are high, the Mets welcomed back Tom Glavine 47 and bid farewell to free agent Chris Woodward 4, Cliff Floyd 30, Steve Trachsel 29, Chad Bradford 53 and Roberto Hernandez 39. Of these men, we'll obviously miss Floyd most of all, whom we wouldn't have guessed would grow so Metly when he arrived in the Winter Meetings four years ago. The Mets are also expected to name a third-base coach shortly, seeing as Manny Acta 3 a few weeks back was named manager of the Washington Nationals. The Mets reportedly are considering Howard Johnson and Gary Carter, among others, to take Acta's role.

The Mets yesterday made the Anderson Hernandez promotion official, temporarily sending down lefty Dave Williams 32 to make room for him. Williams is expected to return in time for his next start. The recall comes in time to make Hernandez, who was dressed in No. 1, eligible for the postseason roster, along with the 12 other current position players and disablees Cliff Floyd 30 and Ramon Castro 11.

Having not called up recent signee Kelly Stinnett suggests the team is confident in Castro's return, though reports this morning say Stinnett's likely to be recalled now that rosters are exandable and Norfolk's season is winding to a close.

Many thanks to Bob F for the scorecard scan (pictured at right) confirming Dan Frisella wearing No. 29 during his brief stay with the 1969 Mets. A few minor errors have in the meantime been corrected on the roster page: Sherman "Roadblock" Jones' one appearance in No. 28; Kevin Michell's few weeks as No. 35, to name a few -- thanks as always, Jason.

Xavier Nady 22 returned from the disabled list on June 18, and Cliff Floyd 30 went onto it, retroactive until June 7 with an ankle sprain. Floyd returned on June 30 as Lastings Milledge 44 returned to Norfolk. These moves came in the midst of a calamitous roadtrip that proved to chew up and ultimately spit out chubby Met hurlers Alay Soler 59 and Heath Bell 19. Soler was replaced July 3 by John Maine 33 -- the next day, Bell was cashiered to Norfolk in exchange for designated clown Jose Lima 17. Seeing as Pedro Martinez 45 is most likely vacationing through the All-Star Break it's likely this week's stretch of games leading to the break could feature Lima... or perhaps, studly young draftee Mike Pelfrey.