So the Mets yesterday interestingly if somewhat cruelly relegated Aaron Heilman to the bullpen and hope to make a 5th starter out of rookie Brian Bannister. The debate this raises, of course, is whether Bannister ought to also be afforded a dignified uniform number signifying his ascension. Bannister is wearing No. 61 currently. There are historical precedents for any outcome: When Dwight Gooden earned a roster spot in 1984, he went from 64 to 16; but when Eric Valent unexpectedly made the 2004 Mets, he kept his St. Lucified 57.
Should Bannister wish to pay tribute to his dad Floyd, a cursory check through the baseball cards reveals he wore Nos. 19 and 38 in his career: Neither is available except in the case Heath Bell fails to make the roster or is traded — both possibilities we’ve read in the last week. Perhaps too, numbers don’t matter particularly to Bannister: It appears he wore 25 in Binghamton and 43 at Norfolk; 17 with Team USA and oddly, 3 at USC.
In other news it appears that Anderson Hernandez 1 will get the starting job at second base: Whether he won a competition, or is there to stay, are matters of debate.
Turns out our efforts to confirm Jose Santiago’s uni number were worthless — it appears the Mets either never invited him back and/or actually did then quietly released him before the spring.
More updates and intrigue from St. Lucie: Weepy veteran Bret Boone yesterday turned in his No. 9 jersey and retired. As pictured at left, Chad Bradford was spotted wearing 53, not 35 he was initially issued: That makes sense given his previous stops in Boston and Oakland, but it means a change for coach Jerry Manuel — only to what we’re not sure (thanks Matt for the photo). Readers also checked in with their best guesses as to Jose Santiago’s elusive jersey number: Using the process of elimination, one enterprising guy guessed either 52 (though we wouldn’t be surprised if Manuel shows up with that one now) or 87 — all others with the exceptions of 8, 24, 31 and 69 have been issued, with three of those numbers in semi-hibernation. One possibility we’ve realized by now is Santiago in the 35 we previously thought belonged to Bradford.