Meet the 2002 Mets

After a busy off-season and a long Spring Training, the 2002 Mets are ready to go to war. MBTN officially welcomes the following new Mets to the All-time Numerical Roster:
John Valentin 4
Roberto Alomar 12
Satoru Komiyama 17
Jeff D’Amico 18
Gary Matthews Jr. 25
Pedro Astacio 34
David Weathers 35
Kane Davis 48
Mark Guthrie 53
Shawn Estes 55
And we welcome back Roger Cedeno 19 and Jeromy Burnitz 20. Let’s Go Mets!

Changes and Updates

Thanks to help from MBTN readers and researchers, we’ve made some changes to the all-time roster:

Dave Roberts wore No. 15 in 1981, NOT 34 as reported here (thanks Ed).

Amos Otis wore No. 28 in 1967 (previously unreported here … thanks, KC)

Dyar Miller was issued 56 in 1980. It is unclear to us whether he appeared in a game wearing that number, however; we do know he wore No. 49 as of Aug. 9 of that year. If you have scoresheets for games Dyar Miller appeared in prior to August 9, 1980 please let us know. (Thanks, Jack & Ed).

From St. Lucie

35Once again, the December press conference proves an unreliable barometer. From a Spring Training workout, here’s some obvious hint David Weathers will wear No. 35, the same jersey issued to Mark Guthrie in December. Well, they worked it out: Guthrie is wearing 53 — the first since Eric Hillman all those years ago.

Sayonara!

The Mets pulled yet another trade Sunday (and promised more), sending Tsuyoshi Shinjo 5 andDesi Relaford 8 to San Francisco in exchange for lefty starter Shawn Estes. This trade hurts, since we’ll miss Shinjo-san’s flair, style and gigantic orange sweatbands. Estes by the way wore No. 55 with the Giants — should he remain with the Mets through the end of the week (no sure bet anymore) the number would be available, having not been worn since Orel Hershiser in 1999.

Product 19

The Mets Thursday signed X-Met Roger Cedeno to a four-year contract, creating not only a logjam in the outfield but a potential controversy over No. 19. That jersey currently belongs to Lenny Harris,himself as two time Met. Harris occupied No. 19 before Cedeno (1998) and after him (2000-present). On Friday, the Mets traded David Justice to Oakland for Mark Guthrie — who wore No. 19 with the A’s! We’ll keep you updated on this breaking controversy.

Also on Thursday, the Mets created another possible conflict by signing David Weathers to a contract. The ex-Cub, ex-Yankee and ex-Brewer is most often seen wearing No. 49, digits currently belonging to Armando Benitez.

Trader Steve Strikes Again

The Mets today pulled a shocking trade for Tribe second baseman Roberto Alomar, giving up outfielders Matt Lawton 23, Alex Escobar 25 and pitcher Jerrod Riggan 38. Alomar’s familiar No. 12 is available. The Mets also received a minor league outfielder and lefty pitcher Mike Bascik, who wore 51 briefly with the Indians last year. Those digits currently belong to Rick White.

Goodbye, Robin. Hello Batman?

In a move showing mucho cojones, the Mets swapped Robin Ventura to the Yankees today forDave Justice. We’ll miss No. 4 who was a tough guy fallen on hard times. Should Justice actually suit up for the Mets, the No. 28 he wore with the cross-town bums is available. Most likely, this is only the first domino falling for the Mets — stay tuned!

Komiyama Over

The Mets signed Japanese League veteran righthander Satoru Komiyama, late of the Yokohama BayStars and Bobby Valentine’s former Chiba Lotte team. After some dogged Internet research, we’ve determined that Komiyama favors No. 27, most recently worn by Mark Corey. In other news, the Mets have re-upped No. 47, Super Joe McEwing, and picked up the option on No. 5, Tsuyoshi Shinjo.