I approve of the order (as I understand it), with Murphy batting second, Schneider 7th and Castillo 8th.

I think that Castillo - whom I dread seeing anywhere in the lineup - might draw a fair number of walks in the eighth position, which is all he really seems to want to do anyway. Helping to clear the pitcher's spot occasionally may be all we can expect out of him.

I also suspect that both Castillo and Schneider will be on relatively short leashes if they stink up the joint.

I support the possible signing of Sheffield.

Even if he's marginally more healthy than last year, and can reach the cutoff guy, his power/patience and RH bat would be a good fit in the 6 hole.

Yes, he's over the hill and an extreme a-hole, but its not like the Mets clubhouse is harmonious, anyway.

Sign him for the minimum, and glorify platoon him in right and left. If he comes out hitting, either bench Church or use Murphy as utility guy all over the place (3B, 2B, 1B, corners).

If he doesn't work out after a month, dump his azz.

Santana should bat 6th, Pelfrey 8th, Maine 9th, Ollie 5th, Livan Hernandez 7th

Tatis should be our closer due to his clutchness as well.

Pass on Manny (and never express one iota of interest).

Pursue Sheffield with great interest.

Typical Mets.

Sheffield will command approximately $24.5 million less this season than Manny.

sheff would help a lot

Not sure how I feel about Sheff. I think my feelings depend on his ability to accept a reduced role, i.e., platoon or bench. If he could really do that, then great.

NY Post says they are close to signing him, and are promising "significant playing time," whatever that means.

http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/ar...lose_to_s.html

I am very high on Daniel Murphy and don't want to see his time cut as a result. But my sense is that management feels the same way, and is more concerned about Ryan Church's performance.

Personally, I'd like to give Church and Murphy a chance to show that they're full-time players. But if that opportunity is still possible, then I see little down-side to signing Sheff. Maybe he could even spot Delgado at times?

I don't want him because his attitude is not commensurate with the role he will play. He will not be satisfied being a part-time player no matter what he says. One of the things I just read is he wants to come to the Mets to showcase himself for next year. Yeah he's going to be thrilled playing a few games a week. If he was just a bad guy, the signing would make a ton of sense. But he isn't just a bad guy, he's the worst.

I was really hoping the Phils would get him because I could see him killing them.

I know the Mets want a right-handed bat; if that wasn't such a concern, I would rather have Bonds.

I don't think Sheff has much left in the tank, but if you have to get him, you want the version that is motivated and playing for a contract.

And its not like the Mets clubhouse is that harmonious, anyway.

For $400K, seems like a no-brainer move to me. Bye bye, Marlon.

On the one hand it's hard to argue with $400k and him taking Marlon Anderson's waste of a roster spot. On the other hand Sheff is a liability defensively and this could wind up taking a lot of playing time away from Murphy/Church.

Comparing him to Marlon Anderson is illogical IMO. Anderson is a bench/role player. While his bat was suspect last year, he can field and he can run, two qualities you want from that kind of role player. Sheffield cannot field. He might still be OK running, that remains to be seen.

Sheffield would take Nick Evans' spot for now, and if they ultimately trade Sheffield for Anderson then one has to wonder why Anderson was on the team to begin with.

I don't get how a supposedly un-harmonious clubhouse = more reason to bring Sheffield in. First off, the clubhouse was fine last year after the manager was changed (supposedly). Secondly, if the clubhouse is a powder keg (which I don't believe it is), is bringing in a spark a good idea? Sheffield is going to hurt Dan Murphy and he is going to hurt Church with what I expect to be constant complaining about playing time.

The comment about Sheffield being "motivated" is kind of LOL. Sheffield has always been motivated. For himself. When he was in his prime, and wasn't making errors on purpose, a team could overlook that because his numbers were so good. At 40 years old, coming off a year hitting .220, and being required to play the field, I'm not so sure I want that.

I really wanted them to bring in Manny, and I am against Sheffield. That says something: either this is a truly atrocious move, or I really have no idea what I'm talking about.

The only way this takes substantial PT away from those two is if Sheffield produces (happy problem to have). Mets will not give Sheff 400 at-bats if he's not doing anything to help the team. Even Omar knows this.

Again, this is a zero risk move. If he doesn't fit in, or doesn't produce, he's gone. Mets have no substantial financial investment in him.

Mets love Murphy, and many within the organization aren't thrilled with Church. Church is what he is...a really solid 4th ofer who hits well vs. righties. He is exposed vs. lefties, and Sheff could potentially help there. Sheff also could potentially hedge against Murphy flopping (don't think it will happen, but never know).

I'd much rather have a 40 year healthy Sheff getting at-bats in the 6 hole than Tatis or Nick Evans (who is a borderline MLBer at this point anyway). Sheff may not have much more power than Tatis at this point, but his defensive value isn't much worse and pitchers still have to respect him.

Marlon Anderson is flotsam. Good luck to him in his future coaching endeavors.

sheffield's not a good fit for the mets, he's a rotten fielder and his bat is suspect. if he were willing to take a part-time role he'd be perfect, but i very much doubt that he is, so the mets have to pass. in a 250 AB, 100 game sort of role as a pinch hitter/lefty masher he'd do well, but i can't see him dropping to that.

Looks like it's a done deal. Let's hope Sheffield is okay with being a bench player.

If this somehow results in more Doc sightings around Citi Field, I will be pleased.

Hmmmm.

Jeez wh1t, that statement has already gotten me worried about when he'll go off.

This means anderson gets cut right? While I didn't think the fit would be a good one if he took playing time away from murphy/tatis/church, this deal can't be that bad, right? Let's see how he accepts a role position, though I guess we could get rid of him at early signs of trouble.

So much for thinking evans would be a bit closer when anderson got cut, but whatever.

This is the first I've heard about the clubhouse being "un-harmonious."

If Sheff can wholeheartedly accept his reduced role, he'll help. My money is that he will be a malcontent when he doesn't get enough AB's. However, it's an easy cut when that happens.

Evans is likely headed to Buffalo right now and then when Livan is due to pitch a decision will need to be made. We know Castro, Tatis & Cora are all safe on the bench. So it comes down to Anderson and Reed. If they send Reed to Buffalo then the only viable CF option to spell Beltran is Church.

This is a good point, if there was some way to guaranty that it was true. If Omar has said to himself "the minute this guy gets out of line he's on the bread line", then I'm OK with it. I don't have confidence in Omar though to jettison this guy before he does damage.

I don't get the stuff about Church. Before he got hurt last year, he was their best player. Unless there is some lingering medical concern, I do not know what the guy did to be held in such disregard.

I also don't get this "exposed versus LHP" thing. He hit lefties just fine last year until he got hurt, and wound up hitting .264 vs. LHP vs. .282 against RHP. Same HR ratio. Slightly lower slugging. His career splits are not terrible either to the point that one thinks OMG he has to platoon or be a 4th OF.

church is not that far above replacement against lefties and you have to figure he's usually sitting against the best ones, too.

I personally have always hated him, but I guess we gotta give him a chance. As long as he dosent cause any problems I am fine with it, also maybe he is that "fire" and leadership we might need(who knows?!!). But I think for the min contract he is worth it, if he does anything dumb he will just be dropped

Well he did cut Julio Franco despite his obvious infatuation with him at the time. So there is some sort of precedent here. However, I won't be holding my breath.

This was obviously a genius signing as now the Mets have a DH for all those away games during inter-league.