We’re headed back to Buffalo for the Family Fun Day Open House at Coca-Cola Field tomorrow (Details: Click Here). Over the past week, we’ve been able to see first hand the impressive display many of the players made that have a chance to end up on the Mets opening day roster. The one that has made the biggest splash in St. Lucie has been Nick Evans, who by all accounts prior to camp starting was slated to be in Buffalo.

After making an immediate impact in his debut last May, he arrived to Spring Training on a mission and has continued the torrid pace all the while forcing Mets brass and manager Jerry Manuel to think about keeping him around for at least the first week of the regular season. Adam Rubin of the NY Daily News chronicles how Evans’ performance and perfect timing have worked in his favor. NY Daily News article: CLICK HERE!

Buffalo’s roster is also likely to pick up Jon Niese, Robinson Cancel, Casey Fossum, Jon Switzer, Connor Robertson, Kyle Snyder and Matt DeSalvo who were cut from big league camp.

If you haven’t been able to tune into our Sunday Season Preview Shows on WWKB-AM 1520 (5-6 pm): 1) Why? 2) You’ve missed some great information about who could be with Buffalo. Don’t worry though, they’re archived on Bisons.com and this Sunday we’ll have a lot of the fun from the ballpark and talk about the recent roster developments. Feel free to send your questions and comments to broadcast@bisons.com for this and future shows.

~ Ben Wagner

The Mets’ bats have jumped on the Astros early. How can Houston go 18 straight spring games without a win? That is some serious March Madness!

Two familiar faces are back in the clubhouse today as Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado arrived back at Spring Training but aren’t expected to play until next week.

They may have had the last laugh following news of David Wright’s injury in last nights meaningless World Baseball Classic game. I really hope NO team has to stomach a devastating injury by the time this thing wraps up. The pageantry of this event has been wonderful but a significant player shelved, on a contending club, would be terrible black eye.

~ Ben Wagner

The Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, opened their spring exhibition schedule with a 3-3 tie against New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins) in Port St. Lucie, FL.

The big knock came off the bat of C Salvador Paniagua, whose two-out RBI single tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Last season, Paniagua hit .248 with seven home runs and 19RBI in 45 games at Double-A Binghamton.

Other News & Notes

• The Bisons will play 11 games against affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins.
• The Bisons Family Day Open House is Saturday at Coca-Cola Field. READ MORE!
• There are just 22 days until the Bisons open the 2009 season on Thursday, April 9 against the Pawtucket Red Sox (3:05 p.m.). Tickets are now on-sale at bisons.com or by calling THE-HERD at (843-4373).
• Pretty cool stuff: David Wright’s game winning hit for Team USA last night is the talk of the baseball world and “The Dish” is part of the hype! MLB has made the Bisons blog 1-of-8 featured on the homepage.

~ Ben Wagner

No word when Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltan are scheduled to return to camp after David Wright‘s game winning single for Team USA sent Puerto Rico packing last night.

“I’m going to tell them to enjoy St. Lucie,” Wright said with a first-to-third smile. “The whole game we were kind of ribbing each other back and forth and it was good to be able to come out on top. That was a lot of fun.” – NY Post

That aside, I’ve enjoyed St. Lucie but I’m looking at it much differently than Delgado and Beltran must be. While Brad Bisbing and I have been pounding the keyboard over the past few days in Florida, I have also been corralling interviews with various scribes, scouts and baseball folk.

I took the liberty to break some of the conversations down and give you the meat and potatoes:
VP/AGM – Tony Bernazard CLICK HERE!
Buffalo Pitching Coach – Ricky Bones CLICK HERE!

As you will hear from Bernazard and Bones, there are a number of jobs up for grabs on the Mets roster and with an incredible amount of pressure in the clubhouse leading into this season and success ultimately equaling post season play, it’s nice to live in the present.

“I never thought we’d be dogpiling in March,” Wright said. “It was pretty special and something I’ll always remember. Every hitter in that dugout wants to be up in that situation. When you play in your backyard as a kid, that’s the situation going through your mind.” – NY Daily News

~ Ben Wagner

Irish or not, the Mets’ eyes were smiling after Johan Santana’s outing back in St. Lucie this morning against Mets’ minor leaguers. During the intrasquad game, the staff ace worked four innings, surrendering six hits and a pair of runs, while whiffing five on 56 pitches, 40 strikes.

Santana stayed back at Traditions Field while the rest of Big League Camp took a 5-1 loss next to Mickey and Minney’s place (details below on The Dish).

In other pitching news, Bobby Parnell topped out at 96 mph on the in-stadium gun (a rare luxury at Spring Training sites) while working a perfect frame after Jonathan Niese threw the first four innings.

News & Notes

• ATL and NYM: Same two teams will face off four of the next six games.
• Family Day Open House at Coca-Cola Field is on Saturday: CLICK HERE!

~ Ben Wagner