Almost there

Morning Dose: Friday, February 6

☀️ Good Morning:

We are five days away from the official start of spring training.

I will call it three days.

Several Mets are already working hard in Port St. Lucie.

Once the Super Bowl is over, the calendar officially flips.

To distract us from the bitter cold and snow, let’s dream of the Opening Day roster.

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🍎 DEEP DIVE

⇢ THE OPENING DAY ROSTER

With pitchers and catchers reporting next week, it’s a good time to take a first cut at what the Opening Day roster might look like.

This is a popular spring exercise — pretty much every site does it — but one I don’t normally do since I think it’s a bit arbitrary focusing so much on who starts the schedule on the roster considering how fluid things will be throughout the season.

For a team like the Mets, a large share of the roster is set in stone by high-priced veterans. The fringes are dictated by timing, optionality and asset management. Which is to say, we could see some players crack the very bottom of the roster based on their available minor-league options and/or front office assessment of whether they gain the most value burning their usability earlier in the season.

🔹The Lineup

Let’s start with the ideal batting order against a right-handed starter.