1 New York Mets

In a tactical move ripped from Davey Johnson's book, Jerry Manuel can squeeze extra runs out of his lineup by shifting Daniel Murphy from leftfield to second base whenever Johan Santana or Oliver Perez are on the mound. The two lefties generate mostly fly balls and strikeouts, minimizing Murphy's exposure on defense; by using Murphy (left) at second 30 to 40 times, the Mets can get an extra bat, such as Nick Evans (who had a strong spring), into the lineup and rest the fragile legs of regular second baseman Luis Castillo. In the 1980s Johnson occasionally moved third baseman Howard Johnson or outfielder Kevin Mitchell to shortstop—getting a better hitter than Rafael Santana or Kevin Elster into the game—when such fly ball pitchers as Sid Fernandez, Bobby Ojeda or Ron Darling were on the mound.

THE NUMBERS
LIE
62
DON'T LIE

Saves that new closer Francisco Rodriguez had with the Angels last season. Despite that major-league-record total, which was 15 more than his previous single-season high, it was not K-Rod's most dominant year—far from it. His walk rate (4.49 per nine innings) was the second-worst of his six-year career, and his 10.1 K's per nine was his lowest rate since his rookie season and well below his career 11.8 entering 2008.

The Lineup
WITH 2008 STATISTICS

Manager Jerry Manuel
SECOND SEASON WITH METS

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

NEW ACQUISITION
B-T: Bats-throws
WHIP: Walks plus hits per inning pitched
PVR: Player Value Ranking (explanation on page 69)