Omar Minaya took a big gamble on the Mets’ starting rotation this year by not signing any free agents or trading for a tried-and-true starter. He insisted his pitchers in-house were as good as, if not better than, any others floating out there (besides John Lackey, of course). And money most certainly played a hand in that decision. The Mets have been winning because of and in spite of their rotation. So far Johan Santana, Jon Niese and Oliver Perez have performed about as expected, while Mike Pelfrey has exceeded everyone’s expectations beyond their wildest dreams, and John Maine has been worse than anyone could imagine. How soon before Hisanori Takahashi is inserted into the rotation instead of bailing out Perez and Maine every start? A reliable long man is important, but so is not having to use him two out of every five games. It’s still very early in the season, but let’s take a look at what the Mets’ rotation after Santana has done, and …

Luis Castillo’s on first, Angel Pagan’s on second and Jose Reyes hits a pop-up to third. The infield fly rule is called, but Chipper Jones is napping, wakes up and then drops the ball. And all hell breaks loose for the Braves. That’s right – all hell breaks loose for the Braves, not the Mets. Every infielder on the Braves is pointing to first base, running to first base, throwing the ball to first base or tagging Reyes at first base, when . . . there’s no play at first base. Pagan (with Chip Hale’s help) scores from second on what should have been a routine pop out. It’s actually the Mets who do the smart thing and the opposition who are the blundering boobs. Major leaguers who don’t know the rules of the game? And they don’t play for the Mets? Are things turning around for the Amazin’s? Is the sun finally coming out for them?

Letting in a run on an infield fly rule is pretty …

The first round of the NFL draft was held last night, and the local teams’ picks were somewhat surprising, with the Giants selecting defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and the Jets nabbing cornerback Kyle Wilson. Hopefully neither will be a bust, but Pierre-Paul is the riskier pick. Ryan Leaf is probably considered the all-time draft bust, and Big Blue and Gang Green have come up with a few of their own: Rocky Thompson, Cedric Jones, Ron Dayne, Johnny “Lam” Jones – and is it time to put Vernon Gholston on this list? Here are a few other little-known draft snafus throughout the years; they’re not necessarily busts as much as misguided thinking: One GM drafted his five-year-old son as a birthday present for him; a GM in the 1990s drafted Heather Locklear because he was a huge Melrose Place fan and was hoping she would show up at training camp so he could meet her; an AFC GM back in the mid-’70s chose Anson Williams in the first …

Ike Davis made his major league debut last night in the Mets’ 6-1 victory over the Cubs. He singled in his first at-bat, and in the seventh inning he drove in his first run, and he did it against a lefty after seeing a few tough curveballs. He finished 2 for 4, with one RBI. He singlehandedly turned the Mets around in one game – ok, that’s a bit much. But the Mets did actually win, so that’s news and a good sign. And he’s already out-produced Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis combined.

The rookie was compared to John Olerud a few times in last night’s broadcast, and he does resemble the sweet-swinging former Met at the plate. Davis comes from a major league pedigree and went to Arizona State, so it wasn’t really a surprise that he seemed right at home on a big league field and didn’t look overmatched, but of course that was only one game. The Mets also used youngsters Jon Niese (whose newfound …

The first two weeks of the Met’ season is over and done with and the results are in: The Mets stink. So the question isn’t: “Is it too early to start firing people?” but rather: “Is it too late?” The Mets should have cleaned house after last season, but didn’t have the fortitude (or money?) to do so. After announcing how important it was to get off to a fast start, they lost the first three series of the season heading into St. Louis, and promptly lost that series, too. Omar Minaya is pleased, though, as the bar is set so low for this team that he stated if the Mets came away with one victory against the Cards he would be happy (I can’t remember where I saw that quote, otherwise I’d link to it). Saying one win is acceptable in a three-game series should be a fireable offense. Omar, your time is up.

The weekend started out promising. Oliver Perez was rock solid on Friday night, …

The Yankees received their World Series rings in their home opener on Tuesday, with Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra on hand to pass them out. After criticizing the Yankees’ spending last week, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio was caught spying on the ceremony while hiding behind some bushes. As he was led away to the Yankee Stadium jail that’s set up for disgruntled Yankee haters, he was heard mumbling that the Bronx Bombers spent more on their rings than the whole Brewers franchise is worth.

For the record, here are a few other cost comparisons between the wealthy Yankees and the small-market Brewers: More money has fallen out of Alex Rodriguez’s pocket than Prince Fielder spends on his yearly grocery bill; Derek Jeter’s splurge-fest on bottle service at VIP sections of nightclubs throughout New York City is 10 times more than the payroll of the Brewers bullpen; Joba Chamberlain spent more on off-season twirling and fist-pump lessons than Milwaukee did on overseas scouting; A.J. Burnett’s 2009 shaving-cream pie budget …

The first 10 days of baseball season brought with it some local debuts, all with varying degrees of success. We had Curtis Granderson hitting a home run in his first at-bat as a Yankee, and Jason Bay and Rod Barajas making their first appearances with the Mets. Through the years, Tino Martinez was memorably booed, Jason Giambi had to hit a game-winning grand slam in the rain to be accepted by Yankee fans (until his body pretty much crumbled into dust from all that pesky steroid use) and Willie Mays homered in his first game with the Mets. Here are some other notable players acquired via free agency or trade throughout New York history and how they did in their first week or so with their new teams:

Babe Ruth (1920): The Bambino went 2 for 4 in his first game with the Yankees, a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia A’s. In his first 10 games with the team, he batted .257 (9 for 35) and drove in …

The Mets put an emphasis on getting off to a fast start, and they did – for one day. But it’s been all downhill after the opener, and now the Mets are already in last place, with a 2-4 record. And when Johan Santana can’t beat the Washington Nationals, we may be in for a long season. David Wright hitting a home run in the first inning of the first game was a sight for sore eyes and what was hopefully a sign of things to come. But the lack of timely hitting, some poor starting pitching and the team being “unprepared” is no way to start a season. Here are some good and bad things we’ve seen so far in the first week of the season.

The Good

Jeff Francoeur: The Mets’ right fielder is off to a torrid start. He’s hitting.476, with a.538 on base percentage and is slugging 1.000 (to lead the NL). He has two home runs and six RBI’s in six games. But the …

The Yankees opener, which was a typical American League softball marathon (and umpire Joe West was not happy about it!), didn’t quite go as planned, what with the losing and all. I took a break from the action on TV to grab my daughter, as it was her bed time, and I found her watching the Sound of Music. Julie Andrews had just made clothes for the von Trapp kids out of the drapes in her room – she could have easily put together more than enough outfits for the whole family out of the pants CC Sabathia was sporting on Sunday, too. And that movie is pretty much a carbon copy of my childhood, well, except our governess was called “the TV” and my brothers and I paraded through our town, not singing “Do-Re-Mi,” but the theme to Three’s Company – and the townsfolk pretty much wanted to punch our faces in. Oh, and we didn’t so much escape the Nazis as just our teachers, when …

The 2010 Mets season is finally here. We can now completely forget about 2009, wash out the bad aftertaste of that putrid season and start fretting over this year. I took the day off work just to watch the game, so I’ll do one of those running diary things. I believe George Washington was the first person to do one of these, during the Revolutionary War (“10:36: Here come those stupid Redcoats again, and I’m having trouble getting on my horse today. I’ve got to cut back on the mutton and drop a few pounds. And why do my wooden teeth keep falling out. Aren’t these supposed to be state-of-the-art?”). I’d do a live diary, but I don’t have a computer in the same room as our TV, so I’ll just scribbled it all down on an envelope, and besides, I have no idea how to do it anyway. I barely know how to use a fork. With opening day upon us, my daily mood for the next six months will now be predicated on …

Opening day is right around the corner (Sunday for the Yankees, Monday for the Mets). The start of a new baseball season is a time of hope, renewal and optimism (well, unless you’re Brother Theodore – does anybody remember him?). In fact, today I’ll declare myself the Opening Day Optimist. If you’re a Mets fan, it’s no time to think of The Ghosts of Bad Things Past (2009, 2008, 2007, Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman – ok, ok, I’ll stop), but only positive memories, players and dates – 1969, 1986, Tom Seaver, Gil Hodges, Joan Payson, Banner Day, Bud Harrelson, Jerry Koosman, the black cat, Donn Clendenon, the shoe polish play, Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee’s catches, Ron Swoboda’s catch, Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, Rusty Staub, Tug McGraw, Ya Gotta Believe, Rube Walker, Joe Pignatano, Eddie Yost, Jerry Grote, Jon Matlack, Ed Kranepool, Felix Millan, the sign guy, Lee Mazzilli, John Stearns, Mr. Met, Mookie Wilson, Darryl Strawberry’s swing, 1985 Dwight Gooden, “Gets by Buckner!”, Ray …

Let’s take a look at how the Mets roster might shake out. This isn’t a prediction of what I think will happen, but what I think should happen (and I’ll refrain from including names such as John Lackey, Orlando Hudson and Tom Seaver).

Rotation: The starters are already etched in stone: Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, John Maine and Jon Niese. We can debate whether it will be a disaster or exceed expectations, but barring a last-minute trade (with the Reds?), it is what it is.

Bullpen: This is where it gets interesting, with a number of different combinations the Mets can go with. Frankie Rodriguez and Pedro Feliciano may be the only two who are guaranteed a spot in the ’pen. I would go with Kiko Calero, Hisanori Takahashi, Fernando Nieve, Ryota Igarashi and Nelson Figueroa to round out the rest of the relief corps. Takashi may be having trouble getting lefties out, but otherwise he’s looked impressive – and he throws strikes. Having been jerked around …