At the very least, you have to give Omar Minaya and the Mets front office credit for realizing how bad the Mets have been for the last few years. Of the entire lineup, just one player – left fielder Cliff Floyd – will occupy the same position on Opening Day 2005 as he did last year. Much the same goes for the pitching staff, where everyone save starter Tom Glavine and closer Braden Looper is new.

Shiny new stars like Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez and promising rookie manager Willie Randolph really are just the beginning. Much of the reason the Mets were so bad was their penchant for giving huge amounts of playing time to scrubs. Todd Zeile, Wilson Delgado, and Gerald Williams combined for 616 at-bats last year, in which a .242 batting average was by far the strongest of their offensive contributions. The likes of Jason Phillips, Karim Garcia, and Shane Spencer were given regular jobs. It was ugly to watch.

This year’s Mets won’t be anywhere as frustrating as their predecessors. Even if they’re bad, it won’t be because of misguided loyalty to reserves like John Franco and Joe McEwing, who have been tossed right over the side of the ship and replaced with younger, better players; nor will it be out of a bizarre insistence on simply not filling key positions like catcher, first base, and right field. There are a lot of average players on the New Mets, and that’s a good thing – solid play from the likes of Doug Mientkiewicz and Kris Benson means that the star-level contributions of Beltran and Martinez won’t be pulled down a sinkhole of mediocrity.

Simply by contrast to the farcical leadership shown over the last few years, Minaya’s insistence on simple things like installing a regular first baseman and building a bench better than that of the Tidewater Tides looks like genius. For the first time in years, the Mets seem like a real baseball team rather than a Rotisserie squad put together by a drunken lawyer on his lunch hour. This team has starting pitching, speed and power, a defense that could rank among the best in the league, potential MVP and Cy Young candidates, and good depth. There’s no reason to expect anything other than contention.

Willie Randolph, Manager

Randolph will be enormously important to the Mets this year. There is plenty of talent on this team, but using it effectively could be the difference in a tight race. Young players like Jose Reyes and David Wright need a structured environment; veterans like Pedro Martinez need to go their own idiosyncratic ways. The choices Randolph makes in terms of setting clear expectations, distributing playing time between fragile veterans and bench players, and delegating authority to pitching coach Rick Peterson will be worth real wins and losses, and will be far more important than how he manages the press or how often he uses the hit-and-run.

For this team to make the playoffs, Randolph must make sure that everyone contributes. A disastrous performance from someone like Reyes or fifth starter Kazuhisa Ishii could be enough to sink the Mets. Will Randolph see problems developing and act decisively to correct them? Should a starting pitcher go down with injury, will he be willing to give a prospect like Yusmeiro Petit a shot? Can he turn a collection of arms into a bullpen? Can he get the most out of Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd without pushing them past their limitations?

Ultimately, Randolph’s most important job will be to manage the development of Reyes and Wright – these two, along with Beltran, are the cornerstones of the team’s future. They need to learn the intricacies of the game and develop routines, and Randolph will ultimately be judged by how well they do so.

Bench

When you look into the Mets’ dugout this year, you’ll see major league players who aren’t collecting pension checks. This is a big improvement on past years, especially given the fragility of Reyes, Piazza, and Floyd. Miguel Cairo is a passable starter at second base; as a utility infielder he’s a significant asset. Catcher Ramon Castro, shortstop Chris Woodward, and outfielders Eric Valent and Victor Diaz (who will be in Flushing sooner or later) are all reasonable options as well. Players of this caliber were the first option under the Art Howe regime; this year, they’ll only take on larger roles in a pinch, and probably won’t be given hundreds of at-bats if they play badly. This will make a difference in a tight race. The Mets should also carry a right-handed power hitter to fill in at first against tough lefties.

Bullpen

More of the same can be expected of closer Braden Looper, a perfectly good reliever who would ideally be about the second- or third-best pitcher in the bullpen. That isn’t a slight on him at all; he’s a durable pitcher who keeps the ball down and strikes out his share of hitters. But he isn’t dominant, and relievers who aren’t dominant have bad seasons out of nowhere just from balls falling in here and there.

It’s still not clear exactly who will be going north with the Mets next week; there’s little chance that the bullpen the team has in July will much resemble the one it will have on Opening Day. Looper, righty set-up man Mike DeJean, and lefty specialist Felix Heredia are guaranteed spots; a variety of untested kids, washed-up veterans, and mystery men are competing for the remaining slots.

This is a good thing: It’s better for the team to sort through the decent pitchers on hand than to spend money and prospects on famous but mediocre middle relievers. I’d expect that when the rubble clears, Heath Bell, Bartolome Fortunato, former All-Star Roberto Hernandez, and Japanese league veteran Dae-Sung Koo will be the lucky winners of the Shea lottery, but what really matters is the flexibility with which Randolph and Peterson run the bullpen. The no-name Angels bullpen from which Mike Sciosia has been milking great performance for years should be the model.

Opening Day
Monday, 2:10 p. m.
At Cincinnati (ESPN)