Th Maine Event

David Lennon at Newsday, writes about John Maine and what he thinks his chances of making the rotation are:

The video is scheduled to be shown on Shea's DiamondVision screen at some point during this season, and it would be awkward if Maine is at Triple-A New Orleans for the premiere. There's probably no need to worry. Maine is a favorite of pitching coach Rick Peterson, and after last year's breakout season, when he went 6-5 with a 3.60 ERA - and streak of 26 scoreless innings - he's in a good spot to repeat.

"I don't think I'm any more of a front-runner than anyone else they brought in," Maine said.

"Last season was last season."

Maine breezed through a quick one inning of work in yesterday's intrasquad game and will get his first start Sunday against his former team when the Mets travel to Fort Lauderdale to play the Orioles.