Danny

Garcia

The Mets revealed that Garcia was removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Doug Mientkiewicz. We would have kept him over Jeff Keppinger and surely Joe McEwing should have gone before either, but it turned out that the move was harmless. With Miguel Cairo guaranteed a job and Marlon Anderson and Chris Woodward also in camp, the Mets won’t have any use for Garcia or Keppinger this season.

Garcia is 6-for-13 with a homer and four RBI in four straight starts. He has an option left so the Mets might send him down when Ty Wigginton returns, but it looks instead like he’s won a job. Better options include releasing Ricky Gutierrez, demoting Jeff Duncan, DL-ing Joe McEwing, or dropping a reliever. Garcia looks like a decent pick-up in NL-only leagues with Jose Reyes still a long way off in his hamstring rehab.

That’s why we’ve seen Ty Wigginton at second base. Garcia is day-to-day.

With Ricky Gutierrez gone, Garcia can be counted on to make about six starts per week until Jose Reyes returns. He’s worth owning in NL-only leagues.

He’ll get in line behind Ronnie Belliard, Alex Cora, Jose Hernandez and Brandon Phillips, putting him at Triple-A Buffalo to start the year.

Garcia was overhyped when he first arrived in 2003 and then actually played better than expected last year. Nonetheless, he was removed from the 40-man roster last month, and the Mets are choosing Jeff Keppinger over him now.

Garcia entered the day 3-for-22 in seven games since being called up. He’s the Mets’ primary second baseman right now, so he has a little fantasy value.

The plan was to send Garcia back to the minors once Ty Wigginton was eligible to come off the DL, but Garcia currently looks like the Mets’ best option at second base. Maybe they’ll place Joe McEwing on the DL or send Jeff Duncan down instead.

Garcia will be used as a reserve infielder only until Jose Reyes returns. No fantasy value.