PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Talk about a snoozefest!

Unless you really care who claims the final bullpen spot until Bobby Parnell is activated from the disabled list, there ain't much drama projecting the Mets' Opening Day roster.

Provided Dillon Gee is not traded and ends up assigned to the bullpen, and assuming the team is healthy entering the season, there is very little competition at all.

Starting lineup:

Travis d'Arnaud, c

Lucas Duda, 1b

Daniel Murphy, 2b

David Wright, 3b

Wilmer Flores, ss

Curtis Granderson, lf

Juan Lagares, cf

Michael Cuddyer, rf

Analysis: Duda will not be able to swing for at least another week because of a lingering intercostal muscle strain on his left side. But it's still more than a month until Opening Day.

Bench:

Anthony Recker, c

Eric Campbell, if/of/c

Ruben Tejada, if

John Mayberry Jr., of

Kirk Nieuwenhuis, of

Analysis: Terry Collins on Friday tried to play up a competition between Nieuwenhuis and Matt den Dekker for a backup lefty-hitting outfield spot and pinch-hitting role, saying the club needs to take the 25 best players. This is the real world, though, and that's not how things work. Because Nieuwenhuis is out of options, he would have to clear waivers in order to be sent to Triple-A. For the Mets to be OK with the risk of losing Nieuwenhuis, den Dekker would have to outplay him by a mile. And that's unrealistic in Grapefruit League play. Den Dekker does have an option remaining and therefore likely is ticketed for Las Vegas.

Rotation:

Matt Harvey, rhp

Zack Wheeler, rhp

Jacob deGrom, rhp

Bartolo Colon, rhp

Jonathon Niese, lhp

Analysis: About the only drama here is who starts on Opening Day and if the Mets line up Harvey's second start for the home opener. The answer to question No. 1 may be Colon.

Bullpen:

Jenrry Mejia, rhp

Jeurys Familia, rhp

Vic Black, rhp

Carlos Torres, rhp

Gee, rhp

Josh Edgin, lhp

Sean Gilmartin, lhp

Parnell, rhp (DL)

Analysis: Barring a Gee trade or injury, you seemingly can all but bank on 24 of the 25 roster spots. The lone curiosity is the placeholder for Parnell. The Rule 5 pick Gilmartin would make sense, at least if he shows some promise during spring-training games. Since he has to be offered back to the Minnesota Twins if he is not going to stick on the major league roster, why not give him a few-week in-season audition as the second left-hander until Parnell is activated? If it doesn't work out, no harm. Just send him back when Parnell joins the club roughly three weeks into the season.

Candidates already on the 40-man roster (Gilmartin, Erik Goeddel, Jack Leathersich, Hansel Robles) would seem to have an advantage over a non-roster candidate -- although you cannot rule out Buddy Carlyle based on his performance last year and the fact that he has an out at the end of spring training if he's not making the big-league club.

Why does it generally make sense to use someone already on the 40-man roster in this scenario? Because if the bullpen spot is only temporary until Parnell returns, it makes little sense to add someone to the 40-man roster that you might then risk losing if you have to place them on waivers to send them to Triple-A a few weeks later.

Although the 40-man roster is currently full, there would be an available spot if the Mets wanted to add Carlyle. After all, by adding Carlyle, it would mean Gilmartin is not joining the club. Therefore, his 40-man roster spot would be freed. And, on the position-player side, Cesar Puello is out of options and is unlikely to make the club. Either Puello will be claimed off waivers or clear. If it's the latter, he's at Las Vegas but off the roster.