16 players

That's the number of men who left camp this week to go play in the World Baseball Classic. Though many-- six, to be exact--are minor-leaguers, pretty much every guy who really hits for the Mets has gone: Wright, Reyes, Delgado, and Beltran are playing for the USA, Republica Dominica and Puerto Rico, respectively. Both our closers, Putz and KRod, will also be playing for their countries in the Classic.

I'm a WBC supporter, and one of the things I love about the current incarnation of the Mets is how well it represents the diversity of the floor, neighborhood, building, and city I grew up in. The city has changed a lot, but my parents' building has not, and so as I said in an earlier post, it would feel totally natural to me to root either for the Dominican, Puerto Rican or Puerto Rican teams in the classic.

Funny, I never considered rooting for Team USA.

Never the less, the Mets have sent more men to the Classic than any other team in Baseball, and more with major league contracts, guaranteed to make the team, than any other team by far. The Red Sox, who are sending fifteen players to the WBC (the closest number to the Mets' sixteen), only 5 of them have major league contracts.

It follows that the Mets have more on the line in the WBC than any other team in baseball.

Pray to the deity of your choice for no injuries.