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          New York Mets

          Projected Mets lineup, now tapped out?

          • Adam Rubin, ESPN Staff WriterDec 6, 2011, 11:27 PM ET
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              Adam Rubin has covered the Mets since 2003. He's a graduate of Mepham High School on Long Island and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined ESPNNewYork after spending 10 years at the New York Daily News.
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          Earlier Tuesday, I ran my projected lineup by Terry Collins, and he agreed. Let's now substitute Andres Torres for Angel Pagan. This is what it should look like then:

          Torres, cf

          Murphy, 2b

          Wright, 3b

          Davis, 1b

          Bay, lf

          Duda, rf

          Thole, c

          Tejada, ss

          The Mets now seem mostly tapped out budget-wise.

          Pagan for Torres and Ramon Ramirez is basically a wash. All three are arbitration-eligible, and Pagan made $3.5 million in 2011 and the ex-Giants made a combined $3.85 million.

          Alderson estimated he had $10 million to $15 million to add. Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch make a combined $9.5 million in 2012, which leaves no more than $5.5 million remaining.

          The Mets still need to add two backup outfielders (whether that's re-signing Scott Hairston and Willie Harris or other options), add starting pitching depth and sign a backup shortstop.

          Read the news story on Tuesday night's maneuvers here.