Sandy Alderson just spoke to reporters and said the Mets told players this morning that they finalized the roster.

Blaine Boyer will be added to the roster as the last man in the bullpen. Jason Isringhausen has been offered the option of sticking behind in Port St. Lucie to build up arm strength for a couple of weeks while the Mets assess their Major League bullpen. Alderson said that if Isringhausen got a Major League opportunity from another team in that span, he would be let go.

The Mets’ bench will include Mike Nickeas, Daniel Murphy, Chin-Lung Hu, Scott Hairston and Willie Harris. This confirms: No Nick Evans.

Your 2011 Opening Day bullpen: Francisco Rodriguez, Bobby Parnell, Taylor Buchholz, D.J. Carrasco, Tim Byrdak, Pedro Beato,
and Boyer.

Alderson cannot legally speak about players on waivers, but he indicated that the team will know by 1 p.m. today if players placed on waivers had cleared.

Meanwhile, Jason Bay felt discomfort on the left side of his ribcage during batting practice and was scratched from today’s game. He is en route to Port St. Lucie for an examination. The only revocable type of waivers, Alderson said, are trade waivers, and few players are put on trade waivers at this point in the year. That means Evans cannot be pulled off waivers to join the team in Bay’s stead.

Of course, no one said Bay will need DL time; Alderson opted not to speculate.

So what does it all mean? Well, it means the Mets preferred Harris to Evans to start the season, for better or worse. Toby Hyde wrote an epic post about this today, reiterating many of the points I made earlier this offseason. Harris seems redundant on the bench with Hairston around to be an extra outfielder and Murphy as a left-handed bat, but perhaps the team valued Harris’ defensive versatility over Evans’ cult-hero status.

This morning, Boyer did not sound eager to go to Triple-A, so the team must have determined he would take the opt-out in his contract after all. As I’ve pointed out here on multiple occasions, Manny Acosta has actually been better in the Majors than Boyer has.

If Evans clears waivers, he’ll likely start at first base for a Bisons team loaded with viable near-Major League ready players in their young- to mid-20s. That marks a massive departure from the last few years. With Evans at first, Justin Turner at second, Zach Lutz at third, Ruben Tejada at short and Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Fernando Martinez in the the outfield, the people of Buffalo might finally get to enjoy some players on their way up, not the Quad-A mashers worshiped only in this space.

So it seems like we’re done quibbling over the fringes of the roster for now. If Bay needs DL time and Evans stays in the organization, either Evans or Lucas Duda will likely take Bay’s spot on the Opening Day roster.

The other news from Alderson is scarier: Ronny Paulino’s bloodwork confirmed what Alderson described as a stomach/colon issue, and treatment for the issue could cause the catcher to miss time beyond his season-opening suspension. No word on the exact nature of Paulino’s condition, but in terms of the Mets’ roster, that means Mike Nickeas gets a longer stint with the big club than previously expected.

So there’s all that.