There is no greater testament to how far Kaz Matsui’s stock has fallen with the New York Mets than this : the embattled second baseman’s Port St. Lucie locker has been given to Bret Boone.

Elsewhere in the same article, manager Willie Randolph discusses his starting rotation with Newsday’s David Lennon.

The Mets traded two creditable starters in Kris Benson and Jae Seo during the offseason, so it’s not surprising that Randolph refused to guarantee a spot to the unreliable Victor Zambrano while discussing the rotation. When asked if Zambrano is a lock at No. 4, the manager shook his head.

“No, not necessarily,” Randolph said. “You might look at our rotation and say he’s pretty much in there, but I’m never going to say that because you don’t know. We have three or four guys in the back of the depth chart that might step up and knock my socks off. He has to compete.”

At first, Randolph mentioned only Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine as the names set in stone, then was reminded of Steve Trachsel.