Invited to the big-league camp, he competed for the Astros' second-base job this spring.

He was given the second-base job last year, but he did nothing to convince Manager Gene Lamont that he deserved to retain it.

He has reclaimed a share of the second-base job, allowing him to be one of the few goading voices in the quiet Met clubhouse.

Kazuo Matsui must have a voodoo doll, because his competition for the second-base job is dwindling.

We're fighting for the second-base job.

"You've got to be kidding me," Fernandez said when told today that the manager had called him the front-runner for the second-base job.

The race for the second-base job, originally considered the most wide-open battle in camp, soon evolved into a competition of the survival of the fittest.

The Yankees used Cairo extensively in 2004, when he won the starting second-base job and batted .292.

Jeff Keppinger, a long shot to win the second-base job, experienced a setback Sunday when he left camp with back spasms.

"Whatever the Mets do in the offseason, I'm quite sure they aren't simply going to tell me the second-base job is mine," said Kent.