There is talk that Jerry Manuel will attempt to use Jose Reyes in the three hole in the beginning of the season at least until Carlos Beltran returns from the DL.

Jose is one of the best lead off hitters in the game. As I have documented before, as Jose Reyes goes, so go the Mets. Personally I think Reyes is best suited to leading off, getting on base, and causing havoc on the base paths, batting him third can only mean that in a good situation, other runners ahead of him will prevent him from stealing bases. That being said, I think I understand Jerry's logic.

The way the lineup looks with Reyes batting first is a mess. Assume you bat Reyes first and the combination of Wright and Bay in the 3-4 slot or the 4-5 slot. In those cases the Mets will have to either bat...
1) Luis Castillo, Angel Pagan, or Daniel Murphy in the 3 hole, or
2) Daniel Murphy or Jeff Francoeur in the 5 hole.
both options are bad.

Reyes
Castillo/Pagan/Murphy
Castillo/Pagan/Murphy
Wright
Bay
Francoeur
Castillo/Pagan/Murphy
Catcher
Pitcher

Reyes
Castillo/Pagan/Murphy
Wright/Bay
Wright/Bay
Francoeur/Murphy
Francoeur/Pagan
Castillo/Pagan
Catcher
Pitcher

If you slide Reyes down to number 3, then you lead off with Castillo and Pagan 1-2, Reyes third, and bat Wright/Bay in the 4-5 spot, you can then put Francoeur in at 6, Murphy at 7 the catcher and pitcher at 8 and 9.

Castillo
Pagan
Reyes
Wright/Bay
Wright/Bay
Francoeur
Murphy
Catcher
Pitcher

The other benefit of this is to lead the game with three switch hitters with a little speed, and plus Castillo taking pitches at the top...

So I see where Jerry is going with this, but I don't know whether screwing around with Reyes in the lineup coming off the injury is such a good idea.