"He opened the duffel bag and stuffed inside the tools of his trade. Black socks. Black spikes. A tan glove. A black glove. Brad Emaus carted the bag, along with a .310 on-base percentage this spring, onto the team bus for the two-hour ride to Disney World on Saturday morning. The day before, Emaus' primary competition for the Mets' second base job left without packing. Emaus resides 10 paces away from Luis Castillo's locker, now empty save for a black Louisville Slugger, a scuffed baseball and a dozen bare hangers. Castillo is gone. To clear the second-base field, general manager Sandy Alderson leveled a $6 million roadblock. Emaus still stands, granted a chance to show his minor-league prowess can translate to the next level. Emaus must hit to fit here. "Everybody has expectations," said Emaus, who walked twice in five plate appearances Saturday. "But it's not like I set certain ones where this guy's got to be out of the race, or I've still got to be in it by this time. It's just I came in to work hard."" Read more: http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2011/03/mets_brad_emaus_has_emerged_as.html
