MET NOTES

PORT ST. LUCIE – With rain washing out yesterday’s Mets-Cards contest, Pedro Martinez’s second spring start turned into a simulated game instead.

Martinez fired 65 pitches against two minor leaguers (righty Joe Hietpas and lefty Mike Jacobs) who stood in the box but took no swings.

“The biggest thing I noticed out of all the things I did was throwing to the lefty or the righty, I couldn’t really tell the difference,” Martinez said. “I felt really comfortable doing what I wanted to do to either side. I’m very happy with the way everything went.”

If the Mets had pushed Martinez back to today, it would have altered the way their rotation was set up for the season.

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GM Omar Minaya called it “very good news” that Mike Cameron‘s agent, Mike Nicotera, told the club Tuesday that Cameron does not want to be traded.

The Mets never wanted to move Cameron but engaged in trade discussions in case there was a deal that benefited both sides (them and Cameron). Minaya’s policy is that nobody is untouchable, but it now would be highly unlikely for Cameron to be moved anytime soon.

Said Minaya, “We’re not shopping him and we’re very happy that he’s our right fielder.”

Said Cameron, “I’m just trying to move forward because I’m tired of worrying about it every day.”

Darryl Strawberry, in camp as a special instructor, talked with Cameron on Monday about the importance of sacrificing for the betterment of the team. Cameron said he was very appreciative of the talk but said it wasn’t the main impetus behind his decision.

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Carlos Beltran said that on Tuesday he was “a little sore” from all the swinging he’s been doing, which is why he got the day off. Beltran was set to play yesterday before the rainout. He showed up with a freshly shaved crewcut and revealed that his wife had cut his hair. Asked if perhaps she had not done a good job and he had to shave it to make it OK, Beltran laughed and said, “Kind of.” . . . The Mets optioned Aaron Baldiris, Craig Brazell, Anderson Hernandez and Bob Keppel and re-assigned Andy Dominique, Danny Garcia and Joe Nelson.