Interleague versus the AL East (versus Baltimore and the Yankees, and at Boston, New York and Toronto - no Tampa Bay).

Imagine a Mets series against the Yankees being anticlimactic. It could be — well, just a little bit, anyway — come June. New York’s two teams play a three-game series at Shea Stadium on May 19-21, according to the schedule the Mets released Thursday. The two teams will confront each other again in the Bronx from June 30-July 2, but that series immediately follows the Mets’ three-game visit to Fenway Park.

Pedro Martinez pitching against the Red Sox? The return of Manny Ramirez?

When the Mets released their 2006 schedule, they did so with one proviso — it was tentative, not official. An offseason move that could put Ramirez in a Mets uniform is even more speculative. But there was trade talk in July, and with Ramirez already making noise about anything and everything since the Red Sox were swept out of the playoffs, who knows? It’s just a thought.