Mets Shopping Schoeneweis and Sosa
According to Adam Rubin, the Mets are shopping Scott Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa, hoping to clear some payroll as well as room on the roster for some of their young guns.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing either of them go, if not both. Sosa is a streaky pitcher who relies exclusively on a slider — and if it’s not breaking sharply, we watch balls fly over the fence.
Shopping the Show is an equally fine idea. What I saw this past week in his outing in Jupiter was more of the same we saw last year: about 85-86 MPH slop. I’d be much happier knowing there were two spots in the bullpen with flexibility — meaning, the ability to bring youngsters up and down and/or sign veterans to short contracts, until Willie Randolph finds the right “mix”.
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A Mets fan since birth, Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Oh, and he's often a bit cranky.
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Funny how at the end of the 2007 season we were talking about how thin the Mets’ organizational relief pitching depth was, and now we’re looking to oust two of our ‘regulars’ from last year because we’re overloaded. Not complaining, though. Better to have an overflow than a drought.
I’d be for trading Sosa or the Show, although I can’t see there being a line of suitors waiting with bated breath to acquire these two. Show’s contract runs thru 2009, and at $7.2-mil, it makes almost totally immovable, especially considering his piss-poor 2007 numbers and his uninspiring stuff this Spring (although it is still early). As per Sosa, it makes you wonder why the Mets tendered him if they had such an influx of relievers leading up to 2008. Either way, the Mets would likely have to pick up their contracts for whichever team takes the bait, and most likely settle for mediocre A-ball talent in exchange. What with Sanchez and Padilla still question marks with injuries, Joe Smith continuing to struggle with consistency, and the Mets’ #5 starting pitcher slot still very ambiguous, I think it’s best to continue to hold on to as many bodies as possible. If the first week of ST is a sign of things to come, injuries are likely to hit this team hard in 2008, and I’d hate to have to look back at early March, when we had “too many” arms, and say “damn, I wish we had kept some of those arms because we sure could use ‘em now.”
Agreed on keeping around the bodies, but there’s some tightrope walking going on here with the roster. I think what’s happening is the Mets brass is happier than they expected to be with the progress of the youngsters and the non-roster invitees, and want to make sure they hold on to the arms that are most likely to help in ’08.
Sosa may have been retained as 5th starter insurance as much as bullpen depth … remember the Mets signed Sosa the same day signed Santana — but had already agreed to terms before the Johan deal happened. The Show, obviously, is easily replaced by Rincon if they must have another lefty, and/or by a righty such as Register.
They might like what they see with Register, Figueroa, and Diaz, and feel it makes more sense to keep around those kids rather than Sosa / Show … and Sosa / Show have more trade value at this point (rather than at the end of March).