Milledge, Burgos Make the Team

Huh … my hunch was right.

The Mets will start the season with Ambiorix Burgos in the ‘pen, Lastings Milledge on the bench, and both Jon Adkins and Chan Ho Park in New Orleans.

Remarkably, Park has accepted the demotion. Not so remarkably, Adkins has cleared waivers. One must wonder whether Park will be in the New Orleans Zephyrs’ rotation — kept around as insurance for when El Duque goes down — or if they will begin using him in a setup role. My feeling is the former, as he didn’t seem to keen on the relief thing. Further, he’ll have more trade value as a minor league starter with MLB experience than as a setup reliever who may or may not be able to to handle such a role.

More than anything, it’s apparent that Rick Peterson will have at least another two weeks to develop Burgos into the lights-out reliever we all know he can be. And, we’ll have another two weeks of every fan, blogger, and pundit on the planet screaming for Milledge to play in front of Shawn Green.

Let the games begin !