If you are standing, please sit down — this is big news.
OK, are you sitting securely? Hang on … the Mets … have signed …
Boof Bonser.
Go ahead, change your shorts; no doubt you lost control of all bodily systems as a result of the excitement.
In all seriousness, it’s true — the Mets have signed the former Twins prospect to a minor-league deal. Bonser showed great promise with a power arm after being acquired from the Giants with Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano in the trade for A.J. Pierzynski, but he never quite lived up to expectations and had major, reconstructive shoulder surgery that caused him to miss all of 2009. He came back with the Red Sox last year, but continued to have shoulder issues and was eventually released, then picked up by the A’s, for whom he appeared in 13 games and did not pitch well.
If Bonser is completely healthy — which is questionable — he might provide some depth in AAA. It would take a minor miracle for him to make the big club, considering his shoulder issues and the fact that he simply was not very good before the surgery.
Though, he has a very early-Mets-history kind of name … he’d fit right in with the likes of Choo Choo Coleman, Pumpsie Green, Marvelous Marv E. Throneberry, and Vinegar Bend Mizell. BTW, “Boof” is his real name, as far as I can tell. Is it me, or does “Boof Bonser” sound like a goofball character on Howdy Doody? OK, you youngins may relate better to “The Simpsons” … whatever, isn’t it difficult to take a guy seriously whose name is “Boof Bonser”?
For an interesting discussion about the seriousness of Mr. Bonser, you can listen to this podcast.
In any case, he’s ours now, so I wish him well and hope for the best.
