Donn: The only reason Shoeneweis was perceived as having a strong finish is because the rest of the pen imploded so badly, they surpassed him in ineptitude. He improved slightly, he didn’t pitch well or consistently, except in April…..

espite opening up the purse strings I won’t believe that they will eat 7MM until they do it. The Wilpons will go w/Show until someone is willing to take on his contract even if it means that it is detrimental to the team.

They said a thousand times that his injury can’t be fixed by surgery, might re-attach naturally but probably want.

Dude’s also a confirmed juicer, lets not forget… not as dumb about it as Paul “wow, my one year as a homerun hitter synchs up perfectly with the time I was juicing most, I wonder how that happened” LoDuca… but a juicer just as much.

Oh, I don’t think the Mets WILL eat Show’s contract.

I’m saying that if they want to put the best team out on the field that they can, they HAVE to.

Of course, they also traded Milledge for two bench pieces and signed a speed-and-defense guy with one season left in his knees to a four-year contract so… clearly… the priority is not always winning first.

There is all sorts of untenable bullcrap about “respecting veterans” and “lockerroom chemistry” that is taking precedence there, clearly.

But to subtract Rocky Horror from the roster, as a player that Willie refuses to use properly, the money involved in that addition by subtraction would be more than worth it.

Mets don’t eat contracts unless there is only a short time remaining on them. And short has usually been 1 yr or less.

And when you are talking 2yr/7MM, I think it is very, very doubtful that the Mets will release Show. And despite his pretty good ST, I doubt any team will take him and take his $$. He is here to stay.

And trading Sosa makes no sense with ElDuqe on his last leg, a still unknown in Pelfrey, and a possible DL stint or two for Pedro. And no backups in NO (unless you count Armas and Figueroa). Sosa will be here too.

Sanchez is not ready. Register is his replacement. If Register picthes well, then maybe they figure out a way to toss Show away.

So it will be very difficult for the Mets to try to keep Register other than by placing him on their active 25-man roster right out of spring training.

As a rule 5, if the mets keep him on the 25man (or DL) all year, he is theirs. If they want to send him to the minors, he first has to be offered back to the Rockies (for a whopping 25K), but if they decline, he can be sent to the minors and the Rockies lose their claim on him.

The trick with rule 5 guys is figuring out when the old team has their 25 man roster full, with no one to drop, and try to sneak the guy to the minors.

I think you might be confused on Rule V. From Opening Day, Register is up with the Mets or gone (to the Rockies). You make it seem as if the problem with putting him on the NY roster is he has to stay. While true, we’d lose him from the getgo if he didn’t make it. I think that makes a very strong case for carrying him. He’s the opposite of Heath Bell. We can only decide 1 time not to keep him up with the Mets.

Last year Willie couldn’t afford to use Schoeneweiss as a LOOGY as that would have put undue stress on the other bullpen arms which were already highly stressed. But with the improved rotation which alleviates some of that stress, and the replacement of Sele and Mota with more reliable relievers, Willie might have the luxury to use Schoeneweis for just a batter or two.

Figueroa has to go to AAA for starting depth. With Sosa in the pen and Armas just arriving there isnt anyone else.

Dauner stays in ex-ST, Smith and Rincon go to AAA until Sosa and Schoeneweis can be traded.

Rincon has been nice against lefties, but the Mets seem to think Schoe can somehow be effective against righties as well. Rincon didnt help himself by allowing 5 straight righties to get hits off him the other day.

and I still can’t grasp a good reason why Sosa hasnt been prepared as a 5th starter candidate this spring.

This came from my brother in LA.

I do think I see more value in Sosa than some people, though… I think he’ll be an acceptable long-reliever as long as he isn’t used as a starter for any long stretches of time.

Great? Heavens no. But acceptable.

Of course, if the Angels say “Sosa and Show and five million dollars for Juan Rivera” you definitely say “thank you sir may I have another”.