Joe Smith to be optioned on Wednesday, Sosa Stays

[NY16CATCHER]

Remarkable as it seems, Jorge Sosa and his bloated salary and ERA stays in the Mets pen while Joe Smith goes to New Orleans. Nothing like sending one of your most reliable bullpen pieces out for no good reason.

Wagner was very outspoken about his thoughts on how wrong this move is to the Daily News and I am sure this will provide plenty of fodder for talk radion in NYC and elsewhere.

This is a classic example of the sheer lack of intelligence the front office and staff of Omar Minaya has. This move is beyond unacceptable, its disgusting.

Meanwhile a team with about 15-20% of the payroll, and limited talent, is putting the Mets in their rear view mirrors.

[Baseball Guru]

I dont understand this move..

Is Sosa out of options, while Smith has some left? Thats the only reason I could think why they would option Smith...

[NY16CATCHER]

Yes, Sosa is out of options, Smith is not.

Adam Rubin reported this scenario this AM in the Daily News and they are now reporting that the Mets may not do this after all.

Claudio Vargas was scratched in New Orleans for tonight and looks to be the callup that will occur for tomorrow, likely meaning Figgy is on his way to being DFA'd. And apparently the consideration is now DFA'ing Sosa, sending down Smith or DL'ing Angel Pagan to activate Matt Wise. But they need a DH for the weekend (AL stadium),and can't shorten the bench in favor of an extra arm, so there is some discussion that if Pagan get's DL'd, Fernando Tatis will get a call up and Smith or Sosa move to accomodate Wise coming off the DL. Complicated situation for sure.

[NYMets523]

Sending down Smith is stupid. We're not losing anything if we lose Sosa. I doubt anyone would even claim him. If they do, good luck with that.

One issue with calling up Claudio Vargas is they do not have him on the 40 man roster. They should just put El Duque on the 60-day DL to do so.

[freshprince85]

I'M SO F*CKING SICK OF THIS!!!
Randolph can still call himself a manager, Delgado is still a starter, we send Smith down because he has options left instead of getting loose of Sosa or Mr. Crap, a.k.a. A. Heilman ...

[jsmets92]

Smith was NOT sent down. They DFA'd Sosa and Figueroa, placed Pagan on the DL and recalled Vargas and Tatis and activated Wise from the DL.

[The Fonz]

i think fig, shouldnt of been DFA'd..he has long man potential...but i guess they really wanted Wise back up...i just hope we don't lose Fig permanently... For sosa on the the other hand, I hope he gets picked up by another team and gives up a few grand slams to us.

[Mex4Prez]

I think the moves made today could come back to bite us. Joe Smith got a dead arm last year.....in june. He was terrible the last half of season. Wagner/Shoenwies/Sanchez have all had injuries that could linger. Sosa is obviously struggling right now, but who says he can't turn it around and be a durable league average pitcher like he was again? Only the same people who wanted Mota/Scho released and now look, they are both lights out.

Smith is a young pitcher who hasn't proven to be consistent yet. He was as bad the second half last year as Sosa is first third this year. Smith has options and while he is hotter pitcher right now, later in the year we are going to be wondering why we have no guys on the farm to bring up for an injured reliever.

[freshprince85]

Smith was NOT sent down. They DFA'd Sosa and Figueroa, placed Pagan on the DL and recalled Vargas and Tatis and activated Wise from the DL.

Thank God!

[NY16CATCHER]

I think the moves made today could come back to bite us. Joe Smith got a dead arm last year.....in june. He was terrible the last half of season. Wagner/Shoenwies/Sanchez have all had injuries that could linger. Sosa is obviously struggling right now, but who says he can't turn it around and be a durable league average pitcher like he was again? Only the same people who wanted Mota/Scho released and now look, they are both lights out.

Smith is a young pitcher who hasn't proven to be consistent yet. He was as bad the second half last year as Sosa is first third this year. Smith has options and while he is hotter pitcher right now, later in the year we are going to be wondering why we have no guys on the farm to bring up for an injured reliever.

Smith got a "dead arm" last season because the Mets didn't utilize him properly. He had less than 50 innings of pro experience when he made the roster out of ST and had never really pitched alot of back to back days, etc. coming out of college ball. With the mechanical changes, his own development and intelligent use by the Mets (the last part being the most questionable part of the equation), he should be just fine.