The Mets picked up Sosa this winter for $1.25MM to add some pitching depth.  I imagine more teams will start calling about the 29 year-old Sosa, noticing he’s thrown 13 scoreless innings in Triple A.

Williams is earning $775K from the O’s. The 36 year-old has only made two appearances, and has two scoreless innings under his belt. 

• David Lennon over at NY Newsday’s Metsbeat blog recaps the performance, as Paul LoDuca feels the Phillies were just patient hitters and Rick Peterson pulls the “Chewbacca defense” out of his back pocket, comparing Perez to the stock market.
• Bill Madden at the Daily News bullets out theories and excuses from numerous personnel.
• Steve Keane at the Kranepool Society asks for patience.
• John Delcos from the Journal News theorizes that Ollie is not mean enough and searches for answers.
• The NY Times focuses on Ollieworld not having his usual thunderstorm after the terrible outing.
• On SNY during the broadcast, Ron Darling and Jerry Koosman gave their two cents:

Koosman: “He was simply trying to aim the ball, instead of throwing it. When you try aiming it, you’ll lose velocity. He threw 94 and went down to 87 with his fastball. When I got into trouble like that I just threw harder and it helped.”

Darling noticed his arm was slightly lower in his delivery, like he was almost throwing side arm. It’s just a matter of him locking down his mechanics and getting into the habit of pitching the "right" way. They also mentioned Rick Peterson had him pitch over and over in side sessions, literally stopping him if he gets into his old routine.

Other Mets tidbits:

• Toasted Joe’s came up with the greatest nickname ever for Ambiorix Burgos. The fans in Kansas City should appreciate the “Amburglar”.
• If you haven’t read the Jose Valentin Experience you’re missing out. This has helped make “’stache” a cult hero in New York. Employees of the Ground Round salute you Jose!
• The Mets are looking at Todd Williams as a possible salary dump pickup.

By Nik Kolidas

• The Rockies offered Byung-Hyun Kim to the Orioles for reliever Todd Williams but were turned down.  The O’s may yet work out a deal with the Mets for Williams.  Kim, meanwhile, may end up a bargain for some team if the price is that low.  Really, he’s better than most teams’ fifth starters.
• Rosenthal agrees with most that Carlos Zambrano will sign with the Cubs by Opening Day.  However, a couple of other big-name free-agent starters to be probably will hit the market.  Jason Jennings and Jake Westbrook are two of the younger members of the ’08 free agent starter class.  Mark Buehrle, Joe Kennedy, Kyle Lohse, and Kim will all be under 30 as well.

Williams has been around the block – the Orioles are his ninth organization.  He doesn’t miss bats at all, but he can come in and get you a groundball in a pinch.  He’s making $775K, and would likely see a diminshed role in 2007 with all the relievers the O’s imported. 

The Mets’ need was brought about by the discovery that Duaner Sanchez will likely miss most of the season.  The bullpen was supposed to be a strength; the expectation was that it could compensate if the back of the rotation is lackluster.