Nice to see that he's still working...

Former Mets broadcaster Ted Robinson writes an occasional baseball column for NBC Sports on Major League Baseball. Robinson works for NBC and USA Network covering tennis and other sports, which cost him the Mets play-by-play job when they wanted a full-time guy.

In his latest column, posted today, Robinson opines that Sammy Sosa could wind up patrolling right field for the Mets in 2006:

Sammy Sosa's situation probably rivals that of Jose Canseco in terms of a dramatic slide off the baseball map. I haven't heard of a single team interested in Sosa.

Would there be a team that would take Sosa on its complete terms? I would say yes, and I wouldn't be surprised if that team is the Mets.

If the Mets don't get Manny Ramirez in a trade with the Red Sox, which I feel will be the case, and they can get Sosa to play for $1 million next season, I think Mets general manager Omar Minaya would do that.

I could envision the Mets giving Sosa a couple of months in right field to see if he has anything left offensively. If not, they pull the plug on him, and go with Victor Diaz.

For the Mets it's a low-cost, low-risk proposition, and given how much Minaya likes Sosa, I can see it happening.

I'd like to be able to jump in here and assure you that this couldn't happen, but I have to grudgingly admit it could. There is so little interest in Sosa, I could see him signing a one-year deal with a low base salary and a boatload of incentives just to get a chance to play. Shea stadium isn't the ideal place for an aging right-handed power hitter to resurrect his career -- especially after failing miserably in the bandbox that is Camden Yards -- but it really isn't looking like he will have many options.

Of course, Sammy could always sit tight, let the rest of the free agent market work itself out, and find someone that is desperate enough for a little offense to take a flyer on him. I hope that happens. To me, I'd rather see the two young guys -- Diaz and Nady -- fight it out for the job. Shea stadium is in danger of becoming a rest home for aging ballplayers whose best days are long behind them.