Former SoxandPhils stuck in New York

The Fan's Mike Francesa has quickly become enamored with Rod Barajas since he signed with the Mets, saying he is a student of the game with a real passion for baseball. That's news for us who lived through his 2007 stint with the Phillies.

It didn't hit me immediately that Barajas' arrival in New York means that just like in 2007, he's forcing Chris Coste to the minors:

Mets manager Jerry Manuel wasn't ready to concede the job to Barajas, but with a one-year, $1 million deal that the front office forced on the roster this late, it's hard to imagine how rough spring would have to be for him to not get the job. The Mets would like Josh Thole to get more seasoning in the minor leagues and Chris Coste seems bound to be his tutor there.

Poor Coste - being a Met is bad enough, being a minor league Met is just awful.

Other SoxandPhils stuck in New York were also discussing their departures from classy organizations this week. Chan Ho Park sounds generally bummed to be a Yankee:

Park said it was "too late" to accept the Phillies' offer. I think by the time he realized he couldn't do better than the Phillies' offer the Phillies already had signed Baez and Contreras and the Phillies no longer were interested.

"Philadelphia was the number one choice, and I had a tough time to leave there," Park said. "I'm mostly sad to leave Philadelphia, the teammates and fans were unbelievable. I had fun last year, good memories. That makes me sad. But this is the future and a good team and another chance."

Yeah, another chance to relieve his Rangers days - missing the playoffs with Alex Rodriguez.

Jason Bay, meanwhile, keeps talking about Boston. He says it was a mutual decision, but you know he's going to regret the fact that when his career is over, his only playoff experience will be his two years with the Red Sox:

"Would I have gone back [to Boston]? Yeah, I think so," he said. "But I'd be back on my terms. During the season I was part of the Red Sox, and once the offseason came I didn't consider myself part of the Red Sox. We kept in dialogue and they were a team on my list. I felt at that point I had a little more power, or at least it was going to be my decision what my direction was.

"I had teams on the list and I had my pluses and minuses, and Boston had its pluses because I'd been there and I’d understood how to play there."

Oh well. These guys were once beloved; now they're enemies. Hope they enjoy watching their former mates stomp all over their new teams.