BY T.J. QUINN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Despite his declining production and plummeting public image, Sammy Sosa still has fans in Flushing.
Mets GM Omar Minaya is exploring ways to bring the embattled Cubs slugger to New York, several major league sources said yesterday, and his arrival in New York would likely mean the departure of franchise face Mike Piazza and outfielder Cliff Floyd.
Sources said Minaya will not proceed unless he is confident that Sosa will be healthy.
But the groundwork may have moved ahead at the GM meetings last night when Mets assistant GM Jim Duquette met with Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Sosa agent Adam Katz at a bar at the Ritz-Carlton.
The idea of bringing Sosa to Shea has received mixed reviews in the Mets\' front office. Sosa, who turns 36 tomorrow, appears to be nearing the end of his career and has had a prickly relationship with his managers, teammates and reporters.
Clearing room on the payroll will not be easy. Piazza, whose OPS (on-base plus slugging percentages) has fallen from .957 to .806 over the last four seasons, would probably end up with an AL club for which he could spend time as a designated hitter. Several major league sources denied rumors that the Dodgers are interested in trading Shawn Green for Piazza, who cannot be traded without his permission.
The trouble would be money. Any other team would owe Sosa $35 million over two seasons, and then face another option year in 2007 with a $3.5 million buyout. On the Mets\' side of the equation, Piazza is due $15.5 million next season, and Floyd is owed $13 million over the next two.
Sosa, whose physique shrunk noticeably last season, finished a third straight year in his own OPS decline, going from .993 to .849. He played only 126 games last season after hurting his back with a particularly potent sneeze.
Sosa exhausted his goodwill with the Cubs on the last day of the season, after a tense club lost eight of nine games and fell from playoff contention. He arrived shortly before the game began, failed to dress and left during the first inning.
After he told a reporter he left during the seventh inning, the team announced that security cameras recorded him leaving the parking lot in the first. More than the revelation of when Sosa departed, the announcement was notable because the club publicly embarrassed its marquee player.
