After a couple weeks of publicly hemming and hawing, 40-year-old David Cone has decided he’s not ready to hang up his spikes. Cone, who didn’t pitch at all last season after an admirable comeback with the Boston Red Sox in 2001, has agreed to a minor-league contract with the New York Mets. Owner Fred Wilpon and fellow pitchers Al Leiter and John Franco have coaxed the man of a hundred arm slots into competing for a slot in the Mets rotation this spring.

It’s a page straight out of the Orel Hershiser Story. The best-case scenario has Coney taking the ball every fifth day at the back end of the rotation, giving the Mets some quality innings and notching the seven wins necessary for him to reach 200 for his career. The worst-case scenario has Cone laying all doubts about his remaining ability to rest and retiring in the colors of the team for whom he first became a star (unless, of course, the Mets are wearing those curious orange batting-practice jerseys). From the brash and reckless young punk to the grizzled vet hoping to eke a few more good innings out of his arm, Cone has come full circle.

It remains to be seen whether Cone will still have a job waiting for him at George Steinbrenner’s YES network should his comeback attempt fail. Reportedly the Boss is none too pleased that the neophyte broadcaster (Cone worked a few Staten Island Yankees games last season and made cameos during the two Yanks-Mets interleague series) thinks he’s still a pitcher. According to the New York Times:

Earlier in the day, Steinbrenner said in an interview that Cone had not contacted him to discuss his future and seemed miffed that Cone would consider pitching for the Mets. Steinbrenner said Cone should continue broadcasting for the Yankees on the YES network and added, “I don’t know why he wouldn’t want to be an instructor for us” in spring training.

Cone’s in good company on King George’s ever-growing shitlist, right next to Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi’s trainer, Joe Torre’s coaching staff, the Yankee front office’s dental plan, and innocent litle kittens. Paul O’Neill had better watch himself, too — slinking off to Ohio to be with family…

Here’s wishing Coney the best. Given that I’m contemplating a trip down to Florida for spring training (and let us pause for a moment to join in hearty cheer for the arrival of the holiest day of the year: Pitchers and Catchers), I may just have to check out the Mets and see if the ol’ guy has anything left.