If you follow the New York Mets at all, you're likely aware of the saga of their former second baseman, Danny Garcia.

He was the player who made a meteoric rise to the majors, playing at Shea Stadium in 2003 just two years after being drafted.

He was also the player who hasn't been the same since shoulder surgery in May of 2005 to repair a damaged labrum.

Garcia would rather you not remember what's he done since then.

"I got to the big leagues in two years, I was a big leaguer two years ago," Garcia said in a phone interview. "I want people to remember that I'm this guy."

The 26-year-old Californian was the headliner in a group of five signings announced by the Somerset Patriots last week, and it's been a rocky road since he last put on a Mets uniform in 2004.

He played just two games in 2005 for Triple-A Buffalo before going down with the shoulder injury, and admittedly "stunk it up" when he first returned with the Yankees organization last season, hitting .242 with three home runs and 39 RBI in 123 games at Triple-A Columbus.

"I don't know too much about (the Atlantic League)," he said. "I'm just going there to put up some numbers and go back to affiliated ball."

Garcia was hooked up with the Patriots thanks to Charles Poe, a member of Somerset's first championship in 2001 who was a mutual friend of Garcia's agent.

"My agent received interest from numerous teams, but I ended up coming up as the second choice for a lot of (affiliated) jobs," Garcia said.

Somerset added four more players as well, including two more players with Major League experience.

Phil Norton, a former Cubs southpaw, and Josh Stewart, a lefty who started for the Chicago White Sox were both added to the Patriots roster last week. Joining them were lefty reliever Brian Adams and catcher Brian Peterson.

Patriots Notes: George Sandel, an infielder in Somerset for the past two seasons, made somewhat of a controversial departure when he signed a deal with the Northern League's Edmonton Cracker Cats.

"(Brett) Jodie offered me a contract as a utility guy, and I said to hold off because I didn't necessarily want to be a utility guy if I could get something else," said Sandel, who had similar offers from Lancaster and York.

"Then we spoke last week, and he said that he'd signed Danny Garcia and that Elliott Ayala would be the utility guy. "

"I have no hard feelings towards the front office, I would come back," he said. "But I played for this team every day, I played hurt all the time. I just thought I'd be treated a little better."

"George was somebody we talked to early in the process," said Patriots GM Patrick McVerry.

"He wanted to be guaranteed a starting position and we couldn't make that commitment at that time. We told him he was welcome to search for opportunities with other teams, and in the process we found a few other infielders who we feel are better fits for us this year. We want to thank George for being a great clubhouse guy and representing the Patriots so well in his time here. We wish him the very best in everything he pursues after the Patriots."

Matt Dryer, a member of the 2003 championship team who the Democrat first reported was a likely candidate to return to the Atlantic League, officially signed with the expansion York Revolution.

Around the Atlantic League: Chad Bentz, who followed in the footsteps of Jim Abbott by reaching the big leagues with a deformed hand, has signed with the Camden Riversharks. Bentz was a lefty out of the Expos bullpen in 2004 and also pitched for the Marlins in 2005...York signed Tike Redman, who was the Pittsburgh Pirates starting center fielder as recently as two years ago. However, they also signed Japanese outfielder Kazunori Tanaka, who has a staggering 13 RBI in 341 games in Japan. That's not a typo. Keep in mind that 13 RBI is an average week for Albert Pujols...Bridgeport signed pitcher Garrett Berger, a second round draft pick of the Marlins in 2001 who never fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. Now, he'll be playing for the man who served as the guinea pig for the procedure that may have saved his career.