On the verge of falling out of the NL East race, the Mets have called up prospects Nick Evans, Eddie Kunz and Dan Murphy up to the big club and are expected to see significant playing time with starting pitcher Jon Niese expected to follow later this week in place of John Maine. The young Mets are reunited with Carlos Muniz who sucks was formerly a minor league teammate. Freddy Martinez could make an appearance if he can figure out how to get through a batting practice without a leg injury.

The roster moves were likely born out of necessity instead of a shift in team philosophy. With Ryan Church’s return uncertain, Moises Alou out for the season, John Maine and Billy Wagner both struggling with injury and no help to be found at the deadline, what else are they going to do? Bring up the young kids, why not?

Although the Mets offense has been failing lately, they should be able to compensate for Church’s extended absence. The most pressing concern is the state of the bullpen which will require a intense off-season overhaul. None of the current arms are capable of closing in Wagner’s place, and the odds of a 23 year old rookie closing in a pennant race aren’t in the Mets’ favor.

But take heart, the Mets don’t figure to be in the pennant race much longer. Of course a quick and early end to the season might prove refreshing than another August/September swoon and slow death of a team that is less than the sum of its parts.

So what the hell, lets all sit back and watch these four prospects who, depending on who you believe are either highly talented or overvalued. The July surge was nice, but likely an anomaly in another high expectation, also-ran Mets season plagued once again by a stagnant offense and poor bullpen performance.

2009 isn’t that far away.

Thursday’s 4:00 pm trade deadline came and went without so much as a good Mets rumor. I’m not that uneasy that the Mets didn’t pick up a corner outfield; Church should be back at some point and some combo of Endy/Marlon/Tatis/Easley should be enough to hold down the other corner spot. What really concerns me is the pitching staff.

As I’ve written before, the starting rotation should be fine, and with a little bit of luck, Pedro keeps his sprains and pulls to a minimum. If you’ve been watching even just highlights of the Mets, you’d know this team desperately needs another arm. Secretly I was hoping for Houston Street , even if it meant sending a Kunz or Niese to Oakland , but that Billy Beene is a motherhumper when it comes to asking for every thing but the kitchen sink. The price tag on Ibanez was ridiculous, for what Seattle was reportedly asking for, they should have thrown in Ichiro. I was never that high on Fuentes, particularly because I would have like to have seen a right-handed set up man to pitch the eighth.

The lack of a trade is likely not Omar’s fault; this year’s sellers wanted an arm and leg. If he would have traded two of three of the few prospects the Mets have left, the Mets would be in a deeper hole next year. Not to mention trading away three future stars for a mediocre pitcher isn’t only unwise, it puts an unfair burden on the player coming back. See Victor Zambrano.

The Mets will need a corner outfielder and if Freddy Martinez lives up to half his hype, he is going to be special player, but then again, so was Lastings Milledge and Alex Ochoa. Lets hope he lives up to his ceiling. In the mean time, the Mets have to look elsewhere for help. The Mets should be ok without another outfielder, the most glaring need is for bullpen help. With the deadline come and gone, the Mets must look elsewhere for reinforcements:

The Waiver Wire

The Mets have to look to the trash heap waiver wire to get an arm. Reason would suggest that with pitching at such a shortage, any pitcher worth a darn would be signed by someone. Omar has shown a proficiency with pulling players off the scrap heap. Darren Oliver and Aaron Sele come to mind, not that either one of those players were stoppers or lights out set up men but both gave the Mets a long reliever capable of making a spot start. Of course Omar also brought in Mota so who knows.

The Minors

Jon Niese reportedly had a impressive triple-A debut. Over seven innings Niese gave up one run on three hits, striking out seven and walking two. That’s promising, but this guy probably isn’t major league ready and sure as shit not ready to jump into the rotation. Niese may be shoved into a start due to necessity or if by some reason if the Mets get a big lead over Philly and Florida . Same with Eddie Kunz; both should see late season call ups and figure to be prominent in the Mets staff in 2009 or 2010 but will likely not contribute in a meaningful role baring a heavy hit from the injury bug. I suspect the Mets did not make Bobby Parnell available this off-season to raise his value in November. Look for him to leave via trade over the off-season.

Staff up

The Mets might be able to ease the burden placed on the pen by carrying another pitcher. Why the big league club is carrying three catchers is beyond me. The Mets should send down Cancel and carry 13 pitchers. Even a mop-up/long relief man would take some strain off an already taxed bullpen. Aaron Heilman’s arm is going to fall off at this rate. The pen needs some breathers with only 5 off days from now until the rest of the season, the Mets have no more help from the schedule.

Analysis

The key to keeping this team from another September C word the bullpen has got to be unburdened. Manuel’s instance on starting pitchers going at least seven innings is a good start, but not enough. Offensive explosions and lopsided wins will reduce the need for pitchers to face one and two batters will decrease the work load. With no help on the way everyone has to pitch in and relieve the bullpen.