According to Grey, “Daniel Murphy looked like he could handle second base well enough, given his offensive ability. Whether that’s enough for the Mets remains to be seen. He has limitations, but he didn’t embarrass himself.”

Meanwhile, on the season’s final day, Eddie Kunz blew a save by giving up a pinch-hit grand slam to the Phillies OF Jeremy Slayden in the eighth inning.

Regarding Kunz, Grey writes:

“Comparing Kunz’s delivery to the one he displayed last season in the AFL, it appears the team has adjusted him to stand taller in his delivery, presumably to help his command, handle lefties better or both.  However, it hasn’t been working well here.  The raw stuff is still there, including the heavy sink on his ball, but he needs to improve his command to stick in the big leagues.”

In 10 appearances this fall, Kunz is 2–2 with a 10.93 ERA in 14 innings pitched, during which he has walked 10 batters.

This is why, as Graziano explains, “the Mets are telling teams they’re not shopping Eddie Kunz and Robert Parnell, who should get a shot at the big-league pen in 2009 if they aren’t dealt.”

Speaking of relief pitchers, and potential set-up men, the Giants are the most recent team to express interest in free-agent LHP Joe Beimel, reports MLB.com.

…seeing as Damaso Marte just got a three-year deal, and considering the value of set-up men from the last off-season, i see no way beimel agrees to anything less than three years, and, i’m guessing, $15 million or so…

…so, my hunch, albeit an informed one, but a hunch nevertheless, is that the Mets will sign a closer, sign a set-up man, and maybe even trade for an additional reliever, while hanging on to Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes, and auditioning parnell, kunz, and other youngsters in spring training…

So far this off-season, Beimel has been linked in rumor to the Mets, Cardinals, Giants and Rockies, among others.

In 71 relief appearances for the Dodgers in 2008, the 31–year-old Beimel was 5–1 with a 2.02 ERA in 49 innings pitched, during which he struck out 32 batters and walked 21.

He had a 3.88 ERA in 2007, and a 2.96 ERA in 2006.

Hubbuch also notes that although Murphy is playing second base now, he will move back to leftfield when Winter ball resumes.

As always, check out Toby Hyde’s Mets Minor League Blog for more info on Mets prospects

…if you didn’t know, and i didn’t, a saguaro is a type of cactus…

Daniel Murphy is batting .429 which leads all players with atleast 20 at bats. He also has a homer and 6 RBI.

Shawn Bowman comes in right under Murphy with a .400 average but leads the team with two home runs in just 25 at bats.

On the mound, LHP Jason Vargas has pitched 7.2 scoreless innings thus far.

RHP Tobi Stoner has two wins already and has allowed one run and five hits in 5.2 innings.

Righty Eddie Kunz also hasn’t allowed a run in four innings of relief and has notched two saves.

For more on the AFL and other Mets prospects, always check out Toby Hyde’s Mets Minor League Blog.

The following are stats for each Mets prospect playing in the AFL:

3B Shawn Bowman: .545 (6-for-11), 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI
RHP Eddie Kunz: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K, 3.0 IP
2B Daniel Murphy: .400 (4-for-10), 1 HR, 3 RBI
RHP Bobby Parnell: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 K, 1.0 IP
RHP Tobi Stoner: 1-0, 1.93, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.2 IP
C Josh Thole: 1.67 (1-for-6), 3 BB
LHP Jason Vargas: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 BB, 3 K, 4.0 IP

Meanwhile, Mets prospect Eddie Kunz is blogging his AFL experience for MLB.com. You can read it by clicking here.

For more detailed information and daily updates on the Arizona Fall and Hawaiian Baseball Leagues, check out Toby Hyde’s Mets Minor League Blog.

Manuel, on Ayala, speaking to reporters prior to today’s game against the Pirates:

“In talking with some of our scouts, they seem to think that the arm strength is back from the injury he had during the World games.  And, they seem to think, that the angle of his arm may be a bit different, which might not cause the ball to sink as much.  But, for the most part, where going to give him a chance to show us what he can and cannot do.”

Eddie Kunz has been optioned back to Triple-A.

According to multiple reports, RHP Eddie Kunz will likely be sent back to the minor leagues when Ayala joins the Mets later today.

Kunz joined the Mets on Monday, August 3, and has since pitched in just four games, during which he let up four runs and five hits in 2.2 innings.

…i am trying real hard not to judge kunz, because he is essentially getting an introduction to the Heath Bell Treatment…hopefully, the next time he is called upon to join the team’s bullpen, he is actually used…in short, these guys are pitchers, and need to pitch…to let a kid like kunz, or bell, just sit around, while hoping he can shine when used just once every five or six days, is not fair…that’s not how he or any relief pitcher is conditioned to perform…

In Ayala’s first three seasons, he was 24-22 with a 2.75 ERA in 232 innings.

However, in 2006, he injured his right elbow during the World Baseball Classic and missed the entire season.  He returned last year to post a 3.19 ERA in 42 innings.

This season, though, Ayala is 1-8 with a 5.77 ERA.

Kunz has 27 saves so far this season with the B-Mets, and is sporting an ERA of 2.79.

…any help is welcome, especially after last night…with jon niese probably set to join the club soon, and kunz on his way now, my fear is that they are needing to move these guys along too quickly…however, i’m pretty sure, especially in niese’s potential case, that this is just a temporary solution to help fill some holes in the pitching staff…

Baseball America, and other minor league experts, like criticize the Mets farm system and do not seem to put much value on it.  That said, the team itself is very confident in the talent it has, which, I suppose is all understandable.  I mean, what else are they going to say.

Nevertheless, in his most recent Rumor Mill for Gotham Baseball Magazine, Mark Healey quotes an anonymous baseball executive as saying, “The Mets have very little to offer, and I don’t see that changing before the deadline.”

The thing is, prior to last night’s game, Mets GM Omar Minaya confirmed that he had been approached by Indians GM Mark Shapiro regarding RHP C.C. Sabathia, who was recently traded to the Brewers.

According to Minaya, Shapiro felt the Mets had enough young talent to ‘get it done,’ but Minaya declined.

The way I see it, the problem is the Mets lack elite prospects.  Fernando Martinez is essentially ‘elite,’ in terms of lists and rankings, but, from what I can gather, other teams realize that he’s been injured often, he’s still just 19, and he has yet to really produce on a consistent basis – and so, while the hype is still there, and while the talent is visible obvious, the results have yet to ‘wow’ anyone. 

The sense I get is that, right now, at the deadline, teams are mostly looking for ‘now-prospects,’ like Matt Laporta, who was just traded to the Indians from the Brewers for Sabthia.

And so, like was the case with Johan Santana, if the Mets want to acquire a quality, impact player at the deadline, they may need to further deplete their farm system and bundle a collection of young talent together in order to make a deal happen.

First, in his blog at the Daily News, Adam Rubin talks about 1B Nick Evans, 3B Dan Murphy and 1B/DH Mike Carp, who are bashing their way through the Eastern League. Focusing especially on Evans, Rubin talked to Mets’ assistant GM Tony Bernazard about the young slugger:

“He’s a very good athlete, very good potential as a player,” Mets VP Tony Bernazard said about Evans, a fifth-round pick by the Mets in 2004 out of high school in Phoenix. “The ball jumps off his bat. He has a lot of power potential. He can hit the ball in the gaps. He’s very smart, a leader-type player. A quiet leader.”

On the season, Carp leads the team with a .435 average and five homers, and is second with five doubles and 16 RBI. Murphy sits at .426 with 13 RBI, and is tied for the team lead in doubles with six. Evans is hitting a mere .355, leading the team with six doubles, two triples and 18 RBI.

At the NY Post, Tim Bontemps profiles RHP Eddie Kunz, the 2007 supplemental first round pick whom the organization has projected as its potential closer of the future. Bernazard, being the go-to-guy for any and all minor league stories, tells Bontemps that the team would not be afraid to call Kunz up straight from Double A this year.

Bontemps also spoke to an AL scout, who gave his take on Kunz’s stuff:

“[Kunz] gets good leverage and velocity behind it, and it really explodes at the plate… A hard sinker in the low 90s like that is a pretty devastating pitch.”

The scout also liked Kunz’s slider, which hits 83-84 on the radar gun. “At times, when he would throw it right, it would just disappear. If we’re just talking stuff, Eddie’s going to be an All-Star. You only have to watch him throw a couple pitches to see there’s some pretty special pitches coming out of that arm.”

Kunz is 1-0 with three saves and a 4.26 ERA on the season, thanks to one spotty outing; he hasn’t been scored upon in four out of his five appearances. He has allowed three hits and four walks while striking out four in 6.1 innings.