in NY Sportsday

I love not having to wait until the morning to see the box score. If you’re under 35, you have no idea what I’m talking about.

I know Met fans were so happy for Aaron Heilman. Six straight outs. He vultred that win a bit yesterday, but justice was served. If Heilman is going to be ok, it could mean alot for that bullpen. I’ve always liked the kid.

Speaking of kid….how about Dan Murphy? Two more hits tonight with one in the first in front of Wright’s homer. I can’t imagine any player that Minaya brought in could have had the impact that Murphy has had. It reminds of Gregg Jefferries’ 1988 August call-up. Damn, that’s now 20 years ago. What an tired old blow hard I’m becoming.

Here’s hoping Murphy’s Mets days are more memorable than Jefferries. What a great thing for the organization it will be if they can develop a young everyday player in Murphy.

Do the Mets try to sign Oliver Perez afterall? I’d say its changed to yes, but its Scott Boras as his agent. However, the Mets have always had a fairly constructive relationship with Boras. It may be because around baseball, the Mets have always been considered as one of the better paying clubs.

Perez is young, healthy, energetic and seems to thrive on the big stage. New York’s baseball teams have a tendency not to let those kind of pitchers get away. Or they bring them back like an Andy Pettitte or Roger Clemens.

It would be nice going into next season knowing that Perez, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana will be four starters that open the gates of the new ball park.

So if the team finishes well, it can comfortably resign Perez and Delgado. Dan Murphy can either play left or he can be farmed out this winter to learn to play second base. Add a power bat for the outfield corner. Maybe even Manny Ramirez if the club decides Murphy can play 2nd. This would leave more valuable time to develop Fernando Martinez.

The emergence of Dan Murphy as a viable everyday player has changed everything for the Mets. In just a few days, one young virtually unknown player from AA made the overall Met outlook for this year and beyond much brighter.

That poor kid. But we won and Hielman came out to greet his mates after they picked him up. Great job by Mike Pelfrey to get into a jam and get out with a double play in the seventh. Jose Feliciano did great getting two lefties in Giles and Gonzalez before turning it over to Joe Smith. Save poor Heilman’s long ball the pen performed remarkably. Kuntz would have been there in the event Schoenweis faltered. Kuntz needs to see Gonzalez, Giles and/or Gerut tomorrow to see just how heavy that sinker is.

Two big doubles by the LF platoon of Evans and Murphy were very big. The club needed some extra base hits and the two delivered. Good night for the rookies as they contributed late with well struck extra base hits that helped produce runs. It looks like they can hit big league pitching. If the miracle of Fernando Tatis keeps on giving like it did tonight, we can be ok. Its only seven weeks.

If Kunz can get a save opportunity and deliver it could make dreams come true.

Manuel got Pelfrey to get own jam in the seventh signaling that starters will going further. Mex has been calling for this and I agree. You have some starters who can in Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez. The Mets can win this thing but the things that happened tonight need to keep on happening. I believe that they really can

I believe that Omar Minaya will get another player. Maybe Freddie Garcia. Maybe Livan Hernandez. One or both could enable Pedro’s move to the bullpen to shut down an inning and even get the last three. Pedro wants to come back and his effectiveness in this role can help.

Omar Minaya and the Mets realized that the cost was just too high to bring ML proven talent at the deadline. I believe they were right. And they’ve been signaling that the future they refused to part with will need to be part of the reason they suceed this season. Dan Murphy’s promotion to AAA New Orleans and quick move to New York is further evidence of the path the Mets have chosen.

Adam Rubin points out today that some in the organization feel that it is Murphy and not the still very young Fernandon Martinez who is the top hitting prospect in the organization. When he Mets were prompted to place Marlon Anderson on the DL, the club hastened its plan for Murphy. The left-handed hitting Murphy’s best position seems to be 3rd, but he has played LF, 2B and 1B in his career. More on Murphy from Toby Hyde.

Murphy is a player without a clear position - unless it 3B. He was moved to 2B in AA for some games, but its still too soon to run him out there now. He can hit, and its why he’s here. Roy Oswalt, a righthander, starts tonight. Maybe Jerry Manuel will get him his first ABs tonight and play him in LF. Tough first night though. The club needs more extra base hits from the OF than it’s getting now. Murphy might be able to do this.

So we come to Jon Neise. A date is open August 11 and John Maine will not make his next start. Neise seems certain to get a start at some point. If he does well, it will be more than a few. The Mets need for his audition to go well with the likely departures this off season of Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez.

Eddie Kunz was 42nd player taken last June form Oregon State University. He’s been on a fast track to New York as had Joe Smith. He’s used to a big stage having pitched in the College World Series. The Mets need a fresh arm for the pen and Kuntz will see some time on the ML roster probably before the month is over. It cannot be expected that he can shut down a inning at the big league level just yet.

So there it is. The players they would not deal will be seen this season. If any one of the three can supply the kind of lightening in a bottle the Mets had hoped to get at the deadline, the decision not to deal makes even bigger sense that it does on paper.

* If John Maine said all the soreness is gone in the back of his shoulder that tells me he’ll be ok.

*I wish the Mets would either use Nick Evans more or send him down. Maybe here they can get an OF off the waiver wire.

* If Maine is ok and Neise can cut its when he gets here why not try Pedro in a setup role?

* I’ll say this again. It makes sense to get Jerry Manuel under contract through at least next season.

In ESPNs trade deadline blog, Buster Olney says:

Baseball executives love the mental challenge of piecing together the trade deadline puzzle, and I heard this interesting speculation — and that’s all it is, speculation — from an executive with a team that is not involved in the Jarrod Washburn conversation: With the Mets now perhaps in need of a starting pitcher (in the aftermath of the MRI planned for John Maine), wouldn’t Washburn be a great fit for the Mets?

Washburn is a gritty pitcher, he usually gives six tough innings and he’d be pitching in a big ballpark. And because he’s under contract for 2009, he would give the Mets some depth protection; Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez are eligible for free agency after this season.

The Mariners had indicated to the Yankees, in those corroded talks between the teams, that they were willing to eat a lot of Washburn’s 2008 salary but that the Yankees would have to pay the lefty’s 2009 salary. If the Mariners made a similar arrangement with the Mets and got a prospect in return, there could be a fit. And, as the executive noted, dealing Washburn to the Mets instead of the crosstown Yankees might be viewed as a victory of some sort in the Seattle front office and would allow Mets general manager Omar Minaya to let his fan base know: We got this guy the Yankees wanted.

“It’s a natural fit for those two teams,” the executive mused.

This speculation makes sense. But something else to consider as well is that the Mets have expressed interest in two other Mariners - Raul Ibanez and Arthur Rhodes. Could this be why the Yankees were not able to get Washburn as easily as had been expected? Has Omar Minaya been working on the Mariners for three players? Stay tuned.

Jon Niese’s promotion to AAA New Orleans is a possible signal he’s being fast-tracked for starts this season for the Mets. Niese is scheduled to start tonight for the Zephyrs.

As the MRI of John Maine’s shoulder revealed a strain in his rotator cuff, its likely he will miss at least a start. The Mets may indeed even DL him. Pedro Martinez continues to be a shaky alternative for scheduled starts. The Mets may have concluded that their best acquisition could be Jon Niese.

Both Martinez (last contract year) and Oliver Perez (free agent) will likely be gone after this season. The discussions that occur between powers that be have probably concluded now that Niese is one of their best options for the rotation and maybe he’s going to be needed this season.

So it looks as if Jon Niese will not and cannot be dealt. Along with Fernando Martinez, Niese represents the future and the badly needed chance for the Mets to get younger. Unless a Raul Ibanez or Randy Winn can be acquired for a secong tier prospect, the Mets will play with this hand and pray that the corner OF tandum of Fernando Tatis, Endy Chavez and Nick Evans (2-4, 2 runs scored last night against a lefty last night) continues to provide as it has.