Roster Move: Pedro Returns; Evans Demoted

Jason Giambi's mustache looks ridiculous, but he's hitting like he's 10 years younger lately.

Pedro Martinez is never going to pitch like he did 10 years ago, but no one realistically expects him to do that. He only needs to be a solid #3 starter (yes, even I've demoted Oliver Perez to the #4 spot in the rotation at this point) and I think that's well within the realm of possibility. Pedro's first start earlier this week yielded 109 pitches and he says his arm feels fine; we'll see if that's the case in his next start.

Pedro's return means Claudio Vargas moves to the bullpen and Carlos Muniz goes back to New Orleans. If Vargas flourishes in the long man's role and the Mets are still playing .500 baseball on July 30, don't be surprised if they deal away a reliever or two and give Muniz a chance to prove himself for the rest of the season.

But what the hell am I supposed to write about this? Nick Evans may have a future in this organization, but he was overmatched at the MLB level right now. Abraham Nunez has been overmatched at the MLB level for every second he's spent in the big leagues. He was overmatched in New Orleans too, with a .133 batting average in 45-at bats. Whose ass does Val Pascucci have to kiss to get a shot at the big leagues again?

(Oh, and Robinson Cancel is temporarily up in place of Raul Casanova, who is on bereavement leave. Neither of them belong on the roster.)

After spending the first month of the season complaining that the Mets had too many outfielders and only one backup infielder, they are now apparently carrying seven infielders, three catchers and three natural outfielders. Decisions like these make me continue to question Omar Minaya's ability as a general manager. Memo to Omar: baseball teams that insist on 12-man pitching staffs should carry two catchers, six infielders and five outfielders among their position players. Is that so hard?

Let's take a look at the active roster now:

STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL

RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL

CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Raul Casanova (Robinson Cancel)

INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
Abraham Nunez

OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Endy Chavez
Moises Alou - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Marlon Anderson - DL