Billy Wagner is having arm troubles again.  The closer is heading for an MRI on his throwing arm on Tuesday, and even the most optimistic projections would have him missing some time.  Wagner has told the Mets team site that he won’t risk further injury by pitching through pain after having a scare a few weeks ago.  All bad news for the Mets.

   
Wagner's arm troubles may spell doom for the Mets since Duaner Sanchez doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Behind Wagner there are exactly zero reliable options for Jerry Manuel in the bullpen.  Scott Schoeneweis has the best ERA for a reliever for New York at 3.14, but he is merely a situational lefty and can’t be counted on in high-leverage situations.  His strikeout-to-walk ratio is just 1.27.  Pedro Feliciano has control issues and just two career saves in 250 games.  Joe Smith has seen an uptick in stuff this year, but is still eminently hittable.  Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman are probably the best end-game options left, but neither inspires any kind of confidence.  Heilman’s ERA is an ugly 5.25 and he has been tagged with losses in 3 of his last 4 outings.  Sanchez is the only other Met with any kind of closer experience having saved eight games for the Dodgers back in 2005.  However, that year he also blew four saves and lost seven times showing an inability to handle pressure in late game high-leverage situations.

Suffice it to say, if Wagner isn’t healthy the Mets are toast.  New York is currently in third place in the NL East having fallen three games back of the front-running Phillies.  The team has even more pitching issues with the injury to John Maine and the general ineffectiveness of Pedro Martinez increasing the importance of the bullpen. With the non-waiver trade deadline past, it will be very difficult to acquire any kind of quality arm that could actually help in the bullpen.

The best future fantasy option with Wagner out might be the recently called-up Eddie Kunz.  He made his major league debut Sunday against the Astros and threw in the 7^th inning allowing only a bunt single to Darin Erstad.  Kunz was the closer for the Binghampton Mets (AA) this year and notched 27 saves and 43 strikeouts in 48.1 innings.  Like the other relievers in the New York bullpen, he has control issues sporting a 4.4 BB/9 rate.