4/8/08 Placed RHP Matt Wise on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 2, with right forearm stiffness; recalled RHP Carlos Muniz from Triple-A New Orleans.

4/10/08 Signed RHP Claudio Vargas to a Minor League contract.

4/15/08 Activated RHP Duaner Sanchez from the 15-day disabled list; optioned RHP Carlos Muniz to Triple-A New Orleans.

Duaner Sanchez finally returned from his 22-month DL stint Tuesday night to work a 1-2-3 inning against the Nationals. If his minor league numbers are any indication, he may be fully back already with five consecutive scoreless innings between St. Lucie and New Orleans after giving up two solo homers in his first appearance in the Florida State League. Willie Randolph will probably bring him along slowly at first, but it’ll be interesting to see if Sanchez will reclaim his eighth inning role from Aaron Heilman should he continue to pitch well.

Unfortunately for the Mets, the DL does not grow any shorter, as Matt Wise slotted into Sanchez’s spot with forearm stiffness. Wise gave up the walk-off to Robert Andino in Florida but otherwise had looked like someone with pretty good stuff, as he’d struck out two in both of his two early appearances. He is projected to come back sooner rather than later but hasn’t started throwing yet. Muniz threw four scoreless innings for the Mets in his week up, and has yet to allow a run for New Orleans as well, so he’s definitely staking his claim to be in the discussion for a promotion should someone else go down or should certain relievers continue being ineffective *cough*Schoenweis*cough*.

On the minor league front, Claudio Vargas reported to extended spring training and will be joining New Orleans in the next couple of weeks. Vargas has a career 4.95 ERA and hardly seems to be the cure, but the Mets are hoping he can at least be a salve between now and June, if needed. By holding out for a few weeks, Vargas has done himself quite a disservice as well, as the Mets have many pitchers in New Orleans who are off to early starts with good results: Brian Stokes (1-0, 1.64, 12-3 K/BB) and Ruddy Lugo (2-0, 2.84, 21-3 K/BB, but three homers allowed) have both looked pretty solid early and may have the jump on Vargas should Nelson Figueroa’s feel-good story start taking some lumps.

DL TRACKER

Pedro Martinez – Mets seem to be targeting end-of-May/early June return, Minaya stresses precaution. On the plus side, he should be fresh for the end of the season.

Orlando Hernandez – Strained a tendon, will be in a boot for at least another week before resuming activities. Mid-May return is probably the earliest the Mets could hope for.

Matt Wise – As mentioned earlier, he hasn’t started throwing yet. The Post speculates a return at the end of April.

Moises Alou – Expected to play in a minor league game by the end of the week, still on track for an end of April/early May return.

Ramon Castro – Still hasn’t played in a rehab game, though he’s expected to sometime next week. Probably also on the late April/early May return schedule, although I’d bet the over with Castro.

Jose Valentin – Not technically on the DL but is expected to be ready to start playing in two-to-four weeks.

-Raul Casanova and Brady Clark are the obvious choices to go down for Castro and Alou’s returns, respectively.

-The pitching staff is already suffering from a logjam, particularly if Mike Pelfrey continues to pitch well and if Scott Schoeneweis continues to enjoy the immunity that is granted to someone who has his contract. I’m not sure who Wise could replace on the active roster when he’s ready—perhaps Sosa, but that scenario leaves the Mets pen without a long man.

-One positive in all these early injuries: none of them are season-threatening. We all knew coming into the year that the Mets had a lot of injury-prone guys, and they’ve lived up to their reputation, but at least nobody is gone for good.

-I love the Angel Pagan kool-aid as much as anyone has, but he looks like the most expendable guy on the bench should Omar wake up and realize that Damion Easley is his only actual backup for the entire infield.