The Mets on Thursday reassigned longshot reliever candidates Carlos Muniz and Willie Collazo to their minor league camp, and by doing so freed up numbers 32 and 36, respectively. Jason Vargas, who was assigned a different number this spring (39) than last year (43), also left to have surgery and is out for awhile, the Daily News said.

As you might not care to remember, Muniz and Collazo were among the desperate moves the Mets found themselves forced to make as a collective suck infected the bullpen last September and, along with unreliable starting pitching, too many guys getting picked off first base, lack of hustle, lack of focus, lack of brains, lack of courage, overconfidence, underconfidence, stupid decisions, and a few things that didn’t go our way, cost the Mets the division they probably should have won.

Collazo we’ll remember for the goof of spelling his name improperly on the back of his jersey. Muniz, who spent most of the year in AA, debuted in that nightmarish 10-9 loss to the Nationals mopping up for Mr. I’m-Not-Devastated, and the seemingly innocent single run Muniz loomed large when the Mets’ 6-run rally in the ninth didn’t tie the game but left them one run short. Of all the disastrous Mets games last year, and there were plenty to choose from, that one probably burned me the most.

The Mets this evening announced they have invited greying, heavyset ex-Dodger Olmedo Saenz to spring training with the idea he could become the right-handed power threat and backup to Carlos Delgado the lineup would seem to call out for. Saenz last appeared in No. 8 with Los Angeles.

Also invited to camp is veteran washout Tony Armas Jr., who'll compete for a rotation slot and secretly root for injuries until its time to report to New Orleans. Armas most recently appeared in No. 36 with the Nationals and could easily appear in it again given Willie Collazo's own grip on a roster slot.

Update: Mets.com reports Wednesday that Armas will suit up in No. 44. Thanks Jason  for the updates.

Props to sharp-eyed Met fan Chris who not only pointed out Friday night that Met reliever Willie Collazo made his Shea Stadium debut in a jersey that spelled his name incorrectly, but thought to take the accompanying photo of it. The goof — one too many Z’s and one too few L’s — appeared on the snow-white jersey Friday.

No sooner had we inquired as to whether Collazo appeared in a misspelled road jersey in his debut Wednesday in Cincinnati than Lundy came through with the other photo illustrating he hadn’t. How did Collazo turn from Puerto Rican to Italian? We”ll try to investigate. So thanksagain to Chris and Lundy, to whom we all owe a cold frosty Rheingold. You will often find those guys at the Crane Pool.

Other than featuring Collazo’s misspelled jersey — and his second consecutive scoreless relief outing — tonight’s convincing victory over Houston featured the return of rookie outfielder Carlos Gomez 27. The Mets have also reactivated Sandy Alomar Jr., who has continued to dress in No. 19.

On the first day active rosters can be expanded the Mets as expected recalled AAA starters Mike Pelfrey and Phillip Humber, along with a lefty reliever, Willie Collazo. Pelfrey to wear No. 34 as usual, will try for his first victory of the year in a start this afternoon in Atlanta. Humber will wear the same No. 49 he wore last season in brief appearances.

Press notes say Collazo will debut in No. 36 — a jersey that earlier this year went to outfielder Chip Ambres. Ambres reportedly is among others who may still be recalled as the month rolls on.

The Mets in the meantime put together a solid game Friday in ending an ugly five-game losing streak. Among the casualties of the Philly sweep was Orlando Hernandez, who is expected to miss his next turn in the rotation resting a sore foot. The leading candidate to take his place is some guy called Martinez.

The Mets won what feels like their biggest game of the year Sunday, overcoming a few deficits en route to a 5-4, 10-inning victory sparked by an RBI single from Chip Ambres 36 about whom we’ll probably always say, “Remember that game in Los Angeles…?”

The 9th-inning rally to tie the game featured a trip around the bases for pinch-runner Anderson Hernandez, called back to the big-league roster for the first time this year and still wearing the No. 1 jersey he sported a year ago. Hernandez is back in action because Jose Valentin 22 broke his leg on a badly aimed foul ball Friday. That’s not the way we wanted to see the second-base problem solved.

Headed home again this week, the Mets are expected to reacquire Moises Alou 18 from a lengthy stay on the disabled list, and Damion Easley 3 from the bereavement list, though it’s not clear at this point who goes where to accommodate them.

Jennifer writes:

Forgive my doubting your site…but I would have sworn that Mark Bomback wore number 26 in his brief stint with the Mets.

Not for nothing but Bomback in the 20s was a vague memory for me too (MBTN’s all-time roster lists him as wearing 36). I happened to check Jack Looney’s “Now Batting Number” and sure enough, he lists Bomback having dressed in 36 as well as 28 — not 26 — during his season here.

Both 28 and 26 were available, at least until September when Wally Backman and Scott Holman wore those jerseys, respectively. Bomback doesn’t appear in 28 or 26 on any scorecards in my inventory, but I hope you can check yours just to be sure (those dated prior to September would be most useful).

Let us know what you find! You can comment below, or send an email to mbtn /at/ mbtn dot net, or to our new addy mbtn01 /at/ gmail / dot/ com. Feel free to attach an image of your scorecard!

Skip to Alou (Nov. 20): Quick update on the first Met Uni Controversy of the 06 offseason: Veteran outfielder Moises Alou signed a 1-year deal today and was presented with the No. 18 jersey. That number belonged last season to Jose Valentin, who was also re-signed recently. Newsday relates that Valentin willingly surrendered the digits after learning who asked for them: "You tell him he's got the number."

The guess here is that Valentin resurfaces in No. 22, a number that last season belonged to Xavier Nady then to Michael Tucker.

Updates (Sept. 29): By now everyone knows the Mets will be Pedro-less for the playoffs but let's be honest: That doesn't surprise us. He hasn't been healthy for a long while, and though it would be nice if the Real Pedro was with us, we've been more concerned about the lineup than the pitching all year long, even while they made it look easy and now, especially, as they make it look difficult.

Stuff we neglected to mention recently: Ramon Castro 11 returned from the disabled list Sept. 12; Kelly Stinnett 36 was designated for assigment Sept. 27 and Phillip Humber 49 made his big-league debut Sept. 24. Along with the return of Mike Pelfrey 34 to the (nominally) active roster, the '06 Mets have 36 active players on their roster at once, which ties them with three other Met clubs for the second-most ever, according to Met roster historian Jason:

Deadline Terror (July 31): As opposed to say, 2004, the Mets at least didn't mean to get worse at the deadline this year, though it was certainly bad news on the doorstep to learn that rubbery reliever Duaner Sanchez 50 would miss the rest of the year as the result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Miami; increasing any exisiting pressure they felt to do something about the bullpen, while dialing back any temptation to make Aaron Heilman a part of a bigger deal for a pitcher, left-handed pinch-hitter or anything else that might help come October. So instead the Mets swapped fungible outfielder Xavier Nady 22 to the Pirates for Proven Veteran Setup Guy Roberto Hernandez, along with Oliver Perez, who not too long ago, ranked among the most promising young left arms in the game.