Today in the Daily News, John Harper decides to jinx one of the Mets’ nice young arms, writing that in 6′5″ reliever Eddie Kunz, the Mets believe they have a candidate to pursue the trail blazed by Joba Chamberlain in the Bronx last season, rocketing from A-ball to become a dominant major league reliever in his first pro season. Writes Harper:

This time of year, baseball people are always looking for the next phenom. But after what happened in the Bronx last season, there is a new way of defining that search.

Now they’re looking for the next Joba.

Kunz is one of those rare high draft picks who was actually selected with an eye toward the pen rather than the rotation. Kunz served as closer for two-time NCAA champion Oregon State before his draft selection by the Mets last June, and for what it’s worth, he appears to be taking the right attitude to all the hype.

He’s a confident, personable 21-year-old who is thinking big, hoping to make such an impression here in his first spring training that he’ll force his way to New York. “That’s why I’m here,” he said. “I’m going to challenge every hitter I face and try to win a job with the Mets.”

Sounds great. Just don’t try to do too much, kid. After all, the Met bullpen is pretty much set at this point, to the extent that even a guy like Joe Smith, who found early success in the majors last season, is likely ticketed for AAA once camp breaks. The odds are certainly stacked against the hard-throwing righty, but that doesn’t mean they’re impossible. Said Manager Willie Randolph:

“I see him as a kid who can help us in the near future, whenever that may be. You can see he’s got the stuff to get hitters out. His ball has some hard sink when it’s down.”

And GM Omar Minaya:

“If he can keep the ball down in the zone, he can come quick.”

However, before we get carried away here, let’s be clear: Eddie Kunz is not the next Joba Chamberlain. Eddie Kunz is a raw young pitcher with excellent stuff who needs to prove he can find success above the collegiate level. Will he carve out a spot on the Opening Day roster? Almost certainly not. Is he a name worth keeping an eye on? Absolutely.

Writes Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog:

…harper’s column is very exciting, and has me hopeful that kunz can be the type of pitcher who one day may replace Billy Wagner as the team’s closer…and that’s exactly the point…i really, really don’t want to get my hopes up, when it comes to prospects…i think he’ll be good…i want him to be good…but, please, don’t tell me he’ll be good, before he is actually good…