The Mets surprised everyone this season so far to this point. They're 46-39 thus far and their starting pitching is a big reason why. But as good teams do, they need to improve in other areas in order to maintain this level of success. That improvement comes at a price. The Mets seem to be willing to pay that price. The question is, should they?

Coming into this season with rock bottom expectations, the Mets were expected to let their young players play for extended periods of time, hold on to their prospects, and even trade away their veterans for more young assets. Since that's not the case (it's actually the exact opposite), we're about to find out just how committed the Mets are to keeping their farm intact. Good teams build through the draft and train their own players. But in order to improve at the deadline, sometimes you have to give some of those guys up.

We've already heard rumors about guys like Ramon Hernandez, Francisco Rodriguez, and Carlos Quentin. Is Sandy Alderson ready to trade prospects like Matt den Dekker or Michael Fulmer in order to make those acquisitions? You can never say never when it comes to deals like that, but the Mets front office is going to have to be very careful in weighing the pros and cons of those deals. Fulmer, for example, is a 19 year old starting pitcher taken with a sandwich pick (I believe in return for Type-B free agent Pedro Feliciano) in the 2011 draft currently pitching in Savannah and having a lot of success. A lot of scouts are very high on him and while he is at the very least 2 years away, is it worth giving up on young pitching for a short term fix? His name was mentioned in talks for Carlos Quentin, a right handed bat the Mets could really use. But he is a free agent after the year, and he has been prone to injury, missing most of the first half for San Diego. Would you give up a guy like Fulmer? There's no guarantee he ever even contributes at the major league level.

I trust Alderson is going to make the right choices. He's at the helm of a very smart and savvy front office. Based on the moves he's made so far, I see no reason to stop trusting him now. I just hope he's careful.