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The Mets bullpen is in shambles. Despite the solid performance of Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith against Washington in the series opener, the pen is in need of a spark. The cost of acquiring relievers was too prohibitive at the deadline. It’s unlikely a quality arm will be available in the next two weeks. On Monday, Jerry Manuel opened the door for one of his starters moving to the bullpen. Names mentioned were John Maine, Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey. If this bullpen continues its poisonous ways then John Maine should be the choice to setup Billy Wagner.

Before going into the reasons Maine would be appropriate, just think of it from the Perez/Pelfrey standpoint. Both have struggled to find their pitching identities. You now have them in a groove and the last thing you want to do is have a change of roles. Additionally, the object of this move is to strengthen the bullpen without doing too much harm to the rotation.

When thinking of it from the “Maine point of view” you might have the perfect candidate to make the move. All year Maine has struggled to pitch five innings. Typically his first time around the order is his most dominant. Opponents are hitting .202 the first time they face him. In 2006 he was even more dominant with a .152 batting average against during the first plate appearance. Maine, in a relief role, can go all out for one inning and use his fastball without pacing himself. The bullpen can return to normalcy as Jerry Manuel can play matchups in the 6th and 7th, while giving the last six outs to Maine and Wagner. Most nights the starters will go at least 6, possibly 7, so you might be able to minimize the innings from your inconsistent bullpen components (i.e. Smith, Feliciano, Sanchez, Heilman and Schoeneweis). Maine will give you the strikeout pitcher this bullpen lacks in the eighth inning.

The main concern will be how this will impact the rotation. Replacing Maine with Brian Stokes is certainly a downgrade. That is where Jon Niese comes into play. So far in Triple A Niese is 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA. Opponents are hitting .209 against him, and he has a good walk to strikeout ratio. Plug Niese into the rotation and make him your fifth starter. Pedro Martinez can slot into Maine’s spot in the rotation and probably give you the same length and performance. A rotation of Santana, Perez, Pelfrey, Martinez and Niese can provide more than enough quality innings to win the NL East.

This is normally not the time of the year to be making radical changes in the bullpen. I still would give this group the rest of the week to prove they can pitch out of their slump. Wagner is less than a week away and part of me believes that his return will stabilize the pen. After all, this is the same group (minus Bradford) that provided a “lights out” bridge to Wagner in 2006. However, you can’t let a bullpen implosion bring the team down like it did in the last few weeks of 2007. To Manuel’s credit, unlike his predecessor, he has show the ability to adjust to changing situations.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host. His is the host of a New York baseball show called NY Baseball Digest that you can find at www.nybaseballdigest.com.