With Victor Zambrano’s elbow beyond quick repair, and with rookies Brian Bannister and John Maine already disabled, everybody is proffering theories as to how the Mets can solve their pitching woes. Where will Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph find replacements? The answer lies in how well the team can help itself by grooming tomorrow’s rotation in today’s bullpen. The answer lies with Aaron Heilman, and then sorting out how to replace him in the bullpen.

History provides plenty of encouragement when it comes to cultivating starting pitchers in the majors instead of letting them pitch for fame and fortune in the International League. Perhaps no manager was more famous for it than Orioles legend Earl Weaver, who articulated 10 “laws” for managing in his classic “Weaver on Strategy”. His eighth law was “the best place for a rookie pitcher is in long relief.”

This was a reflection of the success teams had with this pitcher usage pattern. When Weaver first started managing in the majors, teams were ready to put talented young pitchers in roles where they might alternate between long relief and spot starting. In Weaver’s first full season of 1968, several other teams were breaking in youngsters in this sort of role, including future stars like Nolan Ryan, Rudy May, and Jack Billingham. (Rollie Fingers was one of these types of pitchers as well, but he, like Goose Gossage or Mariano Rivera in later years, would prove too valuable in a relief role to be left taking his chances every fifth day.)

Weaver would most famously duplicate this way of breaking in young starters in the 1970s, when he replaced three-fifths of an aging Oriole rotation by breaking in Scott McGregor in 1976, then Mike Flanagan and Dennis Martinez in 1977. Even in his last season before his initial retirement, Weaver broke in another future 100-game winner in the role, Storm Davis.

Today, you might think considerations about a player’s impending free agency and arbitration eligibility might discourage clubs from grooming youngsters in this way. Why use up service time in a developmental role? Isn’t that what the minor leagues are for?

Perhaps for some pitchers, but since Weaver’s heyday, a number of successful starters have been groomed in big league bullpens:

More recently, the Twins have had particular success with this kind of role. They initially groomed both Cy Young winner Johan Santana and third starter Carlos Silva in relief, and currently have top pitching prospect Francisco Liriano in the pen to prep him for the jump to starter. The world champion White Sox have also seen success here, having broken in Mark Buehrle this way as a 21-year-old rookie in 2000; now, they’re trying out top prospect Brandon McCarthy this way.

So what does this mean for the Yankees and the Mets? Both franchises boast some superb young pitching talent, with the Bombers looking forward to the arrival of Phil Hughes and the Mets waiting on Mike Pelfrey. Both pitchers, however, have only a few weeks’ worth of experience above A-ball, so it’s premature to get too worked up about either pitcher’s ability to contribute before the stretch run, if not next season.

However, once Hughes and Pelfrey both prove they’re ready, the Mets and Yankees will have to decide whether they can press them into big league rotations in a pennant race. Considering the stakes, both clubs should be cautious, but that doesn’t mean they have to forgo using them at all. Both pitchers should be considered important parts of future contenders, and both could benefit from the experience of being part of a winning team without having to face the immediate pressure of being a critical component.

The Mets have a more immediate need now that Zambrano is out. Indeed, Minaya needs to ask himself if the time has come to end Heilman’s seasoning exercise in the bullpen and return him to the starting role he has the talent to shine in. It would be too much to expect him to be the next Pedro or Curt Schilling, but great starters don’t always have to arrive like Dwight Gooden (or even Chien-Ming Wang).

The Mets need a quality starter behind Tom Glavine and Pedro. Beyond Heilman, that pitcher isn’t going to come from inside the organization. Once Brian Bannister and/or Maine comes off of the DL, they’re the pitchers who will keep Lima in Norfolk and take the fifth slot in the rotation. Taking Heilman out of the pen might seem to create even more difficulties there, but the Mets would still have Duaner Sanchez and Chad Bradford to set up Billy Wagner, and having another starter who can get into the sixth or seventh inning will only help the bullpen.

Even after promoting Heilman to the rotation, the lesson the Mets need to take from his success in the pen is that they can similarly insert another quality arm from their farm system into middle relief. It would be premature to rush Pelfrey, and there’s no point in talking about how quickly Phil Humber’s rehabilitation from elbow surgery is progressing. Instead, the club might consider calling up Cuban import Alay Soler.

Soler is already shining down at Double-A Binghamton, and would have the benefit of learning the league (hitters and umps alike) in the Mets pen while providing the club with a power fastball/slider combo to replace Heilman’s. Who’s to say the Yankees might not have done themselves a favor by doing the same with Jose Contreras? And if Soler succeeds in the pen and the Mets need to find yet another starting pitcher, they’ll know exactly where to look.

Ms. Karhl writes for Baseball Prospectus. For more state-of-the-art commentary, visit www.baseballprospectus.com.