The last few innings during yesterday’s wins for the Mets and Yankees were as quick and easy as any that the two teams have played this year, and the shutdown performances by closers Billy Wagner and Mariano Rivera were reliable and expected. But the lack of drama leading up to the ninth inning was a big coup for the Mets, while adding to a big debate for the Yanks.

If a few innings of setup relief in a random late-April game seem uneventful, remember how the Mets’ bullpen looked last season. Scott Schoeneweis and Guillermo Mota combined to contribute more than 130 innings of ERAs over 5.00. Jorge Sosa was often shaky during his time in the pen, while fill-ins such as Aaron Sele were dreadful. Pedro Feliciano fared well in the first half and Joe Smith had his moments in his first rookie season. Still, the high-leverage innings fell mostly to Aaron Heilman, the workhorse righty who pitched every other day in racking up 81 appearances, more than all but five other pitchers in the game.

Wagner saved Saturday’s game, too. But Heilman wasn’t the man handing him the ball. Duaner Sanchez took on that task, notching the last two outs of the eighth inning in a one-run game on just five pitches. Meanwhile, Heilman was the first man out of the bullpen, yielding yet another run in a shaky sixth inning.

The role reversal looks puzzling at first, given Heilman’s strong 2007 performance and Sanchez’s recent track record, including a 2007 season lost to shoulder injuries. Sanchez’s absence, along with ineffectiveness from several other relievers, prompted Heilman to log extra clicks on his odometer, many of those in high-pressure situations. While we’re just four weeks into this season, Heilman now looks like the guy with a tired arm (eight walks and four home runs allowed in 14 innings, despite an impressive 16 strikeouts) while Sanchez looks fresh and able (four baserunners allowed in 6.2 innings).

Sanchez’s resurgence makes him one of several Mets relievers off to a great start this year. Schoeneweis has rolled up a 2.57 ERA while allowing less than a baserunner an inning. Smith’s at 3.09, with an 8:3 strikeout-to-walk rate and no homers allowed in 11.2 IP. Feliciano’s 1.12 ERA belies some shaky command. Still, with three effective relievers in front of a nearly flawless Wagner, that’s a recipe for Mets success, especially in support of three frontline starters such as Johan Santana, John Maine, and Oliver Perez. If and when Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez come back healthy, this team suddenly takes on one of the deepest staffs in the majors. The Yankees’ relief situation is more complex, and more political. Hank Steinbrenner’s recent comments that only “an idiot” would waste Joba Chamberlain in relief renewed questions about the near- and long-term future of the Bombers’ bullpen. They were also spot-on. The most aggressive advocates of an ace reliever’s impact would argue that one inning of high-leverage relief work is worth about twice as much as a similarly strong inning for a starting pitcher. Simple math then tells us that Chamberlain stands a great chance of doing more to help the team by throwing 200 innings as a starter than he does with 70 or even 80 as a reliever.

Critics of a Joba move raise two major objections: How can the Yankees replace Chamberlain’s lights-out performance in the setup role; and how can they stretch out his arm enough to get him ready to start this year, without wasting innings in the minors?

The first answer could be easier than you think. Jonathan Albaladejo’s name is hard enough to say five times fast, let alone consider for a glamour bullpen job. Until you check out Albaladejo’s combined major league numbers this season and last: 22 IP, 19 K, 4 BB, 12 H, 1 HR. He also owns an ERA just over 1.00 and nearly a strikeout an inning in Triple-A since the start of last season. Albaladejo’s fastball merely peaks above 90 and his slider isn’t necessarily a scout’s dream, nor the equal of Chamberlain’s knockout stuff. But at some point, you have to start trusting results. The Yankees rectified their first mistake in bringing Albaladejo back up from the minors. Now, they should get him into higher-pressure situations. If that tactic works, Albaladejo could be an able setup man for Rivera. Brian Bruney and his strikeout-an-inning pace could also be intriguing in a late-inning role, though he’ll need to rein in his command and recover from a foot injury first.

Ultimately, though, it comes down to this: It’s much easier and less expensive to trade for a pitcher who can give you one good relief inning every other day — say, Huston Street or Pat Neshek — than it is to find a front-of-the-rotation starter. And with Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy big question marks due to inexperience, Mike Mussina near the end of the line, and Andy Pettitte not far removed from injuries, they will need that top starter sooner or later. Might as well look in-house first and give Chamberlain a shot at the job.

As for how to get Chamberlain ready to throw six or seven innings at a time instead of one or two, the answer isn’t to send him to the minors and throw away a month or more against teenagers and Crash Davis clones. Instead, the Yankees should look to their past. In the 1940s, they found huge success with another big, strong-armed reliever, Joe Page. In his two best seasons, 1947 and 1949, Page threw a combined 276.2 innings, with all of those coming in relief save for two starts’ worth. Page averaged well over two innings a relief appearance, and would often go three, four, even five innings or more when needed to put out a fire. Page went 27–16 those two seasons, compiling an ERA 50% better than the league average and amassing two top-10 MVP finishes.

Running Chamberlain out for that many relief innings in this era would amount to criminal negligence. But the Yankees should strongly consider stretching him out with multi-inning relief appearances, all with the big club. It’s a great luxury to have a pitcher able to safeguard a one- or two-run lead in the eighth and hand it over to the best closer of all time. But the Yankees could benefit as much — perhaps even more — by slotting Chamberlain into a 4–4 game in the sixth, then having him work all the way through the eighth. By pitching him for two or three innings at a time, while still saving him for key situations, the Yankees could keep their prodigy’s workload in check while still getting major value out of his appearances and avoiding an awkward midseason demotion.

That way, when they’re ready to move Chamberlain to the rotation, going from three-inning stretches to four and five innings a start could be a highly manageable task. Bumping him to six or seven from there by the time the season hits its stretch run could give the Bombers another big arm at the front of their rotation — and a fighting chance at going deep into the playoffs.

Mr. Keri (jonahkeri@gmail.com) is a writer for ESPN.com’s Page 2.