Manuel's Not Wild About Committee in Eighth

In an article for the New York Post, here, Mike Puma talks about Jerry Manuel's desire to have "one setup plan."  In the article Puma points out Igarashi, Parnell, and Sean Green as options, with Fernando Nieve a possibility should Niese beat him out for the fifth spot in the rotation.  Puma also says, "Pedro Feliciano is probably too valuable against lefties to warrant serious consideration."

Alright, here's what I'm thinking...

I would love to see Parnell, Green or Igarashi step up and win the job, but I think there are some more "comfortable" ideas out there...

I'd like to see the Mets add Joe Beimel, and let him be the lefty specialist, while sliding Feliciano into competition for the eighth inning spot.  A place where he has been before for the Mets, although not officially. That becomes a simple matter of putting your best pitchers in the spot they can be most effective.

It makes good sense considering the Mets only have one lefty in the pen, and Beimel is no slouch against lefties... 

Beimel's splits last season were favorable against lefties, who hit him at a .258 clip, but Beimel's K/BB ratio was 4.40 against lefties, according to baseballreference.com.   Also interesting to note that in his career against Howard (3 for 10 against Beimel, 2 Ks), Rollins (3/13 against Beimel) and Utley (2/12, 2 K's), he's only allowed 1 homer to these players combined (Howard).  Also interesting to note that during their careers Adrian Gonzalez is 2 for 21 with 4 K's against Beimel, and Barry Bonds went 1 for 16 with 4 K's and a homer against him. 

Should the Mets be unable to sign Beimel, I like the idea of seeing Neive in the bullpen and competiting for that eighth inning gig, mainly because I feel like he's got some nice stuff and I would not want the Mets to release him (out of team options).  And although maybe he wouldn't win the eighth inning gig, he could add some valuable depth to the 'pen. 

Also, should Nieve get moved to the 'pen, it would most likely mean that Niese won the rotation spot over him, which is something I would love to see...

In general I am not overly concerned about the 'pen just yet.  I like the talent there, and think we're either a young player stepping up, or a Beimel signing/Nieve move away from having a very good bullpen.