Over on MetsBlog, Matt Cerrone is relaying a report from WFAN’s Ed Coleman that “people inside the Mets” are reconsidering the organization’s decision to confine pitcher Aaron Heilman to the bullpen in wake of the team’s inability to acquire a quality starter this offseason.

It’s not a bad notion, especially given the rumblings out there that the Nationals might be willing to offer free agent Livan Hernandez a two-year offer. I’m not sure I’m interested in Livan for one-year, let alone two.

As you’ll recall, Heilman was originally drafted by the Mets with the 18th overall pick in 2001 as a starting pitcher, and even spun a one-hit complete game shutout against the Florida Marlins on April 15, 2005. However, prior to ‘05, Heilman had pitched poorly as a starter during portions of ‘03 and ‘04, and followed his April 15th gem with 4 inning, 11 hit, 7 run clunker against those same Marlins. He was moved to the bullpen for good by the end of May that year. In total, Heilman has made 25 career starts for the Mets, allowing 144 hits in 133.2 innings for a 5.93 ERA.

Needless to say, Heilman has always wanted another chance at cracking the rotation, and at age 29, that window – and the financial windfall that goes with it – is closing fast. You can hardly blame the pitcher, who made just $453,000 in 2007. Nor could you fault him if he still feels a bit slighted by what transpired at the start of 2006, when the Mets all but assured Heilman a shot at the 5th starters role only to pass him over for Brian Bannister, in large part due to Heilman’s versatility and value in the pen. When Bannister went down with an injury early that year, Heilman was never considered to replace him.

On the one hand, you can understand the Mets reluctance to mess with the success that Heilman’s found since moving to the bullpen. In fact, closer Billy Wagner recently commented that the Mets would be foolish to trade Heilman, since he is the team’s only reliable bridge to the ninth inning. At the same time, there comes a point in time when a team clearly is doing a disservice to a player who has only been loyal to the organization and its demands. Additionally, the club expects Duaner Sanchez to be fully healthy by spring training, which could ease the loss of Heilman in the pen considerably. Of course, I’d be reluctant to put all my eggs in that basket…