MLB

Mets now know they were wrong to hand out rotation spots

Mets officials know they can not redo spring training. It is May, and there is no going back to March.

However, the organization recognizes now that it was wrong to hand starting spots to John Maine and Oliver Perez in spring without a fight. That cannot be undone. But it can be amended, which is why Jerry Manuel called Fernando Nieve “the leading candidate” to make his first start of 2010 on Saturday against the Brewers.

Yes, all things being equal, starting a righty against Milwaukee is preferable to a lefty such as Raul Valdes. But this is about way more than matchups. A team official confirmed for The Post that the Mets want the rotation competition now that never occurred in spring.

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In other words, Jonathon Niese and, especially, Maine should not assume they have divine rights to the major league rotation when they come off the disabled list. As for Perez, Jerry Manuel did not include his name when discussing potential rotation depth.

Manuel’s job is on the line, and he is not letting salary or tenure decide who starts any longer. Only who earns it. Which, for now, means R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi are in the rotation. Each has made two impressive starts, including back-to-back gems the past two nights against the Phillies.

Takahashi has now used his first two major league starts to throw six shutout innings against both World Series participants from last year, the Yanks and Phils. Takahashi allowed five hits against Philly last night, but just one in 10 at-bats with men on base. With command that Manuel called “among the top in the league,” Takahashi walked none and went to a three-ball count just three times.

His off-speed stuff again was brilliant, never more so than when he struck out Ryan Howard with a changeup with runners on first and third and one out in the sixth, and the Mets ahead just 2-0. He then induced Jayson Werth to fly out, and the Mets responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to resoundingly beat first-place Philly again, this time 5-0.

“He’s in the rotation,” Manuel said of Takahashi, “and it will be tough to get him out.”

Yes, the Mets caught both the Yankees and Phillies when both were slumping — this, for example, marked the third time in four games Philly was shut out. Regardless, the Mets now are growing confidence that their starter will not melt on the mound, as Maine and Perez too often did.

Manuel will hope for similar poise and production from Nieve, who has not started since last July 19 when he tore a thigh muscle. Nieve would become the eighth different starter for the Mets in a span of 15 games.

“If we have too many starters, that is good, too,” Manuel said.

Indeed. The lack of rotation depth has been a Mets killer over the past three disappointing seasons, when the Mets have had to turn to a Brian Lawrence or Brandon Knight or Phil Humber. Can Dickey and Takahashi, and perhaps Nieve and Raul Valdes, provide a different feeling?

“So far, so good,” Alex Cora said.

The improved starting pitching comes at a time when the Mets had some resemblance to the Bronx Zoo — with Manuel’s job in perpetual trouble, Francisco Rodriguez fighting with a bullpen coach, and Darryl Strawberry irking the feelings of a few current Mets.

But the more relevant Yankees history might be 2005. Those Yanks began with starters that would rival Maine and Perez for undependability — Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright. The season was saved by Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small coming from as out-of-nowhere as Dickey and Takahashi to go 17-3.

Dickey (1-0, 1.50) seems to be channeling Small’s story — journeyman makes good in New York. Of Dickey’s knuckleball, Cora said, “That thing is tough to hit. That is no joke.”

Takahashi also currently is killing opponents softly, his changeup a big weapon, his “instincts great” in Manuel’s view. For now they are both Mets starters.

For the free passes to the rotation are gone. The message from Manuel is now this: You want to start, earn it.

joel.sherman@nypost.com