A good problem

I was reading Nick Canepa's column this morning on the Clay Hensley/Justin Germano situation and it got me thinking. Kevin Towers said both would remain on the roster when Hensley comes back from the DL but he probably would lose his spot in the rotation.

Now Hensley will probably take the roster spot of Kevin Cameron but why does that mean he has to fill his spot in the pen? Now this may be blasphemous but couldn't David Wells go to the pen instead? I know Wells is coming off a gem where he pitched 8 innings and gave up only 1 earned run, but look at his other starts this year.

Last 10 Games:

DATE	OPP	W	L	ERA	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO
APR 07	COL	0	0	2.70	0	6.2	6	2	1	4
APR 13	@LAD	0	1	7.00	0	2.1	8	5	0	1
APR 18	ARI	0	0	5.06	0	7.0	3	2	1	4
APR 24	@ARI	1	0	6.00	0	5.0	8	5	2	3
APR 29	LAD	0	0	6.23	0	5.0	9	4	0	3
MAY 05	@FLA	0	0	6.03	0	5.1	8	3	3	1
MAY 10	@ATL	0	1	6.32	0	5.2	7	5	4	3
MAY 15	CIN	0	0	5.40	0	8.0	7	1	0	5
Totals		1	2	5.40	0	45.0	56	27	11	24

In 45 innings he has given up 56 hits? That seems a little excessive. Now Hensley hasn't been any better this year but at least his excuse is injury and not age.

And with Hensley getting his career going and Wells winding his down, maybe the Padres could get more for their money but letting Hensley fill the No. 5 starter role. Wells would be valuable in long relief when Hensley, Germano or even Greg Maddux has an off game and needs to come out early and the rotation would get some consistency for the next couple of years is both of the young guys were able to battle through this situation.

Ultimately I trust whatever decision Towers makes - after all when it comes to pitching he has built a reputation as being one of, if not the, best - but this scenario could certainly make for an interesting summer.