PORT ST. LUCIE – Jerry Manuel yesterday appeared to douse any speculation that the Mets would bring back Pedro Martinez to fill their fifth-starter vacancy.

“Pedro is a Hall of Fame pitcher and one of the greatest pitchers of our time, but I feel very confident in the people we have in camp that can get the job done,” Manuel said. “Do you like Pedro? Of course, you love Pedro. But you have to be fair to the people that we have here.”

Manuel is sticking with the current crop of No. 5 candidates, even though Livan Hernandez, Tim Redding, Freddy Garcia and Jonathon Niese have all been unimpressive so far in camp. Redding, in fact, gave up five runs on five hits (including two homers) in just one-third of an inning Sunday against the University of Michigan.