The answer is no one.

Usually when a player is ticketed for the pen early in his career it’s because he couldn’t cut it as a starter and does not have the electric stuff to close. That is why relievers are so up and down year to year.

If they were any good they’d be vying for a starters role.

Here’s an idea: Develop bonafide starters-like the Mets did in the sixties and eighties (copying the Orioles developmental model) and train them to pitch deep into games. Even exceed 100 pitches occasionally.

Then the bullpen is not stressed to the point of crumbling. Baseball is too specialized anyway, the Mets need to go back to their roots.

You want a guaranteed relief pitcher? I don’t think one has ever existed.

Lets face it the days of the 100 M dollar bullpen are over. Not that that produced any results for us. Schowenweiss was a waste of 11M, Mota 5M, Wagner couldn’t even close out a game against the NYY because it “wasn’t a save situation.” He pitched well overall but had a 10 ERA in the NLCS and couldn’t even be on the mound in game 7. He also wasn’t available down the stretch in 2007 and blew a few before he went down. 2008 he was out almost the whole year. Even K-Rod is a high wire act every night. The only guy who was both healthy and reliable was Feliciano and it’s a good thing we didn’t sign him for a few reasons. Even Takahashi is off to a bad start with 3 IP in 6 games and 8 ERA and a 27 WHIP.

That kind of huge money should be put into the starting rotation, not the pen. A combination of trade acquisitions, FA, and your own IFA and draft choices should average out at about 50 – 60 M a year for 5 starters and 2 swingmen as long as you have 3 of them in their team control years, then develop and GROOM a prospect to become your closer. Parnell could have been that guy but no one here ever has the patience to develop a young pitcher. One pitch, regardless of it’s speed will never work, especially if it doesn’t come with some late movement.