For the past three seasons, the Mets Jeurys Familia has occupied the closer role, when healthy, and has thrived in that capacity. He has recorded 106 saves over that span and that is with an injury-riddled 2017 season in which he only recorded six of those.

However, that was the old regime that allowed him to do that. Mickey Callaway has a different idea for his closer and the entirety of the bullpen. When asked about the matter at the Winter Meetings, he had this to say:

“I think we’re going to pitch guys when it makes sense, and we’re going to pitch guys to our strengths, and they’re going to face the batters they should be facing. If that means he’s going to close every game, that could happen if it lines up that way. We’re not locked into that. I think that we have to make sure we get to a save situation, and if we can’t get there, it doesn’t do any good to have this guy be named the closer. So we’re going to pitch guys when it makes sense, and we’re going to do everything we can to win every night.”

From the makings of that statement, it sounds like he is, at the very least, considering the idea of a closer-by-committee situation.

That practice was taken to a lesser degree with the Cleveland Indians during his tenure. Andrew Miller was considered their best relief pitcher, but was rarely used in the closer role. The idea of that method was that Miller would appear during the game at the most crucial point, not just the ninth inning consistently.

That job was largely given to Cody Allen who recorded 30 saves last season.

Is this a method the Mets should try to employ next season?

Well, the Mets do have two relievers, Familia and AJ Ramos, who have closer experience. Ramos has notched 99 saves over the last three seasons, so the experience for him to handle the job on a given night is there.

The Mets also retained Jerry Blevins in a LOOGY role and signed Anthony Swarzak this off-season.

However, the downside to this approach is that it might irk the players involved as they might not like the inability to get into a routine. Many relievers have a set-up for the way they loosen up over the course of the game.

For example, a closer might start stretching in the bottom of the sixth, toss a baseball around in the seventh, and then start warming up in the bottom of the eighth. In a scenario like this, the relievers affected would have to drift from their comfort zone and find a new routine.

While this is certainly not the end of the world, it can lead to sluggish performances that can ultimately make a plan like this deemed a failure.

Personally, I think they should experiment a little with this ideology. The plan, in my opinion, should always be to have Ramos pitch the eighth and Familia the ninth inning. However, it should not be set in stone.

If the game is on the line in the top of the eighth inning, they should consider deviating from this plan. If all seems to be going to plan, though, they should stick to the pitchers’ routines and keep them in their most comfortable roles.