Over the last twelve months, the Mets have started to perform a full makeover. Jose Reyes won his batting title and ran to Miami. The Mets stole Zach Wheeler from the Giants in exchange for Carlos Beltran. And K-Rod was dealt to the Brewers to set-up for John Axford. Those subtractions have created three big holes that the Mets will try to fill. While some holes will be larger than others, the backend of the Met bullpen is definitely an important part. After K-Rod left, the Mets relied on a Jason Isringhausen-Bobby Parnell closer by committee approach. After this duo blew a total of ten saves, Sandy Alderson wasted no time adding three relievers who have had success as closers. Free agents, Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez and Frank Francisco will compete with Izzy and Parnell for the closer’s role in Queens. With five potential closers in the fold, which player will claim the all-important ninth inning duties?

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The New York Mets defeated the Florida Marlins in both games of today’s double dip. Game 1 was dominated by pitching, led by R.A. Dickey, as the Mets edged the Marlins 2-1. Game 2 included a bit more offense as the Mets beat the Marlins 5-1 with a great start out of Dillon Gee. The two victories give them a four-game winning streak as they move to 64-68 on the season.

He's baaaaack. Reyes always puts smiles on his teammates' faces.

Associated Press

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The New York Mets defeated the San Diego Padres 5-4 in extra inning fashion Monday night. The Mets began the night with two home runs in the second inning giving them a 3-0 lead. R.A. Dickey pitched 6 1/3 innings allowing three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out four. He exited the game with a 4-3 lead, in which Bobby Parnell blew in the bottom of the 8th inning. With the game tied, Scott Hairston drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning. Jason Isringhausen closed it out successfully for his 300th career save. 

Mr. 300!

Associated Press 

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The New York Mets were defeated by the Florida Marlins in late-inning fashion, as a poorly executed defensive play led to two runs scoring in the top of the ninth inning. Justin Turner wasted a solid start out of Chris Capuano by botching a throw to first base with the bases loaded and one out. Capuano pitched six innings allowing two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five. This is the third consecutive game the Mets have endured a loss in the ninth inning or later, as they fall back to .500 at 55-55 on the season.

Tough night for Justin Turner with the botched play.

Getty Images

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Mike Stanton crushed a grand slam in the 10th inning off Jason Isringhausen to send the Mets to their 3rd straight loss.  This is their second loss in a row in which a 2-out homer in the 9th tied the game for them.  The Mets now drop to 55-54.

Yet another tough loss for the Mets.  They had done nothing against Marlins pitching all game, mustering only 1 run through the first 8 2/3 innings of the game.  Mike Pelfrey grinded through his 6 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 of them earned).  It looked like the Mets were going to lose the game 3-1.  But with 2 outs and Angel Pagan on second, Lucas Duda crushed his third homer of the year to send the game to extras.

Not quite enough...(Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images)

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The New York Mets edged the Florida Marlins in a 7-6 victory on Friday night. David Wright’s return was a great success and led the Mets team in a 12-hit marathon. Mike Pelfrey turned in another horrid outing allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in six innings , but the bullpen was good enough to help them win the game. The Mets have now won 50 games this season.

David Wright excelled in what felt like his second opening day of the season.

Associated Press

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With Jose Reyes back in the lineup, the New York Mets downed the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 at CitiField Tuesday night. Carlos Beltran had a perfect night, reaching base on five occasions. Dillon Gee turned in seven solid innings to earn his ninth win of the season. The Mets have worked their way back to .500 again for the season as they look to put together a winning streak before the trade deadline.

It's nice to have this guy back in the lineup. Dreadlocks and all...

Getty Images

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The New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers shocked everyone after the All Star Game on Tuesday night when they announced a trade that sent closer Francisco Rodriguez and cash to the Brewers for two players to be named later. Although moving K-Rod was inevitable, no one would’ve expected it to occur immediately following the ASG. That being said, I hope Sandy Alderson made the best deal available. For anyone that does not know, a “player to be named later” is one in which the GM chooses from a list of players that the other GM has deemed available to acquire. In this case, Alderson has until September to scout and select any two players out of five that were offered. Regardless of the return, Alderson was able to move a guy with a huge 2012 option that was guaranteed to vest. This gives him more financial flexibility in the offseason to sign a Jose Reyes or other free agents to improve the organization.

With Francisco Rodriguez out, there is a vacancy in the closer role that is screaming Bobby Parnell’s name. Parnell has the makeup of a closer at 6’4″ 200 lbs throwing 98-100+ mph heat. The only question is whether or not he can turn his raw talent into success in the role. Since getting called up to the majors in 2008, Parnell has been thrust into and out of the starting and middle relief role. After a failed experiment as a starter, he was given an opportunity to setup for Francisco Rodriguez where he has struggled to find consistency ever since. When he is on his game, hitters can’t touch his fastball and slider combo. If he wants to excel in the closer role, these pitches need to be perfected. Otherwise, Terry Collins can look to Jason Isringhausen or Pedro Beato for the job.

Who would you like to see getting the bulk of the closing duties?

With the All Star Break underway, the New York Mets are one game above .500 at 46-45 on the season, and trail the wild card leading Atlanta Braves by 7.5 games. The Mets have certainly exceeded expectations thus far in 2011, as most fans would’ve expected them to be way out of the playoff run at this point in the season. Now, this doesn’t mean Mets fans should get crazy excited about making a push for October baseball. Three of the team’s four starting infielders (David Wright, Ike Davis, and Jose Reyes) are currently on the disabled list, and will probably make their return after the trade deadline. But, regardless, the Mets have played very nice baseball over the first 91 games of the season, and I’m going to evaluate the areas that deserve the most credit.

Terry Collins deserves much of the credit for a winning baseball team in Queens.

Associated Press

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With the bases loaded in the 13th inning, Justin Turner was hit in the thigh by a Brad Ziegler pitch, and the Mets escaped with a win.  The win bumps their record up to 36-38 on the year.

Starters R.A. Dickey and Gio Gonzalez were on their A-games tonight, allowing only a run apiece.  They combined for 15 innings and allowed a total of 7 hits, while striking out 17.  Heading into the bottom of the 8th, Jose Reyes came up huge with a one-out triple, which was then followed by a Justin Turner RBI single.  The Citi Field faithful were ready to celebrate with Francisco Rodriguez coming in for the save.

The A’s, however, had other plans.  With 2 outs and 2 strikes, Conor Jackson stroked a single off K-Rod to drive in Coco Crisp and prolong the night.  Innings 10-12 featured mainly clutch pitching and very solid defense to preserve the 2-2 tie.  In those innings, the teams totaled 9 baserunners, without any of them coming around to score.

Yep. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

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