New York Mets fans will miss Jeurys Familia when he’s gone

New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia never makes a save look easy. Even so, Mets fans will miss him after his tenure with the team ends.

When Jeurys Familia is summoned from the bullpen, many New York Mets fans feel their hearts palpitate. Not always the most reliable, he’s still one of the game’s best closers.

Compared to the other closers in the National League East, Familia looks amazing. Go outside of the division and he still looks pretty good.

Familia walks a lot of batters, yes. Rather than blow us away with consistent one-two-three innings, Familia flirts with danger. As frustrating as it may be at times, there aren’t many closers out there better than him.

Unfortunately for the Mets, the 2018 season could be his last in Flushing. He’s a free agent this winter and likely to command a payday I don’t think the Mets are willing to match. Nor do I think they should when considering their additional needs.

The Mets need to spend money elsewhere than locking up Familia. Having him beyond 2018 is a luxury they cannot afford. Instead, the $10-15 million per year salary he will surely get should go toward piecing together a better everyday lineup.

What’s great about Familia is how much of a finisher he is. Even when he’s not earning the save, he’s finishing games.

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In 2015 and 2016, Familia led the league in games finished. He has a great chance to do so again in 2018. Mickey Callaway has used him similarly to Terry Collins. There’s no reason to believe Callaway would mess with success.

Familia is off to a strong start, showing that last year’s poor campaign may have had a lot to do with injuries.

When fans have anything negative to say about Familia, a lot of it circles back to the 2016 Wild Card Game against the San Francisco Giants. A terrific performance by Noah Syndergaard fell by the wayside due to Familia’s failure in the ninth. Familia surrendered a three-run home run, allowing the Giants to advance and destroying any chance of the Mets advancing.

Of course, the Mets’ offense didn’t do them any favors that game either. They were held scoreless against Madison Bumgarner. To blame Familia and take away all of the good he has done in the regular season and in the postseason prior is unfair.

The old Blink 182 song “Adam’s Song” had the lyric “You’ll be sorry when I’m gone.” I get the feeling when Familia departs from the Mets, fans will feel this way about the current closer.

The relationship between fans and their closer is often a rough one. Not everyone is as stellar as Mariano Rivera. In fact, no one is.

Even the greatest ninth-inning performers have their rough moments. Unfortunately, with Familia, they seem to come at the most inopportune moments.

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Many may not realize it now, but when Familia is gone, the devil we don’t know could be a whole lot worse.