By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Nearly a month ago, Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said that he planned to give Jeanmar Gomez 'every chance' to be the team's closer to open the 2017 season. Early in Spring Training, Mackanin doesn't seem to have altered his perspective.
Mackanin told Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer Tuesday that right now, he views Gomez as the favorite to be the team's closer in 2017:
"I believe he deserves to be called our closer at this point," the Phillies manager said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s wide open,” Mackanin said. “I’m going to give Gomez every opportunity to show that he’s the guy that pitched the first five months and not the guy that pitched in September.”
Gomez, who is in his final year of team control, seized the team's closer job in April last year and nearly rode it to the All-Star Game. The 29-year-old ended up saving 37 games after the team chose to retain him despite him garnering some trade interest prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, but had a disastrous finish to the season. In September, Gomez went 0-3 with a 19.13 ERA in 12 appearances.
That said, Gomez did pitch well enough for a majority of the season to enter Spring Training as the team's closer. It would be a mistake, however, if Mackanin doesn't give any of his bevy of late-inning relief options a chance to compete for the job this spring.
In the discussion with Gelb, Mackanin did note that two returning players, Hector Neris and Edubray Ramos, are other potential options. He also mentioned offseason signee Joaquin Benoit as another candidate.
If Gomez were to slip up in Spring Training or early in the season, Benoit has 51 career saves, so he could be a natural replacement. Benoit is 39 and was only signed to a one-year deal, though, so younger options with closer-type arsenals, such as Neris and Ramos, may make more sense as the Phillies attempt to move towards contending again.
