Who should replace Munoz as Mariners’ closer?

I’ve got an option that no one has mentioned, but it might be the best one - give Bazardo a shot.

Just give the ball to this guy already.

BEND, Ore. - Should the Mariners replace Andres Munoz as their closer?

After yesterday’s debacle in Detroit when the Mariners were one out away from a 4-3 victory, it sure seems like most fans think it’s time to make a change.

Munoz was all over the place with his pitches, and ultimately one of them that found the strike zone was smoked off the top of Cole Young’s glove and deposited into right field for the walkoff two-run single by Kevin McGonigle.

Munoz has now given up earned runs in three of his last four appearances, skyrocketing his ERA to 5.40. That’s more than three times what his 1.73 ERA was all of last year.

He hasn’t reached the point of being Bobby Ayala yet, but he’s certainly got some Fernando Rodney in him - minus the arrows - with dancing on the tightrope being part of his routine these days.

Five blown saves and only nine actual saves caused this debate that led to Brady Farkas’ tweet yesterday outlining the Mariners’ closer options.

Farkas, who hosts the Refuse to Lose podcast, listed them as…

1. Keep Munoz as the closer and basically hope he figures it out.

2. Give Matt Brash a try.

3. Or how about Jose Ferrer - he had experience doing it last year in Washington.

4. Or bullpen by committee.

These are all reasonable options, but I’m gonna go with a different one, a more unpopular one no doubt, but I’m used to being unpopular so here goes, and if they actually do it and it works out, I don’t want any credit, it should all go to my kid Stevie, who suggested it yesterday:

Give a closer tryout to Eduard Bazardo.

First of all, personality-wise he fits the closer role more than Munoz does. Bazardo has panache to his game. There’s flash with substance.

Since I frequently second-guess some of my out-of-the-box thoughts on things, I consulted the Google AI bot, whoever he is, and discovered that making Bazardo the closer isn’t a bad thought at all.

In fact, Bot Boy said it’s “a highly compelling idea,” going on to explain that Bazardo “has an elite ability to limit hard contact and generate ground balls.

“His sinker and slider are incredibly difficult for batters to square up, inducing a ton of weak contact.”

Naturally, many Mariner fans will scoff at this since George Springer certainly squared up Bazardo last year in the highest leverage moment possible, producing the three-run homer that prevented the Mariners from ending their 50-year World Series drought.

Hey, it’s time to forgive and forget, let bygones be bygones, and all that kind of stuff. Let’s go with another cliche - desperate times call for desperate measures.

Bazardo has allowed only two earned runs in his last 10 appearances. Sure, maybe he’ll flounder in the ninth inning, and maybe you’ll say it was a dumb-ass move in hindsight.

But flip it around, maybe he’ll flourish. Maybe we’ll see the best of Bazardo and wonder why the Mariners didn’t make this move sooner than they did.

And look at it this way. You’d think what happened to him last year when Springer took him deep might impact him in a negative way the rest of his career. That’s what happens with kickers anyway when they miss a huge field goal in the playoffs.

Confidence is obviously an issue with Munoz, but that hasn’t been the case with Bazardo, whose swagger is still firmly in tact.

Then there’s this - we’re talking about a team that has gone unconventional with piggybacking starts and six-man rotations, why not do it again and give the ball to Bazardo in the ninth inning tonight in Baltimore and see what happens.

Could it be worse than what we’ve seen of late with Munoz?